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.

Torpedo

A torpedo is a self-propelled underwater weapon with an explosive warhead.

Pixiebay

It was a British engineer Richard Whitehead who invented the self-propelled torpedo in 1866. He designed a missile launched from a ship in an underwater tube, powered by compressed air and with an internal mechanism that adjusted itself to stay at a constant depth.

Whitehead was the manager of a factory in Fiume (now Rijeka, Croatia). A prototype of the world's first self-propelled torpedo was constructed in Fiume by a commission placed by Whitehead and an Austro-Hungarian naval officer Giovanni Luppis.

Robert Whitehead (right) examining a battered test torpedo in Fiume c. 1875.

The first ship to be sunk by Whitehead's invention was the Turkish steamer Intibah in 1878, after being hit by a torpedo launched from a Russian warship.

In August 1915 during a World War I encounter, a British Short Type 184 seaplane dropped a torpedo and sank a Turkish supply ship near the coast of Gallipoli, becoming the world's first torpedo bomber.

On May 7, 1915, U-20 torpedoed and sank the ocean liner Lusitania off the west of Ireland. Almost 1200 died including 120 Americans. The sinking was an important factor in the USA's decision to join the Allied cause.

15 year-old World War One Royal Navy officer Wenman Wykeham-Musgrave, survived being torpedoed on three different ships within one hour, all of which sunk, swimming to each after abandonment of the last. Musgrave went on to survive the war and live a full life until 1989.

The Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr, once described as the most beautiful woman in the world, helped invent a torpedo guidance system during World War II. It led to the development of GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technology.

Not all torpedoes are designed to pierce hulls then explode, some detonate below the target ship without making contact. This creates a gas bubble that causes the ship to be thrust out of the water then dropped back into the resulting void, often breaking the vessel in half and sinking it.

Source Iwm

Tommy Gun

The Thompson submachine gun, also known informally as the "Tommy Gun", was designed by US General John Thompson in 1918.

Thompson 1921 SMG. By Hmaag

The Thompson submachine gun's nicknames, apart from Tommy Gun, also included the 'Chicago typewriter' because of the hammering sound when fired.

The Tommy Gun was intended to replace the unwieldy rifle in First World War trenches, but production didn't start until just before the conflict ended. The first cases of the new rifle arrived on the docks for shipment on November 11, 1918; the same day the war ended.

In 1919 General Thompson had the company he founded, Auto-Ordnance Company, modify the gun for civilian use. The gun was classified as a submachine gun, meaning a small, fully automatic, hand-held gun that fires pistol ammunition. The first model, called the M1921, was produced in 1921.  

General John T. Thompson holding an M1921

The Colt Patent Firearms Company made 15,000 Model 1921A Thompson submachine guns for Auto-Ordinance at a cost of $38.25 each in 1921. 

The model 1921 were used during the Irish Civil War (1922-23) after being supplied by US sympathizers of independence. The Irish freedom fighters were not impressed by the fact they could only kill about 32 percent of those they fired at.

The US postal service was an early customer – staff used the guns to fend off robbers.

The Tommy Gun's ease of use also made it the weapon of choice for Prohibition-era gangsters. The round magazine made them awkward to hide so mobsters carried them in violin cases. 

Tommy gun in violin case

Al Capone hitman Sam Hunt kept his Tommy Gun among his golf clubs, earning himself the nickname Golf Bag.

One Tommy Gun believed to have been owned by Bonnie and Clyde sold at auction on January 21, 2012, in Kansas City for $130,000 (£84,000). 

The US military began using the Tommy Gun in 1938 and used it throughout World War II. It was later used during the Korean War and later during the Vietnam War. 

A British soldier equipped with a Thompson M1928 submachine gun

The Queen Mother held a Tommy Gun during the Second World War and remarked on how light it was.

 A fully automatic Thompson submachine gun can fire up to 900 rounds per minute.

Although the original fully automatic Thompsons are no longer produced, numerous semi-automatic civilian versions are still being manufactured by Auto-Ordnance. 

More than 2.7 million Thompson submachine guns are thought to have been made.

Source Daily Mail 

Tank

Britain developed the first Tanks for use during World War I. The idea of armored vehicles was first thought up by Britain's official war correspondent, Ernest Swinton, who suggested the crawler tractors used to pull artillery on the Western Front could be used as offensive weapons with the capability to climb a five-foot obstacle, span a five-foot trench, resist small arms fire and travel at 4mph.

When the British army was developing the vehicles, known as 'landships', they didn't want to give the Germans any clue what they were up to – so the name 'tank,' which doesn't mean anything, was used to throw them off. It stuck.

British World War I Mark V* tank

On September 15, 1916, during the Battle of the Somme, the British sent into action eleven vehicles of an entirely new kind, the Mark I tank. On this first occasion they make relatively little impression. But on their second outing, at Cambrai in November 1917, they proved their unmistakable value in clearing the battleground for the infantry following behind them. 

The Battle of Kursk was a Second World War engagement between German and Soviet forces on the Eastern Front near Kursk (450 kilometres or 280 miles south-west of Moscow) in the Soviet Union, during July and August 1943. It was the largest tank battle ever fought, with each side deploying nearly 3,000 tanks.

Battle of Kursk. By Bundesarchiv, Bild 

New Zealand's first tank in World War II had to stop to change gears. 

In World War II the Dutch army only had one tank available that got stuck in the mud on its way to the border.

After Mariya Oktyabrskaya's husband died fighting the Nazis in 1941, she requested to be allowed to drive a tank to avenge her husband. The widow sold her possessions to fund a T34 tank, which she piloted herself. Oktyabrskaya proved herself a skilled tank driver, before dying from injuries obtained in battle, and was posthumously named Hero of the Soviet Union.

In 1953, an Australian Centurion main battle tank survived a nuclear test only 500 yards away. Despite damage from the explosion, it was still functional. It served for 23 more years, including 15 months of service in Vietnam.

A Challenger tank destroyed an Iraqi tank with a DU round fired over a distance of 5,100 metres (over 3 miles) during the Persian Gulf War—the longest tank-on-tank kill shot recorded.

Since just after World War II, all British Army tanks have contained tea-making facilities.

The Challenger 2 tank was designed in the 1980s, when the United Kingdom was still using imperial measurements. However, the turret was designed by a French company, which uses metric measurements. This means the tank require two different sets of tools.

When his city council denied a permit to build on empty lot, a London man applied for a permit for a tank. Thinking it was a water storage container, the council approved. Instead the man bought a Russian T-34 tank, parked it on his property and pointed the gun towards the city planning office. 

The Soviet Union's T-54/55 series was the most-produced tank in military history. Estimated production numbers for the series range from 86,000 to 100,000. 

While some have been destroyed through friendly fire, not one M1A1 Abrams tank has ever been destroyed in combat by enemy fire.

Source HistoryWorld

Sword

A sword is a hand-held weapon made for cutting, which is often made of metal. It has a long blade, and a handle called a hilt. It can be used either for cutting, slashing or stabbing, depending on the type of sword.

Pixiebay

The first weapons that can be described as "swords" date to around 3300 BC. Found in Arslantepe, Turkey, they are made from arsenical bronze, and are about 60 cm (24 in) long.

Swords created from bronze were made by blacksmiths in Ancient Egypt. Soon other cultures adopted them, and they began to spread quite quickly.

Sword swallowing was first introduced in India in 2000 BC where it was a demonstration of divinity and power. From there, it spread to China and Japan for theatrical performance.

Swords found together with the Nebra skydisk, ca. 1600 BC.By Dbachmann,

The Sword of Goujian is a completely untarnished 2000-year-old sword that was found in an ancient Chinese tomb. It has an unusual sharpness for its age, which is due to its unique copper composition and the air tight scabbard it was found in, keeping the sword sealed from the elements.

Before iron became increasingly common from the 13th century BC, the use of swords was less frequent. However, the easier production and availability of iron compared with bronze permitted for the first time the equipment of entire armies with metal weapons.

The Aztecs made swords embedded with prismatic obsidian blades that are far sharper than even high quality present day steel razor blades. (See picture below).

https://www.disclose.tv

Viking smiths used the bones of their dead ancestors and slain animals to strengthen their swords, hoping to transfer the spirit into their blades. This did strengthen their swords though because the carbon in bones combined with iron led to the formation of a primitive form of steel. 

Ulfberht swords were a group of medieval swords found in Europe, dating to the 9th to 11th centuries that were made of a metal called “Crucible Steel”. Unlike the iron swords of the period, which contained very little carbon and some impurities, and so were brittle and broke easily, the crucible steel swords contained more carbon and were practically free of particulates and impurities. The exceptional quality of this steel made them so valuable that forgers faked the name Ulfberht on lower-quality swords, the equivalent of a fake designer logo.

Portuguese soldiers used black swords in the Age of Discovery in order to not reflect the light and announce their presence on ships, avoiding also its rusting when used near salt water.

Miyamoto Musashi of Japan (c. 1584 – June 13, 1645), was regarded as one of the greatest swordsmen of all time. He won his first duel at the age of 12, beating his Samurai opponent to death with his wooden sword. 

Musashi became renowned through stories of his unique double-bladed swordsmanship and undefeated record in his 61 duels (next is 33 by Itō Ittōsai). He is considered the Kensei, sword-saint of Japan. 

Miyamoto Musashi wielding two bokken. Woodblock print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi

For all their swashbuckling reputation, Alexandre Dumas' Three Musketeers would have taken 20 seconds to reload and fire a musket, which explains why the all-action heroes tended to use swords instead.

The sword began to lose its pre-eminence in the early 19th century, reflecting the development of reliable handguns. However, at the outbreak of World War I infantry officers in all combatant armies still carried swords as part of their field equipment. Since the late 1920s and early 1930s, this historic weapon has been discarded by armies, except as a ceremonial part of uniforms.

Winston Churchill presented Joseph Stalin with a ceremonial Sword of Stalingrad in 1943. It was constructed of gold, silver, and crystal. Stalin kissed the sword and handed it to Marshal 
Voroshilov - who promptly dropped it.

Nobuo Fujita, the Japanese pilot who attacked a town in Oregon during World War II returned years later to present his family's 400-year-old samurai sword to the city as a symbol of regret.

It took humanity approximately four times longer to switch from copper swords to steel swords than it took to switch from steel swords to nuclear bombs. 

The three swords that are used in fencing have evolved from different weapons of combat. The foil developed from the light French court sword and was also the practice weapon of the 17th century. The epee evolved from the 16th-century rapier used by the French musketeers. The saber derives from the slashing cavalry sword of the 18th-century Hungarian hussars.

Pixiebay

At weddings, the bride normally stands to the left of the groom so that his sword hand is free to defend against other suitors.

Today, in order to become an approved member of the Sword Swallowers Association International, they require you to swallow a blade between 15 and 20 inches in length.

Modern day Japanese swordsmiths are required by law to use traditional Katana forging techniques, despite the fact that modern day steel does not need to be folded multiple times.

All of the actors in Pirates of the Caribbean learned how to work swords in Pirates School, which included getting trained by the late famed swordsman Bob Anderson, who also was the lightsaber master that fought battles as Darth Vader in Star Wars movies.

At 12 minutes, the climactic fight scene in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith holds the record for the longest sword fight in cinematic history.

Source Todayifoundout

Shooting

The earliest recorded shooting match was held in Eichstatt, Bavaria (now Germany), in 1477; the shooters, probably using matchlocks, competed at 220 yards (200 meters).

Many German museums have wooden targets dating back to the 16th century that were made for weddings and were shot at by the guests and then given to the host as a souvenir.

Shooting at a mark in Russia was recorded in 1737 when the Empress Anna Ivanovna established a target-shooting range at her court. The marks were live birds, and the most proficient marksmen were given gold and diamond studded cups. The royal shooting matches became a tradition.

The English military conducted research on various rifles from 1800, especially emphasizing long-range shooting. The first book in English on target rifle shooting was published eight years later.

Edward Hacker (1813-1905), after Abraham Cooper, RA, (1787–1868)

The first public shooting range was founded in St. Petersburg in 1834 for rifles or handguns.

By the middle of the 19th century, long-range shooting had become so popular that at the first prize meeting in 1860 of the National Rifle Association, Queen Victoria fired the first shot.

During World War I trench guns were given to US soldiers skilled in trap shooting so they could shoot incoming grenades out of the air.

The young Alexander Fleming had been a private in the London Scottish Regiment of the Volunteer Force and had been a member of the rifle club at the medical school. The captain of the club knew that Fleming was a great shot, and wished to retain him in the team. He worked in the Inoculation Service and he convinced Fleming to join his department in order to join the research department at St Mary's, where he became assistant bacteriologist to Sir Almroth Wright, a pioneer in vaccine therapy and immunology. Fleming would stay at St. Mary's for the rest of his career.

Károly Takács was a Hungarian Army officer and competitive shooter who competed in the rapid-fire pistol event. In 1938, Takács was badly injured when a grenade exploded in his right hand, rendering it unusable. Despite this setback, he decided to continue shooting and switched to using his non-dominant left hand. He went on to win the Hungarian National Pistol Shooting Championship in 1939, and then went on to win gold medals in the rapid-fire pistol event at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London and the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki.

The International Shooting Union (ISSF) barred women from shooting with men in 1993, after Zhang Shan won the gold medal in Skeet Shooting in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. The ISSF claimed that the reason for the ban was to "level the playing field" between men and women. However, many people believe that the ban was actually motivated by sexism.

Zhang Shan's victory in 1992 was a major upset. She was the first Chinese woman to win an Olympic gold medal in shooting, and she did it by beating a field of all-male competitors. Her victory was a watershed moment for women's shooting, and it showed that women were just as capable as men of competing at the highest level.

Alcohol is banned in professional shooting competition as it is considered a performance enhancing drug.

Pixiebay

The term 'sniper' originally referred to hunters skilled enough to shoot Snipe – a small bird said to be difficult to hit.

Source Compton's Encyclopedia

Rocket

A rocket is a projectile driven by the reaction of gases produced by a fast burning fuel. Some rockets are manned (e.g. Saturn V). Other rockets, for example missiles, are unmanned.

Unlike the jet engine, which is also a reaction engine, the rocket carries its own oxygen supply to burn and fume and it's totally independent of any surrounding atmosphere.

The name Rocket comes from the Italian rocchetta, meaning "bobbin" or "little spindle", given due to the similarity in shape to the bobbin or spool used to hold the thread to be fed to a spinning wheel.

ROCKETS IN WARFARE

In warfare the head of the rocket carries an explosive device. The military rocket was invented by the Chinese while using gunpowder. The earliest known use of rockets in war between Mongols and Chinese occurred in 1232.

In Europe, Konrad Kyeser described rockets in his military treatise Bellifortis around 1405.

Depiction of a rocket (1405)

Rockets carrying an explosive device were encountered in India in the 18th century by the British forces.

The rocket missile was re- invented by Sir William Congreve in England around 1805 and remained in use by various armies in the 19th century.

German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun invented the V-2 rocket for Nazi Germany.

During World War II, rockets were effectively used by aircraft, and by the Germans in their V-2 attacks in the London area in 1944-45.

Peenemünde Museum replica of V-2. By AElfwine at the French language Wikipedia,

During World War II more people were killed building V-2 Rockets than were killed by the rockets themselves.

Nazi Germany spent 50% more on the V2 rocket program than the U.S. did on the Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb.

Since World War II the devastating combination refined precise guidance systems with atomic warheads has produced rocket missiles which are the key to enter international power politics.

ROCKETS AS SPACE TRANSPORT

Rockets have been valued as fireworks over the last seven centuries, but the intense development as a means of propulsion to high attitudes - carrying payloads - started only in the interwar years.

Cyrano de Bergerac’s satirical novel L’Autre Monde (The Other World) published after the author's death, in 1657 suggested that rockets could carry humans into space.

In 1903 the Russian mathematician Konstantin Tsiolkovsky published a paper showing that liquid fuels and multistage rockets could attain lift-off for a spacecraft. His formulae are still in use.

In 1914 pioneer rocket scientist and New England physics professor Robert H. Goddard patented liquid rocket fuel, though he didn't get a rocket off the ground for another dozen years.

Robert H. Goddard was inspired to invent the rocket technology by H.G. Wells' 1898 novel The War of the Worlds.

Robert H. Goddard successfully launched the world's first liquid-fueled rocket at Auburn, Massachusetts on March 16, 1926. It rose 41 feet and went 184 feet, in 2.5 seconds.,

Goddard with a liquid oxygen-gasoline rocket (1926)

Wernher von Braun (March 23, 1912 – June 16, 1977) was the greatest German rocket scientist. Among his designs were the V-2 ballistic missile used by Germany during World War II and the Saturn V rocket used by NASA on the Apollo moon missions.

In 1928 the German film director Fritz Lang introduced the 5-4-3-2-1 when he used a backward countdown in his movie By Rocket To The Moon. He thought it would make things more suspenseful if the count is reversed.

The first successful launch of a V-2 /A4-rocket was made from Test Stand VII at Peenemünde, Germany on October 3, 1942.

21 months later, a V-2 rocket became the first man-made object to travel into space by crossing the Kármán line with the vertical launch of MW 18014 on June 20, 1944

Following World War II, Von Brann was secretly moved from Germany to the United States, along with about 1,600 other scientists, engineers, and technicians, as part of Operation Paperclip, where he developed the rockets that launched the United States' first space satellite Explorer 1, and the Apollo program manned lunar landings.

Von Braun in 1960

The Space Age begun in 1949 with the first rocket, a V2/WAC-Corporal, blasted into outer space from White Sands, Mexico.

Berthold Seliger launched a rocket with three stages and a maximum flight altitude of more than 100 kilometres near Cuxhaven in 1963. It was the only sounding rocket developed in Germany.

In 1920, The New York Times ridiculed Robert H. Goddard and claimed that rockets could not function in space. On July 17, 1969, a day after the Apollo 11 launch, the newspaper formally acknowledged their error.

Britain’s Black Arrow rocket launched the satellite Prospero into space from Woomera in South Australia to orbit the Earth on October 28, 1971. It was the first and last launch of a solely British space rocket.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos funded a team that searched the Atlantic Ocean for discarded NASA rockets. By 2013, the team had salvaged two rockets. After careful inspection, the team realized they found part of the rockets used to carry Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins to the moon on Apollo 11.

Falcon 9 Flight 20 (also known as Orbcomm OG2 M2), was a Falcon 9 space launch that occurred on December 21, 2015, the first time that the first stage of an orbital rocket made a successful return and vertical landing.

First stage of Falcon 9 flight 20 landing on a ground pad in December 2015

Electron is a two-stage orbital launch vehicle developed by New Zealand aerospace company Rocket Lab to cover the commercial small satellite launch segment (CubeSats). Its Rutherford engines are the first electric pump-fed engine to power an orbital rocket. Electron became the first rocket to reach orbit using an electric pump-fed engine on January 21, 2018.

On April 20, 2023, SpaceX conducted the Starship Flight Test, an orbital test flight that involved the inaugural launch of the Starship spacecraft coupled with the Super Heavy first stage booster. This mission established the Starship as the tallest and most robust rocket ever launched, producing double the thrust of the Saturn V rocket from the 1960s. The launch took place from the Starbase launch facility situated in the vicinity of Boca Chica, Texas. It exploded almost four minutes into the flight after it reached a peak altitude of 24 miles (39 km).

FUN ROCKET FACTS

Both of actor Jack Black's parents were rocket scientists.

Jack Black's mom, Judith Love Cohen, helped create the Abort-Guidance System which rescued the Apollo 13 astronauts. She went to work on the day she was in labor and took a printout of a problem she was working on to the hospital. She called her boss and said she'd finished the problem then gave birth to Jack Black.

The insulation of the fuel tanks on a Saturn V rocket was so good an ice cube placed inside would take eight years to melt.

Some rockets may reach speeds of up to 30'000 km/hr (Mach 25) when in orbit.

A rocket engine has to supply its own oxygen so it can burn fuel in outer space.

Source Hutchinson Encyclopedia

Rifle

The rifle is a gun with a stock to brace against the shoulder and spiral grooves in its barrel. The grooves are called rifling and they make the bullet spin as it flies through the air, which helps keep it travelling in a straight line. Rifled guns came into use in the 1500s.

RIFLES IN HISTORY

One of the most early successful rifles, the long rifle, was developed in the Kentucky territory over the course of the 18th century

Long rifles By Antique Military Rifles - originally posted to Flickr as Kentucky's,

The English military conducted research on various rifles from 1800, especially emphasizing long-range shooting. The first book in English on target rifle shooting was published eight year later.

Long-range shooting became so popular that at the first prize meeting in 1860 of the National Rifle Association, Queen Victoria fired the first shot.

The Massachusetts Rifle Association, "America's Oldest Active Gun Club", was founded in 1875.

The Short Magazine Lee-Enfield Mk III was officially introduced into British Military Service on January 26, 1907. It remains the second oldest military rifle still in official use.

If you were to fire a bullet from a Lee Enfield .303 rifle — the standard rifle of British military up to the mid-Fifties — directly up into the air, it would take about 55 seconds for it to land.

Short Magazine Lee–Enfield No. 1 Mk. III

Scottish biologist Alexander Fleming took top scores in the qualifying examinations for medical school, and he had the choice of three to choose between. Knowing little about them, he chose St. Mary's because he had played water polo against them. He decided to pursue bacteriology rather than becoming a surgeon for another sporting reason. If he took a position as a surgeon, he would have to leave St. Mary's. The captain of St. Mary's rifle club knew that and was desperate to improve his team. Knowing that Fleming was a great shot he did all he could to keep him at St. Mary's. The captain worked in the inoculation service and he convinced Fleming to join his department in order to work with its brilliant director -- and to join the rifle club. Fleming would stay at St. Mary's for the rest of his career.

The United States Army adopted the M1 semiautomatic rifle in 1936.

Japan had the most advanced sniper rifle reticle design in World War II with modern features such as bullet drop compensation and stadia range finding similar to the Soviet SVD reticle design that came out some 25 years later.

Ronnie Barrett, the designer of the .50 cal M82 sniper rifle in 1982, was a photographer with no background in manufacturing or engineering. Barrett designed every single part of the weapon personally and then went on to market the weapon and mass-produce it out of his own pocket. He continued to develop his rifle through the 1980s, and developed the improved M82A1 rifle by 1986.

THE AK-47

The AK-47 assault rifle, one of the first proper assault rifles, was developed by Russian national Mikhail Kalashnikov in 1947. (AK-47 stands for Automatic.) Kalashnikov was a soldier in World War II who fought against the Nazis. He was inspired to make a better gun when lying wounded in hospital and hearing soldiers complain about Soviet weapons compared with superior German ones.

AK-47 By Allatur, Wikipedia

The AK-47, or Kalashnikov rifle, doesn't jam in sandy or wet conditions, and has killed more people than any other gun. "I sleep well. Politicians are to blame for resorting to violence,’ Kalashnikov would say when asked to justify his creation."

The AK-47 is the world’s most widely used assault rifle. Of the estimated 500 million firearms that exist, approximately 100 million belong to the Kalashnikov family, three-quarters of which are AK-47s. This means there is one for every 60 people on the planet.

In Russia, the Kalashnikov is a tremendous source of national pride. Kalashnikov Vodka has been marketed with souvenir bottles in the shape of the AK-47 Kalashnikov. There are also Kalashnikov watches and umbrellas.

In the 2005 movie Lord of War starring Nicolas Cage, the production team bought 3,000 real SA Vz. 58 rifles to stand in for AK-47s because they were cheaper than prop movie guns.

FUN RIFLE FACTS

The actor Charlton Heston (1923-2008) was an outspoken advocate for gun ownership in the U.S. and served as president of the National Rifle Association.

By PretoriaTravel 

A marine called customer service when his M107 .50 caliber sniper rifle failed during a gunfight with the Taliban. After several minutes the weapon was back in service.

The Nazis left behind so many of their Karabiner 98k rifles at the end of World War II that they ended up being used for the rest of the 20th century all over the world, and some were even used in Iraq after the 2003 invasion. Somewhere out there, an 80-year-old Nazi rifle is still used in warfare.

American citizens own more assault rifles than the British Army.

Source About.com

Revolver

The first portable guns were mentioned in several European texts of the second half of the 14th century.

The earliest examples of what today is called a revolver were made in Germany in the late 16th century. These weapons featured a single barrel with a revolving cylinder holding the powder and ball. It was not until the 1800s, however, they became affordable.

A breech-loading, multi-chambered revolver dating to around 1650 still survives.

The American Samuel Colt invented the first production-model revolver, the Colt Paterson. He received a U.S. patent for his repeating firearm containing a revolving cylinder with multiple chambers aligned with a single, stationary barrel on February 25, 1836. Colt had whittled a wood model with a pocket knife, while stationed on the S.S. Corlo.

Colt Paterson 5th Model

Later in 1836, Colt received a parent for the mechanism that led to the widespread use of the revolver, the mechanically indexing cylinder.

The Colt Paterson featured revolving chamber that housed five bullets of .28 and .36 calibers. However there was one major problem - the loading mechanism was not advanced enough and users had to partially disassemble the gun to reload it. In 1839, Colt added a capping window which enabled the user to reload the gun without disassembling it.

Colt did not invent the revolver, but his design was the first practical, working version of one, and he developed assembly-line techniques that drove down manufacturing costs. However, though the inventor's U.S. revolver patent gave him a monopoly on revolver manufacture until 1857, securing funding for his novel production system proved difficult, and his fledgling Colt's Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company struggled and eventually folded. Colt then turned to work on underwater mines and telegraph lines.

Colt re-established his gun manufacturing business after Captain Samuel Walker of the Texas Rangers placed an order for 1,000 revolvers in early 1847. Walker had acquired some of the first Colt revolvers produced during the Seminole War and saw first-hand their effective use as his 15-man unit defeated a larger force of 70 Comanche in Texas. The Captain wanted to order Colt revolvers for use by the Rangers in the Mexican-American War, and traveled to New York City and met Colt in a gunsmith's shop on January 4, 1847. The result was the first large sale of Colt's revolver pistols.

Colt's Armory, viewed from the east; from an 1857 engraving.

Samuel Colt was a clever marketer as well as a talented inventor. One of his slogans, “God created men, Colonel Colt made them equal,” (claiming that any person could, regardless of physical strength, defend themselves with a Colt gun) became a popular adage in American culture.

On a visit to Constantinople Samuel Colt gave a custom gold inlaid revolver to the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Abdülmecid I, and informed him that the Russians were buying his pistols. The Turkish ordered 5,000 pistols. Colt neglected to tell the Sultan that he had used the same tactic with the Russians.

In 1873, Colt introduced the famous Model 1873, also known as the Single Action Army, the "Colt .45" or simply, "the Peacemaker", A single-action revolver with a revolving cylinder holding six metallic cartridges it was one of the most famous handguns ever made.  Although originally made for the United States Army, the Model 1873 remained popular with ranchers, lawmen, and outlaws alike, into the early 21st century.

Second generation Colt Single Action Army

In 1848 Karl Marx was targeted for assassination when he met with two Prussian officers in his Cologne house. Dressed in his bathrobe he forced the officers out at the point of a revolver which, it turned out, was not loaded.

President James A. Garfield's killer Charles J. Guiteau bought a revolver with an ivory grip over a cheaper wooden grip because he thought it would look better as a museum piece after the assassination.

Pablo Picasso carried a revolver loaded with blanks, which he would use to shoot at people who questioned him about the meaning of his paintings.

The .44 Magnum revolver comes into Clint Eastwood’s often misquoted ‘ Do you feel lucky, punk?’ speech in the movie Dirty Harry. He in fact says: "But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world and would blow your head clean off, you’ve gotta ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?’" The gun has in fact never been the most powerful.