Medieval technology that its potential was fully achieved. Artesian well (1126) A thin rod with a hard iron cutting edge is placed in the bore hole and repeatedly struck with a hammer, underground water pressure forces the water up the hole without pumping. Artesian wells are named after the town of Artois in France, where the first one was drilled by Carthusian monks in 1126. Central heating through underfloor channels (9th century) In the early medieval Alpine upland, a simpler central heating system where heat travelled through underfloor channels from the furnace room replaced the Roman hypocaust at some places. In Reichenau
Murder of the monks of Tibhirine killed accidentally by an Algerian military helicopter which attacked the camp where they were being held captive. In July 2009, the retired French general François Buchwalter, who was military attaché in Algeria at the time, testified to a judge that the monks had been accidentally killed by an Algerian government helicopter during an attack on a guerrilla position, then beheaded after their death to make it appear as though the GIA had killed them. The day after Buchwalter's statement, former GIA leader Abdelhak Layada — who was in prison when the monks were killed — responded by reiterating the claim