Seasoned with Saltpeter Trivia Quiz

Answer: China

Gunpowder was the only known chemical explosive until the mid-1800s. China is said to have discovered gunpowder in the 9th century CE with a written recipe being dated to 11th century China.

Answer: Mongol

Gunpowder was possibly first used against Europeans by the Mongols at the Battle of Mohi in 1241. The losing side was the Kingdom of Hungary. The battle proved decisive, although what part gunpowder played in this is unclear.

Answer: True

Strangely, perhaps. One way saltpetre can be created is from a mixture of soil, manure and urine. Deposits were reasonably plentiful wherever there was habitation. In 1646 an ordinance was passed allowing 'saltpeter-men' to go on to private property and remove deposits. People refusing to co-operate could be punished.

Answer: By imports from India

Saltpetre was supplied from the north-west Indian state of Gujarat during the 17th century. France, the Netherlands, Portugal and Britain all established saltpetre refineries in India during the 18th century.

Answer: Guy Fawkes

This event is better known as the Gunpowder Plot and is celebrated to this day as Guy Fawkes Night or Bonfire Night on the 5th November each year, though the leader of the conspiracy was Robert Catesby. The plot was discovered before the conspirators could blow up the House of Commons. It was Guy Fawkes who was found guarding the 36 barrels of gunpowder found under the Houses of Parliament and it is he, rather than Catesby who is popularly seen as the leading conspirator.

Answer: China

Gunpowder is one of the 'Four Great Inventions' coming from ancient China. Papermaking, printing (mainly by woodblock) and the compass are the other three. Fireworks are said to have been used to scare off evil spirits. An early fire at a gunpowder store at Weiyang in the 13th century killed around a hundred guards.

Answer: Ammonium

A mixture of ammonium sulphate and ammonium nitrate exploded. A mix of these two was considered safe when the nitrate component was fifty percent or less. It was considered so safe that TNT explosive was routinely used to loosen the compacted powders in the silo storage tower. Up to six hundred people were killed in this explosion. No lessons seemed to have been learned from a similar incident two months earlier in which nineteen people were killed, also in Germany.

Answer: Enschede

Twenty-three died and many were injured at Enschede when a fire ignited around 177 tonnes of fireworks. All answers were sites of recent firework factory explosions. The Seest one occurred in 2004 in Denmark. The Italian (Picciano) and Canadian (Coteau-du-Lac) ones were both in 2013. All involved fatalities. Strangely, perhaps, saltpetre is an ingredient in some condensed aerosol fire suppression systems.

Answer: War of the Pacific

Chile and Peru have the largest deposits of naturally-occurring sodium nitrate. The war was triggered by Peru nationalising some mines and Bolivia imposing a tax, both of which threatened Chilean interests. The war lasted for four years from 1879.

Answer: It preserves the colour of the meat

A plain salt cure results in a greying of the meat, which is less attractive. Nitrate use is, however, widely controlled as it is believed to be carcinogenic.