Chemical warfare is warfare using the toxic properties of chemical
substances to kill, injure or incapacitate the enemy. Chemical warfare
is distinct from the use of conventional weapons or nuclear weapons
because the destructive effects of chemical weapons are not primarily
due to any explosive force. The offensive use of living organisms or
their toxic products (such as anthrax or botulin toxin) is not
considered chemical warfare: their use is instead labelled biological
warfare. Chemical weapons are classified as weapons of mass
destruction by the United Nations, and their production and
stockpiling was outlawed by the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_warfare
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1618:
Johannes Kepler discovered the third law of planetary motion.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Kepler)
1702:
Princess Anne of the House of Stuart became Queen of England, Scotland
and Ireland.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_of_Great_Britain)
1782:
Almost 100 Native Americans died in the hands of Pennsylvanian
militiamen in a mass murder known as the Gnadenhütten massacre.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnadenhutten_massacre)
1844:
Oscar I acceded to the throne of Sweden-Norway.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_I_of_Sweden)
1966:
In Dublin, Ireland, Nelson's Pillar, a large granite pillar with a
statue of Lord Nelson on top, was destroyed by a bomb.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson%27s_Pillar)
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Wikiquote of the day:
"We should be eternally vigilant against attempts to check the
expression of opinions that we loathe." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Oliver_Wendell_Holmes%2C_Jr.)