Though early thermal weapons, such as Greek fire, have existed since ancient times, the first widely used explosive in warfare and mining was black powder, invented in 9th century China ( see the history of gunpowder ).

Though the Internet has allowed the global explosion of collectively authored comedy, its precursors existed on bulletin boards, corporate messaging systems, and even through such low-tech mechanisms as the facsimile since at least the 1970s.

Though the word indigo has existed in English since the 13th century, it may never have been a common part of the basic color-naming system.

Though the body has existed intermittently since medieval times, its current composition and the nature of its work are defined in the constitution and subsequent laws that have been published, the most recent in 2004.

Though the Byzantines recovered control of the ravaged city a half century later, the Byzantine Empire was terminally weakened, and existed as a ghost of its old self until Sultan Mehmet The Conqueror took the city in 1453.

Though Fox's work has now been to some extent revised, it remains a vital record of stretches of the Dyke that still existed between 1926 and 1928, when his three field surveys took place, but that are now destroyed.

Though the city was founded relatively late, a sanctuary existed there since very ancient times.

Though relative peace existed in the Western world, the United States and its allies have been involved in various regional wars, such as the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the Yugoslav wars, the Afghanistan War and the Iraq War.

Though not seen as the most tyrannical of kings, unlike his son Prince Edward, discontent was common during Henry's time and, though traditionally thought of as belonging to the time of King John, the earliest Robin Hood sources and tales suggest that, if he existed at all, it was during Henry's reign.

Though the Internet itself has existed since 1969, it was with the invention of the World Wide Web in 1989 by British scientist Tim Berners-Lee and Belgian Robert Cailliau and its implementation in 1991 that the Internet truly became a global network.

Though Romana reveals that the equipment will bring him back after 2 minutes, the Doctor asserts that it is enough time for Scaroth to stop the explosion of the Jagaroth ship, itself the source of the spark of energy that created the beginnings of life on Earth ; should Scaroth prevent the explosion, every native living being on the planet will never have existed.

Though many residents opposed it at the time, in 1967 two large multi-occupancy buildings of brutalist architectural design were built on the lakefront to create an opportunity for comfortable apartment dwelling in a municipality where previously only free-standing single-family housing existed.

Though the word " prequel " is of recent origin, works fitting this concept existed long before.

Though a prison, Le Stinche, existed as early as the 14th century in Florence, Italy, incarceration was not widely used until the 19th century.

Though Advaita philosophy existed from the period of the Vedanta and the Upanishads, and was advocated by many saints like Sukha, Sanaka, Goudapada and Govinda Bhagvatpada, Adi Shankara is its most famous and profound presenter ..

Though other historians have expressed doubts, Davis has been at least partially persuasive: Richard L. Greaves, in a review of Davis's book, suggests that though a very radical fringe existed, it was probably never as organized as conservatives of the time suggested.

Though Sébastien Foucan states in Jump London that " le parkour has always existed, freerunning has always been there, the thing is that no one gave it a name, we didn't put it in the box ," the roots of the modern discipline can be traced.

Though he was writing an in era before evolution existed, Buffon is a key figure in the history of evolutionary thought ; his " transformist " theory would influence the evolutionary theories of both Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and Charles Darwin.

Though the inspectorate has existed since the mid-19th century, the office was reorganised under the Education ( Schools ) Act 1992, and is explicitly named in the Education and Inspections Act 2006.

Though corruption existed in Civilization I and II, it has been made much more severe in Civilization III.

Though a contract existed to hold the venue for the WWE event and only a verbal agreement granted the Nuggets the venue, Kroenke stood firm that the Nuggets game would take precedence.

Though a very small Neolithic population may have existed in Caria, the people known as " Carians " may in fact have been of Aegean origin that settled in southwestern Anatolia during the second millennium BC.

Though modern readers may be skeptical that such beliefs ever existed, the superstitions of Gypsy culture are well documented.

Though the culture was mainly urban, some agriculture and much stock raising existed.

Though metapuzzles have existed in some form for many Mystery Hunts, the structure regarding how the puzzles combine into metapuzzles and how puzzles are released varies.

Though both ended up as rogue governments and did not follow through on their constitutional promises, they began as responses from the Athenian elite to what they saw as the inherent arbitrariness of government by the masses ( Plato in the Seventh Epistle does remark that the Thirty made the preceding democratic regime look like a Golden Age ).

Though a law-breaker, he gave the public what they were denied by strident, self-appointed arbiters of morality.

Though the unified reign of the First Qin Emperor lasted only 12 years, he managed to subdue great parts of what constitutes the core of the Han Chinese homeland and to unite them under a tightly centralized Legalist government seated at Xianyang ( close to modern Xi ' an ).

Though astronomers are not sure what has caused this ring of new stars, some hypothesize that it is from shock waves caused by a bar that is thus far invisible.

Though what constitutes sex discrimination varies between countries, the essence is that it is an adverse action taken by one person against another person that would not have occurred had the person been of another sex.

Though he did not realize it yet, translating much of what became the Latin Vulgate Bible would take many years and be his most important achievement ( see Writings – Translations section below ).

Though Philby claimed publicly in January 1988 that he did not regret his decisions, and that he missed nothing about England except some friends, Colman's mustard, and Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce, his KGB-appointed wife Rufina later described Philby as " disappointed in many ways " by what he found in Moscow.

Though literary detectives have uncovered some of its sources, its remains difficult to say what the poem is about.

Though 68010 had a " loop mode ", which sped loops through what was effectively a tiny instruction cache, it had only two memory location and was thus little used.

Though practices differ by region and format, what follows is a typical arrangement in a North American urban commercial radio station.

Though he claims he didn't know what the money was being spent for, longtime Fatah official Mahmoud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen, was responsible for the financing of the Munich attack.

Though he mentions that he does enjoy and recognize what is pleasant, he sees them of no utilization in terms of governing, or of the benefit of common people.

Though Crinkley rejected Ogburn's thesis, he believed that one merit of the book lay in the way it focused attention on what is not known of Shakespeare.

Though much of John XXI's brief papacy was dominated by the powerful Cardinal Giovanni Gaetano Orsini ( who succeeded him as Pope Nicholas III ), John attempted to launch a crusade for the Holy Land, pushed for a union with the Eastern church, and did what he could to maintain peace between the Christian nations.

Though the movie does explain what a Sampo is, the MST3K characters are talking during the explanation and miss it, and are therefore confused throughout the film as to what exactly a " Sampo " is, and argue about it their own theories throughout the rest of the episode.

Though Galileo is often said to be the inventor of the thermometer, what he produced were thermoscopes.

Though I know not what you are,

Though Peel's supporters subsequently split from their colleagues over the issue of free trade in 1846, ultimately joining the Whigs and the Radicals to form what would become the Liberal Party, Peel's version of the party's underlying outlook was retained by the remaining Tories, who adopted his label of Conservative as the official name of their party.

Though Kathy seems to have liberal views, when he reveals what he intends to do, she is taken aback and asks if he actually is Jewish.

Though Al thought Ava the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, he believed the test was a disaster and was completely surprised by what he saw in the screening room.

Though he attempted to defend the duchy against French encroachment for nearly a year, lack of resources and money meant he could do little but husband what little territory the English still controlled, and he resigned the command in September 1371 and returned to England.

Though the situation seemed dire, the German front was beginning to form into what Robert Kershaw terms ' a crust '.

Though the reality was that the Stonewall riots themselves, as well as the immediate and the ongoing political organizing that occurred following them, were events fully participated in by lesbian women, bisexual people and transgender people as well as by gay men of all races and backgrounds, historically these events were first named Gay, the word at that time being used in a more generic sense to cover the entire spectrum of what is now variously called the ' queer ' or LGBT community.

Though the March family is poor, their background is what was called ' genteel ', and Meg attended some society balls and parties.