When were cannons invented?
The earliest known cannon, though not driven by gunpowder, was invented by Ctesibius of Alexandria, in the 3rd century BC. Little is known about this primitive invention—as most of Ctesibius’ works were lost—but it was noted by Philo of Byzantium that it operated using compressed air.Like firearms, cannon are a descendant of the fire lance, a gunpowder-filled tube attached to the end of a spear and used as a flamethrower in China. Shrapnel was sometimes placed in the barrel, so that it would fly out along with the flames.Eventually, the paper and bamboo of which fire lance barrels were originally constructed came to be replaced by metal.It has been disputed at which point flame-projecting cannons were abandoned in favor of missile-projecting ones, as words meaning either incendiary or explosive are commonly transliterated as gunpowder.The earliest known depiction of a gun is a sculpture from a cave in Sichuan, dating to the 12th century, that portrays a figure carrying a vase-shaped bo
