On this day in 1941 — also a Sunday — Japanese bombers launched a surprise aerial attack [1] on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor [2] on the island of Oahu [3], Hawaii, precipitating the entry of the United States into World War II [4].
On the same day, Adolf Hitler [5] issued his Night and Fog (“Nacht und Nebel”) Decree [6], a secret order for the arrest and execution of “persons endangering German security.”
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On December 7, 1972, American astronaut Eugene Andrew Cernan commanded the last crewed flight to the Moon, effectively ending the Apollo program.
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On Dec. 7, 1787, Delaware [7] became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution [8].
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Today’s feature article is by JWR.
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We need entries for Round 122 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest [9]. More than $978,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 122 ends on January 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail [10] 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 [11]. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic.