AK-47 inventor, Mikhail Kalashnikov dies at 94

Mikhail Kalashnikov, the Russian whose AK-47 rifle became the weapon of choice for many national armies and guerrillas around the world has died at the age of 94.

The gun was first designed in 1942 while Kalashnikov was nursing war injuries, but it was not until 1947 that the gun was introduced for use by the Soviet Army.

The AK-47 has been recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s most common gun.

Fun facts:  The AK is a Russian acronym that stands for ‘Kalashnikov’s machine gun’, while the 47 denotes the year of the gun’s manufacture and debut.

The gun was so widely used in the Mozambican rebel movement in the 1960's that it is featured on it's national flag.