Neither Mikhail Kalashnikov, designer of AK-47, nor Eugene Stoner, designer of M-16, attended college or had formal training in engineering or weapon design.

Kalashnikov and Stoner had the opportunity to meet in the 1990s. After the meeting, Kalashnikov remarked that, while Stoner had his one airplane, he could barely afford airfare from his hometown of Izhevsk to Moscow.

The M-16 rifle stock is shaped like a paddle, so that soldiers in Vietnam could use it as such on the country's many rivers. Unfortunately, the M-16 rusts easily, making it a poor choice for use around water.

In 1973, Chile's President Salvador Allende died in a coup staged by General Augusto Pinochet. At the time he was holding an AK-47 given to him by Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

Larry Kahaner wrote in his book, AK-47: The Weapon that Changed the Face of War, that "Many western military experts consider it a piece of junk," But, he added, "Some US soldiers prefer the AK, especially in Iraq where dust tends to jam the M-16 but does not affect the AK-47."

The AK-47 is officially in service in 55 countries of the world. Several national flags and symbols feature the AK-47, and boys in some developing nations have been named Kalash, after it.

There is a monument of AK-47 in Egypt.

After field testing showed that spent cartridges hit left-handed shooters in the face, designers added a pyramid shape appendage to the M-16 to deflect them.

New Zealand issued a two-dollar coin with the AK-47 on it to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the weapon.

AK-47s sell for as little as ten dollars in Afghanistan to as much as four thousand dollars in India.

Brooklyn Nets basketball player Andrei Kirilenko is from the same city as Mikhail Kalashnikov. Thus, his nickname: AK-47.

More than 100 million AK-47 are in use throughout the world, one for every 60 adults.