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1000 BCE
Arsenical smokes
The Chinese have been documented using smokes containing arsenic as far back as 1000 BC -
590 BCE
Water poisoning
Solon of Athens is said to have used Hellebore roots to poison an aqueduct during 590 BC. -
200 BCE
Incendiary weapons
Sun Tzu's art of war advises using incendiary weapons, such as burning arrows, back in 200 BC. -
178
Irritants
Finely divided lime was used as an irritant to disperse a peasant revolt -
200
Sulfur Dioxide
The Sasanians would use a combination of Bitumen and sulfur crystals that, when burned, would produce deadly sulfur dioxide. -
Period: 1216 to Nov 16, 1272
(quick)Lime Mortars
During the reign of King Henry III the English Navy was observed to fire quicklime (calcium oxide) from specialized Lime Mortars, which would blind anybody within the cloud it created when it landed. -
Period: 1474 to 1499
Rudimentary Tear Gas
Spanish conquistadors ran into trouble trying to seize Hispaniola with the Taino throwing gourds filled with washed and ground hot peppers -
Period: to
Siege of Groningen
During the siege of Groningen, Christoph Bernhard von Galen employed various explosive and incendiary devices. Some of the devices mentioned earlier contained belladonna, a toxic plant (commonly called "deadly nightshade"). -
Stinkpots
Stinkpots were chemical weapons that would be set ablaze, and thrown or dropped onto ships. One of the many times stinkpots were used was during the War of 1812, when the British Navy used them during a bombardment of Stonington, Connecticut. These weapons would not only begin burning whatever they were thrown at but would also suffocate anybody caught in their smoke. -
Blood agent
Lyon Playfair suggested the use of cacodyl cyanide in artillery shells for use in the Crimean War. cacodyl cyanide is a blood agent, that works similarly to most normal poisons, except for the fact that blood agents are typically colorless, odorless gasses that absorb into the blood, causing them to kill much quicker. -
France Gasses First!
France began using tear gas, "without knowing that it could be more serious in a wartime scenario." -
Germany Follows!
Germany employed the use of dianisidine chlorosulfurate, in shells fired at British troops. -
Period: to
Nerve Agents
Nerve agents "Tabun" and "Sarin" were discovered by Gerhard Schrader, a chemist of IG Farben in 1937 and 1939 respectively. -
V-Series
Britain traded how to make VX (a nerve agent) to America leading to a lot of research being done off of it and three other agents being developed named: VE, VG, and VM all four called the V-Series -
Siege of Halabja
The Iraqi town Halabja was exposed to multiple chemical including mustard gas, sarin tabun, VX, and potentially cyanide.