Gunpowder has been used for centuries, ... The Chinese began using gunpowder in the 10th century with a variety of crude bombs, fire lances, and guns.

The Different Types of Military Gun Salutes. The 21-gun version may be the most famous of these salutes, but it's far from the only one. The number of shots fired depends on the rank and occasion.

1380 - Hand guns are known across Europe. 1400s - The matchlock gun appears. Before the matchlock, guns were fired by holding a burning wick to a "touch hole" in the barrel igniting the powder inside.

What we think of as guns have been around for almost 700 years. What is a gun? The Oxford dictionary says, “A weapon consisting essentially of a metal tube from which heavy missiles are thrown by ...

The Colonies lacked the industrial capacity to make powder and guns, so they didn’t need the best—they just needed any at all. Thanks to Beaumarchais and other sympathizers, they got them.

When gun-cotton was first discovered, no other idea was entertained respecting its application than that of superseding gunpowder as an explosive agent. Since that period, however, it has, ...

Fierce competition and inventions such as gunpowder spurred the rapid evolution of military power in Europe. Many battles were still won by sheer numbers.