Conflicts & War
- Ajax-12 Spy Camera Button: the Ajax-12 was a film camera used by the Soviet intelligence agency (KGB) from 1953 to the end of the Cold War. The camera was small (77 by 41 by 55mm) and was typically deployed with a specialized lens designed to fit behind a coat button, with a switch inside the user's pocket to open and close the button. The specimen is a fragment of a button used to obscure an Ajax 12 camera. Through buttons like these, the camera was able to document Cold War secrets across a c that lasted decades.
- Roman Ballista shot: The first known torsion engine weapon was a handheld crossbow like device called a gastraphetes. It was designed by Greek engineers and was deployed at Syracuse in 399 BCE. Development of this technology occurred quickly, and it did not take long for them to be scaled up to larger sizes in the catapulta and ballista. Evidence shows the Romans began using their own siege artillery during the Republic era, around 200 BCE. In battle, they were a powerful tool to support infantry, with the ballastarri sending heavy stones sailing over the heads of their fellow soldiers to knock down enemy defenses, some as heavy as 45 kg (100 lbs.). This specimen is a fragment of one Roman catapult shot. These materials date to the 3rd century CE and are made of a thick, heavy stone.
- Trident I - C4 Missile: the Trident I had a long career, replacing the Poseidon C3 in 1979 and continuing operation until 2005. Its next iteration, the Trident 2D5 supplemented Trident I with a greater range and higher payload capability, though it relied on a similar three-step launch. This specimen is a section of aluminum from a Trident I first stage motor bulkhead which was decommissioned in 2022. The missile, itself was detonated and rendered inert as part of the US and Russian Federation New Start Treaty, to decrease the number of nuclear warheads of both nations. It was recovered from the Hill Air Force Base in Utah, after the demolition.
- USS Constitution: After President Washington approved building a new American Navy, 6 frigates were constructed, one of one which became the USS Constitution, built in Boston, Mass. The ship was launched on October 21, 1797, and first saw action during the War of 1812. The Constitution won its most famous battle on August 19, 1812,when it destroyed the HMS Guerriere off the coast of Nova Scotia. The Guerriere was incapacitated, then scuttled. During the battle, some of the British’s cannon balls glanced off the side of the Constitution, and the ship was nicknamed “Old Ironsides”. The ship was converted to a floating museum in 1907 but fell into dilapidation until funds were raised in the late 1920s to save it. This specimen is a piece of the original ship’s hull, collected during those restoration efforts. The ship still stands today in Boston's Charleston Navy Yard, the oldest floating ship in the world.
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