The American Revolution was the first wave of the Atlantic Revolutions: the French Revolution, the Haitian Revolution, and the Latin American wars of independence. Aftershocks reached Ireland in the Irish Rebellion of 1798, in the PolishâLithuanian Commonwealth, and in the Netherlands.
A reconstruction of Homo erectus, the earliest human species that is known to have controlled fire (reconstruction shown in WestfÃ¤lisches Landesmuseum, Herne, Germany, in a 2006 exhibition)
1 1232: The Chinese who invented gunpowder (black powder) first used it in a weapon-gunpowder filled tubes aka rockets. 2  1364: First recorded use of a firearm-shooter lit wicks by hand that ingnited gunpowder that was loaded into the gun barrel.3  1400s: Matchlock guns-first mechanically firing of guns. 1400s: Matchlock guns-first mechanically firing of guns. 2  Wicks were now attached to a clamp that sprang into gunpowder that was placed in a flash pan. 3  1509: Wheel lock guns-wicks were replaced the wheel lock that generated a spark for igniting the gunpowder.