Weapons

A man wheels his bicycle through Hiroshima days after an atomic bomb leveled the city.

Nine Harrowing Eyewitness Accounts of the Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

More than seventy-five years ago, the atomic blasts killed an estimated 200,000 people

The B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay was one of a few dozen World War II-era aircraft specially modified for the express purpose of delivering atomic weapons.

Why the Enola Gay, the Plane That Dropped the First Atomic Bomb, Will Always Inspire Debate

The Enola Gay, fully restored and on view at the Smithsonian, left an indelible mark

One of the Last Living Manhattan Project Scientists Looks Back at the Atomic Bomb Tests

Peter Lax was just a teenager when he went to Los Alamos to join the team that developed the deadly weapon

This diagram shows the different kinds of animal bones used to make the 48,000-year-old tools.

Evidence of Early Bow-and-Arrow Hunting Discovered in Sri Lanka

If confirmed, the 48,000-year-old find will be the oldest known instance of bowhunting outside of Africa

The Bayeux Tapestry depicts Harold II with an arrow jutting from his head, but whether the English king actually died in this manner remains a point of contention.

Medieval Arrows Inflicted Injuries That Mirror Damage Caused by Modern Bullets

New research demonstrates the immense power of the medieval English longbow

Two skeletons unearthed in Lechlade, England, date back to around 2200 B.C.

Bronze Age Chieftain's Remains Found Beneath U.K. Skate Park

The Beaker man was buried alongside four cowhide "rugs," an eight-inch copper dagger and a wrist guard made of rare green stone

An artist's rendering of two early hominins hunting waterfowl on the Schöningen lakeshore with throwing sticks

300,000-Year-Old Stick Suggests Human Ancestors Were Skilled Hunters

The ancient throwing stick may have been used by Neanderthals or an even earlier hominin

Researchers staged fights using recreated Bronze Age weapons to better understand how they might have been used in ancient fighting.

Scientists Stage Sword Fights to Study Bronze Age Warfare

Research suggests bronze blades, thought by some to be too fragile for combat, were deadly weapons across ancient Europe

Serafino Jamourlian of the monastery of San Lazzaro degli Armeni and Vittoria Dall'Armellina with a newly rediscovered 5,000-year-old sword

Graduate Student Discovers One of World's Oldest Swords in Mislabeled Monastery Display

At 5,000 years old, the weapon predates the era when humans first started using tin to make bronze

The restored dagger and sheath, following nine months of sandblasting and grinding

Archaeology Intern Unearths Spectacular, 2,000-Year-Old Roman Dagger

After a nine-month restoration, the elaborately decorated blade and its sheath gleam as if brand new

Otzi carried 14 arrows in his quiver, but only two had arrowheads and feather fletching.

What We Can Learn From Ötzi the Iceman's Hunting Pack

The famed Copper Age mummy's bowstring is the world's oldest known specimen

Atlatl grips from the Par-Tee site in Oregon

These Miniature Tools Taught Ancient Children How to Hunt and Fight

A new study describes artifacts from an archaeological site in Oregon that appear to have been scaled down for little hands

The film opens on Christmas Day.

The True History Behind the '1917' Movie

A story shared by director Sam Mendes' grandfather, a veteran of the Western Front, inspired the new World War I film

The shield was buried alongside a 2,000-year-old chariot drawn by two horses.

Archaeologists Unearth Celtic Warrior Grave Complete With Chariot, Elaborate Shield

One expert hailed the shield as "the most important British Celtic art object of the millennium"

The stretcher bullet (mostly intact) and two fragments of the bullet that fatally wounded Kennedy, as seen from multiple perspectives

Bullets That Killed John F. Kennedy Immortalized as Digital Replicas

The originals remain at the National Archives, but new 3-D scans showcase the ballistics in vivid detail

An unknown thief stole the historic rifle in a brazen 1971 heist.

Revolutionary War Rifle Stolen 50 Years Ago Recovered at Barn Sale

The long rifle, made by master gunsmith Johann Christian Oerter, will go on view at the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia

Archaeologists unearthed the cannonballs while excavating the ruins of Zishtova Fortress in Bulgaria

Trove of Cannonballs Likely Used by Vlad the Impaler Found in Bulgaria

The primitive projectiles probably date to the Romanian ruler's 1461 through 1462 siege of Zishtova Fortress

Family photo of Elsye Mitchell

In 1945, a Japanese Balloon Bomb Killed Six Americans, Five of Them Children, in Oregon

The military kept the true story of their deaths, the only civilians to die at enemy hands on the U.S. mainland, under wraps

The ancient scorched-earth warfare tactic of well poisoning is still in use today

The History of Poisoning the Well

From ancient Mesopotamia to modern-day Iraq, the threat to a region's water supply is the cruelest cut of all

Plumber planner Jannick Vestergaard and engineer Henning Nøhr posing with their discovery.

Medieval Sword, Blade Still Sharp, Pulled From Sewer in Denmark

Experts think its owner may have been defeated in battle and dropped the luxurious weapon in the muddy streets

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