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December 15: The Uzi

lawrencebush
December 15, 2012

Uziel Gal (Gotthard Glas), designer of Israel’s Uzi submachine gun, the most widely distributed weapon of its kind in the world, was born in Germany on this date in 1923. Gal designed the gun shortly after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It was simple, lightweight, compact, durable in desert conditions, and inexpensive to manufacture, and had the unique feature of housing its magazine inside the pistol grip, which, made it easy to reload in the dark. The Uzi was officially adopted by the Israel Defense Forces in 1951 and remained its main gun until 2003. Other native-made Israeli weaponry includes the Merkava battle tank, various high tech weapons systems, the Iron Dome and Trophy anti-missile weapons, and the Galil and Tavor assault rifles. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Israel currently spends over $15 billion, 6.5% of its GDP, on military defense, which makes it the 17th top military spender in the world. Its per capita expenditure of $1,882 ranks fourth.
“Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.” —Albert Einstein

JEWDAYO ROCKS! Alan Freed, the Cleveland DJ who coined the phrase, “rock and roll,” born on this date in 1921.