Preparedness Notes for Monday — March 18, 2024

On March 18, 1766, The British Parliament repealed the Stamp Act of 1765 after violent protests from American colonists, including a group known as the Sons of Liberty. — March 18th is the birthday of novelist John Updike. (He was born in 1932 and died in 2009.) — We are now down to less than 160 of the waterproof SurvivalBlog 2005-2023 Archive USB sticks on hand.  These will likely sell out in the next few days. This always happens when folks see that the supply is dwindling.  There will not be another batch produced this year, so get your order …




Preparedness Notes for Sunday — March 17, 2024

On March 17, 1891, the British Steamer Utopia sank off Gibraltar, killing 574 passengers and crew. The ship primarily carried Italian immigrants, in cramped “steerage” bunks. Here is a description of the disaster at The Dawlish Chronicles: “On the afternoon of March 17th 1891 the SS Utopia reached Gibraltar. Captain John McKeague was familiar with this anchorage and he headed his ship towards her usual mooring in the inner harbour. Light was failing and only too late did McKeague realise that two Royal Navy Battleships, HMS Anson and HMS Rodney were already there. At this time these two ships of …




Preparedness Notes for Saturday — March 16, 2024

On March 16, 2014, in a popular referendum, Crimea voted to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation; despite opposition from numerous countries, Russia later annexed the region. On March 14, 1926, American inventor Robert H. Goddard launched the first successful liquid-propellant rocket. Today is the anniversary of the Battle at Pound Gap Kentucky. (1862) — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 111 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the …




Preparedness Notes for Friday — March 15, 2024

On March 15, 1917, during the first phase of the Russian Revolution, Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate, thus ending the rule of the Romanov dynasty. In 44 BC Roman dictator Julius Caesar was launching a series of political and social reforms when he was assassinated March 15th, the Ides of March, by a group of nobles, among whom were Cassius and Brutus. This is the birthday of General and President Andrew Jackson, in 1767. He was the 7th President of the United States (1829-1837.) — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 111 of the …




Preparedness Notes for Thursday — March 14, 2024

60 years ago today, on March 14, 1964, in the first courtroom verdict to be televised in the United States, Jack Ruby (Jacob Rubenstein) was found guilty of the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. — Today is the birthday of fighter ace Major Raoul Lufbery (born 1885). He was shot down and killed in 1918. — This is also the birthday of Marlin Perkins. He was well-known as the television host of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. He was born in 1905 in Carthage. Missouri. We died in June, 1986. — …




Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — March 13, 2024

On March 13, 1781 English astronomer William Herschel observed the seventh planet from the Sun, Uranus— first described by him as “a curious either nebulous star or perhaps a comet” and named for the father of the god Saturn. — Born March 13, 1865: Elbert H. Searle, inventor of the Savage Models 1907, 1915 and 1917 semi-automatic pistols. Searle was born in Massachusetts and worked in Philadelphia. He applied for many gun design patents. He patented the first squeeze-cocking pistol, which sadly was never produced. (A prototype, along with blueprints was sold at auction, in 2023.) He died at age …




Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — March 12, 2024

On March 12th, 1999, Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic became members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) shortly before the group’s 50th anniversary. Today is the birthday of science fiction author Harry Harrison, who is best known for his Deathworld trilogy. (He was born in 1920 and died in 2012.) On March 12, 1850, the first US $20 gold piece was issued. — We are now down to only 185 of the waterproof SurvivalBlog 2005-2023 Archive USB sticks on hand.  These will likely sell out in the next few days. This always happens when folks see that the …




Preparedness Notes for Monday — March 11, 2024

On March 11, 2004, Madrid suffered a series of terrorist attacks when 10 bombs, detonated by Islamist militants, exploded on four trains at three different rail stations, killing 191 people and injuring some 1,800 others. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared that the COVID-19 outbreak was a pandemic. Trapper and survivalist Claude Lafayette Dallas, Jr. was born March 11, 1950. The subject of several books and movies, Dallas had a “colorful” life. He was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the deaths of two game wardens, in Idaho. He served 22 years of a 30-year sentence before being …




Preparedness Notes for Sunday — March 10, 2024

Today we remember the birthday of jazz cornetist Bix Beiderbecke, an outstanding improviser whose style was characterized by lyricism and purity of tone, was born on March 10, 1903 in Davenport, Iowa. — On March 10, 1910, China officially ended slavery. But unofficially, China now has one of the world’s largest slave populations. These are mostly political prisoners, working in prison factories. Sadly, there is no way of reliably knowing whether or not most of the “Made In China” merchandise that you buy might originate from these prisons. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 111 …




Preparedness Notes for Saturday — March 9, 2024

Pancho Villa‘s men killed more than a dozen residents in a raid on Columbus, New Mexico. March 9, 1945, the U.S. Army Air Forces bombed Tokyo with napalm, causing fires that destroyed a quarter of the city and killed some 80,000 civilians. Today is the birthday of writer John McPhee (b. 1931), a master of creative nonfiction. One of McPhee’s most widely read books is Coming into the Country, which eloquently describes the Alaskan wilderness. On March 9, 432 BC, the Parthenon was consecrated in Athens. March 9th is the birthday of Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin – the first man to …




Preparedness Notes for Friday — March 8, 2024

On March 8th, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 with 239 people lost contact and disappeared, prompting the most expensive search effort in history and one of the most enduring aviation mysteries. March 8th is the birthday of famed revolver shooter, big game hunter, and gun writer Elmer Keith, who co-designed the S&W .44 Magnum and .41 Magnum cartridges. He authored the book Sixguns, which is still considered a standard reference. His fascinating life story is told in his last book, Hell, I was there! A Proto-Redoubter, Keith spent the second half of his life on a ranch near Salmon, Idaho. …




Preparedness Notes for Thursday — March 7, 2024

On March 7, 1778, Captain James Cook first sighted the Oregon coast at Yaquina Bay. March 7, 1707 was the birthday of Stephen Hopkins, (Governor of Rhode Island) one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. And March 7, 1944 was the birthday of Townes Van Zandt, a gifted Texan singer/songwriter. (He died in 1997.) — Update: We are running out of 2005-2023 SurvivalBlog archive USB sticks. There are only about 200 left. Many readers are ordering 2, 3, or 4 sticks. There will not be another batch of sticks produced this year, so get your order in soon. …




Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — March 6, 2024

On March 6, 1475 Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo Buonarroti—who exerted an unparalleled influence on Western sculpture, painting, and architecture and whose works rank among the most famous in existence—was born in the Republic of Florence. Today is the birthday of Georg Johann Luger (March 6, 1849 – December 22, 1923). He was the Austrian designer of the famous Luger pistol and the 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge. March 6th was the birthday of Leroy Gordon “Gordo” Cooper Jr., born in 1927 in Shawnee, Oklahoma. This U.S. Air Force pilot and astronaut was aboard Mercury 9 and Gemini 5. Cooper had his exploits …




Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — March 5, 2024

On March 5, 1963, American country and western singer Patsy Cline—who was one of the classic performers of the genre, known for such ballads as I Fall to Pieces and Crazy—died in an airplane crash near Camden, Tennessee, at age 30. Also killed in the crash were Cowboy Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins, and Randy  Hughes. This is the birthday of Howard Pyle (1853-1911) an influential American book illustrator, painter, and author. He was the mentor of many great American artists including Thornton Oakley, Frank E. Schoonover, Allen Tupper True, and of course his most famous student: N.C. Wyeth. March 5th is …




Preparedness Notes for Monday — March 4, 2024

On March 4, 1681, William Penn secured from King Charles II of England the colonial province of Pennsylvania in North America, hoping to provide a refuge in the New World for Quakers and other persecuted people and to build an ideal Christian commonwealth. — And on March 4, 1955, the first radio facsimile (or “fax”) transmission, was sent across the continent. — I mailed out the first four-page hardcopy issue of the SurvivalBlog Old School (SOS) Newsletter on Friday. If you’d like to get a copy of that first issue and become a subscriber, then send a donation of $55 …