Famous Weapons In History

, , Leave a comment

They say kings and emperors built empires and kingdoms. The wars they waged against one another changes the course of history forever. Along with these legendary battles, famous weapons in history were born.

These remarkable tools for killing, among thousands of others, made their marks on the pages of history books. These influential weaponries caused both formation nations and even annihilation of civilizations. Built to either protect or destroy, the memory left by these artilleries remains in the heart of those who witnessed their destructive force.

1. Boiling Oil

Boiling Oil
Boiling Oil

Castle walls are the best defenses back in the medieval days. Although walls are sturdy and tough, infantries use ladders to breach these fortresses. This brought up the idea of using a backup weapon to support the defenses provided by the city walls. Boiling oils are one of the famous weaponries that were used to backup the castle walls.

Oil is very obtainable, thus, making it a good military hardware. Women back at those days were eager to share cooking oils to the military at times of war. They thought of it as a diminutive fee to protect their households.

2. Catapult/Trebuchet

Catapult
Catapult

Catapult is another famous artillery that will be able to demolish or bypass castle walls. This heavy machinery became even further destructive when Chinese people discovered a new version that is more powerful than the first one, the trebuchets. It can carry 140 kg and sling it to the enemy walls at a maximum range of more or less than 740 meters.

Aside from stones and fireballs, ancient people also used it to throw dead human or animal bodies in order to cast a plague on to enemy lands. This strategy was one of the first biological weaponries in the history of humanity.

3. Crossbow

Crossbow
Crossbow

Although the first model of crossbows was a bit weaker than bows, arbalest, a much larger and more powerful version than the old one, is one of the famous weapons ever made. It uses steel bolts that could tear down tear down muscles and even break thick bones. An average arbalest could fire a steel bolt possessing 20 KN of force. Furthermore, the bolt will stay accurate up to 600m.

Europeans during the medieval ages often prefer crossbows than long bows. Although bows have better range and accuracy than crossbows, it was easier for the soldiers to learn how to use crossbows properly than the long bows.

4. M1 Garand

M1 Garand
M1 Garand

One of the famous weaponries that significantly helped countries like Vietnam, USA, and Korea during World War II is John Cantius Garand’s M1 Garand rifle. This semi-automatic rifle was born on Springfield Armory in early 1900. After John perfected this famous rifle, it almost became the symbolic firearm of US Army Forces.

5. Gladius

 Gladius
Gladius

Roman Empire is one of the most enormous empires the world has ever seen. Their success being a strong nation lies in the hands of their legionaries who held one of the famous swords of the ancient world, the Roman Gladius.

Gladius Hispaniensis, most commonly known as Gladius, is a short sword developed by Roman Military. Romans made it very compatible with their fighting style and strategy in order to attain further success in every combat they encounter. It was perfect for the fighting style of Roman soldiers in which they fight at very short distances making larger weapons unfit for heavy swings.

6. Longbow

Longbow
Longbow

Although varieties of bows have appeared in the records of history, longbow is one of the most famous missile weapons among many others. With its incredible firing speed and perfect accuracy, this popular weapon caused the rest of the European nations to bow down to the fierce longbow men units of the English army.

At firing speed of 10 to 13 arrows per minute, an average longbow man could hit an enemy within 200-yard range. Even though the force of the arrow depends on the strength and ability of the archer, its firing speed and accuracy is quite enough to make to the top of the famous weapons list.

7. Bayonet

Bayonet
Bayonet

Although this weapon is not as badass as the other ones on this list, it is still one of the most popular weapons seen during the time of World War II. Bayonet is just a basic knife connected at the tip of rifle in order to be used in case the soldier was caught up in a middle of a melee fight.

Although bayonet only appears to be a last resort in case a soldier was already out of ammo, the utility of bayonet can never be questioned. Soldiers, during their journeys, used bayonets for cooking (serves as a knife) and digging.

8. Gatling Gun

Gatling Gun
Gatling Gun

The famous inventor, Dr. Richard Jordan Gatling, was the one who designed the famous Gatling gun. This very popular artillery, although considered as infamous, contributed a significant progress in the weapons technology.

The Gatling gun has six long barrels that fire a single bullet at a speed of 200rpm. It was operated with the use of a hand crank, which made it convenient for the soldiers to use it. However, the problem with overheating was its greatest downfall, and it is still present even with the newest models nowadays.

9. Atomic Bomb

Atomic Bomb
Atomic Bomb

Who can forget the atomic bombs that ended the six years of the non-stop world war? Atomic bombs, or A-bombs, are made up of fissile substances like Plutonium or Uranium. Even with small amounts of these substances, an average atomic bomb has the ability to blow up an entire city to ground zero in less than a minute.

10. AK-47

AK-47
AK-47

AK-47, although not as powerful as the atomic bomb, is unquestionable the most popular weapon of all time. A cheap, yet powerful rifle that is manufactured and produced massively because of its high demand. Furthermore, this gun was promoted by an Iraqi president that owns a gold one and by the World’s most famous terrorist that is why it is not a surprise that this gun is very famous.

Famous weapons are part of every nation’s rich history. These military tools and machineries contributed significantly in the formation of countries and maintaining world peace. Thus, it is very important to know a brief information about them so that people will know what was the world like before, and perhaps, foretell what will happen with the world tomorrow.

Tea Time Quiz

[forminator_poll id="23176"]
 

Leave a Reply