December 28

Featured Article

Famous for various series of small firearms (notably the MP5 submachine gun, G3 and more modern G36 assault rifle, the MP7 personal defense weapon, USP series of handguns and the high-precision PSG1 sniper rifle). Heckler & Koch have established a hard-earned reputation for the extreme precision, durability, reliability and accuracy of their firearms. HK was founded in Oberndorf, Germany, by Edmund Heckler, Theodor Koch, and Alex Seidel on Dec. 28, 1949 and started off its existence cranking out sewing machine parts and other fine mechanical devices. That permanently changed in 1956: the company constructed its first rifle for the Bundeswehr (West German Army) and never looked back. Today, they are one of the top firearms manufacturers in the world. Not too bad for a little company founded from the leftover bits and pieces of Mauser that the Allies hadn't bombed flat. Read more...

[more] What else happened today
1768 — Alexander John Forsyth was born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. He would eventually go on to develop one of the most influential things you've never heard of: the bottle lock.

Today in pictures

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  Alexander John Forsyth, born this day in 1768.