regards the comment on Big Bertha (a large German cannon made to bombard
Paris in WW I). There was a very large computational effort to
calculate trajectories in WW I. It was an additional spur to develop
computers. The non-parabolic nature of trajectories was well known
long befor WW I. Paintings show it. The trajectory of actual projectiles
was long known to NOT be a parabola nor an ellipse.
in WWI