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DON IPPOLITO had slept upon his interview with Ferris, and now sat in his laboratory, amidst the many -witnesses of his inventive industry, with the model of the breech-loading cannon on the ...

In 1840, the former Swedish diplomat and gun foundry owner, Martin von Wahrendorff, patented a breech–loading mechanism for cannons. Its key component was a steel disc placed behind the projectile.

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It wasn't long after the first untethered balloon flight in 1783 that the aircraft were used for military observation purposes. The French Aerostatic Corps first used balloons for reconnaissance in ...

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