Category: Weapons and Technology
Greek Fire – Nine Little-Known Facts About The Byzantine Empire’s Most Secret Weapon
As far back as the 7th Century, fighting ships of the Byzantine Empire were dousing enemy vessels with a flaming liquid known by western historians as “Greek fire”. While the ingredients of this volatile and…
Reader Infographic — 100 Years of British Army Weapons and Equipment
Last year, an MHN reader from the United Kingdom by the name of Allie Redmond forwarded us this infographic she composed about the 250-year evolution of the uniform of the British soldier. Well, Allie’s back…
Slow Burn — 11 Terrifying Facts About Mustard Gas
“Here are some little-known facts about one of history’s most terrible weapons of mass destruction.” TO THE MILLIONS OF MEN FIGHTING IN FLANDERS in 1917, it would have been hard to imagine how the hell of trench warfare could…
We Have Met the Enemy And They Are Small – A Brief History of Bug Warfare
National Geographic reported last week that biologists from the University of Tübingen in Germany have uncovered evidence that the Nazis may have tested malaria-carrying mosquitoes for possible use against the Allies. According to the article, which…
Damn the Torpedoes! – How a 19th Century Innovation in Naval Warfare Produced the Military Industrial Complex
In his 1961 farewell address, outgoing president Dwight D. Eisenhower famously warned of the dangers posed to the American republic by what he called “military industrial complex”. According to Ike, the armaments industry, which had…
Before Gatling – Who Was The First To Invent A Rapid-Fire Gun?
“While the Gatling gun may be the best-known early-machine gun, the mechanical marvel was by no means the first attempt to fire lethal projectiles in volleys or in rapid succession.” ONE OF THE GREAT ironies of…
