Thomas Wilson calcium carbide discovery

Spray, North Carolina, early 1900s. Wilson trying to synthesize metals in an arc furnace with carbon and limestone, ended up with calcium carbide, ignited it accidentally in the Neuse River. Origin of industrial acetylene production.

In the early 1900s, Thomas Wilson of Spray, North Carolina found an easy way to make calcium carbide. He was trying to synthesize metals — Edison and Westinghouse had come along and you now had electricity — and he was running arc furnaces. He put some carbon and some limestone in a furnace and tried to keep the air out so he could synthesize some chemical. He ended up with a black powder, couldn't figure out anything to do with it, and threw it into the Neuse River in North Carolina. Something around there ignited it. He thought, "that's strange, I've never seen water burn before." So he studied it more. He had synthesized calcium carbide. All you need is an arc furnace, limestone, and carbon. The electric energy breaks things down and you form calcium carbide.