Time bomb

The use or attempted use of time bombs has been for various purposes including insurance fraud, terrorism, assassination, sabotage and warfare.

They are a frequent plot device in thriller and action films as they offer a way of imparting a dramatic sense of urgency.

The explosive charge is the main component of any bomb, and makes up most of the size and weight of it.

It is the damaging element of the bomb (along with any fragments or shrapnel the explosion might produce with its container or neighboring objects).

A time bomb's timing mechanism may be professionally manufactured either separately or as part of the device, or it may be improvised from an ordinary household timer such as a wind-up alarm clock, wrist watch, digital kitchen timer, or notebook computer.

Aftermath of the bombing at the Bologna railway station in August 1980 which killed 85 people, the deadliest event during the Years of Lead .

Aftermath of the Grand Hotel bombing in Brighton (1984) which was targeted at British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher , the result of a time bomb which had been placed in the hotel nearly a month before it detonated. Thatcher wasn't harmed, five others were killed and 31 were injured.

Diagram of a simple time bomb in the form of a pipe bomb