The machine guns of World War I that cut down scores of soldiers at a time inspired the search for a rapid-fire individual rifle, one that every soldier could carry into the battlefield. The breakthrough came from a Canadian immigrant John Garand, a gun afficianado, who went to work for the Springfield Armory, tasked to design a light machine gun. His job eventually morphed into creating a semi-automatic rifle, and after a series of army-guided redesigns, his invention was accepted, forever to change the face of war.

On this day, January 9th, in 1936, the Semi-Automatic Rifle, Caliber 30, M1, more commonly called the M1 Garand after its designer, was officially adopted by the U.S. Army. It could easily pump out a shot every second and a half, a rate of fire considerably faster than the bolt action-operated rifles that it replaced. The heavier ammunition it used also ensured better accuracy at long range. Upon seeing the weapon’s capabilities, American general George Patton remarked it was “the greatest battle implement ever designed.”

The Garand was fed by a clip holding eight bullets, which would automatically eject after emptying. The distinctive metallic ping accompanying the ejection gave away to enemy soldiers that the rifle was out of bullets and it was safe to attack – leading to army engineers scrambling for a way to make the sound less audible, and to American soldiers carrying empty clips they would drop on the ground to trick the enemy into charging.