26Black Swords
Portuguese soldiers used black swords in the Age of Discovery in order to not reflect the light and announce their presence on ships, avoiding also its rusting when used near salt water.
27. The Plumbata was an ancient Roman weapon, which was essentially a lead-weighted lawn dart. Multiples would be carried in the hollow of a legionary's shield and thrown at the enemy.
28. The Pilum or the Roman javelin, was designed with a soft shank that would bend after impact. This served two purposes: it prevented enemies from re-using it, and enemies that had pilum embedded in their shields would have to discard the shield or waste time removing the pilum.
29. Alexander the Great's army conquered the world while wearing armor made of linen that could stop any arrow made at the time.
30. War pigs were used by the Romans because their squeals scared the war elephants into fleeing and trampling their own armies.
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31Fire Lance
The first gunpowder weapon was actually a melee spear with a one-shot flamethrower attached called a fire lance. It was used by the Chinese around 1000 A.D.
32. Greek Fire was an incendiary weapon developed by the Byzantines in the 7th century. It was deployed on ships, and in handheld tubes, operating similar to a flamethrower. Water didn’t extinguish it. Its precise chemical composition is still unknown.
33. Medieval English longbows could fire an arrow more than 300 yards and required so much strength that the skeletons of medieval archers can be identified by their enlarged left arms.
34. A "Damascus Steel" sword from the 1600s was found to contain carbon nanotubes and nanowires. Researchers say these tiny structures may account for the legendary strength of Damascus Steel.
35. The Aztecs used obsidian swords called macuahuitl which were capable of decapitating horses with just one swing.
