Noah Webster

Noah Webster was an American lexicographer, whose books on grammar and spelling and American Dictionary of the English Language standardized the spelling of American English.

Noah Webster painted by Samuel F. B. Morse

EARLY LIFE 

Noah Webster was born on October 16, 1758 in West Hartford, Connecticut to a politically prominent family.

He served in the Connecticut Militia during the American Revolutionary War.

Webster graduated from Yale College in 1778. He passed the bar examination after studying law but was unable to find work as a lawyer. Instead, Webster taught school for several years and in his spare time wrote a series of educational books,

CAREER

During his first career as a schoolteacher at the time of the American Revolution, Webster was concerned that most of his students' textbooks came from England. So in 1783 he published his own American text, A Grammatical Institute of the English Language. In the "Blue-Backed Speller," as it was popularly known, words were broken into syllables, which helped students learn pronunciation. It was the preferred English text in schools through 19th century America and is one of the best-selling books of all time.

Despite the fact that Webster borrowed shamelessly from mid 18th century works Thomas Dilworth's New Guide to the English Tongue and Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language, he was concerned that his Grammatical Institute might be pirated. Webster's efforts led to the creation of the first federal copyright laws in 1790.

Later, Webster lobbied for an extended copyright law. He wrote "By this bill the term of copy-right is secured for 28 years, with the right of renewal … for 14 years more. If this should become law, I shall be much benefited." The new federal copyright law was passed and remained in effect until 1909.

Noah Webster was a follower of George Washington. In fact, he was such a strong supporter of the first president, that Alexander Hamilton lent him over a thousand dollars to move to New York City to found a Federalist Party newspaper.

In 1793 Webster founded one of New York City's first daily newspapers, American Minerva, which he edited for four years. Webster was one of the first to make the daily newspaper a political force in America.

DICTIONARY

Noah Webster's Compendious Dictionary of the English Language, a forerunner of An American Dictionary, was published in 1806. In his dictionary, he chose s over c in words like "defense," changed the re to er in words like "center," and dropped one of the Ls in "traveler." Webster's main reason for this was to help children learn to read and write.

Webster's Compendious Dictionary of the English Language sparked a "war of the dictionaries" with rival lexicographer Joseph Worcester. However, Worcester's Comprehensive Pronouncing and Explanatory English Dictionary didn't stand a chance. Webster's work, with 5,000 words not included in British dictionaries and with definitions based on the usage of American writers, soon became the recognized authority.

Noah Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language (1828) in two volumes was the first dictionary to give comprehensive coverage of American usage, and his name survives in the many dictionaries produced by the American publishing house.

Handwritten drafts of dictionary entries by Webster

Webster used only one proof-reader while working on An American Dictionary of the English Language. He wrote it all himself, including the etymologies, which required that he learn 28 languages. Webster was plagued by debt to fund the project.

G. & C. Merriam Co. bought the rights to the dictionary in 1843, which is why many dictionaries have Merriam-Webster in their name.

Webster is credited for introducing such distinctive American spellings as "color," "humor", and "center" (for British "colour," "humour," and "centre"). However many of his changes never stuck, such as medicine=medicin, ache=ake, soup=soop, tongue=tung, women=wimmen, and weather=wether.

PERSONAL LIFE

Noah Webster first met with "Becca" Greenleaf (1766–1847) in 1787 while both were in Philadelphia. He had traveled to the city for the Constitutional Convention, while Becca, originally from Boston, was visiting her recently wedded sister. Webster documented his encounters with Rebecca Greenleaf in his diary. At first, he affectionately referred to her as "Sweet Miss Greenleaf," then as "the agreeable Miss Greenleaf," and ultimately as "the lovely Becca."

Their marriage took place on October 26, 1789 in New Haven, Connecticut, and, by all accounts, theirs was a joyful and affectionate union. In one of his love letters to Becca, Webster expressed, "Permit me to assure you that your esteem - your friendship - is now my only happiness, and your happiness the great object of my pursuit."

Rebecca steadfastly stood by her husband's side throughout the 26-year journey of crafting An American Dictionary of the English Language. She bore him eight children, (five daughters, three sons) with seven reaching adulthood. Her role extended to overseeing their residences, beginning with the former home of Benedict Arnold in New Haven.

Rebecca managed the household responsibilities and cared for the children during Noah Webster's extended absences, as he traveled abroad to conduct etymological research. Even when he was at home, Webster had his office walls soundproofed to shield himself from the bustling household. Patient and supportive, Rebecca allowed Noah Webster to relentlessly pursue his scholarly endeavors.

Rebecca Greenleaf Webster, wife of Noah Webster

Webster and his family moved to Amherst, Massachusetts in 1812, where he helped to found Amherst College. In 1822 they moved back to New Haven. Their impressive New Haven dwelling is now a part of Henry Ford's Greenfield Village.

Webster was converted in the Second Great Awakening. His need of Christ having come strong upon him, he was unable to study. "I closed my books, yielded to the influence which could not be resisted or mistaken and was led by a spontaneous impulse to repentance, prayer and entire submission of myself to my maker and redeemer." This was followed by a sense of peace.

Following his conversion experience, Webster became an orthodox Calvinist and an ardent Congregationalist.

Webster subscribed to the biblical account of the origin of language, believing that all languages derived from Chaldee, an Aramaic dialect.

Noah Webster in an 1833 portrait by James Herring

In 1833 Webster published his own edition of the Bible, updating the vocabulary of the King James Version and cleansing it of any words that he thought might be considered "offensive, especially for females."

DEATH AND LEGACY 

Webster died on May 28, 1843, a few days after he had completed revising an appendix to the second edition of his American Language Dictionary.

In 1966, Webster's restored birthplace and childhood home in West Hartford was reopened as a museum.

Source Grammar-About

Daniel Webster

Daniel Webster was born on January 18, 1782 in Salisbury, New Hampshire, now part of the city of Franklin.

Portrait of Daniel Webster commissioned by the Senate in 1955

His father, Ebenzer Webster, served as a militia man, judge and farmer. Daniel and his nine siblings grew up on his parents' farm.

After attending Dartmouth College Webster originally worked as a teacher at Fryeburg Academy in Maine.

In 1804, he obtained a position in Boston under the prominent attorney Christopher Gore. The following year Webster was admitted to the bar, after which he set up a legal practice in Boscawen, New Hampshire.

Webster became increasingly involved in politics and began to speak locally in support of Federalist causes and candidate.

Webster represented Massachusetts in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. He sat in the House of Representatives from 1813, and in the Senate from 1827.

Webster was first elected to Congress as a Federalist. When the Federalist Party declined, he joined with other former Federalists and National Democrats to form the Whig Party (United States).

He was appointed the United States Secretary of State under three presidents, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, and Millard Fillmore.

1834 portrait by Francis Alexander

As Secretary of State Webster negotiated the 1842 Ashburton Treaty which fixed the Maine-Canada boundary.

Webster contributed to the passage of the Compromise of 1850, which settled several territorial issues and enacted a new fugitive slave law. The Compromise proved unpopular in much of the North and in support of the package of bills, Webster gave his "Seventh of March" speech, which undermined his standing in his home state.

Senator Daniel Webster turned down two offers to be vice president by William Henry Harrison and Zachary Taylor because he thought the office was a dead-end position. Both these presidents went on to die in office.

Daniel Webster spent nearly three decades in one federal office or another. As he approached the end of his distinguished career, Webster grew increasingly dependent on alcohol, regularly drinking brandy and water while speaking. In 1851 this practice caused him trouble at a ceremony marking the completion of the Boston-Montreal Railroad. Webster ignored the point of the ceremony and delivered a rambling speech on American history. The Governor General of Canada, one of the honoured guests, was so enraged by the performance that he almost stormed off the platform.

By early 1852, Webster had begun to suffer from cirrhosis of the liver, and in September 1852, he returned to his Marshfield estate, where his health continued to decline. Webster died at Marshfield on October 24, 1852. His last words were: "I still live."

Source Book of Lists 3 by Irving Wallace

Website

A webpage is a document from the internet which can be seen with a web browser. A website is a set of webpages that are joined together.

The first ever website to be built was http://info.cern.ch. While inventing and working on setting up the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee spent many of his working hours in Building 31 at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, CERN. The first web page went live on August 6, 1991. It was dedicated to information on the World Wide Web project and was made by Tim Berners-Lee. It ran on a NeXT computer at CERN and its web page address was http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html.

The first web page may be lost, but Paul Jones of UNC-Chapel Hill in North Carolina has a copy of a page sent to him in 1991 by Berners-Lee which is the oldest known web page. Jones stored the plain-text page, with hyperlinks, on a floppy disk and on his NeXT computer. CERN put the oldest known web page back online in 2014, complete with hyperlinks that helped users get started and helped them navigate what was then a very small web.

Paul Kunz from Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, a United States Department of Energy National Laboratory operated by Stanford University, California, visited Tim Berners-Lee at CERN in September 1991. He was impressed by the World Wide Web project and brought a copy of the software back to Stanford. SLAC launched the first web server in North America on December 12, 1991. It was the second website in the world to come online.

The Dutch National institute for subatomic physics launched the third website in the world to come online in February 1992. It was originally at http://nic.nikhef.nl.

The Internet Movie Database was founded in 1989 by participants in the Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies as a place to record actresses with beautiful eyes. The IMDB was rolled out on the web in late 1993, hosted by the computer science department of Cardiff University in Wales.

In December 1993 there were just 623 websites on the internet.

JumpStation was the first World Wide Web search engine that behaved, and appeared to the user, the way current web search engines do. It was created by computer science graduate Jonathon Fletcher on December 12, 1993 and announced on the Mosaic "What's New" webpage nine days later. JumpStation was hosted at the University of Stirling in Scotland but was discontinued when Fletcher left the University in late 1994, having failed to get any investors.

Purple.com was a single-page website launched by Jeff Abrahamson on August 31, 1994. The first known single-serving site, it consisted of no links or text and its only content was a purple background.

Pizza Hut was the first restaurant to test online ordering for delivery, PizzaNet was created in 1994 and serviced a Pizza hut in Santa Cruz, California. It was developed by a few folks at a development shop known as Santa Cruz Operation (SCO).The site can still be visited today.

The original Facebook website had an image of a man's face on it. Dubbed the "Facebook guy" it was later revealed that the photo was actually the legendary movie actor Al Pacino.

Before Google launched their email service, "G-Mail" was the name of a free email service offered by Garfield's website.

Internet entrepreneur Steve Chen worked at Facebook for a few months before quitting to set up a small website called YouTube in 2005 with Chad Hurley and Jawed Karim.

The current library at Alexandria has a recorded memory of the all the web pages on every website on the Internet since 1996.

If you search for "elgooG" on Google, it will take you to a Google website that is completely backwards.

MI6 once hacked an Al-Qaeda website and replaced instructions on how to make a bomb with a cupcake recipe.

Weaving

Weaving is the production of textile fabric by means of a loom. The basic process is the interlacing at right angles of longitudinal threads (the warp) and crosswise threads (the weft), the latter being carried across from one side of the loom to the other by the shuttle.

Pixiebay

The basic principle of weaving has not changed since the late Stone Age, when humans first wove rushes and grasses into baskets and mats. These weavers probably placed the warp fibers on the ground and passed the weft fibers by hand between them.

Though weaving is mainly mechanised, now, hand looms are still used, for example in the manufacture of tweeds in the British Isles. They may be horizontal or vertical; industrial looms are generally vertical.

It is not known when or where spinning and weaving were first practiced but they were in use in Egypt and the Near East by the 9th millennium BC and there is evidence of silk weaving in China in the 2nd millennium.

Weaving probably began when reeds and canes were used to make baskets. Man then learned in about 7000 or 6000 BC how to obtain plant and animal fibres such as flax, cotton and wool and twist them into yarn. These wool and flax yarns were woven on a primitive loom into rectangles of cloth.

Weaving was probably part of the housewife's daily work in the homes of the European Lake Dwellers. These Stone Age people built their villages, presumably for safety, on wooden platforms over lakes and swamps. In the beds of the lakes modern searchers recovered spindle whorls and pieces of looms and of linen and woolen garments.

The woven lengths of cloth were not cut but were draped about the body. A tie fastened the cloth at the waist. This kind of draped garment was worn by the early Egyptians.

Fragments of patterned linen-weave have been found in Pharaonic tombs in Egypt, while ancient Egyptian pictures and Greek vase-paintings illustrate types of early looms which have been confirmed by archaeological finds.

Weaving in ancient Egypt

The earliest weaving was plain, to meet the need for warmth and clothing, and tapestry weaving was known in Egypt from the 2nd millennium BC.

One of first examples of weaving is featured in The Odyssey where Homer describes the shroud Odysseus' wife Penelope is forced to unravel each night to fend off unwanted suitors. He also describes Helen as working with a golden distaff, a silver wool basket on wheels, and wool of violet-blue.

Among Ancient Greeks, spinning, weaving, and decorating cloth were so much the responsibility of females that those skills became metaphors for “women's wiles.”

The Romans followed the cloth making practices of the Greeks. They did, however, abandon the old warp-weighted loom in favor of the more efficient two-barred loom.

The Romans established textile factories in the provinces, particularly in Gaul, where they had found a people already skilful at weaving.

People living in the first Millenium AD on the hot coastal strip of Peru created some of the world's most beautiful textiles. These Andean people who wove these textiles spun fine, smooth yarn of cotton or the wool of alpacas and llamas. They used most weaves known today and some too complicated for modern looms. They were expert dyers, with almost 200 hues at their command.

With their many-colored yarns the Andean civilizations worked out gay, elaborate designs. They wove cloth ingeniously into the shapes of garments and other articles, for they did not cut and sew.

Example of weaving characteristic of Andean civilizations By Adam Jones

King Edward III of England held a parliament at Rochester in 1337 at which an Act was passed encouraging Flemish weavers to come and settle in England under royal protection, bringing their superior cloth-making skills with them.

Weaving developed little until the flying shuttle was invented by John Kay in 1733, followed later in the 19th century by English clergyman Edmund Cartwright's power loom.

Of great importance in the handloom era was the Jacquard loom, which was used to make patterns in clothing material. The loom was invented by French technologist Joseph Marie Jacquard (1752-1834) in 1801 and simplified the process of making textiles with complex patterns. Jacquard went on to perfect his invention by using punched cards to control cams that directed pattern weaving. By the 1830s many were in use.

Close-up of the 8 × 26 hole punched cards on a Jaquard loom

Underwater basket weaving has been used as a pejorative term for excessively easy/useless/niche courses for at least since the early 1960s.

Source Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia

Weather forecasting

A weather forecast is a prediction of what the weather will be in the future.

In the mid 19th Century, the belief persisted that weather was completely unpredictable. When one MP suggested in the House of Commons in 1854 that recent advances in scientific theory might soon allow them to know the weather in London "twenty-four hours beforehand", the House roared with laughter.

Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy (July 5, 1805 – April 30, 1865) is best known as the captain of HMS Beagle during Charles Darwin's famous 1831-36 voyage to the Pacific. However, he is also the man who invented the weather forecast. Fitzroy's second career started in 1854  when he was appointed chief of a new department within the UK Board of Trade to deal with the collection of weather data at sea as a service to mariners.

Between 1855 and 1860, 7,402 ships were wrecked off the UK coasts with a total of 7,201 lost lives. FitzRoy believed that with forewarning, many of these could have been saved.

A storm in 1859 that caused the loss of the Royal Charter gold ship off Anglesey inspired FitzRoy to develop charts to allow predictions to be made, which he called "forecasting the weather", thus coining the term "weather forecast".

The Royal Charter sank in an 1859 storm, stimulating the establishment of modern weather forecasting

Fitzroy established fifteen land stations to use the telegraph to transmit to him daily reports of weather at set times leading to the first gale warning service. His warning service for shipping was initiated in February 1861.

For years the British public had read quack weather prognostications in almanacs, but this was the first time that predictions had been sanctioned by government. These first official daily weather forecasts were originally published in The Times in 1861. They were syndicated in titles across Britain and soon became hugely popular.

Weather map of Europe, December 10, 1887.

In the United States, the Weather Bureau (later renamed the National Weather Service) made its first official meteorological forecast in 1870.

From 1887 up until 1948, U.S. weather forecasters were forbidden from attempting to predict tornadoes due to hysteria.

In 1948, meteorologists at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City issued the world's first tornado forecast after noticing conditions similar to another tornado that had struck five days earlier.

During World War II, weather reports were censored to prevent enemy submarines from learning about conditions. A football game in Chicago was so covered in fog that the radio announcer couldn't see the field, but afterwards he was officially thanked for never using the word "fog" or mentioning the weather.

Several days of bad weather had made aircraft reconnaissance impossible for the Allies planned landing in Normandy on June 5, 1944. Capt. James Martin Stag, President Eisenhower's Chief Meteorologist forecast a break in the weather for June 6th when the seas were calmer. Stag's defiant decision to delay D-Day from June 5th to June 6th was dubbed "The most important weather forecast of all time".

RAF weather forecaster George Cowling was the BBC's first television weatherman. He gave the first televised weather broadcast from the BBC's Lime Grove Studios, at 7.55pm on January 11, 1954. Cowling stood in front of the weather map and informed the viewing public that "tomorrow would be rather windy, a good day to hang out the washing".

Cowling continued to present televised weather broadcasts for the BBC until 1957 when he rejoined the RAF. His main tools were pencils - and an eraser - for analysing the charts and a pair of dividers for measuring isobar spacing to give wind speeds.

American television meteorologist Dick Goddard joined the weather team at WJW-TV, the Fox Broadcasting Company-affiliated television station in Cleveland, Ohio in 1965. He gave his first televised weather forecast on September 13, 1965 and would spend the rest of his career there. On September 19, 2016 Goddard was certified by The Guinness Book of World Records as having had the longest career of any weather forecaster.

A woman in Haifa sued Israel's Channel 2, along with weather forecaster Danny Rup, in small claims court. He predicted a sunny day, causing her to go out lightly dressed - and when it turned stormy, she caught the flu, missed four days’ work, spent $38 on medication, and suffered stress. The case was settled out of cоurt for $1000, and the weatherman apologized to her.

Moscow weathermen can be fined for inaccurate weather forecasting.

Source BBC

Weather

Weather is the day-to-day variations of metrological and climatic conditions at a particular place.

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HISTORY

Thales of Miletus, a Greek philosopher over 200 years before Aristotle, thought that weather was caused by the movement of stars and planets.

The first treatise on meteorology was written by Aristotle in 340BC.

A mini ice age gripped Europe between the mid-1400s and the mid-1800s. The coldest years were between 1645 and 1715.

Winter landscape with iceskaters, c. 1608, Hendrick Avercamp

On May 19, 1780 a combination of thick smoke, fog, and heavy cloud cover caused darkness to fall on parts of Canada and the New England area of the United States by noon.

US president Ulysses S. Grant signed on February 9, 1870 a joint resolution of Congress establishing the U.S. Weather Bureau (later renamed the National Weather Service).

Abbott Lawrence Rotch established the Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory in 1885, which maintains the longest-running meteorological record of any observation site in the United States.

The first use of the term “heatwave” for a period of hot weather was in New York in 1913.

Soviet meteorologist Pavel Molchanov launched in 1930 one of the world's first radiosondes, a device attached to weather balloons to measure various atmospheric parameters.

RECORDS 

For 90 years, the highest temperature ever recorded in the shade was 57.8C (136F) in Al-ʿAzīzīyah, Libya, on September 13, 1922.  In January 2012, the WMO decertified the 1922 record, citing persuasive evidence that it was a faulty reading recorded in error by an inexperienced observer.

With the 1913 record decertified, the highest established recorded temperature on Earth would be 54.0 °C (129.2 °F), also recorded in Death Valley, California on June 20, 2013, and in Mitribah, Kuwait on July 21, 2016.

The highest temperature ever recorded in the United Kingdom –  40.3 °C (104.5 °F) - was recorded at Coningsby, Lincolnshire on July 19, 2022. The record-breaking heat wave in the UK was caused by a combination of factors, including a high-pressure system that brought hot air from the Sahara Desert and a lack of cloud cover that allowed the sun to beat down on the ground. 

The world's lowest temperature was recorded at Vostok Station, Antarctica on July 21, 1983 at -89.2 °C (-128.6 °F).

The lowest ever temperature in North America is −63.0 °C (−81.4 °F). It was measured at Snag, Yukon, Canada on February 3, 1947. This small village is located near the Alaska border, and it is known for its harsh climate. 

A record high barometric pressure of 1085.6 hPa (32.06 inHg) was recorded at Tosontsengel, Khövsgöl Province, Mongolia on December 19, 2001. This incredible pressure reading, officially recognized by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), is a testament to the immense forces at play in our atmosphere. It occurred during a particularly strong Siberian High pressure system, characterized by sinking air, cold temperatures, and clear skies. These conditions combined to compress the air column over Tonsontsengel, leading to the record-breaking pressure measurement. For comparison, the average atmospheric pressure at sea level is around 1,013 hPa (29.92 inHg). So, the pressure recorded in Tonsontsengel was a whopping 7% higher than average! 

The lowest recorded non-tornadic atmospheric pressure of 87.0 kPa (870 mbar or 25.69 inHg), occurred in the Western Pacific during Typhoon Tip on October 12, 1979.

Yuma, Arizona is the sunniest place in the world. It experiences an average of 4,015 hours of sunshine per year.

On May 3, 1999 the Bridge Creek–Moore tornado devastated southern portions of Oklahoma City. It was an extraordinarily powerful F5 tornado during which a Doppler on Wheels team measured the fastest winds recorded on Earth (301 ± 20 mph, or 484 ± 32 km/h) near Bridge Creek, Oklahoma.

Bridge Creek Tornado By Erin D. Maxwell

The strongest planetary winds discovered so far are on the extrasolar planet HD 189733 b, which is thought to have easterly winds moving at more than 9,600 kilometres per hour (6,000 mph).

1 kilogram (2.2 lb) hailstones fell on the Gopalganj district of Bangladesh on April 14, 1986, killing 92. These are the heaviest hailstones ever recorded.

FUN WEATHER FACTS

The patron saint against bad weather is St Medard who according to legend was once sheltered from the rain by a hovering eagle.

The patron saints for good weather are St Clare of Assisi and St Agricola of Avignon.

Changing another country's weather is considered a war crime under the Geneva Convention of 1976.

Every two to five years the sea water temperature rises in surface waters of the tropical Pacific Ocean. The event is called El Niño meaning "The Christ Child". Fishermen in South America named the unique weather after observing that it came around Christmas time.

Here is a list of songs with weather conditions in the title.

Weasel

The Weasel is a carnivorous mammal of the family Mustelidae, which feeds mainly on mice, voles and rats.

There are 17 species, and they live all over the world except for Antarctica and Australasia.

Of the 17 extant species currently classified in the genus Mustela, 10 have "weasel" in their common names. Among those that do not are the ferret, the European mink, the polecat and the stoat.

A group of weasels may be referred to as a "boogle", "confusion", "gang" or "pack".

Weasels have an elongated body, short legs and tail. They vary in length from 173 to 217 mm (6.8 to 8.5 in).

Pixiebay

The least weasel is the world’s smallest mamilian carnivore. Average body length in males is 130 to 260 mm (5 to 10 in), while females average 114 to 204 mm (4.5 to 8.0 in).

The weasel fur is red or brown, but in winter in cold climates it turns white, as camouflage against snow.

Weasels are small, active predators. Their body shape is adapted to going down burrows after prey such as rabbits.

Weasels have been known to kill prey up to ten times their size.

They are adept hunters that eat around 40% of their body weight each day.

Aside from when they are mating or weaning young, weasels are solitary animals that fend for themselves in the wild.

Pixiebay

A weasel can be pregnant for anything from 35 to 337 days. Once an egg has been fertilised, implantation of the embryo — when the young weasel, or kit, begins to grow in the womb — is often delayed until closer to spring, and warmer weather, giving it a greater chance of survival.

Source Havahart

Weapon

A weapon is any implement used for attack and defence. Man has been constantly developing newer and better weapons ever since he picked up the first rock; from simple clubs and bows and arrows in prehistoric times to machine guns and nuclear bombs in modern times.

Pixabay

Saint Barbara (d235) of Nicomedia, Turkey, spent her youth on her own in a tower, especially built for her by her father to protect her from the world. She converted to Christianity, against the will of her father and rejected an offer of marriage that she received through him. After attempts to un-convert proved unsuccessful, Barbara's father struck off her head. Immediately he was struck by lightning and his body was consumed. As a result Barbara was made the patron saint of artillery. Her Feast Day is December 4th.

The Macuahuitl was an ancient weapon used by Mesoamerican peoples (Aztecs/Mayans) - The weapon looked similar to a cricket bat but had sides covered in obsidian stone blades. It was described as being sharp enough to decapitate a man.

Greek Fire was an incendiary weapon developed by the Byzantines in the 7th century. Used on both land and sea, it was deployed on ships, and in handheld tubes, operating similar to a flamethrower. Water didn’t extinguish it. The formula of Greek Fire was a jealously guarded secret passed from Emperor to Emperor until the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453 and its precise chemical composition is still unknown.

The first great revolution in warfare came with the invention of gunpowder by the Chinese in the 11th century. At first they used it in fireworks and rockets rather than weapons.

Explosives were first used at the The Battle of Caishi a major naval engagement of the Jin–Song Wars of China that took place on November 26–27, 1161. During the battle, the paddle-wheel warships of the Song fleet, equipped with trebuchets that launched incendiary bombs made of gunpowder and lime, decisively defeated the light ships of the Jin navy.

Ancient Chinese cannon displayed in the Tower of London. Wikipedia

During the Middle Ages in England, there were laws in place that required freemen to own weapons and armor based on their wealth. The exact requirements varied over time and by region, but in general, the laws were intended to ensure that the population was prepared to defend the realm in times of war or other emergencies.

One such law was the Assize of Arms, which was enacted in 1181 during the reign of King Henry II. This law required all freemen who possessed property worth more than 16 marks to be armed with a hauberk (mail shirt), a helmet, a shield, and a lance. Those with less wealth were required to have other types of armor, such as a padded jacket (gambeson) or a leather jerkin, and a sword or other weapon.

Around 1300 guns were invented by the Arabs, with bamboo muzzles reinforced with iron.

The Europeans began using gunpowder to make guns and cannons in the 14th century. The Siege of Algeciras (1342–44) was one of the first European military engagements where gunpowder was used. The siege was undertaken during the reconquest of Spain by the Castillian forces of Alfonso XI. When the Castilians used trebuchets to launch heavy stone balls against Algeciras, the main Moor-held city on the north side of the Bay of Gibraltar, the city’s defenders returned fire using bombards, or early cannon,

British Army officer Henry Shrapnel (June 3, 1761 – March 13, 1842)) invented the explosive shell that gave shrapnel its name in the 1780s. He first demonstrated his invention of what he called "spherical case" ammunition: a hollow cannonball which exploded in the air, spewing out lead shot in 1787. After his invention's success in battle at Fort New Amsterdam, Suriname, on April 30, 1804,  Shrapnel was promoted to lieutenant colonel. Henry Shrapnel's surname is now synonymous with fragmentation from, or caused by, artillery.

Empty fired shrapnel shells at Sanctuary Wood, Belgium By Flickr user amandabhslater

In 1841 during a naval battle between Argentina and Uruguay, the Uruguayan vessel ran out of cannonballs. The captain ordered his men to shove the hard balls of cheese they had onboard into the cannons and to fire those. The cheese tore holes in the Argentine ship's sails and killed two sailors.

TNT was discovered by German chemist Julius Wilbrand in 1863. It was originally used as a yellow dye and its explosive properties were not discovered until 1891. The German armed forces adopted it as a filling for artillery shells in 1902.

The Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel demonstrated dynamite for the first time, at a quarry in Redhill, Surrey, England in 1867. The first batch of dynamite was made in a factory set up at a desolate site far from houses in Ardeer, Ayrshire, Scotland six years later.

London-based American inventor Hiram Maxim invented the world's first portable fully automatic machine gun, which could shoot many bullets very fast in 1884. Maxim's brutally efficient guns and its successors inflicted horrific casualties. They worked so well - providing continuous or frequent bursts of automatic fire for as long as ammunition lasted. - that some believed the weapon would end war altogether.

The Vickers was the successor to the Maxim gun

The use of toxic chemicals as weapons dates back thousands of years, but the first large scale use of chemical weapons was during World War I. The most frequently used chemicals were tear-inducing irritants rather than fatal or disabling poison. The first killing agent was chlorine gas, which was released by the Germans in the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915.

Tanks were used for the first time by the British at Cambrai in 1917 when they proved their unmistakable value in clearing the battleground for the infantry following behind them.

In 1939 Albert Einstein sent a letter to Franklin D Roosevelt suggesting America start researching the atom bomb with war looking imminent in order to prevent Germany making it first. Roosevelt agreed to set up the project to build the bomb under American theoretical physicist and professor of physics J. Robert Oppenheimer.

The first intercontinental weapon was not a missile, but rather a Japanese balloon. During World War II, the Japanese military devised a plan known as the "Fu-Go" or "Fire Balloon" campaign. The objective was to launch large hydrogen-filled balloons equipped with incendiary devices across the Pacific Ocean to reach the United States.

Between 1944 and 1945, the Japanese launched over 9,000 balloons towards North America, with around 300 reaching their intended targets. The balloons traveled great distances, some as far as the western United States and even reaching as far east as Michigan. While the campaign did not cause significant damage or casualties, it was a unique and innovative attempt by the Japanese military to carry out intercontinental attacks. 

The first test explosion of an atom bomb took place in 1945 when Oppenheimer tested his new weapon deep in the New Mexico desert. The bomb exploded with force equivalent to 18,000 tons of TNT. Describing the scene, Oppenheimer said he was not reminded of a line from the Bhagavad-Gita, an ancient Hindu scripture. "I am become death: the destroyer of worlds."

The Japanese city of Hiroshima became the first city in history to be targeted by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it on August 6, 1945, near the end of the Second World War.

The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of the Japanese city of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945

For the first time in military history, a civilian population was targeted for chemical attack when Iraqi warplanes bombed the Iranian town of Sardasht in 1987.

Nearly all Japanese school staff are trained to use a weapon called the Sasumata. It is a two pronged people catcher based off a medieval weapon of war that is used to immobilize intruders.

While other animals use weapons, in most cases they are attached to the animal (teeth, tusks, claws, etc.). However, chimpanzees are capable of making spears to hunt other primates. They have been seen using the weapons (which were on average about 75 cms) to stab bushbabies sleeping in their nests in tree hollows for meat,

Here is a list of songs with weapons in the title.

John Wayne

John Wayne was the archetypal Western star. His films included Stagecoach (1939), The Searchers (1956) and True Grit (1969).

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He was born Marion Morrison on May 26, 1907 at 224 South Second Street in Winterset, Iowa.

Marion moved as a child to Glendale, California. A football star at Glendale High School, he attended the University of Southern California on a scholarship but dropped out after two years as a result of a bodysurfing accident, He tore ligaments in his shoulder while riding the surf near Balboa Pier.

After finding work locally as a movie studio laborer, Wayne befriended director John Ford, then a rising talent.

His first acting jobs were bit parts in which he was credited as Duke Morrison. "Duke" was a nickname derived from the name of a beloved childhood pet, a huge Airedale Terrier.

Wayne's college buddy, director Raoul Walsh, saw him moving studio furniture while working as a prop boy and cast him in his first starring role in The Big Trail (1930).

It was during this time that Marion Morrison became "John Wayne," when Raoul Walsh didn't think Marion was a good name for an actor playing a tough western hero.

Only leading roles in B movies followed during the 1930s, most of them also Westerns. Wayne's career was rejuvenated when John Ford's Stagecoach was released on March 2, 1939. Wayne's role as The Ringo Kid made him an instant mainstream star. Stagecoach was actually his 80th feature film. 

John Wayne wore a toupee beginning in about 1948. Wayne felt more confident wearing his toupee and never denied it. He often joked saying "It's not phony, it's real hair. Of course, it's not mine, but it's real."

Joseph Stalin ordered the KGB to kill John Wayne because he considered his anti-communist rhetoric a threat to the Soviet Union. He allegedly sent more than one hit squad to do the job.

When Nikita Khrushchev visited the United States he made two requests: to visit Disneyland and meet John Wayne.

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On May 31, 1956, Buddy Holly went to the movies. He saw the John Wayne film The Searchers, where Wayne repeatedly says, "That'll be the day."

On April 7, 1970 John Wayne, a movie veteran of around 150 films, won his first and only Academy Award for his role as a cantankerous one-eyed marshal in True Grit.

Studio Directors knew to film John Wayne's scenes before noon, because by the afternoon he was a 'real mean drunk'.

John Wayne did a commercial for Australian shoe company Grosby's when he was in Australia for an award show. He only took a small fee as he was impressed that the small ad agency representing them had actually asked him.

America, Why I Love Her, A LP of poetry read by John Wayne reached #66 on the US albums chart. Released on March 1, 1973, the record consists of patriotic poems written by actor John Mitchum, the brother of Robert Mitchum.

John Wayne had an 18-inch neck.

He smoked six packs of cigarettes a day.

Wayne had lung cancer in the 1960s. He had his left lung removed in 1964 and was declared cancer free five years later. Wayne has been credited with coining the term "The Big C" as a euphemism for cancer.

He made his last public appearance at the Academy Awards ceremony on April 9, 1979.

John Wayne played the leading role in 142 of his 153 movies. 83 of his lead roles were in Westerns.

Wayne's 142 movies, in a career spanning 50 years, grossed a half-billion dollars or more.

John Wayne died at age 72 on June 11, 1979 from stomach cancer. The cancer was likely caused by radiation poisoning. 91 other cast and crew also developed cancers after shooting The Conqueror downwind from recent US government nuclear weapons tests in 1956. By the end of 1980, 46 members of the film’s cast and crew had died from some form of the disease.

Despite the suggestion that Wayne's lung cancer in the 1960s also was a  result of nuclear contamination, the actor himself believed it was a result of his six-pack-a-day cigarette habit.

The house in Winterset, Iowa, where Wayne was born in 1907 is below. The John Wayne Birthplace Museum is located near the downtown area at 216 South 2nd Street.

Here is a list of songs inspired by John Wayne.