◆ On this day

May 15

3 sourced moments from May 15 in history: Cape Cod is sighted and named by Bartholomew Gosnold (1602); James Puckle patents the Puckle gun, an early machine gun (1718); and Britain's first H-bomb test in 1957 fell short of a megaton.

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3 things happened on May 15

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1957 Science · Physics

Britain's first H-bomb test in 1957 fell short of a megaton

Short Granite, dropped over the Pacific on 15 May 1957, was announced as a megaton-range blast. It was nearer 0.3 megatons — the real success came six months later.

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1718 Technology · Inventions

James Puckle patents the Puckle gun, an early machine gun

A London lawyer won an early patent for a tripod-mounted flintlock that spat shots far faster than any musket of its day.

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1602 Geography · Landmarks & Wonders

Cape Cod is sighted and named by Bartholomew Gosnold

When an English crew hauled up nets bursting with fish, the catch handed a sandy peninsula a name that would stick for centuries.

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