The Norwegian Jarmann M1884 was a bolt action repeating rifle firing a
10.15 mm black powder cartridge in an 8-round, tubular magazine. It
was among the earliest repeating rifles to be adopted in the world.
Its adoption, and subsequent modifications, turned the Norwegian Army
from a fighting force armed with single-shot black powder weapons into
a force armed with modern repeating weapons firing smokeless
ammunition. Several thousand were manufactured to equip both Norwegian
and Swedish forces in the 1880s. The design is unique, and is the
brainchild of Norwegian engineer Jacob Smith Jarmann. After the design
had been phased out of the Norwegian Army, a number of the weapons
were rebuilt as harpoon guns.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jarmann_M1884
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1905:
Japanese forces led by Admiral Togo Heihachiro destroyed the Russian
Baltic Fleet in the Battle of Tsushima, the decisive naval battle in
the Russo-Japanese War.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tsushima)
1918:
The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, one of the first democratic
republics in the Muslim world, was proclaimed in Ganja.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azerbaijan_Democratic_Republic)
1961:
An article by Peter Benenson was published in newspapers, starting a
letter-writing campaign that grew and became Amnesty International.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesty_International)
1975:
Sixteen West African countries signed the Treaty of Lagos,
establishing the Economic Community of West African States.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_Community_of_West_African_States)
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Wikiquote of the day:
"What I do know for certain is that what is regarded as success in a
rational materialistic society only impresses superficial minds. It
amounts to nothing and will not help us rout the destructive forces
threatening us today. What may be our salvation is the discovery of
the identity hidden deep in any one of us, and which may be found in
even the most desperate individual, if he cares to search the
spiritual womb which contains the embryo of what can be one's personal
contribution to truth and life." -- Patrick White
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Patrick_White)