Corrected entry: They blow up the bridge with what looks like dynamite or TNT. The American civil war ended in 1865, dynamite wasn't invented until 1867 and the explosive properties of TNT were first discovered in 1891.
Charles Austin Miller
9th Mar 2018
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
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Correction: Certainly, director Sergio Leone was well known for the plot-holes and anachronisms in his films; however, Nobel invented the electrically-ignited concussive blasting cap in 1863 for detonating dynamite, which suggests that he was already developing dynamite from nitroglycerin. Nobel patented his dynamite formula in 1867, but he was apparently already blowing things up with it as far back as 1863. This still does not explain the burning fuses used in TGTB&TU, which should not detonate stabilized nitroglycerin, anyway. It's possible that they were using black powder sticks. Black-powder sticks require a burning fuse (like a very large firecracker).
Charles Austin Miller