Calcium oxide15 is known as lime1116 and is one of the top 10 chemicals1217 produced annually by thermal decomposition of limestone. The thermal decomposition of calcium carbonate to lime18 is one of the oldest chemical reactions known. For several thousand years, lime has been used in mortar (a paste of lime, sand and water) to cement stones to one another in buildings, walls and roads. The setting of mortar involves several chemical reactions.
1 Congregation Shearith Israel, 1654, Upper West Side, Manhattan, is the oldest congregation in New York and the United States. 2  Temple Society of Concord, 1839, Syracuse, New York.  Angel Orensanz Center, 1849, Lower East Side, Manhattan, is the oldest synagogue building still standing in New York State.
The oldest of those inside of current United States territory is in St Thomas, US Virgin Islands. Note: When the synagogues were built Rhode Island and the US Virgin Islands were in British and Dutch control respectively. However, if the United States overseas territory of Puerto Rico is included, then the city of San Juan would in fact, be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the United States, founded in 1521. + 64 others found this useful.