John T Thompson

Born on December 31, 1860 in Newport, Kentucky. John T. Thompson went on to serve in the US Army during the Spanish American War. After the war he supervised the development of the M1903 Springfield rifle and chaired the ordnance board that approved the M1911 pistol. For the latter he devised unusual tests involving firing the weapon at donated human cadavers and live cattle to assess ammunition effectiveness.

Thompson died at the age of 79 on June 21, 1940and is buried on the grounds of the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. Shortly after his death, the brink of U.S. entry into World War II prompted the Army to order the Thompson sub-machine gun in large quantities, and it was used extensively during that conflict.

Source: Wikipedia