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Browning Automatic Rifle

Browning Automatic Rifle

The Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR, usually pronounced "bee eh are") is family of automatic rifles (or machine rifles) and light machine guns used primarily by the United States and other countries during the 20th century. It was designed in 1917 by the weapons designer John Browning primarily as a replacement for, and improvement on, the French-made Chauchat and Hotchkiss M1909. It was originally intended as a light automatic rifle, but spent much of its career in various guises used as a light machine gun with a bipod. The first version was, and remains the lightest service machine gun to fire .30-06 Springfield, but its 20-round magazine tended to hamper its use as a light machine gun. Despite its name, it was adopted in 1917 – it used the 1918 designation in order to avoid confusion with the M1917 machine gun.

Design

The BAR is a gas-operated, air-cooled, magazine-fed weapon. As built for the US military, the BAR was chambered for the standard service round of that period, the .30-`06 Springfield. It weighed from 16 to 19 pounds (7.3 to 8.6 kg) empty, depending upon the model. Magazine capacity was 20 rounds. The Browning BAR M1918 was a selective fire weapon allowing the user to choose either semi- or fully-automatic fire. First issued in February 1918, it was hoped the BAR might help break the stalemate of the trenches by the concept of "marching fire"; an automatic weapon accompanying advancing squads of riflemen rushing from trench to trench. BAR gunners were issued an ammo belt with a "cup" that held the stock of the rifle at the hip. This allowed the soldier to lay suppressive fire while walking forward, keeping the enemy's head down until it was too late. Eighty-five thousand of these were built by the war's end, but none were deployed in fear of the gun falling into enemy hands. In June 1937, a small number of the M1918 were modified to include a spiked bipod attached to the gas cylinder and a hinged buttplate. These guns were designated the M1918A1. In 1940, the final BAR model – the M1918A2 – was introduced. This model did away with the semi-automatic option in favor of fully-automatic fire only. The rate of fire was adjustable, with a choice between "fast-auto" (500-650 round/min) and "slow-auto" (300-450 round/min). The (unspiked) bipod was now attached to the barrel and, being easily removable, was often discarded by troops when on the offensive to save weight. In 1942, a plastic buttstock replaced the walnut, and in late World War II a carrying handle that mounted to the barrel was issued. While not without its design flaws (a fixed barrel, limited magazine capacity and many small internal parts) it proved itself to be rugged and reliable. It served as a frontline standard weapon from the latter days of World War I through World War II and the Korean War as well. It soldiered on into the Vietnam War when the U.S. passed a quantity to the South Vietnamese. Many nations in NATO and recipients of U.S. foreign aid adopted the BAR and used it into the 1990s. Poland (Browning wz.1928), Belgium (FN M1930) and Sweden developed and issued BAR variants during the 1930s which had pistol-type rear grips and quick-change barrels. The BAR also has its place in civilian history. Clyde Barrow of Bonnie and Clyde fame was known to prefer the use of a shortened BAR (stolen from National Guard armories) during his spree in the thirties, rather than the stereotypical Thompson submachine gun. A modern manufacturer of firearms has produced a semi-automatic version of the Browning Automatic Rifle known as the 1918A3 SLR (self-loading rifle). See http://www.ohioordnanceworks.com/slr/slr.htm for more info. The BAR hunting rifle currently offered by Browning is completely unrelated in design to the earlier M1918 series.

Variants

US

M1918

- Initial model fielded during World War I
- No bipod

1918A1

- Produced in 1937 by modifying existing 1918
- Attached bipod

M1918A2

- Produced in 1940 onwards
- Detachable bipod
- Fully-automatic, with slow and fast rates
- Late-war models switched to plastic stock

M1922

- Bipod and stock mounted rear monopod
- Heavier barrel with small cooling fins
- Light machine gun version

International

Browning wz.1928

FN M1930

Commercial

Colt Automatic Machine Rifle

- Commerical variant made by Colt in several versions between the 1920's and the beginning of WWII, for civilian and law enforcement markets
- One variant, the R80 Monitor featured an 18" barrel, a lightweight reciever, and an ejection port cover along with a Cutts compensator

1918A3 SLR

Modern semi-automatic commercial version of the BAR

Automatic rifle

] An automatic rifle is a term generally used to describe a self-loading capable of either semi or fully automatic fire from a store of rounds. In many cases it describes a rifle capable of self-loading and firing a single shot for each pull of the trigger (e.g. firing semi-automatically. However, it is also used to describe non-intermediate firearms capable of fully-automatic fire (a type of automatic firearm). Depending on the expert and point in history, automatic Carbines and Assault rifles are sometimes considered to be a type of automatic rifle, and at other times separated. KJhgiulfuwduibfiubiulwehbliudgbiu As an example of the confusion, or at least differences that arise in term usage, there are books that have an 'automatic rifle' section that lists various semi-automatic self-loading rifles (but not fully automatic one). However, the U.S. army describes the M249 gunner as an 'automatic riflemen' and the firearm as an 'automatic rifle', even though it is a fully automatic firearm that fired 5.56 mm NATO and called a 'Squad Automatic Weapon'. See also:
- Semi-automatic rifle Note, in popular usage the term automatic rifle is sometimes used to mean semi-automatic rifle.
- Assault rifle
- Light machine gun Some light machine guns have been called automatic rifles in some sources.
- Squad automatic weapon
- Browning Automatic Rifle Category:Rifles

20th century

The 20th century lasted from 1901 to 2000 in the Gregorian calendar. Common usage sometimes regards it as lasting from 1900 to 1999, but this is incorrect since counting of calendar years begins with the year 1. The 20th century is also sometimes known as the nineteen hundreds (1900s). Decades are almost always considered as starting with the "0" year and named accordingly ("1960s", etc.). However, a number of arguments have been used to justify the common usage. One was advanced, erroneously, by Stephen Jay Gould. He claimed that the first decade had only nine years, thus contradicting the definition of decade equaled 10 years. Another argument is that the astronomical year numbering system for years does have a year zero, the year normally known as 1 BC. In 2000 the International Organization for Standardization clarified ISO 8601 to use the astronomical year numbering system, which could be interpreted as retrospectively endorsing all the people who had celebrated the new century a few months earlier. The term is also used to describe various periods that overlap with the calendar definition, most notably the Short twentieth century, which claims that the 20th Century spanned from 1914 to 1989, rendering the pre-WWI 1900s into the 19th Century and putting the 1990s at the beginning of the 21st Century. Indeed, the part of the 20th Century before World War I is quite identical to the late 1800s culturally and technologically and the 1990s decade pointed in many ways (such as the rise of the Internet) to the 21st Century and is seen by some as not being truly a part of the 20th Century.

Overview

The twentieth century saw a remarkable shift in the way that vast numbers of people lived, as a result of technological, medical, social, ideological, and political innovations. Terms like ideology, world war, genocide, and nuclear war entered common usage and became an influence on the lives of everyday people. War reached an unprecedented scale and level of sophistication; in the Second World War (1939-1945) alone, approximately 57 million people died, mainly due to massive improvements in weaponry. The trends of mechanization of goods and services and networks of global communication, which were begun in the 19th century, continued at an ever-increasing pace in the 20th. In spite of the terror and chaos, the 20th century saw many attempts at world peace. As the 35th President of the United States John F. Kennedy said: :What kind of peace do we seek? I am talking about a genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living. Not merely peace in our time, but peace in all time. Our problems are man-made, therefore they can be solved by man. For in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, we all breathe the same air, we all cherish our children's future, and we are all mortal. Virtually every aspect of life in virtually every human society changed in some fundamental way or another during the twentieth century and for the first time, any individual could influence the course of history no matter their background. Arguably, the 20th century re-shaped the face of the planet in more ways than any previous century.
- Death rates
- Infant mortality
- Infectious disease
- Life expectancy
- Maternal death rates
- Battles Scientific discoveries such as relativity and quantum physics radically changed the worldview of scientists, causing them to realize that the universe was much more complex than they had previously believed, and dashing the hopes at the end of the preceding century that the last few details of knowledge were about to be filled in. For a more coherent overview of the historical events of the century, see The 20th century in review. The 20th century has sometimes been called, both within and outside the United States, the American Century, though this is a controversial term.

Important developments, events and achievements

Science and technology

- The assembly line and mass production of motor vehicles and other goods allowed manufacturers to produce more and cheaper products. This allowed the automobile to become the most important means of transportation.
- The invention of heavier-than-air flying machines and the jet engine allowed for the world to become "smaller". Space flight increased knowledge of the rest of the universe and allowed for global real-time communications via geosynchronous satellites.
- Mass media technologies such as film, radio, and television allow the communication of political messages and entertainment with unprecedented impact
- Mass availability of the telephone and later, the computer, especially through the Internet, provides people with new opportunities for near-instantaneous communication
- Applied electronics, notably in its miniaturized form as integrated circuits, made possible the above mentioned rise of mass media, telecommunications, ubiquitous computing, and all kinds of "intelligent" appliances; as well as many advances in natural sciences such as physics, by the use of exponentially growing calculation power (see supercomputer).
- The development of Nitrogen fertilizer, pesticides and herbicides resulted in significantly higher agricultural yield.
- Advances in fundamental physics through the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics led to the development of nuclear weapons (known informally as "the Bomb" and dropped on the industrial town of Hiroshima and the historic one of Nagasaki), the nuclear reactor, and the laser. Fusion power was studied extensively but remained an experimental technology at the end of the century.
- Inventions such as the washing machine and air conditioning led to an increase in both the quantity and quality of leisure time for the middle class in Western societies.
- Most influential inventions in the 20th century: antibiotics, oral contraceptives, new plastics, transistors, Internet
- More...

Wars and politics

- Democratic nations began to extend voting privileges to all adults.
- Rising nationalism and increasing national awareness were among the causes of World War I, the first of two wars to involve all the major world powers including Germany, France, Italy, Japan, the United States and the British Commonwealth. World War I led to the creation of many new countries, especially in Eastern Europe. Ironically, it was said by many to be the 'War to end all Wars'.
- The economic and political aftermath of World War I led to the rise of Fascism and Nazism in Europe, and shortly to World War II. This war also involved Asia and the Pacific, in the form of Japanese aggression against China and the United States. While the First World War mainly cost lives among soldiers, civilians suffered greatly in the Second -- from the bombing of cities on both sides, and in the unprecedented German genocide of the Jews and others, known as the Holocaust.
- During World War I, in Russia the Bolshevik putsch led to the Russian Revolution of 1917. After the Soviet Union's involvement in World War II, Communism became a major force in global politics, spreading all over the world: notably, to Eastern Europe, China, Indochina and Cuba. This led to the Cold War and proxy wars with the western world, including wars in Korea (1950-53) and Vietnam (1957 - 75).
- The "fall of Communism" in the late 1980s freed Eastern and Central Europe from Soviet supremacy. It also led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia into successor states, many rife with ethnic nationalism, and left the United States as the world's superpower.
- Through the League of Nations and, after World War II, the United Nations, international cooperation increased. Other efforts included the formation of the European Union, leading to a common currency in much of Western Europe, the euro around the turn of the millennium.
- The end of colonialism led to the independence of many African and Asian countries. During the Cold War, many of these aligned with the USA, the USSR, or China for defense.
- The creation of Israel, a Jewish state in a mostly Arab region of the world, fueled many conflicts in the region, which were also influenced by the vast oil fields in many of the Arab countries.
- The term Southeast Asia coined.

Culture and entertainment

- Movies, music and the media had a major influence on fashion and trends in all aspects of life. As many movies and music originate from the United States, American culture spread rapidly over the world.
- After gaining political rights in the United States and much of Europe in the first part of the century, and with the advent of new birth control techniques women became more independent throughout the century.
- Rock and Roll and Jazz styles of music are developed in the United States, and quickly become the dominant forms of popular music in America, and later, the world. The Beatles, a 1960s British Rock and Roll band, becomes one of the most successful acts of all time, and is credited, in their experimental later albums, with permanently changing what was thought possible in popular music.
- Modern art developed new styles such as expressionism, cubism, and surrealism.
- The automobile provided vastly increased transportation capabilities for the average member of Western societies in the early to mid-century, spreading even further later on. City design throughout most of the West became focused on transport via car. The car became a leading symbol of modern society, with styles of car suited to and symbolic of particular lifestyles.
- Sports became an important part of society, becoming an activity not only for the privileged. Watching sports, later also on television, became a popular activity.

Disease and medicine

- Although the availability and quality of medicine continued to improve, epidemic diseases continued to spread, aided by modern transportation. An influenza pandemic, the Spanish Flu, killed 25 million between 1918 and 1919, while AIDS is yet uncured and treatments remain too expensive for wide use in developing countries.
- Advances in medicine, such as the invention of antibiotics, decreased the number of people dying from diseases. Contraceptive drugs and organ transplantation were developed. The discovery of DNA molecules and the advent of molecular biology allowed for cloning and genetic engineering.

Natural resources and the environment

- The widespread use of petroleum in industry -- both as a chemical precursor to plastics and as a fuel for the automobile and airplane -- led to the vital geopolitical importance of petroleum resources. The Middle East, home to many of the world's oil deposits, became a center of geopolitical and military tension throughout the latter half of the century. (For example, oil was a factor in Japan's decision to go to war against the United States in 1941, and the oil cartel, OPEC, used an oil embargo of sorts in the wake of the Yom Kippur War in the 1970s).
- A vast increase in fossil fuel consumption leads to depletion of natural resources, while air pollution has led to the develoment of an ozone hole and, many believe, global warming and both local and global climate change. The problem is increased by world-wide deforestation, also causing a loss of biodiversity. The problem of a depletion of natural resources is decreased by advances in drilling technology which led to a net increase in the amount of fossil fuel that is readily obtainable at the end of the century, as compared with the amount considered obtainable at the beginning of the century.

Significant people

1917

1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.

Events

January-February

Julian calendar
- January 2 - The Royal Bank of Canada takes over Quebec Bank.
- January 22 - World War I: President Woodrow Wilson calls for "peace without victory" in Europe.
- January 25 - The Danish West Indies is sold to the United States for $25 million
- January 25 - Anti-prostitution drive in San Francisco attracts huge crowds to public meetings. At one meeting attended by 7000 people, 20000 are kept out for lack of room. In a conference with Rev. Paul Smith, an outspoken foe of prostitution, 300 prostitutes make a plea for toleration explaining they had been forced into the practice by poverty. When Smith asked if they would take other work at $8 to $10 a week, the ladies laughed derisively, which lost them public sympathy. The police close about 200 houses of prostitution shortly thereafter [http://www.zpub.com/sf50/sf/hbtbc12.htm]
- January 26 - The sea defences at the village of Hallsands, Devon are breached, leading to all but one of the houses becoming uninhabitable
- January 28 - The United States ends search for Pancho Villa
- January 30 - Pershing's troops in Mexico begin to withdraw to USA. They reach Columbus, New Mexico February 5
- January 31 - World War I: Germany announces its U-boats will engage in unrestricted submarine warfare.
- February 3 - World War I: The United States breaks off diplomatic relations with Germany
- February 5 - The constitution of Mexico is adopted.
- February 13 - Mata Hari is arrested for spying
- February 23 - The Russian Revolution begins with the overthrow of the Tsar.
- February 24 - World War I: United States ambassador to the United Kingdom Walter H. Page is given the Zimmermann Telegram, in which Germany offers to give the American Southwest back to Mexico if Mexico will declare war on the United States.

March-April

- March 1 - U.S. government releases the plaintext of the Zimmermann Telegram to the public
- March 1 - Japanese city Omuta, Fukuoka is founded
- March 2 - The enactment of the Jones Act grants Puerto Ricans United States citizenship.
- March 4 - Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first woman member of the United States House of Representatives.
- March 8 - The United States Senate adopts the cloture rule in order to limit filibusters.
- March 11 - Mexican Revolution - Venustiano Carranza elected president of Mexico - USA gives recognition of his government de jure
- March 15 - Tsar Nicholas II of Russia abdicates.
- March 21 - The Danish West Indies become the Virgin Islands when Denmark transfers control over the islands to the United States after the purchase of the islands on January 25.
- March 26 - World War I: First Battle of Gaza - British cavalry troops retreat after 17,000 Turks block their advance.
- March 31 - The United States takes possession of the Virgin Islands after paying $25 million to Denmark.
- April 2 - World War I: US President Woodrow Wilson asks U.S. Congress for a declaration of war on Germany.
- April 6 - World War I: United States declares war on Germany. [http://wikisource.org/wiki/Woodrow_Wilson_declares_war_on_Germany text]
- April 9-12 - World War I: Canadian troops win the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
- April 10 - Ammunition factory explodes in Chester, Pennsylvania - 133 dead
- April 11 - World War I: Brazil severs relations with Germany
- April 16 - Lenin arrives in Petrograd
- April 16 - The Nivelle Offensive commences.

May-October

- May 9 - The Nivelle Offensive was abandoned.
- May 13 - Three peasant children claim to see the Virgin Mary above a holm oak tree in Cova da Iria near Fatima, Portugal.
- May 18 - World War I: The Selective Service Act passes the U.S. Congress giving the President the power of conscription.
- May 27 - Over 30.000 French troops refuse to go to the trenches in Missy-aux-Bois
- June 1 - French infantry regiment seizes Missy-aux-Bois and declares anti-war military government. French army soon apprehend them
- June 5 - World War I: Conscription begins in the United States as "Army registration day."
- June 13 - World War I: First major German bombing raid on London left 162 dead and 432 injured
- June 15 - The United States enacts the Espionage Act.
- July 6 - Arabian troops led by T.E. Lawrence capture Aqaba from the Turks.
- July 7 - Aleksandr Kerensky forms the Provisional Government in Russia after the deposing of the tsar.
- July 12 - Phelps Dodge Corporation deports over 1000 suspected IWW members from Bisbee, Arizona
- July 17 - King George V of the United Kingdom issues a Proclamation stating that the male line descendants of the British royal family will bear the surname Windsor.
- July 20 - Corfu Declaration that enabled post-war Kingdom of Yugoslavia was signed by the Yugoslav Committee and Kingdom of Serbia
- July 25 - Sir Thomas Whyte introduces the first income tax in Canada as a "temporary" measure (lowest bracket is 4% and highest is 25%).
- August 29 - World War I: The Military Service Act is passed in the Canadian House of Commons giving the Canadian government the right to conscript men into the army.
- October 15 - World War I: At Vincennes outside of Paris, Dutch dancer Mata Hari is executed by firing squad for spying for Germany.
- October 19 - Love Field in Dallas, Texas is opened.
- October 26 - World War I: Brazil declared in state of war with Germany.

November

- November - Don Republic declares independence from Soviet Russia
- November 2 - Zionism: The Balfour Declaration proclaims British support for Jewish settlement in Palestine.
- November 6 - World War I: Third Battle of Ypres ends: After three months of fierce fighting, Canadian forces take Ypres in Belgium.
- November 7 - October Revolution begins: The workers of St.Peterburg in Russia, with leaders the Bolsheviks and the Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin attacked against the ineffective Kerensky Provisional Government (Russia was still using the Julian Calendar at the time, so period references show a October 25 date. The Soviets of Workers, Farmers and Soldiers took for the first time in history the economy and the administration of a country.
- November 7 - World War I: Third Battle of Gaza ends - United Kingdom forces capture Gaza from the Ottoman Empire.
- November 15 - Finland takes a step towards full sovereignty recognizing the personal union with Russia finished after the Tsar being dethroned.
- November 16 - British troops occupy Tel Aviv and Jaffa in Palestine.
- November 16 - Georges Clemenceau becomes prime minister of France
- November 20 - World War I: Battle of Cambrai begins - British forces make early progress in an attack on German positions but are soon beaten back.
- November 20 - Ukraine is declared a republic.
- November 22 - In Montreal, Canada, the National Hockey Association breaks up (on November 26 it was replaced with the National Hockey League).
- November 26 - The National Hockey League is formed.
- November 29 - Striking coal miners at Rostov declare Don Soviet Republic - it lasts two weeks.

December

- December 3 - After nearly 20 years of planning and construction, the Quebec Bridge opens to traffic (the bridge partially collapsed on August 29 1907 and September 11 1916).
- December 6 - Finland's declaration of independence.
- December 6 - Halifax Explosion: Two freighters collide in the harbour at Halifax, Nova Scotia and cause a huge explosion that kills at least 1963 people, injures 9000 and destroys part of the city. Until Hiroshima, this was the biggest manmade explosion.
- December 11 - British troops take Jerusalem from the troops of the Ottoman Empire
- December 25 - Why Marry?, first dramatic play to win a Pulitzer Prize, opens at the Astor Theatre in New York City.
- December 26 - United States president Woodrow Wilson uses the Federal Possession and Control Act to take control of nearly all American railroads under the United States Railroad Administration so they can be more efficiently used to transport troops and materials for the war effort.

Unknown dates

- Lions Clubs International is formed.
- First commercially issued recordings of jazz music, by Original Dixieland Jazz Band.
- Tolkien starts writing the original Book of Lost Tales (the first version of the Silmarillion), thus Middle-earth is first written this year (After the war, Tolkien tries to publish the stories, but he is neglected, as writers call his work a "fairy tale"; unsuitable for adult readership).
- Conscription crisis in Canada.
- Female suffrage in the Netherlands

Ongoing events

- World War I (1914-1918)
- Armenian Genocide (1915-1918)
- Encephalitis lethargica (1917-1928)

Births

January-March

- January 2 - Vera Zorina, German dancer and actress (d. 2003)
- January 3 - Roger W. Straus, Jr., American publisher (d. 2004)
- January 10 - Jerry Wexler, American record producer
- January 19 - John Raitt, American actor and singer (d. 2005)
- January 24 - Ernest Borgnine, American actor
- January 25 - Ilya Prigogine, Russian-born physicist and chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (d. 2003)
- February 4 - Yahya Khan, President of Pakistan (d. 1980)
- February 6 - Zsa Zsa Gabor, Hungarian-born actress
- February 11 - Sidney Sheldon, American author
- February 14 - Herbert A. Hauptman, American mathematician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- February 19 - Carson McCullers, American author (d. 1967)
- February 25 - Anthony Burgess, English author (d. 1993)
- February 27 - John Connally, Governor of Texas (d. 1993)
- February 28 - Fidel Sánchez Hernández, President of El Salvador (d. 2003)
- March 1 - Harry Caray, baseball broadcaster (d. 1998)
- March 1 - Robert Lowell, American poet (d. 1977)
- March 2 - Desi Arnaz, Cuban-born actor, bandleader, and musician (d. 1986)
- March 19 - Dinu Lipatti, Romanian pianist (d. 1950)
- March 20 - Dame Vera Lynn, English actress and singer
- March 24 - John Kendrew, British molecular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (d. 1997)
- March 26 - Rufus Thomas, American singer (d. 2001)
- March 27 - Cyrus Vance, American politician (d. 2002)

April-October

- April 5 - Robert Bloch, American writer (d. 1994)
- April 10 - Robert B. Woodward, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
- April 12 - Helen Forrest, American jazz singer (d. 1999)
- April 17 - Bill Clements, Governor of Texas
- April 25 - Ella Fitzgerald, American jazz singer (d. 1996)
- May 14 - Lou Harrison, American composer (d. 2003)
- May 20 - Bergur Sigurbjörnsson, Icelandic politician (d. 2005)
- May 21 - Raymond Burr, Canadian actor (d. 1993)
- May 22 - Georg Tintner, Austrian conductor (d. 1999)
- May 28 - Papa John Creech, fiddler (d. 1994)
- May 29 - John F. Kennedy, President of the United States (d. 1963)
- June 1 - William S. Knowles, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- June 15 - John Fenn, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- June 15 - Lash La Rue, American cowboy actor (d. 1996)
- June 17 - Dean Martin, American actor (d. 1996)
- June 17 - Atle Selberg, Norwegian mathematician
- July 4 - Manolete, Spanish bullfighter (d. 1947)
- July 7 - Fidel Sánchez Hernández, President of El Salvador (d. 2003)
- July 19 - William Scranton, American politician
- August 15 - Jack Lynch, President of Ireland (d. 1999)
- August 18 - Caspar Weinberger, United States Secretary of Defence
- August 22 - John Lee Hooker, American blues musician (d. 2001)
- August 28 - Jack Kirby, American comic book artist (d. 1994)
- August 29 - Isabel Sanford, American actress (d. 2004)
- September 7 - John Cornforth, Australian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- September 10 - Miguel Serrano, Chilean fascist ideologist
- September 11 - Ferdinand Marcos, President of the Philippines (d. 1989)
- September 13 - Robert Ward, American composer (d. 1994)
- September 25 - Johnny Sain, baseball pitcher
- October 2 - Christian de Duve, English-born biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- October 8 - Danny Murtaugh, baseball player and manager (d. 1976)
- October 8 - Rodney Robert Porter, English biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1985)
- October 15 - Jan Miner, American actress (d. 2004)
- October 21 - Dizzy Gillespie, American musician (d. 1993)
- October 30 - Maurice Trintignant, French race car driver (d. 2005)
- October 31 - Thomas Hill, Canadian actor

November-December

- November 11 - Madeleine Damerment, French World War II heroine (d. 1944)
- November 19 - Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India (d. 1984)
- November 22 - Andrew Huxley, English scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- December 6 - Kamal Jumblatt, leader of the Lebanese Druze (d. 1977)
- December 9 - James Rainwater, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
- December 10 - Sultan Yahya Petra, King of Malaysia (d. 1979)
- December 20 - David Bohm, American-born physicist, philosopher, and neuropsychologist (d. 1992)
- December 21 - Heinrich Böll, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1985)
- December 22 - Gene Rayburn, American television personality (d. 1999)
- December 27 - Onni Palaste, Finnish writer
- December 30 - Seymour Melman, American industrial engineer (d. 2004)

Unknown dates

- Ben Bubar, American Presidential candidate (d. 1995)

Deaths

- January 2 - Edward Burnett Tylor, English anthropologist (b. 1832)
- January 10 - William F. Cody (Buffalo Bill), American frontiersman (b. 1846)
- January 16 - George Dewey, U.S. admiral (b. 1837)
- February 10 - John William Waterhouse, Italian-born artist (b. 1849)
- March 8 - Ferdinand von Zeppelin, German inventor (b. 1838)
- March 17 - Franz Brentano, German philosopher and psychologist (b. 1838)
- March 31 - Emil Adolf von Behring, German winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1854)
- April 1 - Scott Joplin, American musician and composer (b. 1868)
- April 14 - L. L. Zamenhof, Polish creator of Esperanto (b. 1859)
- May 17 - Charles Anthoni Johnson Brooke, ruler of Sarawak (b. 1829)
- May 20 - Philipp von Ferrary, Italian stamp collector (b. 1850)
- June 30 - Antonio de La Gandara, French painter (b. 1861)
- July 27 - Emil Kocher, Swiss medical researcher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1841)
- August 13 - Eduard Buchner, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1860)
- August 20 - Adolf von Baeyer, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1835)
- August 30 - Alan Leo, British astrologer (b. 1860)
- September 27 - Edgar Degas, French painter (b. 1834)
- October 13 - Florence La Badie, Canadian actress (b. 1888)
- October 15 - Mata Hari, Dutch dancer and spy (executed) (b. 1876)
- October 23 - Eugène Grasset, Swiss artist (b. 1845)
- October 28 - Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (b. 1831)
- November 8 - Colin Blythe, English cricketer (b. 1879)
- November 11 - Queen Liliuokalani of Hawai'i (b. 1838)
- November 17 - Auguste Rodin, French sculptor (b. 1840)
- December 8 - Mendele Moykher Sforim, Russian Yiddish and Hebrew writer (b. 1836)

Nobel Prizes

- Physics - Charles Glover Barkla
- Chemistry - not awarded
- Medicine - not awarded
- Literature - Karl Adolph Gjellerup, Henrik Pontoppidan
- Peace - International Committee of the Red Cross Category:1917 ko:1917년 ms:1917 ja:1917年 simple:1917 th:พ.ศ. 2460

John Browning

: This article is about John Browning the American weapon designer, and not John Browning the pianist, or John Browning the football player. John Browning John Moses Browning (January 21, 1855 – November 26, 1926), born in Ogden, Utah, was an American firearms designer who developed many varieties of weapons which were used in the U.S. military for decades in the 20th century. He is sometimes referred to as "the patron saint of automatic fire." He is credited with 128 gun patents—his first (for a single shot rifle) was granted October 7, 1879. From 1883, Browning worked in partnership with the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, and designed a series of repeating rifles and shotguns, most notably the Winchester Model 1887 and Model 1897 shotguns and the lever-action Model 1886, Model 1892, Model 1894 and Model 1895 rifles, all of which are still in production today. Until his death in 1926, Browning designed weapons for Colt, Remington, his own company and Fabrique Nationale of Belgium. Whilst working on a self-loading pistol design for the latter company he died, in Liege, of heart failure. Several of his most notable designs are still in production today. The most notable include:
- The Winchester Model 1887 lever-action repeating shotgun;
- The Winchester Model 1894 lever-action repeating rifle;
- The Browning Auto-5 semi-automatic shotgun of 1902;
- The Browning M1910 semi-automatic handgun;
- The Colt Model 1911 semi-automatic handgun;
- The Model 1917 water-cooled machine gun;
- The Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) of 1918;
- The Browning M2 .50 caliber heavy machine gun of 1921. The 9mm self-loading pistol he was working on when he died was eventually completed in 1935, by Belgian designer Dieudonne Saive. Released as the Fabrique Nationale GP35, it was more popularly known as the Browning Hi-Power. The Colt 1911, Browning 1917, and the BAR saw action in World War I, World War II and the Korean War, with the 1911 going on to serve as the United States's standard military sidearm until 1986; a variant is still used by special operations units of the USMC and FBI's Hostage Rescue Team, and the design is very popular amongst civilian shooters. The Browning Hi-Power would have a similarly lengthy period of service outside the United States, and remains the standard sidearm of the United Kingdom's armed forces. The M2 heavy machine gun is still in widespread use throughout the world. In 1977 FN acquired the Browning Arms Company which had been established in 1927, the year after Browning's death. Perhaps the most famous individual Browning-designed firearm was a Browning M1910 handgun, serial number 19074. In 1914, the pistol was used by Gavrilo Princip to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, an event which sparked off the First World War. The pistol was rediscovered in 2004. [http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/06/22/wferd22.xml] Browning belonged to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served a two year mission for the church in

Browning Automatic Rifle

Design

Variants

US

M1918

1918A1

M1918A2

M1922

International

Browning wz.1928

FN M1930

Commercial

Colt Automatic Machine Rifle

1918A3 SLR

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Automatic rifle

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John Browning