After much opposition, a deal negotiated by U.S. Secretary of State William Seward [1] for the U.S. purchase [2] of the Russian colony of Alaska [3] was approved, and on this day in 1867 the U.S. flag was flown over the capital, Sitka [4].
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October 18th, 1662 was the birthday of Matthew Henry (died 22 June 1714). He was a Presbyterian minister who lived primarily in Chester, England. Matthew Henry’s six-volume Exposition of the Old and New Testaments (commonly called Matthew Henry’s Commentary) is a must for the bookshelf of any serious Bible scholar.
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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest
Today we present another entry for Round 109 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest [5]. The prizes for this round include:
First Prize:
- The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon [6]. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
- A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course [7] (a $1,095 value),
- Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees [8] in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
- A $250 gift certificate good for any product [9] from Sunflower Ammo,
- American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses [10].
- Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, [11] (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.
Second Prize:
- A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
- Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord [12] (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
- Two Super Survival Pack seed collections [13], a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC.
- Montana Survival Seed [14] is providing a $225 gift code for any items on its website, including organic non-GMO seeds, fossils, 1812-1964 US silver, jewelry, botany books, and Montana beeswax.
- A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company [15], toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!
Third Prize:
- A $300 gift certificate from Good2Goco.com [16], good for any of their products: Home freeze dryers, pressure canners, Country Living grain mills, Emergency Essentials foods, and much more.
- Three sets each [17] of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
- A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of [18] Directive 21 (a $275 value),
- A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company [15], toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.
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More than $850,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. We recently polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics [19]. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 109 ends on November 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail [20] us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.