Invention and Engineering

History of rockets

The first rockets were used as propulsion systems for arrows, and may have appeared as early as the 10th century in Song dynasty China. However, more solid documentary evidence does not appear until the 13th century. The technology probably spread across Eurasia in the wake of the Mongol invasions of the mid-13th century. Usage of rockets as weapons before modern rocketry is attested to in China, Korea, India, and Europe. One of the first recorded rocket launchers is the "wasp nest" fire arrow launcher produced by the Ming dynasty in 1380. In Europe, rockets were also used in the same year at the Battle of Chioggia. The Joseon kingdom of Korea used a type of mobile multiple rocket launcher known as the "Munjong Hwacha" by 1451. Iron-cased rockets were used by Kingdom of Mysore under the rule of King Hyder Ali. King Hyder Ali and his son King Tipu Sultan, used the rockets effectively against the British East India Company during the 1780s and 1790s. Their conflicts with the company exposed the British to this technology further, which was then used to advance European rocketry with the development of the Congreve rocket in 1805 (Tipu Sultan rockets) during the mid 18th century, and was later modified and used by the British. The later models and improvements were known as the Congreve rocket and used in the Napoleonic Wars.

Also on this shelf

See also

• ▸GNR Class C1 (large boiler)
• ▸Kafir-kala (Uzbekistan)
• ▸4-4-2 (locomotive)

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