On April 30, 711, the Islamic conquest of Iberia began. Moorish troops led by Tariq ibn Ziyad (pictured) landed at Gibraltar to begin their invasion of the Iberian Peninsula. (The Al-Andalus Umayyad Caliphate eventually supplanted the Visigothic Kingdom.)
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April 30, 1864: New York became the first state to charge a hunting license fee.
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Today is the birthday of sci-fi novelist Larry Niven (born April 30, 1938). Along with Jerry Pournelle, he co-authored the survivalist classic Lucifer’s Hammer.
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Today’s feature is a reader-written piece that was to short to qualify as an entry for Round 124 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest [1]. More than $984,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 124 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail [2] 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 [3]. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic.