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The first working tank ever created was named "Little Willie". It was initially ordered to be built by Winston Churchill as a kind of solution to trench warfare, with him asking for a "land-ship". Made by William Foster Company in the Autumn of 1915, it most likely received its nickname as a reference to the enemy German leader, Kaiser Wilhelm. https://tankmuseum.org/tank-nuts/tank-collection/little-willie#:~:text=Little%20Willie%20was%20the%20first,a%20possibility%20for%20the%20battlefield. -
Gun emplacements specifically for dealing with tanks. In WWI, most militaries used pre-existing artillery and just aimed it directly at tanks as a semi-effective and highly inefficient form of tank defense. In 1928, the first true anti-tank gun was made. The German Pak 36 was a 3.7cm anti-tank gun, and the first to be specifically for that purpose. https://school.eb.com/levels/high/article/antitank-weapon/7889 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3.7_cm_Pak_36 -
During WW2, the Nazis used several different tank models, including the infamous Panzer IV and Tiger II tanks. Far improved from their ancestors in WW1, these tanks were armed and armored to the teeth. The Panzer IV was armed with a 75mm main cannon, and 2 MG-34 Machine Guns as secondary armament. The Tiger II sports an 88mm Anti-Tank Cannon, as well as armor more than 7 inches thick in some areas. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_II https://school.eb.com/levels/high/article/panzer/344577 -
Among the allied tanks in WW2 were the Soviet T-34 and the American M4 Sherman, two very iconic tanks. The Sherman featured a 75mm cannon, along with two machine guns, and it was mass produced by companies like Ford. The T-34, with its 76.2mm cannon and good balance between firepower and armor, was a key part of the soviet victory in the war. https://school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Sherman-tank/344578 https://tankmuseum.org/tank-nuts/tank-collection/t-34-76 -
One of the first times in WW2 that tanks were truly necessary, was the Nazi Invasion of France. The French believed that the Ardennes Forest would act as a kind of natural barrier between them and the Germans, with the trees being too dense to get through quickly. The Nazis, using a variety of tanks and armored vehicles, plowed through the Ardennes, consequentially taking France in a matter of weeks. https://school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Battle-of-France/631827 -
The Tank Museum in Dorset, Britain, is the foremost museum on the evolution of military tank technology. I used their website for a lot of the information on featured tanks in this timeline. https://tankmuseum.org/ -
Initially, the British Mark I Tank, (aka "Little Willie"), had very thin armor, with only a centimeter of metal armor plating. In World War II, the German Tiger I had armor plating made from 100mm of steel. Now, in modern tanks, Armoring consists of layers of steel and/or titanium plating, with composite mixtures in between, allowing for more lightweight fortification. https://school.eb.com/levels/high/article/tank/110181 -
The first M1 Abrams is serviced in February 1980. A modern battle-tank, the Abrams has been used in several recent conflicts, including the War in Afghanistan, the War in Iraq, and even in the Ukrainian Defense against Russia. With a 120mm main cannon on some models, as well as an HMG and two more machine guns, the M1 Abrams is death on treads for the enemy. This does however put the production cost at several million dollars per tank. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1_Abrams -
The famous movie about a World War 2 Tank Crew was released on this date. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2713180/ -
In the future, who knows what kinds of weapons and armoring tanks may have? I personally like to speculate that something like the M808 Scorpion Tank from the Halo Franchise might exist, using only a 90mm cannon, but having four sets of treads for enhanced mobility. https://www.halopedia.org/M808_Scorpion