Important Guns in History #1

Hand Cannon, 13th century

China had developed a wide variety of gunpowder weapons known as "fire lances" and "fire dragons," as well as flamethrowers and fireworks, as far back as the 10th century. The first true firearms that used gunpowder to launch a projectile can be dated to the Yuan Dynasty in the 13th century. These included bronze hand cannons, which could be held by one man and touched off by another. The range was short and accuracy poor, but the smoke, fire, and roar must have intimidated opponents of the time.