In 1807, Congreve directed a rocket attack against Copenhagen approximately 25,000 rockets were fired. The British used Congreve rockets in 1806 to attack Napoleon's headquarters in France.
The closely massed, normally unflinching British troops broke and ran when the Indian Army laid down a rocket barrage in their midst.ĬONGREVE'S INCENDIARY ROCKETS - 1806 William Congreve's incendiary rocket used black powder, an iron case, and a 16-foot guide stick. INDIAN TROOPS ROUT BRITISH The English confrontation with Indian rockets came in 1780 at the Battle of Guntur.
#Dedalus and icarus series
For example, Joanes de Fontana of Italy designed a surface-running rocket-powered torpedo for setting enemy ships on fire.ĭRAWING OF STAGED ROCKET In 1650, a Polish artillery expert, Kazimierz Siemienowicz, published a series of drawings for a staged rocket. TORPEDO ROCKET All through the 13th to the 15th Century there were reports of many rocket experiments. When the smoke cleared, the flying chair and Wan-Hu were gone. In a moment there was a tremendous roar accompanied by billowing clouds of smoke. Forty seven assistants, each armed with torches, rushed forward to light the fuses. WAN HOO AND HIS SPACE VEHICLE According to one ancient legend, a Chinese official named Wan-Hoo attempted a flight to the moon using a large wicker chair to which were fastened 47 large rockets. An arrow with a tube of gunpowder produced an arrow of flying fire. Two L-shaped tubes on opposite sides of the sphere allowed the gas to escape, and in doing so gave a thrust to the sphere that caused it to rotate.ĬHINESE REPULSE MONGOLS In 1232 AD the Chinese used rockets against the Mongols who were besieging the city of Kai-fung-fu. A fire below the kettle turned the water into steam, and the gas traveled through the pipes to the sphere. Hero mounted a sphere on top of a water kettle. He invented a rocket-like device called an aeolipile. About 100 AC a Greek inventor known as Heron "the Precursor" of Alexandria came up with a new invention that depended more on the mechanical interaction of heat and water. HERO'S ENGINE Legendary characters used the power of mythology to fly through the heavens. The feathers fell off, and Icarus plummeted to the sea. Unfortunately, Icarus flew too near the sun, and the heat caused the wax and feathers to melt. According to the legend of Daedalus and Icarus, the father and son escaped prison by attaching wings made of wax and feathers to their bodies. The ancient Greeks and Romans pictured many of their gods with winged feet, and imagined mythological winged animals. DAEDALUS AND ICARUS Ever since humans first saw birds soar through the sky, they have wanted to fly.
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