UK cannon: 200 years old and still loaded
14 Jan 2013 6:28 AM IST
Workers cleaning a British cannon last fired over 200 years ago had to call emergency service after they found that the weapon from the Revolutionary War- era was still loaded with gunpowder and a cannonball.
The preservation workers from New York's Central Park Conservancy were removing rust from the antique cannon on Friday when they made the explosive discovery, New York police Detective Brian Sessa said. The cannon was part of the weapons aboard the British warship H.M.S Hussar during the the American War of Independence (17751783) American War of Independence. Workers immediately called 911, and technicians determined that the gunpowder was still active, CNN reported. Authorities removed about 1.8 pounds of black gunpowder from the scene and took it to a gun range for disposal, the detective said.
‘We silenced British cannon fire in 1776, and we don't want to hear it again in Central Park,’ New York police said.
The preservation workers from New York's Central Park Conservancy were removing rust from the antique cannon on Friday when they made the explosive discovery, New York police Detective Brian Sessa said. The cannon was part of the weapons aboard the British warship H.M.S Hussar during the the American War of Independence (17751783) American War of Independence. Workers immediately called 911, and technicians determined that the gunpowder was still active, CNN reported. Authorities removed about 1.8 pounds of black gunpowder from the scene and took it to a gun range for disposal, the detective said.
‘We silenced British cannon fire in 1776, and we don't want to hear it again in Central Park,’ New York police said.
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