Arsenal
The history and evolution of the weapons that shaped civilizations
Arsenal: The War Scythe, the Farm Tool That Armed a Revolution
How Polish smiths straightened and remounted farming scythe blades into improvised polearms for Kosciuszko's peasant levies at Raclawice in 1794.
Arsenal: The Hwacha, Korea's Rocket Battery
The hwacha history in brief: a 15th-century Korean cart that launched up to 200 gunpowder rocket arrows at once, decisive at the Battle of Haengju against a Japanese siege.
Arsenal: The Retiarius Trident
The retiarius trident, a fisherman's spear, let an unarmored gladiator fight Rome's arenas with only a net and dagger, in one of the most theatrical matchups staged.
Arsenal: The Xiphos, the Greek Hoplite's Backup Blade
The xiphos sword was what a Greek hoplite drew only when the spear broke. A history of the leaf-bladed sidearm that outlasted the phalanx itself.
Arsenal: The Blunderbuss
The blunderbuss armed pirates, Royal Navy sailors, and stagecoach guards for two centuries. How a flared brass muzzle became the ultimate close-quarters gun.
Arsenal: The Kukri, the Gurkha Blade That Never Retired
The kukri knife history spans two centuries: Gurkha soldiers have carried this forward-curved blade through two world wars without it ever leaving service.
The Arquebus: The Gun That Ended the Age of the Armored Knight
The matchlock arquebus turned a peasant with two weeks of training into a threat to any knight alive. How a smoking, clumsy gun rewired European warfare.
The Zweihander: Six Feet of Steel That Ended the Era of the Pike
Zweihander sword history in brief: the Landsknecht's answer to the pike wall, a blade nearly as tall as its wielder, wielded by double-pay mercenaries.
Arsenal: The M1 Carbine - America's Lightweight and Its Lasting Controversy
M1 Carbine history in brief: America's most-produced WWII firearm, carried by paratroopers and officers, and decades of debate over whether it actually worked.
Arsenal: The FP-45 Liberator Pistol
The FP-45 Liberator pistol was a single-shot .45 built by General Motors in 1942 to airdrop to resistance fighters. It cost two dollars and was designed to fire once.
Arsenal: The Roman Onager
The Roman onager was a single-arm torsion catapult that flung stones and fire at city walls - the wild donkey of Roman siege warfare, and what it could actually do.
Arsenal: The Kris Dagger
Kris dagger history spans twelve centuries: a living object with a soul and a social credential, the most spiritually charged blade in the Malay world.