Warfare timeline

  • 20,000 BCE

    When humans first used bow/arrow

    around 20,000 BC – the earliest people known to have regularly used bows and arrows were the Ancient Egyptians, who adopted archery around 3,000 BC for hunting and warfare.
  • 3000 BCE

    When horses were 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.
  • 300 BCE

    The development of the trebuchet

    The traction trebuchet is believed to be an ancient war engine which was invented in China in 300 BC
  • 618

    The development of the first handcannon

    Hand cannons were rudimentary and brutish, but they were the first firearms used during combat in recorded history.
  • 900

    The invention of gunpowder

    Gunpowder was invented in 9th-century China and spread throughout most parts of Eurasia by the end of the 13th century.
  • 1180

    The invention of the longbow

    The longbow is an incredibly strong piece of wood roughly 6 feet tall and 5/8 inch wide.
  • 1401

    The development of the matchlock gun

    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 development of the first submarine

    Leonardo da Vinci sketched a primitive submarine around 1515, and in 1578, he first successful submarine was built by Cornelius Drebbel and tested in the Thames River, where it completed a three-hour journey.
  • The development of the revolver handgun

    amuel 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.
  • The invention of the first iron-clad warship

    The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. The first ironclad battleship, Gloire, was launched by the French Navy in November 1859.
  • The invention of the first machine gun

    The first Gatling guns were used in the American Civil War. These guns were rapid-firing, but they depended on the arm of the operator to crank out the bullets. In 1884, Hiram Maxim invented the first machine gun.
  • The development of the first tank

    The first offensive using tanks took place on 15 September 1916, during the Battle of the Somme.
  • The use of the first atomic bomb

    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.
  • When the first hydrogen bomb was first tested

    The first series of thermonuclear tests conducted by the United States took place in November 1952 during Operation IVY. The first test took place on November 1, 1952 on the small Pacific island of Elugelab at Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The explosion, nicknamed the "Mike Shot", was very successful
  • The development of the M.O.A.B. (Mother of all bombs)

    GBU-43/B on display at the Air Force Armament Museum, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. ... The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB /ˈmoʊæb/, commonly known as "Mother of All Bombs") is a large-yield bomb, developed for the United States military by Albert L. Weimorts, Jr. of the Air Force Research Laboratory.
  • The development of the anti-satellite laser

    India tested its ASAT missile (Mission Shakti) destroying a pre-deter mined target of a live satellite. The DRDO's ballistic missile defence interceptor was used on an Indian satellite for the test. Microsat-R is the suspected target of the Indian ASAT experiment.