The paper considers the general historical outline of the Donetsk Metallurgical Plant (DMZ) development, which began 150 years ago with mass production of metal, as well as the process of introducing and mastering innovations, primarily within the framework of the blast furnace and steelmaking industries. The presented data considers implementations which at that time were of a pioneering nature within the framework of the Soviet, and in some cases the world metallurgy. The contribution to the development of DMZ by such metallurgists and scientists as M.K. Kurako, I.P. Bardin, A.N. Tsaritsyn, N.S. Shchirenko, V.F. Basantsov, I.M. Ektov, S.L. Yaroshevsky, V.I. Machikin, A.M. Zborshchik, E.N. Skladanovsky, D.A. Dyudkin, K.V. Baranov, P.G. Glazkov is mentioned. The particular attention is focused on the technologies of steel continuous casting and injection of pulverized coal into the hearth of a blast furnace, which were first introduced at industrial scale at the DMZ. At present, these technologies, the impetus for the development of which was given at the DMZ, are an integral part of the set of advanced modern technologies of ferrous metals production. The issues of introducing the new technologies and equipment in the post-Soviet period up to 2014 are also considered. Some examples are also provided, which illustratie the effective and practically trouble-free use of equipment created more than a hundred years ago. The role of the Donetsk National Technical University (DonNTU) in the history of the DMZ is considered. For more than a century it consists in preparing highly qualified engineering personnel and scientific support of all innovations.