"The rockets red glare"?

[I_wesley125 393]

So i just thought about this.

How are they talking about rockets in a song made in the 1700s?

[Krall 263]

The words of "The Star-Spangled Banner" were written in 1814, and the British Congreve rocket had been used against the USA in the War of 1812 in... well, in 1812.

 

Military rockets were invented earlier than you'd think. Britain wasn't even the first country to do it - we developed Congreve rockets after being on the receiving end of Indian rocket artillery. Korea's had gunpowder rockets since the late 1300s, and China probably had them well before that.

 

Edit: Yep, China probably had primitive gunpowder rockets in the 900s.

 

Edited January 13, 2012 by Krall

[Shankveld 4,945]

^ too much skills ~

[Skullbuster 1,906]

but the rockets back then were crap, they just shoot off and usualy missed their target

[Simcity11100 770]

Like 900 years ago, the Chinese made rockets that weren't very good.

[L-PinkVsD-Pink327 177]

Like 900 years ago, the Chinese made rockets that weren't very good.

 

I heard somewhere on the discovery channel that they called the "Wacha" or something like that. It apparently was used by some faction of chinese that fired almost a houndred "Rockets" (They were really just arrows with gunpowder canisters strapped to them) that blew up after several seconds.

 

It was supposedly effective against those block army formations.

[StarGazer 129]

but the rockets back then were crap, they just shoot off and usualy missed their target

 

But they had an epic glare.

[Lady Rarity Pony 4,892]

Krall beat me to it

Rockets have been around since the invention of gunpowder and had siginificant use in the War of 1812 (when the song was written)

[cuteycindyhoney 13,283]

The Mythbusters built a rocket powered by liquid Nitrous oxide and Salami!

[Krall 263]

I heard somewhere on the discovery channel that they called the "Wacha" or something like that. It apparently was used by some faction of chinese that fired almost a houndred "Rockets" (They were really just arrows with gunpowder canisters strapped to them) that blew up after several seconds.

 

It was supposedly effective against those block army formations.

 

I believe you're referring to the Hwacha, a Korean invention. I believe Mythbusters built a replica that proved to be rather effective, saturating a large area with lethal arrow fire. I'll see if I can find a YouTube video of it.

 

Edit: Yup, it's the first result for a search of "Hwacha":

 

http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQhSXA3AKh4

 

Double edit:

Krall beat me to it

Haha! I am the History King! All will bow before me!

 

Rockets have been around since the invention of gunpowder and had siginificant use in the War of 1812 (when the song was written)

 

Indeed - I believe it was the bombardment of Fort McHenry in 1814 that was the specific incident that inspired that line of the poem, and the entire writing of the poem itself!

Edited January 14, 2012 by Krall

[cuteycindyhoney 13,283]

Kwacha...Prototype for METALSTORM!

 

[Lady Rarity Pony 4,892]

No I will not bow to you Krall http://mlpforums.com/public/style_emoticons/default/dry.png

but at least someone other than me has a good knowledge of history