On October 20, 1600, the Battle of Sekigahara established the Tokugawa clan as Japan’s rulers (Shoguns.)
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October 20, 1634: King of England Charles I [1] levied the “Ship Money” tax on all English and Welsh counties.
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October 20, 1906: Dr Lee DeForest demonstrated his electrical vacuum tube. (Soon commonly called a radio tube.)
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Today is the birthday of the late Tom Petty. (Born October 20, 1950, died October 2, 2017). He was a great singer-songwriter [2] and a passable actor [3].
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Today is also the birthday of shootist Ed McGivern (born 1874, died December 12, 1957.) He was born in Nebraska, but was a long-time resident of Butte, Montana. His book Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting [4] is fascinating reading.
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And October 20th is also the birthday of actor Viggo Mortensen (born 1958.) He lives somewhere in the American Redoubt. On his ranch is his horse-for-life “TJ”–one of the five paint horses used in the filming of the movie Hidalgo [5]. Most SurvivalBlog readers probably know him best for his starring role in The Road [6].
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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest
Today we present another entry for Round 121 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest [7]. The prizes for this round include:
First Prize:
- A Gunsite Academy [8]Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course [9] (a $1,095 value),
- A Peak Refuel “Wasatch Pack” [10] 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 [11] (a $350 value),
- American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) [12] is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses [13]. Their course catalog now includes their latest Survival Gunsmithing course [14].
- HSM Ammunition [15] 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 [16], that has a combined retail value of $679
- Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord [17] (in-stock colors only) from TOUGHGRID.com [18] (a $287 value).
- Preparedness author Jennifer Rader [19] is offering a $200 purchase credit for any of her eight published food storage and medical preparedness books, including the
- A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company [20], 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 [21] (a $305 value),
- Two sets of [22]The Civil Defense Manual, [23] (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.
- A $200 credit from Military Surplus LLC [24] 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 [20], toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.
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More than $970,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 121 ends on November 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail [25] 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 [26]. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic.