While rapid fire weapons are generally thought of as a 19th Century invention, James Puckle patented a rapid fire gun in 1718!
Check out this image of the gun from his patent: http://www.wedmore.org.uk/puckle/James.htm A bit more information on the gun can be found at http://www.ccrkba.org/pub/rkba/news/PuckleGun.htm
Gabriel Rain’s bears the dubious honor of introducing landmines during the Civil War, during the Peninsula Campain. His Subterra shells used as land mines and booby traps created a bit of a challenge for Union forces. Click here for an article about Rains and his explosives work. http://maic.jmu.edu/JOURNAL/6.1/notes/robbins/robbins.htm
Rain’s deadly hanywork was put to use at Battery Wagner to fend off the attack by the 54th Massachusett- Rain’s Subterra shells were pressed into service as immense hand grenades. This along with a heavily entrenched position helps explain the terrible loss of live in the 54th, whose service is recounted in the movie Glory.
From London’s Science Museum website comes “Electricity on Show” a four part paper detailing science exhibits – particularly electricity related ones -as public entertainment in 19th Century England. Contains details of a number of interesting exhibitions, including mentions of Tesla and Jacob Perkins, mentioned elsewhere in this blog in connection with his steam gun.
The Museum of Retro Tech is a great collection of interesting technology – odd steam engines, early communications devices and more!
Follow this link for some beautiful drawings of siege engines by Leonardo
http://members.iinet.net.au/~rmine/Leonardo.html
Page also includes many interesting links many kinds of siege engines.
This text comes from the website of the Mt. Washington Cog Railway, giving its history and of a unique steam engine – its first locomotive …”His dream began in 1852 when, after becoming lost near the summit of Mount Washington, Sylvester Marsh knew that there had to be a better way for people to reach the highest mountain peak in the Northeast. Upon his return home, he immediately started working on a plan to build the world’s first mountain climbing cog railway.
Marsh, a native of Campton, New Hampshire, had made his fortune in Chicago’s meat-packing industry and was considered by his contemporaries to be a creative and inventive thinker. However, upon first presenting his idea to members of the New Hampshire Legislature, they laughed at him and said that he “might as well build a railway to the moon.” Undaunted, Marsh began the task of building his mountain climbing railway, along with investors Herrick and Walter Aiken, a father and son team from Franklin, New Hampshire. The task was not an easy one, as equipment and materials had to be hauled by oxen for 25 miles to Bretton Woods, and then another 6 miles through thick forest to the base of Mount Washington. On July 3, 1869, ‘Old Peppersass’, now on display at the Base Station, became the first cog-driven engine to climb the 6,288-foot Mount Washington.” — see
http://www.thecog.com/cog_scene.php?img=the_original_cog_engine for image on the engine – the railroad has great images of the road, its engines, and the view from the top – have not had the chance to ride this train – has to be an incredible experience.
Came across the link while searching for Confederate Patents – it gives the full text of an out of print book called the Patent Office Pony that has lots of historical information in regard to the history of the US Patent Office, as well as a list of all known Confederate Patents … http://www.myoutbox.net/pohome.htm -main link – http://www.myoutbox.net/popchapx.htm – sadly few (a handful of the originals remain thanks to the fires in Richmond at the end of the war …
Lately I have gotten a couple really nasty posts to the this blog – what it is about this site’s content that would produce such a reaction is beyond me – it is not about religion, sex, politics, or anything remotely controversial.
What possible motivation or right does anyone have to suggest I should die because they don’t agree on some fine point regarding arcane technology?
Most posts are links to things I have come across while surfing the web that interest me, and that I think others of like mind might enjoy. Some are gleanings from historical newspapers. A few, like those on the Winans Steam Gun and a couple other Centrifugal guns are original research based on period publications or original documents – these are fact based, and contradict a number of published sources.
So, posters of nasty messages – instead of talking trash, why not offer a better link if you have one, provide some better source material, suggest an interesting device that hasn’t been covered, offer something intelligent to say on the point you disagree with.
This link is to a chapter from a 1907 book showing designs of unusual steam engines.
Since I was a child I have been fascinated by ships – one of my favorite school projects was a report on the Vasa – it is a truly amazing story – a Swedish flag ship that sunk on its maiden voyage in the 1600s, and was preserved in mud. It was raised in the 1960s, and now can be seen at the Vasa Museum …
