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The most commonplace tool of a man in uniform was once yesterday’s secret weapon. Learn how a German inventor used black powder to propel arrows through space. With it, many arrows could be launched at once. Later, in 1862, Gatling had another plan to shoot many bullets in rapid fire. The machine became a boost to the soldiers of the Civil War.
The French had developed their own rapid fire gun that was unveiled in 1870. Other European nations had their own ideas on the machine gun, and declaired it a failure. The Maxim machine gun came to be in 1882. The hand held machine gun was born. The intent was to fire it from the shoulder, but it ended up as a weapon that fired from a tripod. The basis for all modern machine guns.
