formed in 1882
Santa Cruz, California
Wilmington, Delaware

• 1874 special formulation of dynamite was patented
  – by J.W. Willard
  – superintendent of the California Powder Works
  – “Hercules powder”
• 1877 California Powder Works manufacturers Hercules powder
• 1877 J.W. Willard moved to Cleveland, Ohio
• 1882 – 1904 Hercules Powder Company
  – California Powder Works & DuPont and Laflin & Rand Powder Company
• 1890  first smokeless powder manufactured in the United States
• 1897 Sharpshooter
  – a flake powder
  – introduced by Laflin & Rand
  –  to replace black powder in .45-70
• 1898 Bullseye
  – introduced by Laflin & Rand
  –  rapid combustion in short-barreled handguns
• 1900 Unique 
  – introduced by Laflin & Rand
  – designed for shotguns
  – can be used in handguns
• 1911  Sherman Antitrust Act ordered a breakup of the explosives and gunpowder manufacturing
  – Atlas Powder Company = explosives manufacturing
  – Hercules Powder Company = gunpowder
• 1912 incorporated as the Hercules Powder Company
  – following the breakup of the Du Pont explosives monopoly
• major producers of smokeless powder
• 1932 Red Dot
  – for light and standard shotgun loads (12, 16, and 20 g )
  – can be used in handguns
•  1940, the Kenvil, New Jersey plant explosion
  – twenty-five tons of explosives
• 1965 Green Dot
  – for medium & standard shotgun loads (12, 16, and 20 g )
  – can be used in handguns
• 1966 changed name to Hercules, Inc
• 1972 Blue Dot
  – for magnum shotgun loads (10, 12, 16 g )
  – can be used in magnum handguns
• 1995 sold to Alliant Techsystems Inc (ATK)
  –  “Bullseye”, “2400”, “Reloder”, “Unique”, and “Red Dot”
  – Radford, Virginia.
• 2008 sold to the Ashland Corporation and dissolved.