Cannon /

A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellants to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees, depending on their intended use on the battlefield. The word cannon is derived from several languages, in which the original definition can usually be translated as tube, cane, or reed. The plural of cannon is cannon, the same word. In modern times, cannon has fallen out of common usage, usually replaced by "guns" or "artillery", if not a more specific term, such as "mortar" or "howitzer". First used in China, cannon were among the earliest forms of gunpowder artillery, and over time replaced siege engines—among other forms of aging weaponry—on the battlefield. The first hand cannon appeared during the 1260 Battle of Ain Jalut between the Mamluks and Mongols in the Middle East. The first cannon in Europe were probably used in Iberia, during the Reconquista, in the 13th century, and English cannon were first deployed in the Hundred Years' War, at the Battle of Crécy, in 1346. It was during this