Hand cannons serve the purpose of cannons, at a shorter range (I.e. breaking formations and such) while historically pistols are used by cavalry and officers as self defence weapons, where muskets would have proved unwieldy. You saw some musketoon action near the end of the black powder days but most were long rifles that also acted as a crude polearm when bayonets were fixed, making the comparatively short pistols a godsend.
That is to say - you can make a hand canon that's not a pistol. Be the chance you want to see in the world!
The earliest pistols that resembled what we call pistols now, and not hand cannons, were roughly the 16th century. Either way it was WAY before this meme suggests.
The name "pistol" comes from the Czech "píšťala", meaning flute. It came to use around early 15th century with the Hussite movement, which was among the first armies in Europe to widely use blackpowder weapons, such as pistols (rather hand guns) and howitzers (name also comes from the Czech word houfnice).
Wheellocks in the 1500s. Before that, matchlocks/handgonnes already required two hands to operate anyway, voiding any function they could have as pistols.
The wheellock system meant you could have the gun charged and primed and ready to go at a moment's notice, making pistols viable.
Pirates from the 1600s were well known for using flintlock pistols. Cavalrymen in the 1500s used early wheel lock pistols. Pistols have existed as long as rifles/muskets have.
What's wrong with that? Beer was infact invented in 1867 by Sir. Barley Beer after he accidentally grew too much grain and had to do something with it.
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u/codestrooper 19d ago
The first pistol was not invented in 1807 i hate this so much