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3000 BCE
used bow and arrows
archery probably dates back to the Stone Age – around 20,000BC – the earliest people known to have regularly used bows and arrows were the Ancient Egyptians, who adopted archery around 3,000BC for hunting and warfare. In China, the earliest evidence of archery dates to the Shang Dynasty -
3000 BCE
horses first domesticated
Humans acquire their most important single ally from the animal kingdom when they domesticate the horse, in about 3000 BC. Wild horses of various kinds have spread throughout most of the world by the time human history begins. -
1515 BCE
development of the first submarine
Leonardo da Vinci sketched a primitive submarine around 1515, and in 1578, William Bourne drafted the first design for a submersible craft. In 1620, the first successful submarine was built by Cornelius Drebbel and tested in the Thames River, where it completed a three-hour journey. -
1500 BCE
development of the matchlock gun
Matchlock. Matchlock, in firearms, a device for igniting gunpowder developed in the 15th century, a major advance in the manufacture of small arms. The matchlock was the first mechanical firing device. The flash in the pan penetrated a small port in the breech of the gun and ignited the main charge. -
1180 BCE
invention of the longbow
The longbow was invented by the Celts in Wales around 1180 C.E. but was not really used by the English military until the 1300s. The longbow is an incredibly strong piece of wood roughly 6 feet tall and 5/8 inch wide. -
Period: 404 BCE to 431 BCE
Peloponnesian War
The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) was an ancient Greek war fought by the Delian League led by Athens against the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. Historians have traditionally divided the war into three phases. -
300 BCE
development of the trebuchet -
The traction trebuchet is believed to be an ancient war engine which was invented in China in 300BC. It is thought that the trebuchet may have developed from the stave sling. ... The Trebuchet (Trebucket) was introduced to England in 1216 during the Siege of Dover - as were many other types of siege engine. -
Period: 264 BCE to 146 BCE
Punic Wars
The Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage from 264 BC to 146 BC. At the time, they were some of the largest wars that had ever taken place. The term Punic comes from the Latin word Punicus, meaning "Carthaginian", with reference to the Carthaginians' Phoenician ancestry. -
904
invention of gunpowder
Gunpowder was invented in 9th-century China and spread throughout most parts of Eurasia by the end of the 13th century. Originally developed by the Taoists for medicinal purposes, gunpowder was first used for warfare about 904 AD. -
Period: 1095 to 1492
Crusades
The crusades were a series of religious wars sanctioned by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best-known crusades are the campaigns in the eastern Mediterranean aimed at recovering the Holy Land from Muslim rule. The term crusade is now also applied to other church-sanctioned and even non-religious campaigns. -
Period: 1200 to 1300
Trojan Wars
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and has been narrated through many works of Greek literature, most notably Homer's Iliad. -
1300
development of the first handcannon
Sometime after 1450, manufacturers in Germany developed the first widely used and recognized handgun: the arquebus. This was a large, bulky weapon at 36-40 inches (91-101 centimeters) long and weighing ten pounds -
Period: 1337 to 1453
One Hundred Years War
The Hundred Years' War was a series of conflicts waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Plantagenet, rulers of the Kingdom of England, against the French House of Valois, over the right to rule the Kingdom of France. Each side drew many allies into the war. -
Period: 1519 to 1521
Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire
Between 1519 and 1521, Spanish conquistadors, led by Hernán Cortés, overthrew the Aztec Empire. This event is called the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. Cortés helped old enemies of the Aztecs defeat them in one of the most important events in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. -
Period: to
Thirty Years War
The Thirty Years' War was a war fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648. One of the most destructive conflicts in human history, it resulted in eight million fatalities not only from military engagements but also from violence, famine, and plague. -
Period: to
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists principally over the manner of England's governance. -
Period: to
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of major conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European powers formed into various coalitions, financed and usually led by the United Kingdom -
development of the revolver handgun
Samuel Colt submitted a British patent for his revolver in 1835 and an American patent (number 138) on February 25, 1836 for a Revolving gun, and made the first production model on March 5 of that year. Another revolver patent was issued to Samuel Colt on August 29, 1839. -
Period: to
the Taiping Rebellion
The Taiping Rebellion, which is also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion or civil war that was waged in China from 1850 to 1864 between the established Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. -
Period: to
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865, between the North and the South. The Civil War began primarily as a result of the long-standing controversy over the enslavement of black people. -
invention of the first iron-clad warship
To counter the Virginia, the Union built the USS Monitor, an innovative if strange looking vessel with a shallow draft and central rotating gun turret. On March 9, 1862, the day after the Virginia sank two Union ships, the ironclads met in battle for the first time at Hampton Roads, Virginia. -
invention of the first machine gun
The first fully automatic weapon was created by Hiram Maxim in 1885; his Maxim machine gun used a recoil system to fire up to 500 rounds per minute [sources: LSU Civil War Center, Spartacus Educational]. -
Period: to
Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion, Boxer Uprising, or Yihetuan Movement was an anti-imperialist, anti-foreign, and anti-Christian uprising that took place in China between 1899 and 1901, toward the end of the Qing dynasty -
Period: to
World War I
World War I, also known as the First World War or the Great War, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. -
development of the first tank.
At the Souain experiment, France tested an armoured tracked tank prototype, the same month Little Willie was completed.Ultimately however, the British were the first to put tanks on the battlefield, at the battle of the Somme in September 1916. -
Period: to
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War. The Russian Civil War was to tear Russia apart for three years – between 1918 and 1921. The civil war occurred because after November 1917, many groups had formed that opposed Lenin's Bolsheviks. These groups included monarchists, militarists, and, for a short time, foreign nations. -
Period: to
World War II
World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis -
use of the first atomic bomb
On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped its first atomic bomb from a B-29 bomber plane called the Enola Gay on Japanese city of Hiroshima. The “Little Boy” exploded with about 13 kilotons of force, leveling five square miles of the city and killing 80,000 people instantly -
the first hydrogen bomb was first tested
On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped its first atomic bomb from a B-29 bomber plane called the Enola Gay on Japanese city of Hiroshima. The “Little Boy” exploded with about 13 kilotons of force, leveling five square miles of the city and killing 80,000 people instantly -
Period: to
Cold War
The Cold War was a period of geopolitical tension between the Soviet Union with its satellite states, and the United States with its allies after World War II. The historiography of the conflict began between 1946 and 1947. The Cold War began to de-escalate after the Revolutions of 1989. -
development of the anti-satellite laser
Anti-satellite missiles can be deployed against enemy satellites, disrupting crucial intelligence during war. India tested an anti-satellite weapon on Wednesday, saying the locally produced interceptor was used to destroy an object in orbit. -
Period: to
Second Congo War
The Second Congo War began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in August 1998, little more than a year after the First Congo War, and involved some of the same issues. The war officially ended in July 2003, when the Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo took power -
Period: to
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, was a mass slaughter of Tutsi, Twa, and moderate Hutu in Rwanda, which took place between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War.