The predecessor of cervical tenaculum was a forceps bullet extractor - a common surgeon’s tool used to extract bullets on the battlefields. During the Civil War in the United States, this tool was used to remove bullet from the patient’s body or to pull out arteries to tie them off. Inspired by the shape of the bullet extractor, Dr. Pozzi, a pioneer of modern gynecology, developed in the end of 19th century a gynecological tool called Pozzi forceps, also known as tenaculum.