In the pioneering period, at least until half way through the 19th century, the modern figure of the 'chemist' did not exist. The researchers were mostly philosophers, doctors and pharmacists, who were interested in that part of science known as 'chemistry' or described by the word 'chemistry'. Some became chemists for passion and others vocation, urged on by a deep desire to challenge very often the dangers connected with their manipulations and to work in environmental conditions that today would be unthinkable. By reading old books of chemistry and the history of chemistry we learn that some of the greatest chemists of the past, the fathers of chemistry, have sometimes been involved in accidental explosions, some of which were serious. In this paper there is a short collection of historical accidental explosions where the protagonists were some of our great predecessors.