Today in History, March 29: 1911 – The Colt Model M1911 .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol is adopted as the official sidearm of the US Army. The Navy and Marine Corps would follow suit in 1913. The legend had begun. The pistol would demonstrate it’s remarkable reliability in WWI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam, and all of the smaller conflicts between. The M1911 and it’s variants didn’t go out of general service until 1985, and is still used by many units.
Mark Loves History! 