Mikhail Kalashnikov, dead at 94

Regardless of what you think of the man and the weapon he created, he is a significant figure of the past one hundred years. His weapon may have become the tool of communist expansion and terrorism, but he is no worse than (read: is equally as awful as) any American, British, Belgian, German, Israeli, French or other gun designer.

http://www.mail.com/int/news/europe/2536074-rifle-designer-mikhail-kalashnikov-dead-94.html

"Blame the Nazi Germans for making me become a gun designer," said Kalashnikov. "I always wanted to construct agricultural machinery."