1800's
In the 1800’s, the British army Colonel William Congreve developed rockets that had to power to carry explosive. This new technology (above) weighted around 32 pounds and traveled around 1 ¾ miles. The British used them against the United States Army in the War of 1812. This is the "rocket's red glare" in the "Star-Spangled Banner" by Francis Scott Key (left). An English inventor named William Hale found a way to improve the accuracy of military rockets by replacing the normal three fins for a long wooden tail. Hale’s rockets (bottom) were used in the Mexican War of 1846-1848 by the United States. Then both sides used rockets in the American Civil War of 1861-1865. Austria, Russia, and a multitude of other countries also developed military rockets during the early 1800’s.
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