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Shrapnel was a Lieutenant in the British Army, I think his first name was James. Early in the 19th century, I think, he developed a modified shell to be fired from a cannon, containing musket balls, which exploded by means of a fuse. The Royal Artillery accepted his invention and as time has passed developed the munition over the years. Shrapnel is now a by word for any fragment of artillery & I use it to describe small coinage ! Both canister & grapeshot were the prdecessors of shrapnel. The family came from, and have an estate, near to where I live, in Wiltshire.

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14y ago

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