Sometimes, a weapons designer gets tired of making regular, boring guns and bombs and decides to make something . . . special. The results are often as awe-inspiring as they are utterly wacky.

The following 10 examples are the kinds of weapons produced by the fevered minds of engineers when they stop caring about things like subtlety and practicality.

10 Panzer VIII Maus

Irony surely played a part in the naming of the Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus (“Mouse”) as it bears no resemblance to its namesake. Weighing in at a whopping 188 metric tons, it still holds the title of largest armored fighting vehicle.

Its top speed was only 22 kilometers per hour (14 mph). But with armor up to 220 millimeters (8.7 in) thick, it could afford to be slow. Whenever the lumbering behemoth eventually reached its target, the combination of its sheer weight and 128-millimeter (5 in) main gun would surely be enough to smash through any obstacle in its way. With a weapon like this, the Nazis would surely be invincible, right?

Well, Hitler seemed to think so as he was arguably the tank’s biggest proponent. Truthfully, though, Maus had numerous flaws that held it back. For one thing, a powerful engine was needed to propel the beast, which was a terrible gas guzzler. Its sheer weight meant that it couldn’t even cross bridges. Its gigantic size would have also made it an easy target for Allied bombers.^[1]

Out of an initial order of 150, only two were produced before Hitler canceled the project.

9 Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet

You can say this for the Nazis: They did not lack for audacity. They were willing to try just about any insane idea if they thought it would help them win the war.

Unfortunately for them, the Komet only came into service in the final year of the war—much too late to turn the tide in their favor. Then again, given how insane this thing was, it’s entirely likely that it wouldn’t have mattered anyway.

To get the positives out of the way, the 163 was a rocket-powered aircraft in a time when most planes were still prop-driven. So it did at least have that going for it. But that’s about it.

For one thing, the craft was dangerous just to start as vacuums would occasionally form in the fuel liquid, causing it to explode when turned on. This fuel was also a mixture of two highly corrosive materials that would spontaneously combust upon mixing whether or not one wanted it to.^[2]

Once in the air, the 163 only had enough fuel for eight minutes of powered flight, which drastically limited how long it could operate. It also flew too fast for its main guns to be very accurate. Landing was a dicey proposition as troublesome landing gear made the Me 163 prone to overturning, at which point it would often explode.

8 Northrop XP-79

Let’s turn away from the Third Reich for a moment as they were not the only military to dabble in weaponized insanity. Enter the Northrop XP-79, a so-called “bomber-rammer” that was intended to do exactly what its name implies. The XP-79 was designed to ram enemy bombers out of the sky using the reinforced leading edges of its wings. The cockpit was made with armored glass that would protect the pilot from the impact.

The XP-79 never got out of the testing stage, though not for the reason you probably think. During its first and only flight, the pilot lost control of the craft, entered an irrecoverable spin, and crashed. Harry Crosby, the test pilot, was killed when he was hit by the plane upon attempting an emergency exit. The program was subsequently abandoned.^[3]

7 Antonov A-40

A flying tank sounds like the kind of thing a nine-year-old or perhaps Hideo Kojima might come up with, but that didn’t stop Oleg Antonov. Oleg wanted to devise a way to get a battle-ready tank onto the battlefield without risking a plane being downed by enemy fire.

When simply dropping tanks out of planes and having their crews parachute down to them proved to be an unfeasible solution to this problem, he had a simple solution. Slap some glider wings on that bad boy, and let it glide to the ground.

But as you might expect when trying to make a tank fly, weight proved to be a problem. Just to get the vehicle airborne required the removal of its weapons, fuel, and armor. To its credit, the test pilot described the landing as “smooth” and was even able to drive it back to headquarters. Sadly, this was not enough and the program was eventually scrapped.^[4]

6 SLAM (Project Pluto)

The Supersonic Low Altitude Missile (SLAM) was a weapon that is insane even by the standards of an article about crazy weapons. Envisioned as a third method of retaliation against the Soviets in the event of a nuclear war, the SLAM was a nuclear weapon delivered with nuclear power.

A nuclear-powered ramjet would heat air rammed into the missile as it flew, which would theoretically give it unlimited range. While the missile itself would carry a single nuclear warhead, it was also designed to carry multiple smaller nuclear bombs. Once on final approach to its target, it would rain down its nuclear payload before the missile itself detonated at its final destination.

There were many reasons why the project was canceled. One of the biggest was that just testing the thing would prove unfeasible. The unshielded nuclear reactor that powered it would render any land it flew over lethally radioactive.

If the radiation didn’t do the job, the shock wave might have as it was speculated that the shock wave might kill anyone underneath it. Finally, wherever the thing landed would become a nuclear disaster area. The government eventually decided that ICBMs could do the same job far more efficiently, and the project was scrapped.^[5]

5 Railguns

If you don’t respect the power of magnetic energy already, you probably will after seeing a demonstration of a railgun firing. Using the power of electromagnetism, these weapons can accelerate a projectile to speeds in excess of Mach 7.

The projectiles hit with even greater destructive power than a 12.7-centimeter (5 in) naval gun and with even longer range. As its ammunition is smaller in size than that of a traditional shell, more rounds can be stored and carry no risk of exploding if hit by enemy fire. Sounds like a perfect weapon, right?

Well, not quite. The intense heat generated by firing quickly warps the rails of the gun, greatly limiting how many full-powered shots it can discharge. It also requires a massive amount of energy to fire. Currently, only two ships in the navy can generate enough to fire it. Finally, the actual shots are hard to aim, meaning that a guidance system will be needed to make it accurate.^[6]

However, unlike the other entries on this list, the railgun is still being developed by militaries all over the world. So there’s a good chance this one might actually see the light of day.

4 Convair X-6

Nuclear-powered vehicles are an attractive proposition for any military because it would allow them to operate for extremely long periods of time. Unfortunately, radiation is a fickle mistress and one must be aware of its propensity to harm as much as it helps.

Just ask the fine folks who designed the Convair X-6. It was envisioned as a nuclear-powered strategic bomber that could stay aloft for weeks at a time.^[7]

To protect the crew, 12 tons of rubber and lead would have been needed to shield the reactor. While a few test flights were conducted, the program was eventually scrapped. (The Convair NB-36H, pictured above, was the only US aircraft that carried a nuclear reactor.)

3 Project Babylon

Third World dictatorships are like the annoying younger brothers of their more advanced cousins. Whatever big brother has, they want one, too. Naturally, this applies to weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Saddam Hussein, in particular, had a serious case of WMD lust and tried at various points to acquire nuclear and chemical weapons. But Project Babylon would have taken things to the next level.

Creator and project leader Gerald Bull envisioned a “supergun” capable of launching satellites into orbit, but Saddam had other plans. The dictator would have used the 156-meter (512 ft) barrel to launch projectiles farther than the Scud missiles he already possessed.

However, the gun was so big and heavy that it would have had to be mounted into the side of a hill, making it impossible to aim. Its huge size would have also made it an easy target.

The project was eventually canceled when Bull was murdered, possibly by Mossad agents.^[8]

2 Panjandrum

Turning back to World War II on the Allied side, the Panjandrum was a device consisting of two rocket-powered wheels propelling a cart full of explosives. It was intended to be used on beach fortifications.

The only problem: Once you pointed it at a target and lit the fuse, it was up to the capricious whims of fate as to where the thing actually went. Also, the rockets that propelled it would sometimes come loose and fly off in random directions.^[9]

After a disastrous launch that almost resulted in the weapon killing a crowd of VIP spectators, the project was abandoned.

1 Boeing YAL-1

Since the rise of the ballistic missile, countries have scrambled to come up with a way to protect themselves from these weapons. The YAL-1 was Boeing’s answer to this problem. It was a plane equipped with a chemical laser to shoot down missiles. During testing, it actually shot down two test missiles.

But the laser was expensive and required a huge amount of electricity to operate. The plane that carried it was also large and unwieldy, an easy target for enemy interceptors. The project was canceled, and the plane was scrapped for parts.^[10]

Dan Cayce is a writer who does writer things.

Catapults and crossbows have a certain simple mechanical charm that just can’t be matched by the most advanced missiles and rifles of today. Swords and shields also conjure up images of a bygone age of chivalry and honor when combat was fought face-to-face between individuals who’d dedicated their lives and reputations to their abilities on the field of battle.

We spend so much time wrapped up in these stereotypes that we often forget that, just like now, warfare in the past was constantly changing. Armies were always trying new tactics and new weapons to get one over on the enemy.

One of the greatest examples of this was the Battle of Agincourt. The English army, made up primarily of peasant soldiers with longbows, destroyed the noble French knights with their armor-piercing bodkin arrows. Then the English laid into the French in a melee, using mallets to negate the French armor or just stabbing knives through the holes in their plate mail.

But ancient warfare was full of weapons even wilder and more interesting than this as people from cultures around the world devised unique ways to hurt their enemies. Here are 10 crazy ancient weapons you’ve probably never heard of.

10 Man Catcher

One of the strangest weapons in history was more commonly used in city streets rather than on the field of battle: the man catcher. Interestingly, it was one of the few medieval weapons that was designed specifically to incapacitate an opponent without killing or injuring him.

While some man catchers had spikes on them, which were clearly designed to cause injury, the vast majority were simply a wooden shaft with a two-pronged blunted fork at the end. They were used by the night watchmen and guards of medieval towns to pin down the limbs of troublemakers or criminals. This restrained them until help arrived or they calmed down.^[1]

The man catcher was occasionally employed on the field of battle, though this was much less frequent. These man catchers were more elaborate, often featuring sharpened spikes and spring-loaded doors to trap victims’ limbs.

They were sometimes used to drag foes from their horses, but such a move would have taken considerable skill. They were more commonly used to seize wealthy nobles and take them prisoner. When the battle was over, they could be ransomed for a large amount of money.

There are no concrete sources on when man catchers were first employed, but they were used throughout the Middle Ages across the world—from Europe to Japan. They continued as a law enforcement tool well into the 1600s.

9 Bagh Nakh

The bagh nakh (“tiger’s claw”) was an unusual weapon invented in India. Although no one knows for sure when it first appeared, it grew in popularity after being adopted by the Nihang Sikh warriors sometime after 1500.

In short, it was a form of knuckle duster, easily concealed in the palm and made up of four or five metal claws that were used to slash at the opponent. Nihang Sikhs often carried them in their turbans as concealed weapons but also fought with them in battle on occasion.

They were also employed as weapons of underhanded attack and even assassination. Famously, a bagh nakh was used in the meeting between General Afzhal Khan and Emperor Shivaji.

Both men had agreed to meet unarmed, but Shivaji brought armor and a bagh nakh with him just in case. When Khan attacked Shivaji unexpectedly, Shivaji killed Khan with a bagh nakh and saved his own life.^[2]

8 Caltrop

Despite being a relatively obscure weapon even today, the caltrop has been employed with considerable success for at least 2,000 years. In its basic form, a caltrop is a piece of iron fashioned into four equally long points.

It is assembled so that if it is dropped on the ground, a point faces straight up. This innovation made them relatively easy to quickly scatter over a wide area because no skill was required to lay them.

The first account of caltrop use comes from the Roman Empire when Roman writers discussed the use of murex ferreus (“jagged things of iron”) to disrupt the horse-drawn chariots used by various cultures across Europe at the time. They were used as early as the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC, but accounts that may feature caltrops date as far back as Alexander’s campaigns in Persia around 331 BC.

It was employed across the world—from Japan, where the spikes were rarely longer than 2.5 centimeters (1 in), to India, where large, elaborate caltrops were used to halt the charges of war elephants.

Their use declined with the invention of gunpowder, but they were still employed on rare occasions. In fact, they are still deployed today. They were used as antipersonnel weapons in the Korean War to prevent ambushes and have been used into the 21st century to neutralize vehicles.^[3]

7 Bill Hook

Evolving from the agricultural bill hook, the martial bill hook (sometimes called the “English bill” or just the “bill”) was a relatively common weapon in the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Its flexibility and simple construction made it the weapon of choice of many poor soldiers or drafted peasants.

Its design varied significantly across Europe, but it was consistently a multipurpose weapon. Its broad, curved head could be used to slash in a similar fashion to a glaive, while the small hook on the end could catch the edges of armor plate and drag opponents to the ground or off their mounts. Later, bill hooks also had a long spike on top that allowed them to be used as spears or pikes if needed.

They fell out of fashion across Europe in the 1500s, replaced by the pike and arquebus. Despite this, professional soldiers in England stuck with the old bill and bow combination as late as the Battle of Flodden, by which time the Scots had long abandoned the bill hook. Examples of English bills have even been found in Jamestown, suggesting that they were still in use as late as 1607.^[4]

6 Lantern Shield

At the dawn of the Renaissance, Italy was the place to be. Whether you were interested in art, science, or engineering, the world’s best and brightest were gathered in the Italian states, where their work was supported by wealthy princes and merchants.

The best—and most outlandishly styled—armor was made in Italy, especially in Milan. Europe’s richest and most fashion-conscious all had their armor made by Italian smiths.

It should be no surprise then that one of the strangest and most elaborate shields in human history was designed in Renaissance Italy. At the time, there was a strong dueling culture among the country’s youth. Many young men would go out after dark to cause trouble on the streets or to take part in prearranged duels. Cue the invention of the lantern shield.

At first, lantern shields were simply shields that had a hook or other secure place to fasten a lantern so that those who dueled after dark could still see. The concept developed over time, however, and by the height of the Renaissance, the most advanced lantern shields had all kinds of features: serrated gauntlets designed to catch and break an opponent’s sword, spikes that jutted out of the shield’s front, and even sword blades that were forged into the shield, making it a weapon in itself.^[5]

Their strangest feature, however, was a small flap covered by a piece of leather. The user mounted a lantern behind this flap. According to dueling practice books from the time, these lantern flaps could be used to blind an opponent in a pinch, temporarily putting them out of action.

5 Fletched Javelin

Most of us know that javelins were commonly used across the Greek and Roman worlds. However, many don’t know that javelins were used well into the medieval period and beyond.

In fact, medieval javelins were more advanced than their ancient counterparts and were a lot more accurate. These special medieval weapons, often called fletched javelins, had feather fletchings at the bottom of their shafts which steadied the javelin in flight.

They resembled giant arrows and appeared semi-regularly in medieval artwork. They were also built differently from regular javelins, with crafters using lighter, less durable wood but larger and heavier heads to cause more damage on impact. They found considerably more use in the early medieval period, which then declined as the popularity of the longbow and crossbow grew.

The fletched javelin was also used in other parts of the world. In the Americas, native cultures used a special kind of sling known as an atlatl. This wooden tool could be used to launch a fletched javelin with twice the strength of a regular throw just by flicking the wrist. A similar leather sling was used by the ancient Greeks to launch javelins, but that stopped well before the Middle Ages.^[6]

There isn’t an exact term for these medieval javelins, though they are most commonly referred to as either fletched javelins or war darts. As they are thrown and have fletchings, they are technically darts. They probably wouldn’t be accepted by your local darts club, though.

4 Chakram

Throwing knives features prominently in our television and video games, but the Indian equivalent, a battle quoit, is even more bizarre. A sharpened metal disc, the chakram, or chakkar, is effectively a war frisbee.

It has been used by the nomadic Akali Nihang Sikhs for hundreds of years, though the oldest accounts of its use date back more than 2,000 years. They can vary significantly in size, from little wider than a hand to over 0.6 meters (2 ft) wide.

They can be thrown in many ways. The most common technique is to spin the disc on the finger and quickly release it, though underarm throws—which launch the disc vertically—are also well known. They can be thrown on the move and, for extra force, by using diagonal throws that build up a lot of speed.^[7]

In battle, they were deployed en masse by soldiers in the back ranks, who launched them high into the air to fall on their enemies’ heads. These weapons were carried into battle on the warrior’s arm, allowing him to carry up to a dozen at a time. However, the largest ones were worn around the neck.

They were also useful in melee combat, cutting any enemy who tried to grapple them. If needed, they could even be used as close-quarters weapons.

3 Net

Nets have been used in warfare by many different cultures for millennia, but they reached the height of their popularity in the gladiatorial arenas of ancient Rome. The gladiator games began as reenactments of real battles, with most gladiators wearing the gear of either Romans or their common enemies. Over time, however, the gladiator games—and the gladiator classes—developed a culture of their own.

Most gladiators wore large, elaborate helmets featuring everything from animal crests to exaggerated trims. While these helmets were impressive, they could also put the fighter at a disadvantage, especially when pitted against a retiarius.

A retiarius was a gladiator who took to the field with a trident and a net. He used his net to catch his opponent’s helmet and drag him down. Retiarii were some of the most popular gladiators in ancient Rome and were frequently fan favorites.

As they required very little armor and their weapons were very cheap, they were also some of the most common. In fact, a gladiator class appeared solely to counter the effectiveness of the retiarii.^[8]

This class, known as the secutor, wore a very basic helmet with no crest so that it couldn’t be caught by the retiarius’s net. The secutor‘s helmet also had small eye holes so that the trident couldn’t be thrust into his eyes.

By the end of the first century AD, this pairing was one of the most popular in the gladiatorial world. It remained so until the decline of the Roman Empire.

2 Khopesh

The khopesh is one of the oldest weapons of war in human history to be made entirely of metal. The first examples were forged in Mesopotamia around 2500 BC. The design quickly spread to Egypt, where it became the favored weapon of the warrior class—and, arguably, the world’s first sword.

Swords as we recognize them today became common in the 16th century BC, but before then, the khopesh dominated the Near East. Whether or not the khopesh is a sword, however, is still debated. It evolved from the sickle, a farm implement, and the axe, which people had started to use in warfare.

The result was a strange-looking, curved weapon with a sharp, axe-like edge and a hefty amount of metal behind it, making it just as good at bashing through armor as it was at slicing. Its sharpened tip meant that it could also be used as a stabbing weapon.^[9]

The khopesh was one of the most advanced weapons of its age, but it was also incredibly expensive to make. Only professional warriors and nobility could afford to own one, so it quickly became a symbol of Egypt’s ruling elite.

As time went on, more and more khopeshes were made with blunted edges, seemingly designed to serve as decorations or as grave goods. By the time the age of pharaohs ended, these weapons were even frequently appearing in the tombs of the mighty rulers themselves.

1 Kpinga

Using a throwing knife requires a fair bit of skill. Of course, the user needs to be able to throw the weapon accurately, which takes practice on its own. But he also needs to judge the distance and work out how to throw the blade so that the sharp end hits the target.

Many cultures around the world have used various innovations to get around this. Like the aforementioned chakram, the Japanese shuriken is deadly no matter which part of the weapon hits the target, while the boomerang has a much larger surface area that can cause damage.

The Azande people of Africa solved this problem in a different way. They made a throwing knife, the kpinga, with multiple blades. The blades are oriented so that the unfortunate enemy will be hit by a sharpened edge no matter how the knife is thrown. They were most commonly thrown overhead, but they could also be thrown sidearm, a low throw which aimed to take out the target’s legs.

The kpinga was a weapon of prestige, a status symbol that was only given to people of wealth and repute—or to professional warriors. The right to produce them belonged to a single clan, the Avongara, and they were sometimes part of the dowry given at a wedding.^[10]

They were so valued that when they were used, warriors were expected to shout that they were throwing their knife to prove they weren’t just discarding it wastefully.

Weapons are the idiomatic double-edged sword. They could kill or save lives, depending on how they are used.

Over the years, creative minds have developed ways of converting deadly weapons into peaceful items. It could be for art, fashion or more practical reasons like preventing famines and generating electricity. The weapons here range from small knives to automatic assault rifles, rocket launchers, armored tanks, helicopters and nuclear missiles.

See Also: 10 Myths About Guns And Gun Control

10 Escopetarra

Escopetarra (“shotgun guitar” in English) is coined from the Spanish “escopeta” (shotgun) and “guitarra” (guitar). As you should have guessed, the term refers to a gun that was converted into a guitar. The word is somewhat of a misnomer since the guitars are made out of assault rifles, mostly AK 47s, and not shotguns.

Colombian musician, César López, invented and named the escopetarra after observing the aftermath of a deadly car bombing in the early 2000s. The explosion killed 36 people and injured 170 others outside a nightclub in Bogotá, Colombia.

López observed that a soldier at the scene held his rifle as if it were a guitar. This motivated him to make a guitar out of an old AK 47 assault rifle. López still makes escopetarras today—all out of rifles surrendered by one of the many militias involved in the Colombian civil war.^[1]

9 The Throne Of Weapons And The Tree Of Life

The southeastern African nation of Mozambique fought a bitter civil war between 1977 and 1992. By the time it was over, over one million people were dead and another five million were homeless. At the end of the war, the government recovered seven million weapons by allowing former fighters exchange their weapons for farm tools under the “Transforming Arms into Tools” program.

In 2001, Mozambique artist, Cristóvão “Kester” Canhavato welded some of these weapons to create a sculpture he called the Throne of Weapons. The sculpture contains weapons from rival countries. There are rifles from the west, Russia, Portugal and North Korea. All were used in the civil war.

Another group of Mozambican artists created a second sculpture from the recovered weapons. This one was a three-meter-tall tree surrounded by several animals. They called it the Tree of Life. Unlike Kester, who exclusively made his sculpture out of assault rifles and magazines, these artists used rifles, pistols, magazines and rocket grenade launchers.^[2]

8Electricity

While many Americans do not realize this, Russia used to be responsible for one-tenth of the electricity generated in the US. The whole thing started at the end of the Cold War when Russia and the US agreed to decommission a large part of their nuclear stockpiles.

In 1993, both nations signed the U.S.-Russia HEU Purchase Agreement. The deal required Russia to process the uranium from its decommissioned weapons into nuclear fuel that will be sold to the US. The US would convert this fuel into fuel rods to power US nuclear plants.

The deal was a win for Russia. They got paid to destroy their nuclear weapons. As Anton Khlopkov of Center for Energy and Security Studies in Russia later said, “This is the only time in history when disarmament was actually profitable”. The deal ended in 2013 when the last batch of nuclear fuel was shipped to the US.^[3]

7 Tractors

French farmers were in a fix at the end of World War II. First, their farmlands were crisscrossed with trenches and deep craters caused by exploding artillery shells. However, that turned out to be the smaller problem. Their farm machineries, particularly the tractors they required for any farm work, were either destroyed or shipped to Germany by the Nazis.

The French army saved the day when it converted its 3,000 surplus M 17 (FT) Renault armored tank into makeshift tractors. The conversion was easy and swift. The armor and weapons on the tanks were removed, and one or two things were added, turning them into tractors.

The process was a win-win for the French people, farmers and army. It saved France from famine, provided farmers with tractors they could otherwise not afford and allowed the military dispose its useless tanks for cheap. As the French military told the farmers, “Those little tractors that whipped the Hun will undo much of what the Hun has done”. Hun here referred to the Germans.^[4]

6 Knife Angel

The Knife Angel (officially called the National Monument against Violence and Aggression) is a 27-feet-tall statue made by the Oswestry, UK-based National Ironworks Center. The statue was made out of 100,000 knives and blades police officers seized from crime suspects across the UK.

The National Ironworks Center created the statue as a tribute to the victims of knife crimes. In fact, 30% of the knives contained blood at the time police transferred them to the center. The center received so many knives that they had enough to create a second statue of a police dog.

Unlike the Knife Angel, the dog monument contained dog whistles, tags and gun parts. According to the center, the statue was a tribute to every dedicated, brave and hardworking police dog out there. It was presented to the West Mercia Police Department, which installed it right outside their headquarters in Hindlip, West Mercia, UK.^[5]

5 Artificial Reefs

Coral reefs are important for the survival of underwater life. Unfortunately, they are getting destroyed by humans and shifts in the earth’s climate, prompting responsible governments to create artificial reefs out of old subway cars and anything else that can survive underwater. Jordan did things a bit differently by making artificial reefs out of decommissioned military tanks, armored vehicles and helicopters.

The weapons were sunk between 50 to 90 feet below the Red Sea, just off the coast of the Jordanian city of Aqaba. Jordan already has 19 decommissioned weapons there as of July 2019, and hopes to grow this number as it gets more weapons. It hopes that the reefs will double as a museum and tourist attraction.^[6]

4 Garden Tools

Swords to Plowshares is a program by RAWtools, a Christian nongovernmental organization that wants to reduce gun violence. Under the program, people turn in their weapons and have them converted into farm implements. So far, RAWtools has converted AK 47 and AR-15 assault rifles into spades, plows, hoes, mattocks and trowels.

Recovered guns are cut into pieces before they are sent into the furnace. Thereafter, the red-hot metal is beaten into shape. Victims of gun violence and anti-gun violence advocates are allowed to take turns in beating the guns into farm tools.

Mike Martin, who founded RAWtools, said he was inspired by an Old Testament verse about the world only becoming peaceful when weapons are turned into farm tools. However, he only launched the program after the deadly December 14, 2012, Sandy Hook elementary school shooting. 28 people were killed and two others were injured in the shooting, which remains one of the deadliest school shootings in US history.^[7]

3Headphones And Wristwatches

IM is a Swedish organization that works closely with Latin American governments to get illegal guns off the streets and repurpose their metals for other things. IM calls this metal Humanium metal.

In 2018, it partnered with Yevo Labs to release the special edition Yevo 1 wireless earbuds. Parts of the earbuds and the charging case are made out of Humanium metal. To be clear, Yevo Labs had earlier released the Yevo 1 earbuds, which did not contain any gun part. The one that contained gun parts was a special edition version.

The same year, IM partnered with watchmaker, Triwa, to make watches out of Humanium metal. The guns used in the watches had been seized by police officers in El Salvador.^[8]

2 Chemotherapy

Chemical weapons were widely used during World War I. In fact, the war is nicknamed the Chemist’s War because chemists of the day were actively involved in developing chemical weapons for their sides. Chlorine, xylyl bromide and mustard gas all made their debut in the battlefields of World War I.

While all three were deadly, mustard gas hit a new level of lethality. It was first deployed by Germany against Allied troops in Ypres, Belgium, in July 1917. 10,000 Allied troops were killed in this single attack and more were injured.

Unlike other chemical weapons, mustard gas was immune to gas masks since it could penetrate the body through the skin. Protective clothes did not help since it went through clothes too. Victims of the attack ended up with bloody coughs and itchy skins filled with deadly blisters. A slow, painful death came six weeks later.

Two decades later, as the world prepared for World War II, Allied scientists started researching into preventing and curing mustard gas attacks. They clearly did not want any surprises this time. Two Yale University doctors, Louis Goodman and Alfred Gilman, discovered that soldiers poisoned with the gas during World War I had lower white blood cells than other people did.

Gilman and Goodman soon figured out that mustard gas reduced the white blood cells in the body. The researchers deduced that mustard gas could help cure cancer. Here was the thing: White white blood cells fight infections in the body. However, they sometimes become mutated, causing leukemia cancer.

To confirm their theory, the researchers injected some subjects with nitrogen mustard and watched as their leukemia disappeared after several treatments. They were right. Mustard gas cured cancer. This was the first chemotherapy session and it formed the basis of cancer treatment today.^[9]

1Pots And Pans

Ships are made of steel—tons of raw steel that is recycled when they get old. 95% of the average ship is completely recyclable. This figure includes warships. They are cut and processed into new products, just like regular ships. These products could be anything including pots and pans.

One decommissioned warship that made the news before its scrapping was the HMS Invincible, a British naval ship that saw action in the Falklands, Balkan and Iraqi wars. The British navy sold the ship to Leyal Ship Recycling of Turkey for £2 million ($3.2 million).

The sale was considered ridiculous because it happened over the internet. But it appears that decommissioned warships often get sold over the internet. While it sounds good to know that warships get recycled, the task of cutting ships—warships inclusive—into pieces is actually difficult, complicated and dangerous. Many people die while trying to cut ships into pieces every year.^[10]

Continuing our journey into overpowered weapons from mythology, we now look to the Middle East and the three main Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Despite appearances, they have plenty in common—at least mythologically. Adam, Abraham, Moses, and others (most notably God) all feature prominently in their scriptures. Basically, if they were comic books, they’d all share a universe. And, like comics, they all have some pretty crazy weapons. Here are the most overpowered.

10. The Sword of Goliath

David’s victory over the giant Goliath is the archetypal underdog tale. In it, the young shepherd confronts and kills, against all the odds, the arrogant Philistine champion. Whereas Goliath is huge (“six cubits and a span”), wears armor (“five thousand shekels of brass”), and carries weapons (a sword, a bronze javelin, and a spear topped with “six hundred shekels of iron”), David is dressed as an ordinary shepherd and only has a simple shepherd’s sling. But that’s all he needs. Before the fight has even begun, he launches a stone between Goliath’s eyes, killing him instantly. Then he takes possession of the slain giant’s sword and uses it to cut off his head. 

In the Midrash, the commentary on the Torah, the Sword of Goliath has miraculous powers—though it’s not entirely clear what they are. Some think the sword changed its size to suit its wielder, while others think it had super strength. Whatever the case, David carried it into the third Giant War to kill the last of the giants. Later, it was wrapped and stored in the Temple alongside other holy items. 

It’s unknown today if the sword still exists. But (in an interesting crossover with our last list on overpowered mythological weapons), the old Celtic gods, the Tuatha Dé Danann, are said to have brought Goliath’s sword to Ireland. But, like Myrddin’s demotion to a wizard (and Lugh’s to a leprechaun), this is likely another Christian retcon.

9. The Jawbone of an Ass

With his God-given super-strength, Samson, the last of the Judges, was basically the Hebrew Hercules. His best-known feat is certainly on a par with the Greek hero’s famous Twelve Labors. In the Book of Judges, he is said to have confronted one thousand Philistines entirely alone and, to begin with, tied up in strong new ropes. And he defeated every last man armed only with the jawbone of a donkey.

Although usually interpreted as an allegory for the power of faith or righteousness, or of God working through otherwise inadequate means (basically the old adage about a good workman never blaming his tools), the jawbone itself must have been strong to have held up through one thousand men. We’re also told it was “decayed” to begin with. So it must have been enchanted not to crumble after the first man it struck. Nowhere else in Jewish mythology does one man kill so many on his own.

8. Zulfiqar

The most overpowered weapon associated with Islam, though not specifically mentioned in the Koran, is the curved sword Zulfiqar, or Du’l Faqar. It was actually a gift from Muhammad to his cousin Ali during the Battle of Uhud against the Meccans. In the Shi’ite tradition, Zulfiqar was believed to have been brought down to earth by the archangel Gabriel. Split at the top (like a snake’s tongue) and curved like a scimitar, it was infused with magical powers.

Despite not being mentioned directly in scripture, its prominence in Shi’ism and the popular imagination explains its appearance in Islamic iconography, from flags and banners to medals, coins, and amulets.

Unfortunately, we don’t know what its magic powers were, except that it was used to cleave through many soldiers on the battlefield.

7. The Glittering Sword of Kenaz

Kenaz has only a minor role in the Torah, as the younger brother of Caleb, one of Moses’ spies. It’s in Pseudo-Philo’s first-century book Biblical Antiquities that he becomes more important—portrayed as the first judge of Israel after Joshua. 

He also carried a magical sword. And such was its power that during a twilight confrontation with the Amorites, “all who saw it trembled like a leaf.” Kenaz had got exactly what he prayed for—a sword that “shall glitter and send forth sparks” and caused the Amorites to cower and fall to the ground. In the end, against overwhelming odds, he killed 45,000 men. This was an impressive feat by any standard, even taking into account the help he received from two angels—one of whom blinded the Amorites and the other of whom strengthened Kenaz.

Like some other mythological swords, however, it seemed to have a thirst of its own. After the battle, it refused to let Kenaz put it down until he had shed more blood—whether the enemy’s or that of his own men.

6. The Sword of Methuselah

Methuselah, the oldest man in the Bible, lived to be 969 years old. According to Jewish tradition, this was in the early days of humanity somewhere between Adam and Noah. It was a time of demons running rampant, all fathered by Adam and Lilith during Adam’s 130-year estrangement from Eve following the murder of their son Abel by their other son Cain. Adam’s new children with Lilith were even worse; these were the shedim (demons) and lilin (succubi) who plagued the world for several generations. Eventually, God had enough. 

To deal with the problem, he gave Methuselah, son of Enoch, a magical sword. Engraved with one of God’s sacred names, it was forged to slay malevolent beings. And slay them it did; Methuselah used it to strike down 900,000 at once. Then Adam and Lilth’s firstborn, the demon king Agrimas, made a deal with Methuselah: he would spare the surviving demons, allowing them to retreat to remote mountains and the depths of the sea, and, in return, they would teach humans to restrain them.

There are two different tales about what ultimately happened to the sword. One says Methuselah was buried with it while another says it passed to Noah, then Shem, then Abraham, and then to Abraham’s three sons Isaac, Esau, and Jacob. Given this was technically the Bronze Age, historians imagine Methuselah’s sword was probably more of a long bronze dagger or a sickle-like khopesh than the longsword you may be imagining.

5. The Ark of the Covenant

In the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, the story of Uzzah has a crystal clear message: “Look but don’t touch.” The young man and his brother were driving a cart carrying the Ark for David when one of their oxen stumbled, threatening to topple the cargo. Instinctively, Uzzah reached out to steady it and was immediately killed for defying God’s law not to touch the Ark at any cost. 

Though not out of character for the Abrahamic god, this punishment is bizarrely severe—and seemingly pointless as a spiritual lesson. Hence some believe the tale may be a magical explanation for something more down-to-earth. In 1933, engineering professor Frederick Rogers drew parallels between the biblical descriptions of the Ark of the Covenant and simple electrical condensers or capacitors known as Leyden jars. He argued that the Ark—which, although wooden, was lined and overlaid with gold—was basically an oversized Leyden jar. It accumulated static electricity from the earth and the air, as well as heat from sacrifices, possibly reaching deadly levels. According to Rogers, Uzzah wasn’t smited by God; he was electrocuted.

Other theorists, like Graham Hancock, have suggested the Ark was powered by radioactive material (e.g. from a meteorite) or the sorcery of Moses. Whatever the case, it served as a weapon—and one that would kill at a touch.

4. The Holy Lance

The Holy Lance, or Spear of Destiny, is mentioned in the Gospel of John—but not so much as a weapon. In fact, it’s only used to pierce Jesus’s corpse on the cross to check that it’s dead before taking it down. As John 19:34 puts it, “one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.” It’s only in the time since that it’s become such an overpowered weapon.

Said to confer invincibility and world-enslaving political power, the Holy Lance has long been desired by those of a conquering bent. But it carries a sting in the tail. The legend begins with Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor, who wielded it on 47 victorious military campaigns. Legend has it that he died after letting go of the spear. Another wielder was Henry the Fowler, a Saxon king from whom it passed through a line of successors to the German king Frederick Barbarossa—who in the 12th century became the Holy Roman Emperor. Interestingly, similar to Charlemagne and despite his reputation for being unstoppable, he died after dropping the lance—apparently by drowning in a creek. Fast forward to 1796 and we find Napoleon storming the city of Nuremberg in pursuit of the Holy Lance, only to learn that the locals had it smuggled to Vienna. There it stayed for more than a century until the young Adolf Hitler set eyes on it. Immediately entranced, he came to see it as the key to his destiny: restoring the Holy Roman Empire as the Third Reich. Shortly after the Nazis annexed Austria in 1938, Hitler had the relic under SS guard on a train bound for Nuremberg. Seven years later, at the end of the war, the lance was stolen again—possibly by Americans—and Hitler was dead within hours.

Exciting though this history is, it may have even more holes than this spear put in people. That said, the Holy Lance is unique on this list for still existing today, at least to the extent of other holy relics. In fact, there are (at least) four lances in existence all claimed to be original. Unfortunately (or fortunately; however you want to look at it), scientific analysis on the one owned by Hitler dates it to the 7th century, i.e. long after Jesus’s death. The others in Armenia, Krakow, and the Vatican are also contested. 

3. The Sword of Heaven

There are many strange images in the Book of Revelation: seven-headed monsters, angelic beasts covered in eyes, a whore with a cup full of filthiness… The last book of the Christian Bible is a twisted, apocalyptic vision of the future, courtesy of someone called John. Even Jesus’s arrival (his Second Coming, where he’s come to rule with a rod of iron) is frightening, portraying him with flaming eyes, a robe soaked in blood (not his own blood this time), and a tattoo on his thigh reading “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” From his mouth emerges a sharp two-edged sword. This is the Sword of Heaven.

He then proceeds to use it against the forces of darkness before casting them into the lake of fire. Crucially, though, he does it without actually striking them with the sword. Instead, the power of the sword is remote. It’s usually taken as a symbol of the power of his words, capable of subduing whole nations from a distance.

2. The Flaming Sword 

The Flaming Sword—with its “blade” of holy fire—is usually associated with Michael, the archangel. In the Old Testament Book of Genesis, however, following Adam and Eve’s ejection from Eden, the Flaming Sword blocks the east entrance and the way to the Tree of Life. Here it operates alongside God’s personal attendants, the cherubim, apparently without a wielder. Flaming and turning in every direction, it prevents humanity’s return to innocence.

It was only natural that the Flaming Sword would later be wielded by Michael. Of all the archangels, he is the most aggressive defender against the forces of evil. And the sword’s fiery, spiritual composition matches the nature of his foes (calling to mind the spiritual counterparts to humans in Islam, the fire beings or jinn created at the same time as Adam). According to some, the Flaming Sword can even cut through the fabric of spacetime.

The most iconic depiction of Michael wielding this sword is the statue at Mont Saint-Michel, in France, where he’s standing over a dragon. His no-nonsense wrath may also be why he’s the Mafia’s patron saint.

1. The Staff of God

Moses’ staff was more than just a stick. Throughout Exodus, it serves as “the staff of God,” an instrument of miracles, and a symbol of Moses’ status. According to the Jewish oral tradition (as collected in the Mishnah), the staff is as old as the world itself; it was one of ten “wondrous” items created by God the evening before his day off. Some believe it was made out of sapphire, while others say it was made out of wood—specifically from the Tree of Knowledge.

In any case, it was first entrusted to Adam. Then, after the Fall he passed it to Enoch, who gave it to Noah, who gave it to Shem, who gave it to Abraham, who gave it to Isaac, who gave it to Jacob, who gave it (now in Egypt) to his own son Joseph. From Joseph it was stolen by the Pharaoh; and from the Pharaoh, it was stolen by the royal advisor Jethro, who planted it in the garden of his house. Henceforth no one could pull it from the ground… except Moses, who used the staff to part the Red Sea while leading the Jews out of Egypt. He also drew water from a rock. 

Technically, the staff isn’t seen as a weapon. In fact, Ridley Scott faced a backlash for portraying Moses as violent at all in the movie Exodus. However, he used it to bring about plagues—specifically the seventh and eighth: hail and locusts. It also appears to have been used by Aaron to bring about the earlier plagues of blood, frogs, and vermin. If so, Aaron also transformed it into a snake to devour those conjured by the Pharaoh’s court magicians. Furthermore, it’s prophesied in the Midrash to play a role in the apocalypse.

For most of the history of warfare, defensive technology was far in advance of offensive weapons. A stout wall was enough to keep most enemy armies out of your cities and strongholds. This mismatch means that the history of war is filled with sieges.

In order to break into a city or castle, or to stop besiegers from getting in, humans have poured all their ingenuity into creating a wide variety of weapons. And what’s a deadly siege weapon without an equally diabolical strategy for its use? Here are ten inventive, and frankly bizarre, siege weapons and tactics from history.

10 Pigs

King John is commonly regarded as the worst king in English history. His inability to get along with his nobles led to them rising in rebellion several times. After one of these revolts, they forced the king to agree to a charter of rights, Magna Carta, that is still celebrated as a foundation of English civil rights. But John being John, immediately after agreeing to Magna Carta, he changed his mind and had it declared invalid. The barons rose in rebellion again.

In the First Barons’ War, one of the castles held against John was in the city of Rochester. The king tried many ways to take the castle: diplomancy, bombardment, and bribery. He managed to capture the outer yard of the castle, but the rebels in the defensive keep would not yield. So the king turned to pigs to save his bacon.

John set his engineers to digging beneath the walls of the keep. When the tunnel was ready, he ordered that “forty of the fattest pigs, the sort least good for eating” be used to burn the support beams of the tunnel.^[1] The fire was so intense that the tunnel collapsed and took part of the tower above with it. The rebels held out a while longer but were eventually starved into surrender.

9 Dead Bodies

When you are sitting outside of an enemy’s walls, and your catapults are useless against them, it must be dispiriting. An army camp in the past was an unhealthy place to be, and epidemics could easily devastate a besieging force. When the city of Caffa in Crimea was being attacked by the Mongols in 1346, they found more effective things to launch over the walls than stones.

The Black Death had not yet ravaged Europe, but the invading Mongol army brought the disease with them. Instead of retreating and tending to their dying, they put the corpses filling their camp to good use. The bodies were put into catapults and hurled over the walls in hopes that “the intolerable stench would kill everyone inside.”^[2] “Mountains of dead” were catapulted, but it was not the smell which was deadly—the plague came in with the rotting corpses. Caffa held against the siege, but it is thought that ships fleeing the city may have helped spread the plague into Europe.

Use of biological weapons was also considered by those under siege. In the 17th century, as the siege of Candia dragged on into its 21st year, the inhabitants of the city came up with a plan to make a poisonous liquid to infect the army outside. It would be the essence of plague distilled from the spleens and sores of plague victims. As far as we know, this plan was never used.

8 Heat Rays

When the Romans attempted to capture the Greek city of Syracuse, they faced not only the strong-willed resistance of the inhabitants but also the genius of Archimedes. The mathematician and inventor is said to have created weapons that could lift the Roman ships attacking the harbor clean out of the water before dropping and sinking them. But he is also supposed to have created a method of burning the ships before they even got close.

Using mirrors, or polished shields according to some historians, Archimedes directed the light of the Sun onto the ships. The heat is supposed to have ignited the tarred wood of the vessels’ hulls and destroyed them. Some dismiss the idea out of hand, but several attempts to recreate versions of the heat ray have shown that it is possible to set fire to ships in this way.^[3] Even if they did not burn the Roman fleet like this, then all those dazzling mirrors would have certainly distracted and blinded the sailors on board.

7 Rocket Cats

Franz Helm was an artillery master in 17th-century Germany, and he literally wrote the book on siege weapons. In one text, he described how you could use a cat to destroy your enemy:

Create a small sack like a fire-arrow. If you would like to get at a town or castle, seek to obtain a cat from that place. And bind the sack to the back of the cat, ignite it, let it glow well and thereafter let the cat go, so it runs to the nearest castle or town, and out of fear it thinks to hide itself where it ends up in barn hay or straw it will be ignited.^[4]

What caught the eye of most researchers were the illustrations that went along with this plan—they make it look as if the cat will be propelled over the walls with a rocket. While it is thought that fire or rocket cats were probably never used in battle, there are records of fire pigs. When the city of Megara was besieged, those inside drove off the elephants outside by smearing pigs in oil and setting them on fire before releasing them from the city.

6 Sand

In any movie about a medieval siege, there will be a scene where defenders are shown heating water or oil to pour down on besiegers as they attempt to scale the walls. But if water or oil was too valuable to waste due to food shortages, other hot things could be dropped from the walls. At the siege of Caen in 1346, Sir Edward Springhouse was knocked off a ladder, and the defenders threw burning hay down on him, roasting him in his armor.

Other people under siege have had to get even more creative. When Alexander the Great was attacking the city of Tyre, his men faced something even worse than scalding oil. The defenders of the city took the fine sand of the local area and heated it until it glowed red-hot.^[5] This was poured down on the attackers. The fine sand would find its way into any piece of armor and lodge there. Men were driven wild with pain and would strip off their armor, leaving themselves to be picked off by archers on the walls. The sand could also be carried by the wind to the enemy ships and ignite their sails.

5 Greek Fire

Greek fire was a weapon that inspired terror for hundreds of years. It was a liquid that would burst into flame on contact with water and would burn anything it touched. It could be launched from catapults at enemy ships and siege weapons or sprayed over a wide area. No one knows the exact recipe for Greek fire, but it is thought to have contained caustic chemicals, pitch, and resin. The only ways to extinguish Greek fire were said to be sand, salt, or urine. One crusader who faced Greek fire thought the only defense was to fall on your knees and pray for deliverance.

As well as being used in the defense of cities, there was also a hand-operated Greek fire weapon called a cheirosiphon that could be used to attack a city.^[6] The cheirosiphon was placed on a siege tower that would be wheeled up to the city walls, and the device would shoot a stream of burning Greek fire onto the defenders and buildings inside.

4 Toilets

Most people take the ease of modern plumbing for granted. In the Middle Ages, however, a toilet in a castle could simply be a board projecting over the walls with a hole cut in it that allowed waste to fall below. While you might think that this is going to be about dropping dung on besiegers, toilets could, in fact, be a way for an enemy to get inside.

Chateau Gaillard was built by Richard the Lionheart and was supposed to be impregnable. But it was captured less than ten years after it was built. King Philip II of France captured the outer parts of the castle but could not take the inner keep. One of his men saw that a castle toilet, or garderobe, might offer the way in they were looking for. A soldier was sent up the narrow, feces-spattered gap that led up to the toilet. He crawled up, opened a window into the castle chapel, and let the French soldiers take the impregnable castle.^[7]

3 Exploding Mill Wheel

In 1552, Ottoman forces laid siege to the Castle of Eger in Hungary. The castle was in a good defensive position, as it commanded a hill which gave the castle guns an advantage over enemies beneath. The tens of thousands of Ottoman troops heavily outnumbered the defenders, however, and were able to keep the castle under almost constant bombardment. The outer walls of the castle began to crumble under the fire, and the defenders’ cannons could not harm the besiegers.

Inside the castle, a man named Gergely Bornemissza developed weapons that could reach the attackers. He took the mill wheels, the heavy stones used to crush grain into flour, and stuffed them with gunpowder.^[8] Because the castle of Eger was at the top of a hill, these explosive millstones were able to pick up a huge amount of speed as they rolled into the enemy camp and exploded, scattering burning wood and shards of stone into the Ottomans.

2 Piggybacks

In the 12th century, Germany was a patchwork of small principalities loosely held together in the Holy Roman Empire. It was not unusual for states to go to war with one another. In 1140, Conrad III went to war with the Duke of Welf and surrounded the city of Weinsberg. For a long time, the citizens held out. Conrad III told the inhabitants that unless they surrendered to his forces, he would burn the city to the ground and kill everyone inside.

When the city did not yield, Conrad was determined to follow through with his threats. Eventually, starved, the citizens of Weinsberg had to give in. Conrad ordered everyone to be gathered in one place to submit and face death. The men of the city, so they said, were willing to die, but they begged for one favor—that their women be allowed to go free. Being a chivalrous man, Conrad gave the women permission to leave the city with whatever they could carry.

When the time came for the women to leave, the besieging army was startled to see them walking bent-backed out of the city with their menfolk on their backs.^[9] Some in the king’s army thought this was a shameful trick, but the king is said to have laughed and allowed the women and the men to go free.

1 Bees

The benefit of a wall is that you can hide behind it if the enemy throws something at you, and you can also use its height to drop things down on them. Besieging armies are not stupid, however, and will try to avoid giving you the chance to hit them by either digging underground or using shields to keep themselves safe. When the Vikings attacked Chester in the tenth century, they used wooden coverings called hurdles to keep the defenders’ thrown weapons off them as they attempted to destroy the walls. The inhabitants got creative.

First, they took all the beer in the city and boiled it in cauldrons before pouring it down on the Vikings. The wood had staved off stones, but the beer found its way through and burned the attackers “so that their skin peeled off.” The Vikings responded by covering their hurdles in animal hides so that the boiling liquid ran off to the sides. But the defenders had one more trick up their sleeves. They took the beehives in the city and hurled them down on the Vikings. Understandably upset by this treatment, the bees set about stinging the Vikings.^[10] The Vikings gave up their efforts and abandoned the siege.

Celtic mythology is mainly from Britain, though not so much England. These are the tales of the druids, the Irish Otherworld, the folklore of Wales and Scotland. It’s also, in part, the basis for Arthurian legend. 

Unsurprisingly for tales of gods in battle, there are plenty of crazy weapons. From swords and spears to monstrous siege engines, here are ten of the most overpowered.

10. Lorg Mor

Lorg Mór, or Lorg Anfaid, “the Staff of Wrath,” was a forked stick so big it needed a wheel—and eight men to pull it, leaving furrow-like trails in the ground. It belonged to the Dagda, the father of the gods and patron of the druids. One end killed enemies (nine in one blow), while the other revived the dead with just a touch.

To give you some idea of the Dagda’s huge size, at the Second Battle of Mag Tuired he ate porridge from a “great pit in the ground” using a spoon big enough “for a man and a woman to lie together in.”

Also in the Dagda’s possession was a magic cauldron from which he drew unlimited food, enough to supply whole armies, and a magical harp to boost or crush an army’s morale. Once, when it was stolen by the evil Fomorians, this harp leapt off the wall and killed the thieves present merely at the sound of his voice.

9. Dyrnwyn

According to Welsh legend, an early name for Britain, when gods walked the earth, was Clas Myrddin, or “Myrddin’s Enclosure.” It’s where Myrddin was imprisoned, in a house made of air “by enchantment so strong it may never be undone” as long as “the world endureth.” Though he was later Christianized (culturally vandalized) to Merlin—the wizard of Arthurian romance—Myrddin was once such a powerful god that the Greeks considered him Kronos, i.e. the Titan and father of Zeus. 

In any case, Myrddin took with him the Thirteen Treasures of Britain, among which was a sword called Dyrnwyn, or “White-Hilt”. This was once the weapon of Rhydderch Hael, the King of Strathclyde in Scotland. And its power was to burst into flames, lightsaber-like, from the hilt to the tip—but only if the wielder was worthy. If they were unworthy, they would burst into flames instead. Hence, while Rhydderch was happy to lend it to others (earning him the nickname “the Generous”), few took him up on the offer.

8. Moralltach

Moralltach, “Great Fury,” belonged to Diarmuid Ua Duibhne (pronounced Dermot O’Dyna), foster son of Aengus the sex god. He got it from his mentor Manannán, son of the sea god Lir. A reliable long sword, it left no strike unfinished and always followed through with a kill. It was therefore reserved for the most deadly fights. For lesser confrontations, Diarmuid had Beagalltach, or “Little Fury,” Moralltach’s gentler counterpart.

One night, when Diarmuid and his lover, Gráinne, were woken three times by the sound of a dog, he armed himself only with Beagalltach to investigate—despite Gráinne begging him to take Moralltach instead. “How can danger arise from such a small affair?” he said. When he arrived at the scene, he found a boar hunt in progress—but this was no ordinary boar. Years before, his foster father Aengus squeezed a wizard’s son to death for being more popular than Diarmuid; and in revenge, the wizard turned the corpse into a boar and tasked it with Diarmuid’s destruction—one day. Now realizing that day was upon him, Diarmuid realized his mistake and exclaimed: “Woe to him who does not follow the advice of a good wife!” Although he tried striking the boar on the neck with Beagalltach, it glanced off without leaving a mark. In the end Diarmuid was killed.

Had he brought Moralltach, he could have split the boar in half in one blow. In fact, he once destroyed a whole army with the sword, rushing “through them and under them and over them, like a wolf among sheep, or a hawk among sparrows, cleaving and slaughtering them, till only a few were left.”

7. Claiomh Solais

Forged for Nuada, the king of the gods, Claíomh Solais (or Chloive Solais) was a “Sword of Light.” It was also one of the Four Treasures of the Tuatha Dé Dannan (i.e. the gods)—alongside the Lia Fáil (or “Stone of Destiny”), Lugh’s spear, and the cauldron of the Dagda. Once this sword was drawn, there was no escaping. No-one could resist, nor kill its wielder. And if any but the owner tried to wield it, it screamed like a magical car alarm.

Claíomh Solais appears in numerous Irish folk tales and even spread to Scotland. It may also have inspired King Arthur’s sword Excalibur.

6. Gae Bulg

Made from a sea monster’s bones, Gáe Bulg (“barbed spear”) was practically indestructible. It belonged to the hero Cú Chulainn, who got it from his teacher, the warrior goddess Scáthach. This was no casual gift; he was the only one of her students to prove capable of wielding it. For one thing, it had to be thrown by foot—launched from the toes with a kick. Also, because it always guaranteed a kill, it had to be responsibly used.

When Gáe Bulg entered an enemy’s body, it filled it with barbs. Sources vary as to how many; some say 30, others 49. Either way it made such a mess of the target that retrieval of the weapon took time. It couldn’t just be pulled from the corpse, it had to be dug out with a knife. Needless to say, it was much better suited to one-on-one duels than fighting on the battlefield. But it was a dishonorable weapon. 

Cú Chulainn only used it when not doing so would lead to his death. Being such a unbeatable warrior himself, this meant he only ever used it to kill Ireland’s very best—usually after long fights, just as they were about to kill him. It looks like he used it three times, against his young son Connla (ripping up his belly), Queen Medb’s champion Loch (splitting his heart in two), and his best friend Ferdiad (filling “every limb and crevice with wounds”).

5. Luin of Celtchar

The enchanted spear of the hero Celtchar apparently had a mind of its own. When it sensed an enemy, it writhed uncontrollably until it got blood, and if it didn’t it would turn on its wielder. The only other way to “quench” the spear’s bloodlust was to immerse it in a cauldron of venom.

It could also kill targets from a distance, without touching them; you simply had to thrust it in place. If it was thrown, though, it killed nine men at once—always including a king, a royal heir, or a “plundering chieftain.”

Celtchar used the Lúin against the god who slept with his wife, and later lost his own life to the weapon. It was found abandoned on the battlefield of Mag Tuired.

4. Lugh’s Spear

Also known as Gae Assail, Lugh’s spear was, as mentioned, one of the Four Treasures of the gods, or Tuatha Dé Danann—that is, one of the four crowning achievements of their mastery of magic. Confusingly, however, it’s also said to have been stolen, on Lugh’s orders, from its original owner the King of Persia. Either way, it made Lugh unbeatable. According to the Cath Maige Tuired, an old Irish saga about the Battle of Mag Tuired, “No battle was ever won against it or him who held it in his hand.” 

One of the most important of the old Celtic gods, Lugh’s name survives in place names like Lyon in France (from Lugdunum, the “fortress of Lugh”). As a sun god, he’s compared to Apollo. He was also the grandson of Balor—the Sauron-like king who tried to kill him as a baby when a prophecy warned that Lugh would destroy him. If you’re familiar with Greek or Roman mythology, you’ll notice the parallels to the story of Kronos/Saturn devouring his sons. Similar to Zeus, Lugh escaped death and was adopted by the sea god Manannán, growing up to be the god of arts and crafts. Later, as prophesied, he killed Balor—using his magical spear. Like Thor’s hammer, it always returned to its thrower. And it never missed. 

Interestingly, while all the old gods are diminished today, Lugh has been diminished more than most. Over the years, this mighty warrior, sun god, and “Master of All Arts” became the simple fairy craftsman Lugh-chromain, or “little stooping Lugh”—a figure we now call the leprechaun.

3. Fragarach

Another of Lugh’s weapons was a sword called Fragarach, or “The Answerer.” Originally forged by the gods for Nuada, the High King of Ireland, it was meant to be wielded on the Lia Fáil stone (the “Stone of Destiny”) so that when the stone roared to confirm the true king, Fragarach would whisper in reply. 

But it did a lot more than that. It could also draw the truth from anyone’s lips, drain their strength from a distance, and penetrate all kinds of armor—including shields and walls. It also flew from the scabbard to the hand on command. And as if that wasn’t enough, this Swiss Army knife of magic swords killed anyone it struck within seconds, even if the wound was just slight. It could also control the weather.

Not being a king himself, Lugh got the sword when Nuada lost an arm fighting the Fomorians. So equipped, he rushed to the aid of the Tuatha Dé Danann, saving them from paying tribute to Balor. Again calling to mind Apollo, it’s said that when they saw him coming, Fragarach in hand, aboard the self-steering boat of a sea god, it felt like beholding a sunrise. Immediately, Lugh killed almost all the Fomorians, sparing just nine to take a message to Balor: There wouldn’t be any more tributes.

2. Caladbolg

Like all the best swords, Caladbolg passed through a number of hands—Fergus mac Róich‘s among them. This Ulster king, the greatest of all Ulster heroes, had huge genitalia, requiring seven women to satisfy him. He was also Cú Chulainn’s tutor and, in later tales, Queen Medb (Maeve)’s lover.

Swung with two hands, Caladbolg swept down whole ranks of men in a colorful arc like a rainbow. It could even alter the landscape. At the Battle of Garach, Fergus—mad with fury at his stepson Conchobar for stealing his throne—cuts down hundreds of his own men to strike at his rival. But he only manages to hit Conchobar’s shield before Cormac, Conchobar’s son, intervenes, persuading Fergus to spare his father’s life. Fergus then turns on another man present, Conall, Cú Chulainn’s twin, who grabs hold of Fergus and manages to bring him to his senses. Like a fungus-crazed berserker, however, he still had to vent his “battle-fury.” So he “smote among the hills with his rainbow-sword,” striking off the tops of three peaks—for which they became known as the maela or “flat-tops” of Meath.

The name Caladbolg literally means “hard (or crushing) lightning,” and it survives in the name of Excalibur. In fact, the two swords are thought to be one and the same. The Welsh name for Caladbolg, Caledfwlch, was Latinized to Caliburnus and later became Excalibur.

1. Balor’s Eye

Balor, king of the Fomorians, had an eye like a siege engine. It was only ever opened on the battlefield and took four men to lift up the lid. Once it was opened, not only could the eye reduce armies to ashes, it could also lay waste to whole regions. This apparently explains the islands west of Scotland, which “remain bleak and haunted to this day.”

The eye was so dangerous, in fact, that in addition to the eyelid, it was usually kept covered by seven cloaks. Removing each of these had progressively destructive effects: The first withered ferns, the second browned grass, the third heated trees, the fourth got them smoldering, the fifth got them hot, and the last two set the landscape ablaze.

Ironically, it was through this eye that Lugh killed Balor. In their fateful confrontation, the two met on the battlefield and Lugh began to speak. Balor turned to one of his men, saying “lift up mine eyelid, my lad, that I may see the babbler who is conversing with me.” Then, as soon as it was uncovered, Lugh released a stone from his sling, carrying the eye through Balor’s head and out the other side so that only his own men could see it—killing them instantly.

Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Give a hero a modified nail gun and a box full of nails, and he could take over the world.

Some people—mostly normal, everyday people—get into the news for showing some form of above-average heroism. Pulling people from burning buildings, catching toddlers who fall from tall buildings, you know the type of story, right?

From time to time, though, we get some normal guy or gal who kicks ass with an amazing and incredibly inventive weapon. Here are 10 of those people.

10 Certified Badass Warriors Who Shook The Asian Continent

10 Tony Stein And ‘The Stinger’

This hero of World War II was essentially a real-life Transformer. When he went into battle, he turned himself into a land-faring fighter jet and gunned down enemies in droves as if they were bunch of Messerschmitts . . . except humans go down easier than planes.

Tony Stein equipped himself with a modified M1919 machine gun to fight the Japanese. This firearm, which was upgraded from firing 400 rounds per minute to an astonishing 1,350 rounds per minute, was attached to fighter planes.

Sergeant Mel Grevich liked this a lot. But he wasn’t a flyboy. He salvaged some guns from scrapped planes, attached an M1 Garand rifle butt and a box magazine, and “the stinger” was born. One of these modified monster weapons was handed to Tony Stein before the Battle of Iwo Jima.

During the battle, Stein took out enemy pillboxes and killed at least 20 enemy combatants. He made his frequent ammo runs without boots or a helmet in order to be as quick as possible.^[1]

9 An 11-Year-Old North Carolina Boy And His Machete

“This is a very tough kid who kept his wits about him,” remarked Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood. He was referring to a heroic 11-year-old child who had repelled a violent burglar with a machete. The boy had just been forced into a closet at gunpoint by Jataveon Dashawn Hall, the 19-year-old burglar who was toting a pellet gun he’d grabbed while ransacking the house.

Most kids would do what they’re told. Maybe cry. Maybe wet themselves. Not this kid.^[2]

The boy left the closet and grabbed a machete. Then he ran downstairs where he saw his tormentor greedily swiping electronic goods like a TV and a PlayStation. The boy cracked the burglar over the head with his big knife and got kicked in the stomach for his trouble.

Still not licked, the boy took another swipe but missed, getting a roundhouse to the head this time. Just then, the burglar realized he was bleeding profusely from the back of his head. He dropped the stuff he was planning to steal and fled, taking two accomplices with him.

8 Lars Andersen With A Bow And Arrow

Lars Andersen must be at least half wood elf to pull off some of his amazing feats with a bow. It’s always cool to see cool people doing cool things. Andersen’s incredible, record-smashing feats with a bow and arrow make us question why we became so reliant on firearms (until you remember Tony Stein’s “Stinger”).

Andersen is also a talented painter. He attended art school and completed private tutelage under artist and fellow Dane Otto Frello. What relevance does this have? None really, but it should be covered lest the author get hunted down and pinged with 10 arrows in under five seconds.^[3]

7 ‘Jason’ And His Jar Of Instant Coffee

Many people are almost useless without their cup of morning java. But how many of us become Charles Bronson when holding a jar of coffee granules?

“Jason,” a 48-year-old man from Victoria, Australia, was getting ready to fill up his Mercedes at a petrol station in Frankston, a suburb of Melbourne. Before he had even decided whether he was going to purchase a meat pie or a pack of Tim Tams, Jason was confronted by a gun-toting man who appeared to be in his twenties.

The would-be carjacker demanded that Jason hand over the keys to his swanky ride, but Jason was having none of it. “I think most people probably should hand the keys over, but I’m sort of not one of those people,” Jason said.

After a scuffle with his assailant caused his recently purchased jar of coffee to drop to the ground and smash, Jason used a shard from the broken jar as a knife to fight off his attacker. Luckily for Jason, the criminal’s gun wasn’t real. Unluckily for the carjacker, the broken glass was real. Real sharp, that is.

Eventually, the wannabe carjacker ran away with a pack of Jason’s cigarettes.^[4]

6 Darryn Frost Fights Terrorist

Here we have the story of an extremely brave Englishman who took on a murderous terrorist with a piece of a dead animal. That is bravery.

Originally from South Africa, 38-year-old Darryn Frost confronted terrorist Usman Khan as he rampaged across London Bridge while armed with two knives. What weapon did Frost use? A narwhal’s tusk.

Frost grabbed the decorative antique from the interior of Fishmongers’ Hall where he and some colleagues were attending an event. He managed to restrain the knife-wielding attacker by pinning him to the ground while struggling to disarm him.^[5]

Khan had already murdered Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23. So Frost wasn’t dealing with just some angry guy. This was a killer. Soon police swooped in, took control of the situation, and shot the terrorist who had claimed he was wearing a bomb vest. (It turned out to be fake.)

10 Badass Women Who Went To War

5 19th-Century New England Whalers And Their Explosive Harpoon Guns

Continuing with the giant ocean-dwelling mammal theme, whaling was once the cornerstone of New England’s economy. Fat from these giant animals was rendered and used as fuel for lamps all over the world. Demand was incredibly high, and the job of procuring the commodity was perilous.^[6]

Until the mid-19th-century invention of the awesome-looking harpoon gun pictured above, whalers used regular old harpoons, the type you just throw and hope for the best. One traditionalist whaler commented, “A whaler does not like to shoot a whale anymore than a sportsman would shoot a trout.”

Trout can be strong little buggers, it’s true. Whales are a different kettle of fish, though. Even with this handy invention, it must have been a heck of a job to bag enough whales to light the whole planet. Respect.

4 Joerg Sprave And His Arsenal Of Homemade Weapons

The only thing cooler than this bloke’s arsenal of homemade projectile weapons is his insanely infectious, deep, and booming laugh. He sounds like a drunken medieval king after a boar hunt. Probably a hunt conducted using PVC pipe recurve bows!

Sprave makes YouTube videos showcasing his awesome slingshot tinkerings, which have a serious amount of destructive power. They include incredibly entertaining inventions like the bowling ball–firing slingshot.

Sprave has also invented the “Instant Legolas” (now called the “Fenris Rapid Fire Bow Magazine”), an add-on to your humble bow which auto-loads arrows. This dude invented what is essentially a bow-and-arrow machine gun. Bad. Ass.^[7]

3 Billy Sing And His Lee-Enfield Rifle

Two hundred confirmed kills is a high number for any sniper during wartime. When you consider that Australian serviceman Billy Sing completed this feat with a simple Lee-Enfield rifle during the brutal trench warfare of World War I, it is all the more impressive.

Perhaps his most amazing achievement was his legendary battle with the famed Turkish sniper “Abdul the Terrible” at Gallipoli. Abdul was a marksman who was so revered that even his gun had a name (“Mother of Death”).

During this sniper vs. sniper battle, it seemed as though Abdul would be victorious. Having stalked Sing and located his exact position, Abdul dug his trench and readied himself to pick off the elusive Sing. But Sing was quicker. Before Abdul could fire, Sing had pinpointed his location, seemingly using hunter’s instinct alone, and won this legendary fight.^[8]

After the war, Sing’s life was not the type that you’d expect for a returning war hero. He lived out the rest of his days in a boarding house in Brisbane as an unknown man in poverty. His unmarked grave was uncovered by Brian Tate 50 years after Sing’s death in 1943. It is now rightfully marked.

2 Jerry Miculek And Any Gun You Hand Him

It has often been suggested that you don’t bring a knife to a gunfight. If the gunfight in question includes Jerry Miculek, you may need to consider bringing an even more advanced weapon . . . some sort of pulse weapon, perhaps?

When you can fire a revolver downrange and achieve a grouping smaller than the size of a playing card on the target, you’re a good shot. Jerry can do that in 0.57 seconds. He’s also a very proficient gunsmith and handyman who can design and maintain guns as well as fire them quicker than any man alive.^[9]

1 Marcus Attilius And His Shiny(us) Gladius

Some people just love a good scrap. A lot of blokes enjoy getting loaded on the weekend and find any excuse to swing for somebody. A spilled drink. A misheard insult. A cockeyed look.

For Roman citizen Marcus Attilius, his love of violence went far beyond a drunken coping mechanism for a dreary life. He genuinely loved a good dustup. His name can be seen in the ruins of Pompeii on graffiti that lists the names of the gladiatorial superstars of the day. Marcus Attilius is the only gladiator listed who was not a slave. He chose to fight.^[10]

It is probable that Marcus had been an experienced soldier. His record suggests that he was victorious against at least two veteran gladiators. Moreover, we can assume that he had fallen on hard financial times because a gladiator sacrificed his rights as a citizen.

But isn’t it cooler to consider that this guy just wanted to fight? Maybe he missed the glory and gore of the battlefield. Whatever the motivation, Marcus Attilius chose to enter one of the deadliest environments ever fashioned. And he won.

10 Famous People Who Were Secretly Badass Soldiers

About The Author: CJ Phillips is a storyteller, actor, and writer living in rural West Wales. He is a little obsessed with lists.

In all of human history, the most devastating weapon has been the nuclear bomb. With just one piece of ordnance, a military can (and has) wiped out entire cities. Still, the engineers who make weapons weren’t done with those early models.

In the years since the bombs fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, scientists and engineers have continued to improve their designs. The results are both fascinating and horrifying. These 10 nukes were designed, created, or both by various militaries, and with any luck, they’ll never see the light of day.

Top 10 Near Misses With Nuclear Weapons

10 W54
Man-Portable Rocket-Launched Nuclear Weapon

When nuclear weapons were invented, they were large, bulky objects with relatively low yields. Over time, the size of these weapon systems got much smaller while the nuclear yields grew larger. As far as we know, the smallest nuke developed and deployed by any military is the W54.

The United States developed the bomb in the 1950s as a tactical, low-yield nuclear weapon capable of delivering a 10-ton to 1-kiloton blast. It was created for use in the M-28 and M-29 Davy Crockett short-range rockets and had a range of 2–4 kilometers (1–2.5 mi).

The W54 was adapted into a man-portable Special Atomic Demolition Munition. Specifically, it was to be used if the Soviet Union invaded Europe. It was designed to be carried and fired short distances as an artillery munition.^[1]

W54s were enhanced to become nuclear-tipped, air-to-air missiles. The W72 model was a rebuilt W54 used with the AGM-62 Walleye-guided bomb, which was capable of delivering a 600-ton nuclear yield. However, no models are believed to have been completed.

The W54 was extensively tested before the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963. Between 1957 and 1979, the US produced around 400 W54 bombs.

9 Mark-18
Ivy King

Some people feel that nuclear bombs should be precise, low-yield weapons, while others favor more of a “go big or go home” attitude. The Mark-18 Ivy King satisfies the latter as it was the largest pure-fission nuclear bomb tested by the US.

In direct response to the Soviet Union’s development of high-yield nukes in the 1950s, the Truman administration launched Operation Ivy, which resulted in the aptly named Ivy King. On November 16, 1952, the bomb was tested, and it achieved a yield of a 500-kiloton blast.^[2]

The massive bomb weighed 3,900 kilograms (8,600 lb). It used a 92-point implosion system and contained an enormous amount of highly enriched uranium (equivalent to four critical masses). This put the bomb on the edge of criticality safety, so aluminum and boron chains filled the central chamber to prohibit accidental collapse.

The chains absorbed neutrons, which were needed to achieve the desired reaction. To arm the bomb, the chain was removed. Overall, the US produced 90 Mark 18 bombs from March 1953 to 1956.

8 W82
Nuclear Artillery Shell

There are two types of deployments concerning the use of nuclear weapons: tactical and strategic. The bombs dropped in Japan were strategic. Their purpose wasn’t to destroy two Japanese cities. Rather, it was a display of force meant to compel a Japanese surrender.

Tactical nuclear weapons were meant to be used in specific combat operations alongside conventional weapons. The best example is the W82, a low-yield tactical nuclear warhead designed to be used in a 155 mm artillery weapon system.

The W82 was a dual-purpose weapon with a blast yield that reached two kilotons. It came with interchangeable components that would enable the shell to function as either an “enhanced radiation” or a “standard” fission device.

Like many nuclear weapons developed by the United States, the W82 was meant to provide a “cohesive forward defense” of NATO territory if the Soviet Union invaded. The ordnance could be fired to a range of 30 kilometers (18.6 mi) via an additional rocket assist.^[3]

The United States planned to produce 2,500 rounds of W82 ordnance. But the government only developed around 1,000 before the program was canceled in 1991 after the Cold War ended.

7 W44
Nuclear Depth Charge

Submarines have proven to be one of the most effective naval vessels in combat as they represent a clear and present danger to surface vessels during warfare. To counter this, navies across the world have developed torpedoes and depth charges designed to find and destroy submarines.

As the United States had to put a nuke on every type of ordnance during the Cold War, one was developed for use in the RUR-5 ASROC (Anti-Submarine ROCket) in 1961. The system fired a Mark 44/46 torpedo fitted with a W44 nuclear warhead.

These torpedoes were only launched by surface ships, and they carried a great deal of explosive energy. The W44 achieved a yield of 10 kilotons, making it particularly deadly if it was fired and detonated anywhere near a submarine.^[4]

The ASROC would fire on a sub’s position with a rocket carrying an acoustic homing torpedo to deploy the system. After entering the water, the depth charge detached from the torpedo and sank quickly to a predetermined depth. There, it detonated.

Placed into service in 1961, the W44 was only tested one or two times, although 575 were produced. The Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963 put an end to underwater nuclear testing.

6 B61 Mod 11/12
Nuclear Bunker Buster

For the most part, keeping yourself safe from a nuclear weapon requires staying deep underground. This protects you from the blast and ensuing radiation, but that presents a problem for the people trying to take out the target. To mitigate bunkers, the United States developed the Mod 11 for the B61 thermonuclear gravity bomb.

The device works by combining ground shock with earth penetration of around 3 meters (10 ft). This combination works to force the bulk of the explosive energy further into the Earth, resulting in the target’s destruction.^[5]

Bunker buster bombs carrying the B61 Mod 11 can carry one of three nuclear yields: 0.3, 340, or 400 kilotons. Beginning in 2019, the US started developing the GPS-guided Mod 12, which will produce yields of 0.3, 1.5, 10, or 50 kilotons. It is believed that the weapon was designed to penetrate up to 304 meters (1,000 ft) of solid granite to counter the continuity of government facility at Kosvinsky Kamen in Russia.

10 Sobering Facts About The US Nuclear Arsenal

5 MK-54 Special Atomic Demolition Munition

While the W54 was designed to be launched via rocket, the MK-54 Special Atomic Demolition Munition (SADM) was meant to be carried by personnel into combat. The SADM was intended to be used to counter a Soviet invasion of Europe.

The device was relatively lightweight at 23 kilograms (51 lb) and able to fit inside a duffel bag. The warhead carried a yield of between 10 tons and one kiloton. It was equipped with a time delay, so troops could place the weapon and escape the target location before detonation.

Three hundred MK-54s were developed, and airborne troops were trained in their use. Ideally, paratroopers would jump from an aircraft over enemy or occupied territory. They would head to a predetermined target, which would be a power plant, bridge, or another resource. Then they would remove it from the battlefield.

The bomb is enveloped in controversy . . . more than other nuclear weapon. This is due to allegations that any mission carried out by a paratrooper was a suicide mission. It wasn’t practical to outrun the timer or the blast radius. According to Mark Bentley, a soldier trained in the deployment of atomic bombs, “We all knew it was a one-way mission, a suicide mission.”^[6]

4 RA-115
Suitcase Nuke

The United States’ development of the MK-54 wasn’t something that the Soviet Union was willing to let slide, so the USSR created its own so-called “suitcase nuke.” The RA-115 weighed 22–27 kilograms (50–60 lb). They were designed to be placed for long periods at a target location for eventual detonation.

The bombs were connected to a small power source with a battery backup, which would signal a potential loss of power to a GRU post at a Russian embassy or consulate office. Numerous RA-115s were placed at strategic locations around the world.

Much of what is known about the RA-115 weapon system has been provided to the West by Stanislav Lunev, the GRU’s highest-ranking defector. According to him and the former Russian National Security Adviser Aleksandr Lebed, the USSR created 250 of these weapon systems and more than 100 are missing.^[7]

That’s a frightening proposition as the weapons were designed to be placed inside the United States to eliminate targets and politicians if the Cold War turned hot. The Russian Security Council has investigated these claims and suggested that they are misleading. But with so much secrecy, there’s no way to know for certain.

3 Blue Peacock
Nuclear Land Mine

The United Kingdom developed a nuclear land mine to support a NATO defense if the Soviet Union crossed north Germany in a European invasion. The project was known as Brown Bunny before the name was switched to Blue Bunny and finally became Blue Peacock.

The mines were designed to produce a yield of 10 kilotons. They would either be detonated via an eight-day timer or by wire manually. According to a policy paper, the thinking was that “a skillfully sited atomic mine would not only destroy facilities and installations over a large area but would deny occupation of the area to an enemy for an appreciable time due to contamination.”^[8]

The Blue Peacock program went through development but was never deployed. There was too much risk of fallout and the contamination of territory that NATO nations wanted back.

Interestingly, the system had a problem in keeping the electronics from freezing. One suggestion was to seal live chickens with food and water inside the casing. The chickens’ body heat would theoretically keep the weapon system from freezing.

The proposal was so outlandish that many thought it was an April Fools’ joke when the project was declassified in 2004. It wasn’t.

2 9M730 Burevestnik
Nuclear-Powered, Nuclear-Armed Cruise Missile

Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled six new Russian strategic weapons in March 2018, with the 9M730 Burevestnik being the most extraordinary. It’s a nuclear-tipped cruise missile that’s also nuclear-powered.

The intercontinental cruise missile was in development shortly after the United States deployed the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) system, which was intended to counter nuclear ICBMs. The 9M730 Burevestnik was designed to counter the THAAD.

According to Russian claims about the weapon, it has an unlimited range and “is invincible to all the existing and advanced air and missile defense systems.” Theoretically, the THAAD can’t stop them.

As the weapon is relatively new, no declassified or confirmed information exists about its potential yield. It is believed that the development of the system caused the Nyonoksa radiation accident in August 2019. This resulted in the deaths of five weapons scientists following a test of an “isotope power source for a liquid-fueled rocket engine.”^[9]

Aleksei Karpov, the Russian envoy to international organizations in Vienna, stated that the accident was related to “one of the tit-for-tat measures in the wake of the United States’ withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.”

1 RDS-220
Tsar Bomba

The RDS-220 Tsar Bomba is probably the best-known nuclear weapon. Tested in October 1961, it was the largest man-made explosive ever detonated.

The device was developed as more of a proof of concept than a usable weapon system. It was 8 meters (26 ft) long and weighed a massive 27,000 kilograms (60,000 lb). Only one was ever built and tested.

There are various claims about the atomic yield, which might have reached 100 megatons if a uranium-238 fusion tamper had been included. Instead, the RDS-220 Tsar Bomba is estimated to have achieved a yield of 50 megatons, as measured by Soviet scientists at the time. That was more than 3,300 times the size of the Hiroshima blast.^[10]

The aircraft used to deploy it was stripped down to support the massive ordnance. The craft’s outer hull was covered in a special white reflective paint, and the crew was given only a 50 percent chance of survival. Despite this, they dropped the bomb, which unleashed a mushroom cloud that reached 67 kilometers (42 mi) high.

10 Times The Military Mistakenly Dropped Nuclear Bombs

About The Author: Jonathan is a graphic artist, illustrator, and writer. He is a Retired Soldier and enjoys researching and writing about history, science, theology, and many other subjects.

Ancient weapons may have been forged from wood, stone, and lower-grade metal, but they were all deadly. Recent discoveries unearthed rare swords and spear points but also unusual facts.

From fierce Vikings who did not use their swords to clumsy-looking paddles designed to crush skulls, unexpected uses are coming to light. Researchers also look to weapons to clarify old murder cases, unknown cultures, and the ways in which nobility quietly killed each other off.

10 Saga’s Sword

In 2018, an eight-year-old girl went for a swim near her family’s holiday home in Sweden. At one point, Saga Vanecek stepped on something. The object she pulled out of Vidostern Lake reminded her of a sword.

When she told her father she had found something with a handle, he thought it was just a weird branch. However, when he showed the crusty thing to a friend, the truth dawned. Saga had been right all along. Researchers at the local museum in Jonkoping County confirmed her diagnosis—it was a sword.^[1]

Expert analysis proved that the rare relic was a 1,500-year-old pre-Viking weapon. In addition, the blade was well-preserved. Sword fans can thank the region’s drought for this discovery. The dry spell lowered the lake’s water, and this was likely the reason why Saga found the sword.

Its presence suggested that more ancient trinkets might be lurking in Vidostern. Indeed, when the museum staff investigated, they found a third-century brooch.

9 The Buzau Sword

In 2018, a worker did his shift at a gravel pit in Buzau, Romania. That day, his job placed him at the site’s conveyor belt. To his surprise, he found a sword among the debris.

The man immediately handed the artifact over to the right authorities, which was lucky because this was no ordinary sword. It was over 3,000 years old and forged sometime during the Late Bronze Age.

Interestingly, it was made in a mold that created decorations on the surface. The blade, measuring 47.5 centimeters (19 in) long and 4 centimeters (1.6 in) wide, was in good condition. Sadly, the handle was gone. Made of some kind of organic material, it had decomposed and disappeared over time.

The sword was among the best finds to recently come out of Buzau and could be the tip of the iceberg. There is a chance that its owner, most likely a nobleman, might be buried near the gravel pit or even inside it.^[2]

8 Africa’s Bone Age

The Stone Age in Africa is notable for one thing. Besides stone tools, people were adept at making bone implements. In 2012, archaeologists found a knifelike artifact near Morocco’s coast. The quality suggested that bone craft had hit a remarkable level around 90,000 years ago.

Prior to this discovery, bone-cutting tools were used for simple and general tasks. However, this one appeared to be a specialized knife. Analysis indicated that it was used to cut something soft, most likely leather. The hands that made it belonged to the Aterian culture, a society dating as far back as 145,000 years ago.

With exceptional skill, the knife maker took the rib of a cow-sized animal and split it lengthwise. One half was worked into the 13-centimeter-long (5 in) artifact. This find is not just about being good at making things from bones. It also challenged the idea that advanced toolmaking (to support survival) did not happen until much later.^[3]

7 North America’s Oldest Weapons

When it comes to ancient spear points in North America, the Clovis variety was the oldest. This lost culture invented trademark stone tools from 13,000 to 12,700 years ago.

In 2018, the dream of finding spear points older than Clovis came true. Archaeologists at a Texas site that had been under investigation for 12 years came across a dirt layer containing Clovis and Folsom points. (Folsom is a younger culture.)

Beneath this layer were the long-awaited pre-Clovis spears. Made of chert and measuring 8–10 centimeters (3–4 in), the points were jumbled together with other tools. The age of the surrounding sediment dated the cache to a record-breaking 15,500 years.^[4]

This introduced a new hunter society as America’s first arrivals, an accolade that had always been given to the Clovis culture. In addition, the weapons were positively identified as game hunting equipment, the first to be discovered from any pre-Clovis site. Previous finds were usually just stone tools.

6 Brittle Viking Swords

To date, around 2,000 swords from the battle-loving Vikings have been recovered. However, not all were used for fighting. In 2017, a study looked at three swords from Denmark dating from the ninth and 10th centuries.

In a world first, the weapons were analyzed with neutron scans. This technology could peek deeper than X-rays into the metal. The process took digital slices of each sword. The images revealed that the blades were produced using a technique called pattern-welding.

Iron and steel strips were welded together, folded, and tweaked in different manners. This produced patterns on the sword’s surface. It also made these particular weapons unsuitable for fighting. Normal fighting swords had steel edges with impact-absorbing iron cores.^[5]

The three Danish swords did not have this composition. In addition, the metal strips were treated to high temperatures, a habit that could have caused oxides to appear on their surfaces. This weakened the weapons and probably caused them to rust more quickly. The swords were probably elite symbols and not actual weapons.

5 Unknown Warrior Class

In 2018, archaeologists worked at an old site north of New Delhi, India. During the three-month excavation, they found several things suggesting the existence of an unknown warrior class.

At the village of Sinauli, the team uncovered eight tomb sites with some chariot remains. The three horse-drawn vehicles came from chambers built around 2000 BC to 1800 BC. Apart from suspecting that these were royal burials, the presence of weaponry supported the notion of warriors. Archaeologists found shields, daggers, and swords strong enough to be used in battle.^[6]

Four-thousand-year-old chariots and an elite warrior class described by the team as “technologically on par with other ancient civilizations in Mesopotamia and Greece” were fine enough. However, the coffins were also a unique find on the continent. The copper decorations that adorned the caskets had never been seen before.

The culture to which the artifacts belonged remains unknown. They were found near graves belonging to the mysterious Indus Valley Civilization, but researchers are certain that the two were separate cultures.

4 A Poison Ring

In the archaeological record, assassin accessories do not show up often. In 2018, excavations in Bulgaria found a ring that probably killed a few people. It was discovered at the medieval ruins of Cape Kailakra, home to the 14th-century elite of the Dobrudja region.

Other jewelry was found at Kailakra, but those pieces were normal gold and pearl decorations. The bronze ring was 600 years old, beautifully made, and probably imported from Spain or Italy. Suspiciously, the interior was hollow and came with a side cavity. The latter was an inconspicuous, easy way to tip poison out of the ring.

Made for the little finger of a man’s hand, it showed that the assassin was right-handed. The cavity sat on the right, and a quick tilt would have poured death into his victim’s drink.^[7]

Archaeologists suspect that the ring could be linked to an old medieval mystery. In the 14th century, a man called Dobrotitsa ruled the region. History tells of many unexplained deaths around him, especially aristocrats and nobles. These deaths were probably political murders.

3 Norway’s Weapon Graves

In recent times, researchers have investigated the weapon graves of Norway. The tombs contained arms carried by the deceased during their lives. Researchers found a remarkable story. Although Norway was far away from Rome, there was a connection, especially with weaponry.

Graves dating to the time when the Roman Empire flourished contained weapons reminiscent of Roman legionnaires (swords, lances, shields, and javelins). However, when the empire collapsed around AD 500, the axe suddenly became a popular burial weapon.

This was odd. Ancient Norwegians fought like the Romans—on battlefields with rules where axes had no place. Researchers suspect that this weapon became the favorite after a more brutal turn of events.

After the empire’s demise, the consequences hit Norway badly. Major alliances crumbled, and distant enemies were no longer the main target. The country descended into chaos, warlords popped up like mushrooms, and everybody fought each other. The axe was perfect for domestic guerrilla warfare that probably saw raids, violent clashes, and attacks on leaders and their homes.^[8]

2 Otzi Surprised By Attacker

Years after his discovery in the Italian Alps, Otzi now ranks as one of the best-studied mummies in the world. Everything from his health to his genes has been checked. For some reason, his tool kit did not receive the same thorough investigation.

In 2018, the combined collection of tools and weapons were scanned. The 5,300-year-old cache delivered interesting clues to the ongoing debate about what had happened to this man. He was undoubtedly murdered by a well-placed arrow. What remained unclear was whether he expected the enemy.

Researchers analyzed a dagger, borer, end scraper, flake, antler retoucher, and pair of arrowheads. Apart from showing that the 45-year-old’s culture traded widely for the chert from which most of his weapons were made, cut marks revealed something interesting.

In the days before his death, Otzi sharpened some of his tools. The end scraper and borer showed fresh modifications, but none of his weapons did. Otzi likely thought he was safe and prepared the two tools for a chore. Who killed this man so far up in the lonely Alps remains a mystery.^[9]

1 Thames Beater

The Stone Age was violent. Many skulls showed the preferred way of killing—bashing somebody in the head.

In 2017, researchers tried to identify the weapon of choice. The study focused on victims from Neolithic Europe because violence was abundant in the region. The era had archers, but the idea was to find something used only on people. It should not double as a hunting tool.

The Thames beater fit this profile. A 5,500-year-old wooden artifact resembling a cricket bat was pulled from the River Thames. Researchers whipped up a replica and artificial human skulls, complete with skin, bone, and brains. The beater was handed to a healthy 30-year-old man, who was asked to attack the heads as if his life depended on it.

The results delighted the team. They never asked the volunteer to try to replicate the fractures, just to start hitting heads. Despite this, the wounds closely matched Neolithic injuries. One artificial skull even resembled a broken skull found at a 5200 BC massacre. The clumsy-looking Thames paddle turned out to be deadly. It was likely designed to serve exclusively as a human-killing device.^[10]

Despite their knuckle-dragging, backwards-looking territorialism, the war machines of the world are under constant pressure to stay one step ahead of the times. If they don’t, they lose wars. In theory anyway. It doesn’t always hold true in practice. These ten weapons from the distant past have all been deployed on modern battlefields — sometimes even triumphantly.

10. Sword (2020)

In Yemen it’s common to see men carrying swords, many of which in the civil war era are forged out of shrapnel from the streets. Although traditionally symbolic (like a Sikh’s kirpan), the Yemeni jambiya has been wielded by Houthis in their ongoing oppression of the public. In one particularly brutal instance, they stabbed a young man to death after beating him with wires — allegedly for uncovering corruption.

But the last time swords were issued to troops was during the First World War. Despite all the new weapons debuted in that conflict, the cavalryman’s sword remained in action. For British and Commonwealth troopers, it was the Pattern 1908 — which was actually credited with the first British kill of the war; Captain Hornby of the 4th Dragoon Guards killed a German of the 4th Cuirassiers. Conceived to be wielded on horseback, the design (reluctantly approved by King Edward VII, who called it “hideous”) was for running through and killing an opponent. It was for thrusting, in other words, not cutting. 

Although Japanese soldiers brought cutting swords (katanas) to World War Two, these weren’t for use as weapons. They were precious family heirlooms entrusted to soldiers for luck. The hope was that both would return home safely. In the end, though, America, still pumped from murdering half a million civilians, forced Japan to hand them all over knowing a surrendered samurai sword loses its value.

9. M1910 (2022)

Russia’s follow-up to the first automatic machine gun was called the Pulemyot Maxima 1910, or M1910 for short. The original British-made Maxim, which came out two and a half decades earlier in 1884, had so impressed Russia in their war against Japan (1904-5) that they took charge of its further development. A few years later it was used by the Imperial Russian Army in WWI, giving that conflict its nickname: the machine gun war. It was also used by the Red Army in the Russian Civil War, as well as in World War Two.

And just last year it was used against Russia by Ukraine. Although Russian media mocked them, they actually had a good reason. Unlike modern machine guns, the bulky, stationary, slow-firing relic from the early twentieth century has a water cooling system, a brass water jacket around the barrel. Modern machine guns are fired in bursts to avoid overheating, barrel deformation, and ammunition exploding prematurely. The M1910, meanwhile, can fire continuously for minutes at a time.

It wasn’t the only antique they used either. Ukrainians also deployed the American-made M101 howitzer and Russian-made D-44 artillery gun, both from the early 1940s. They even resurrected an old Russian tank, the T-34, which until the battles for Lysychansk, had been installed as a monument in the city.

8. Bayonet (2004)

Not since the Vietnam War have bayonets been in regular use. Based on spears, they’re designed for impaling the enemy — which, given that they’re mounted on rifles, was far more important before automatic reload, such as in the American Revolutionary and Civil Wars. They were only used in Vietnam because the jungle made close combat inevitable.

In 2004, however, a British corporal led a bayonet charge against the Taliban in Helmand. Under heavy fire from nearby soldiers, his patrol fled into a ditch — then realized they were pinned down by the enemy. So, while two provided cover fire, the corporal and three others leapt out and charged with their bayonets. The Taliban soldiers were apparently so disoriented that they retreated and by the time they re-emerged, back-up had arrived.

Spears were used even more recently than bayonets, but not by an advanced modern army. In December 2019, before getting firearms, the Masalit of Darfur were still defending themselves with spears, as well as knives and saforok throwing sticks.

7. Club (1918)

World War One, the so-called “Great War”, introduced all kinds of weapons for fighting at a distance — from tanks and submarines to machine guns and nerve gas. In practice, however, the realities of trench warfare had soldiers on both sides improvising melee weapons. They made stakes into push knives, entrenching tools into battleaxes, and whatever was to hand into clubs. 

The clubs were especially brutal. Some were just big bits of wood, while others were far more elaborate — like the German morning star type with ersatz wrist straps and deadly spiked heads. A French version, which doubled as a walking stick, was made of naturally gnarled wood, leather grip, lead weights, and iron spikes. British clubs, meanwhile, were often more basic. The knobkerry, for instance, was just a standard entrenching tool handle with a grooved metal head.

Before long, the effectiveness of these weapons for trench raiding parties led to standardization and mass production for official army issue.

6. Brass Knuckles (1945)

Brass knuckles, or knuckle dusters, were probably first used in 12th century India, where the spiked vajra-mushti, or “thunder-fist”, was a prominent feature of wrestling. Before that, augmenting the fist with metal attachments usually took the form of a glove — like the caestus worn by Roman gladiators.

Brass knuckles were later used in the American Civil War. In fact, Abraham Lincoln (as well as his bodyguards) were known to carry the weapon. 

More recently, they were used in the First and Second World Wars. There were a number of reasons for this. Aside from the demands of close combat trench raids, they were also cheap to buy or easy to make by melting lead bullets and casting in moulds. Another advantage was the free use of fingers while wearing them, allowing soldiers to reload their guns.

5. Blow Gun (1945)

Blow guns are silent and deadly. The moment a victim hears a dart is the moment it strikes them dead (or worse, depending on the poison). In 1964 they were used by guerillas in the Congo, killing the Congolese Army Chief of Staff, as well as an American missionary and others. 

They’re not weapons you’d associate with modern warfare. But they appear to have helped the Allies win World War Two. During the Borneo campaign, indigenous Dyak head-hunters were encouraged to use their blow guns against the Japanese. American troops even joined them. After his B-24 Liberator went down, one US soldier who parachuted onto the island was rescued by Dyaks and trained in the art of the blow gun. Two decades later, the roles were reversed and invading American troops found themselves at the receiving end of the Viet Cong’s blow guns in Vietnam.

Even more recently, in 2022, American soldiers stationed in Hawaii used blow darts on Oahu’s stray cats — prompting outcry from locals. 

4. Bow and Arrow (1945)

According to the World War Two diary of the British 4th Infantry Brigade, “the sight of Captain Churchill passing down the beach with his bows and arrows” was one of the most reassuring of the Dunkirk embarkation. “Mad” Jack Churchill was known for using old weapons, once declaring that “any officer who goes into action without his sword is improperly dressed”. But he also considered a longbow essential. After the Battle of l’Epinette in France, with his company pinned down by Nazis, he killed the first enemy soldier with his longbow before resorting to machine guns. 

Even today, some people wonder why archery fell out of favor. The US Army itself has shown its tactical superiority — at least in some situations. In 2015, for instance, Special Forces shot a box filled with dirt using a range of weapons (an M1911A1 .45 automatic, a .30 M1 carbine, a .30 M1 rifle, and a modern bow) and only the bow and arrow shot out the other side. The other advantage, of course, is they’re easy to make in the field.

3. Crossbow (1999)

Crossbows, invented two and a half thousand years ago, were used last century in the Vietnam War. But there it was a traditional weapon wielded by the native highlanders, or “Montagnards”.

Less traditional was its use by Serbs against the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in the 90s. Surprisingly, they weren’t just using whatever was to hand. Crossbows were specifically chosen and imported from England as the counter-sniper weapon of choice. Not only are they silent, said a journalist at the time, but “they also have a psychological effect.” Furthermore, they called to mind the Serbian war criminal Arkan, who in the early 90s used crossbows and “other exotic weapons” to strike fear into the hearts of his enemies. 

But there was another more practical reason. Since the British classed them as sports equipment, crossbows weren’t subject to the same export restrictions as other deadly weapons. So, at least until the British government found out, they could be freely imported to the war zone. Countries closer to the conflict, like Slovenia and Croatia, weren’t so laissez faire — as the KLA found out when they tried to buy some from them.

2. Trebuchet (2014)

Another weapon from 4th century BC China, the trebuchet was retired in the Middle Ages. The last historical use was at the 1521 siege of Tenochtitlán. They’ve since been replaced by artillery. 

In 2014, however, Syrian rebels built trebuchets for use in their fight against Assad. Their advantage over modern equivalents (no sound, light, heat, etc.) was purely incidental; the rebels used whatever was to hand. With ornamental balls and shotguns, for example, they built their own grenade launchers. They also rigged video game controllers to fire mortar rounds and built their own “tanks”: cars surrounded by corrugated iron.

1. Lance (1939)

An iconic throwback to the age of chivalry, of duels between knights on horseback, the lance was in use until World War Two — at least according to legend. On 1 September 1939, so the story goes, the veteran Polish Colonel Kazimierz Mastalerz and his cavalry saw a German force amassing — much larger than their own and supported by tanks — and knew they’d need the element of surprise. Mastalerz decided to charge. And despite getting mown down by machine guns, the horse-mounted lancers managed to scatter the enemy.

In truth, this dramatic story was spread by Italian and German propagandists. Mastalerz and his cavalry did charge the enemy, just not as naively as remembered — and probably not with lances.

However, while the Polish cavalry after 1937 tended to use anti-tank rifles, lances were still a part of their arsenal. Used at the commander’s discretion, part of the lance’s appeal was its psychological impact on the enemy.