On May 9, 1904, the steam locomotive City of Truro (pictured) became the first steam engine to exceed 100 mph. From the InfoGalactic Wiki: “…a British 4-4-0 [1] steam locomotive built in 1903 for the Great Western Railway [2] (GWR) at Swindon Works [3] to a design by George Jackson Churchward [4]. City of Truro was timed at 8.8 seconds between two quarter-mile posts whilst hauling the “Ocean Mails” special from Plymouth [5] to London Paddington [6] on 9 May 1904. This timing was recorded from the train by Charles Rous-Marten [7], who wrote for The Railway Magazine [8] and other journals. If exact, this time would correspond to a speed of 102.3 mph (164.6 km/h); but Rous-Marten’s stopwatch read in multiples of 1⁄5 second, so the next possible longer time it could register was 9 seconds, corresponding to exactly 100 mph.”
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May 9th, 1768: John Hancock [9] paid duties on 25 pipes of wine. This was only one-fourth of his ship’s carrying capacity. British officials accused him of unloading the rest during the night to avoid paying duties on the entire cargo.
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We are continuing our special 10-day sale on all of the Elk Creek Company percussion gun inventory. Most of these are revolvers for which cartridge conversion cylinders are readily available. This includes a group of five minty Ruger Old Army revolvers that I’ve not yet photographed. Many of those are “Pre-Warning” vintage. We also have special pricing on all of our blackpowder hunting rifles. Most of those are .50 caliber rifles in the quite practical Hawken configuration. Take a look at our [10] Percussion category [11]. [10] The sale ends on Monday, so order soon.
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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest
Today we present another entry for Round 118 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest [12]. The prizes for this round include:
First Prize:
- The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC [13] are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon [14]. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2,000.
- A Gunsite Academy [15]Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course [16] (a $1,095 value),
- A Peak Refuel “Wasatch Pack” [17] 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 [18] (a $350 value),
- American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) [19] is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses [20]. Their course catalog now includes their latest Survival Gunsmithing course [21].
- HSM Ammunition [22] in Montana is providing a $350 gift certificate. The certificate can be used for any of their products.
Second Prize:
- A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training [23], that has a combined retail value of $679
- Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord [24] (in-stock colors only) from TOUGHGRID.com [25] (a $287 value).
- Two sets of [26]The Civil Defense Manual, [27] (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.
- A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company [10], 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 gun purchasing privacy!
Third Prize:
- A Berkey Light water filter, courtesy of USA Berkey Filters [28] (a $305 value),
- 3Vgear.com [29] is providing an ultimate bug-out bag bundle that includes their 3-day Paratus Bag [30], a Posse EDC Sling Pack [31], and a Velox II Tactical Backpack [32]. This prize package has a $289 retail value.
- A $200 credit from Military Surplus LLC [33] 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.
- A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company [10], toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.
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More than $950,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 118 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail [34] 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. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics [35]. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic.