Mr. John M. Browning

Mr. John M. Browning was born in Ogden, Utah on January 21, 1855. He invented, perfected, and supervised the production of numerous small arms for the military, and is largely responsible for the superiority in small arms weaponry enjoyed by the United States in three major wars.

His best-known major contributions to military weaponry are the model 1911 .45 caliber pistol; the model 1895 Colt machine gun; the .30 caliber Browning automatic rifle (BAR); the model 1917 .30 caliber machine gun and its variations; the model 1919 machine gun with numerous Army, Air Force, and Navy variations (still in use); and the automatic cannon.

He was the most prolific and successful designer of small arms this country has ever seen. Mr. Browning died in Liege, Belgium in November 1926. His contributions to Army Ordnance were so significant that even today, almost 70 years since his death, two of his weapons remain as standard service weapons.