In 1802, Éleuthère Irénée du Pont founded E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. (AKA DuPont) in Wilmington, Delaware, to manufacture gunpowder, which the French immigrant wisely assumed would be a good American business. During the War of 1812, DuPont sold 1m+ pounds of gunpowder and made $148.5k+, or ~$2.7m today.
The company continued to produce things that went boom, including blasting powder and dynamite, until 1912, when the federal government found it ran a near monopoly on explosives and forced it to divest.
Throughout the early 20th century, DuPont diversified across numerous chemical industries, which is why you likely associate DuPont today with less explosive household items like nonstick pans and paint.
Fun fact: In 1910, DuPont published Farming with Dynamite, which suggested using explosives to clear stumps, break up land, and dig ditches.
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