Man's Oldest And Greatest Sin

Warring has been the sin of man since the Stone Age. Battling and killing have been man's instinct for power and domination. Throughout history, weapons have been created in order to revolutionize warfare.

The first weapons from the Stone Age were stones, clubs, and sharpened wooden spears. Following the Stone Age, the invention of the bow and arrow and the primitive knife revolutionized warfare. The sword was then invented, and almost every one of the world's major towns had their own design of the mighty sword. From around 2500 B.C, horses had begun to be used in battle. Some of the main uses were powering the mighty chariot, which originated in Rome, carrying knights or cavalry into battle and pulling around the artillery. From 1100 A.D to 1400 A.D, chain mail to full-plated armor was worn along with a shield. Shields have been used since 1000 B.C and they have gone from a mammoth size to a small handheld size. Armor and shields protected the body from small arrows, swords, and sling stones. However when the gun was invented in 1550, armor and shields became useless.

During England's early days, England concentrated on acquiring territory and building its empire using guns fired by gunpowder. From around 950 A.D the Chinese were creating gunpowder. England and other great empires bought and traded to get gunpowder in the late 1400's. Around 1490, France had created the first cannon. The cannon had many new adjustments made to improve it throughout the years. By 1550, Germany created the first gunpowder gun. It was called the Wheel-lock pistol. It wasn't very useful and it sold only in Europe. But, the real innovation with gunpowder happened around 1650 when France invented the Flintlock rifle. It was extremely primitive with only a fifteen yard shooting radius. It weighed about ten pounds and it took about two minutes to reload. When America was born, the pistol and the rifle were "Americanized"