The Civil War ended almost 150 years ago, and by today's
standards the weapons used are old-fashioned and outdated. But
don't for a second think that means they weren't incredibly
lethal. Because it turns out a modern car is still no match for
a Civil War-era cannon.  The folks at RatedRR were kind enough
to demonstrate the incredible power of such an antiquated weapon
of war, targeting a relatively modern Saturn with a 12-lb
cannonball from close range, and capturing the results with
high-speed video cameras. Even though they actually fired the
cannon head-on with the car, the cannonball had absolutely no
trouble blasting its way through the entire length of the
vehicle and out the trunk. So just imagine what it would have
done to infantry, horses, and wooden ships during the Civil War.
Or, don't, because that's just an awful thought. [YouTube via
Geekologie]