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Watch Ancient Discoveries online: Episode 5 Ancient Mining Machines

The Romans created a hydraulic mining system that literally blew millions of tons of material away and ancient sappers dug under mega walls and brought a whole castle down. But how was this possible? And, the invention of gunpowder forever changed the way we mine--but who brought explosives into mines? In 1689 in Cornwall England, miner Thomas Eplsey invented gunpowder mining. The technique would eventually kill him--but it revolutionized how we mine today.

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