On June 9, 1803, British explorer Matthew Flinders [1] arrived in Sydney becoming the first person to circumnavigate Australia, proving it is one continent.
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On June 9, 1923, the Brinks company unveiled their first armored security vans.
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On June 9, 1960, Roy Orbison [2] released the single “Only the Lonely”. It became his first major hit – peaking at #2 in the US and topping the UK charts.
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Today is the birthday of Jean Alexandre Francois LeMat (1824–1883), is best known for the percussion cap revolver that bears his name. This clever design has a cylinder that rotates around a 20-gauge shotgun barrel.
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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest
Today we present another entry for Round 113 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest [3]. The prizes for this round include:
First Prize:
- The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon [4]. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2,000.
- A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course [5] (a $1,095 value),
- A Peak Refuel “Wasatch Pack” [6] variety of 60 servings of premium freeze-dried breakfasts and dinners in individual meal pouches — a whopping 21,970 calories, all made and packaged in the USA — courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $359 value),
- American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses [7].
- Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, [8] (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 [9] (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
- A $200 credit from Military Surplus LLC [10] that can be applied to purchase and/or shipping costs for any of their in-stock merchandise, including full mil-spec ammo cans, Rothco clothing and field gear, backpacks, optics, compact solar panels, first aid kits, and more.
- Two Super Survival Pack seed collections [11], a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC.
- A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company [12], 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 Berkey Light water filter, courtesy of USA Berkey Filters [13] (a $305 value),
- A $300 gift certificate from Good2Goco.com [14], good for any of their products: Home freeze dryers, pressure canners, Country Living grain mills, Emergency Essentials foods, and much more.
- Three sets each [15] 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 transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company [12], toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.
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More than $900,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics [16]. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 113 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail [17] 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.