Bombs

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A bomb is a container filled with an explosive, incendiary matter, or gas that can be dropped, hurled, or set in place to be detonated by an attached exploding device. It may range in design from a homemade device used by terrorists, assassins, or clandestine raiders to a sophisticated weapon of war. The original bomb, an ancestor of the hand-thrown GRENADE, was a simple container filled with black powder (see
GUNPOWDER), which was set off by a fuse lit by the thrower. In the 16th century, the Dutch invented a more sophisticated version, the
MORTAR bomb, a round iron container filled with black powder that was set off when a fuse was ignited by the detonation of a propelling charge in the base of the mortar tube. By varying the length of the fuse, the bomb's time of detonation could be adjusted; thus, a bomb could burst in air. These bombs were predecessors of the ARTILLERY shell fired from a field gun with rifled bore. In the 20th century the aerial bomb became the most important adaptation of the weapon. Its construction is similar to that of the artillery shell. The conventional aerial bomb consists of an explosive or chemical agent in a container, one or several fuse-and-igniter mechanisms, and external fins for directional stability. Bombs dropped from high-performance aircraft have an advanced aerodynamic shape.
The ultimate category of bomb is that utilizing nuclear material as the explosive ingredients--the
ATOMIC BOMB, HYDROGEN BOMB, and the NEUTRON BOMB. 20th-Century Military
Use The advent of the airplane in warfare led to the development of new types of bombs. The first massive aerial bombing took place in 1915 when
German zeppelins carrying more than two tons of bombs began dropping "terror from the skies" on the British Isles. In the early stages of World War
I, airplane pilots had their hands full just flying, and bombing was relegated to observers who merely tossed small bombs over the side. Aircraft engineering advanced, however, so that by 1918 multiengine bombers had become a reality and
450-kg (1,000-lb) bombs were in production.
The next major step in the development of aerial bombing took place on July 21, 1921. Gen. Billy
MITCHELL, a champion of military airpower, was finally allowed to test his theory that aircraft carrying bombs could sink major naval units, a theory that naval officials had considered ridiculous. On that date, in the first of three such demonstrations, the captured German dreadnought Ostfriesland was sunk in minutes by
U.S. Army Air Corps bombers dropping 900-kg
(2,000-lb) bombs. Warfare had been revolutionized; seapower was in jeopardy. During
World War II, aerial bombardment was perfected. Massive raids, first by Germany and then by the Allies, demonstrated the devastating power of the conventional aerial bomb.

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