Japanese samurai armor
Greek spear of the hoplite phalanx
American lever-action rifle – 1860s (one of the first successful repeating rifles; gave Union troops a major firepower advantage in the Civil War)
Roman short thrusting sword
Central American wooden war club
Nepalese curved Gurkha knife
Viking high-carbon steel sword
Aztec obsidian-edged weapon
Zulu short stabbing spear (19th c.)
Ottoman forward-curved infantry blade (16th–19th c.)
Saber with flared “yelman” tip (15th–19th c. Turkey)
European polearm with axe and spike
European chain-and-spike bludgeon (13th–16th c.)
European chainmail shirt of knights (11th–14th c.)
European shin-guarding leg armor (Ancient–Medieval)
European steel breastplate and backplate (15th–18th c.)
European cloth coat with metal plates (14th–16th c.)
European small round dueling shield (12th–17th c.)
Norman elongated cavalry shield (10th–13th c.)
Central European tall crossbowmen’s shield (14th–15th c.)
Ancient Greek shield – c. 700–300 BCE (large round shield used by hoplites; key to the phalanx formation)
Ancient Greek shield – c. 700–300 BCE (large round shield used by hoplites; key to the phalanx formation)
Japanese pole weapon – c. 1100s–1600s (curved blade on a long shaft; often associated with samurai and warrior monks)
Japanese dagger – c. 1100s–1500s (short blade used for close combat and sometimes ritual purposes)
Ancient Greek sword – c. 500–300 BCE (forward-curving blade designed for powerful slashing)
Ancient Greek helmet – c. 700–400 BCE (full-face bronze helmet iconic of Greek hoplite warriors)
German bolt-action rifle – 1898 (standard German infantry rifle in World War I; highly influential design)
American/British light machine gun – 1910s (widely used in World War I, recognizable by its top-mounted drum magazine)
Greek bronze open-faced helmet
Roman crested soldier’s helmet
Germanic segmented iron helmet for warriors (6th–8th c.)
European pointed visor helmet for knights (14th c.)
English rounded infantry helmet with visor (15th c.)
Italian close-fitting jousting helmet (15th–16th c.)
Italian T-faced open helmet used by Renaissance soldiers
French light cavalry helmet with flared neck guard (16th c.)
Japanese ornate samurai war helmet with crest (15th–17th c.)
Spanish steel helmet worn by conquistadors (16th c.)
German lobster-tailed helmet with sliding nasal bar (17th c.)
Persian conical steel helmet with mail guard (17th–19th c.)
German combat helmet (WWI–WWII)
French steel infantry helmet (WWI)
British trench helmet (WWI–WWII)
American standard battle helmet (WWII–Vietnam)
Egyptian sickle-shaped bronze sword
Scottish greatsword of the Highlands
Japanese short samurai blade
Chinese curved single-edged saber
Chinese straight double-edged sword
Chinese early gunpowder firearm
European matchlock musket (1500s)
British bolt-action rifle (WWI–WWII)
American assault rifle (Vietnam–present)
American semi-auto WWII rifle
Austrian semi-automatic pistol
American frontier handgun
American hand-cranked machine gun (Civil War era)
French light machine gun – 1910s (used in World War I; known for reliability issues)
German bolt-action rifle – 1935 (standard German infantry rifle in World War II)
German submachine gun – 1940s (used by German forces in WWII; known for its folding stock)
Chinese bullpup assault rifle – 1990s (standard issue rifle of the Chinese military)
Israeli bullpup assault rifle – 2000s (compact rifle designed for modern urban combat)
Belgian battle rifle – 1950s (widely used during the Cold War; nicknamed “the right arm of the Free World”)
British musket – 1700s–1800s (standard infantry weapon of the British Army for over a century)
European firearm – 1600s–1700s (short gun with flared muzzle, often used for close-range defense)
European firearm mechanism – 1500s–1600s (early ignition system using a spinning wheel to create sparks)
Early firearm mechanism – 1400s–1600s (used a slow-burning match cord to ignite gunpowder)
American lever-action rifle – 1873 (known as “the gun that won the West”)
American rifle-musket – 1861 (standard infantry weapon of the Union Army during the Civil War; widely produced and highly reliable)
British rifle-musket – 1853 (widely used in the American Civil War)
British machine gun – 1880s (first fully automatic machine gun; changed warfare dramatically)
German semi-automatic pistol – 1900s–1940s (iconic sidearm of German forces in both World Wars)
American semi-automatic pistol – 1911 (long-serving U.S. military sidearm still in use today)