Fougasse (weapon)
A fougasse /fuːˈɡɑːs/ is an improvised mortar constructed by making a hollow in the ground or rock and filling it with explosives (originally, black powder) and projectiles. The fougasse was well known to military engineers by the mid-eighteenth century but was also referred to by Vauban in the seventeenth century and was used by Samuel Zimmermann at Augsburg in the sixteenth century. This technique was used in several European wars, the American Revolution, and the American Civil War. The term is still used to describe such devices.
Firing
The normal method of firing was to use a burning torch or slow match to ignite a saucisson (French for "big sausage", a cloth or leather tube waterproofed with pitch and filled with black powder) leading to the main charge. This had numerous disadvantages; the firer was obvious to the attacking enemy, and had to race to get clear after lighting the fuse. The black powder was also very susceptible to moisture, and might not work at all. In 1573 Samuel Zimmermann devised an improved method which incorporated a snaphance (or later, flintlock mechanism) into the charge and connected its trigger to the surface with a wire. This was more resistant to moisture, better concealed, and enabled the firer to be further away. It also enabled the fougasse to be tripwire activated, turning it into an anti-personnel fragmentation mine.
Fougasse (bread)
In French cuisine, fougasse is a type of bread typically associated with Provence but found (with variations) in other regions. Some versions are sculpted or slashed into a pattern resembling an ear of wheat.
History and etymology
In ancient Rome, panis focacius was a flatbread baked in the ashes of the hearth (focus in Latin). This became a diverse range of breads that include focaccia in Italian cuisine, hogaza in Spain, fogassa in Catalonia, fugàssa in Ligurian, pogača in the Balkans, pogácsa in Hungary, fougasse in Provence (originally spelled fogatza), fouace or fouée in other French regions and on the Channel Islands. The Provence version is more likely to have additions in the form of olives, cheese, or anchovies, which may be regarded as a primitive form of pizza without the tomato.
There is also in Portugal the fogaça, a sweet bread. In Brazil, pão sovado is a typical big fougasse, while a recipe, typical of the states of Rio de Janeiro, Espírito Santo and surrounding regions, that is halfway between fougasse and bolillo (in these regions known as pão francês or pão-de-sal), somewhat resembling a savory small brioche, is called pão suíço. They are perhaps the sweetest of savory artisanal bread recipes commonly made in Brazil.
Powell
Powell may refer to:
Companies
Places
Powell (surname)
Powell is a traditional Welsh surname. It is sometimes said to mean "Son of the Servant of St. Paul", but is more likely to be a patronymic from the Welsh first name Howel. The Old Celtic term "ap" means "son of", hence ap Howel was eventually spelled as Powell. At the time of the British Census of 1881, the frequency of the surname Powell was highest in Brecknockshire (21.9 times the British average), followed by Radnorshire, Herefordshire, Monmouthshire, Shropshire, Glamorgan, Flintshire, Denbighshire, Gloucestershire and Worcestershire.
Deceased
Powell (crater)
Powell is a feature on Earth's Moon, a crater in Taurus-Littrow valley. Astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt landed less than 1 km northeast of it in 1972, on the Apollo 17 mission, but they did not visit it.
To the north of Powell is Trident and the landing site. To the northwest are Camelot and Horatio, and to the northeast is Sherlock. Steno and Emory are to the southeast.
The crater was named by the astronauts after John Wesley Powell, geologist and explorer of the American West.
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