thumb|A factory in Chedde, Haute-Savoie, France, where Cheddite was first produced.
Cheddite is a class of explosive materials invented in France in 1897 by E. A. G. Street, who patented several varieties of the original composition. At about the same time the Chemische Fabrik Griesheim in Germany patented a similar type explosive. The manufacture of these explosives under the name of "Explosifs Street" began in 1898 by the Société Bergès, Corbin et Cie at Chedde, Haute-Savoie, France. Certain varieties of these explosives were admitted to Belgium. They were also exported to England where they have been produced since 1900 under the name of "Cheddites", so called because they were manufactured at Chedde.
Closely related to Sprengel explosives, Cheddites consist of a high proportion of inorganic chlorates or perchlorates, mixed with other substances that aid the explosive reaction (e.g. nitroaromatics such as dinitrobenzene or dinitrotoluene) and that moderate the chlorates/perchlorates (e.g. paraffin or castor oil).
Cheddites were originally developed for use as industrial blasting and demolition explosives. Gelatin-type Cheddites are very effective for work in galleries, especially with humid rocks that are not too hard. Some Cheddites were used during World War I for military purposes such as in demolition work and as a bursting charge in bombs, grenades, mortars shells and mines. Cheddites were also used during World War II for some military purposes. for example, it was used as a filler for the R wz. 42 "Sidolówka" improvised hand grenade.
"Cheddite" is also the trade name of an Italian company established in 1901 in Salviano, near Livorno, as a subsidiary of the French firm, that produces ammunitions and explosives.
Compositions
The compositions of the first Cheddites or Street Explosives studied and approved for manufacturing at the Poudrerie de Vonges by the French Commission des Substances Explosives, beginning 1897, are presented in the following table: