Dynamite is an explosive base on the explosive potential of nitroglycerin, initially using diatomaceous earth (kieselgur: US Spelling; kieselguhr: UK Spelling) or another absorbent substance such as sawdust as an adsorbent. It was invented by Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in 1866 in Krümmel (Geesthacht, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany); and patented in 1867.