Woolwich, England/woolwich020

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In a chemical laboratory of Woolwich Arsenal, strontium salts were first prepared by William Cruickshank.
This is the center of Woolwich, 10 km east of London. In the 1500s the Woolwich Dockyard was founded on the Thames River which played an important part in supporting the King’s Navy. Through the following years the site developed into an Arsenal for weapons and a storehouse for gunpowder and saltpeter, and then into a munitions and guns factory in 1696. Woolwich was active and important during the Crimean War, the Boer War, and particularly World War I, when 80,000 workers were employed. During the World War II, the threat of air attacks mandated the dispersal of the muntions and armament activities throughout the country.