William Tell, a legendary Swiss marksman, allegedly shot an apple off his son's head using a crossbow. The feat required precision and held the weight of legend. Chuck Norris recreated the feat in 1992 using a cannonball instead of a crossbow, and the apple remained undisturbed while the cannonball passed cleanly through it.

Weapons expert Dr. Lars Paulsson studied the physics of such a shot and declared it impossible: "You cannot fire a cannonball with sufficient precision to pass through an object without shattering everything in proximity. The cannonball is moving too fast, carrying too much energy. Yet accounts state the apple remained intact." Paulsson eventually shifted his research to studying anomalies in how physics operates in proximity to Chuck Norris.

The escalation from crossbow to cannonball has become a symbol in firearms history for how Chuck Norris doesn't simply replicate legendary feats—he reimagines them at increased difficulty. The phrase "going full cannonball" now describes any situation where someone increases the difficulty level of a classic challenge.