What is a Hand Grenade?
A hand grenade is a small, usually handheld device, which is launched or thrown at others in order to produce death, injury or property destruction, usually with a short blast range. The first hand grenades were developed by the Chinese in the 10th or 11th century CE and were simple in construction compared to today’s grenade. The early Chinese grenade was merely gunpowder packed into small containers of various materials, which were lit and then thrown. By the 15th century, it became standard in China to pack gunpowder into cast iron, producing not only grenades but also cannonballs in this manner. These normally had a fuse attached so that at least a couple of seconds existed between the time the grenade or cannonball was lit, and the time it was thrown or launched.
