Author: James Wesley Rawles

On January 23rd, 1570, the world’s first assassination by firearm occurred when James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray was shot in Linlithgow, Scotland. On January 23rd, 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell was awarded her M.D., becoming the first female doctor in the U.S. January 23rd, 1855 was the birthday of John Moses Browning. He was the brilliant designer of dozens of guns, including the M1911 pistol, Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), and the venerable M2 .50 Caliber Machinegun. Today is also the birthday of my #2 Grandson. His coincidental “Browning Birthday” ensures that he will inherit a disproportionately large portion of my guns …

On January 22, 1944, Allied forces began landing at Anzio, Italy. On January 22, 1984 the first Apple Macintosh Computer was announced. The memorable first ad for the Mac aired just once, during the 1984 Super Bowl. One interesting fact is that the advertisement aired only once prior to its nationwide showing. A few minutes before midnight on December 31, 1983, it aired on Twin Falls, Idaho television station KMVT, Channel 11. This was so that it complied with rules that allowed it to be entered into an advertising competition. Once the ad aired, the tape was mailed back to …

On this day in 1968, the siege of Khe Sanh began, as NVA regulars surrounded the USMC hilltop airfield near the Laotian border. Fearing a repeat of the French Army’s 1953 Dien Bien Phu debacle, the Pentagon assigned maximum round-the-clock air power to the region, including B-52 bomber strikes, to break the siege. According to the Infogalatic wiki this was “‘the most concentrated application of aerial firepower in the history of warfare’. On an average day 350 tactical fighter-bombers, 60 B-52s, and 30 light observation or reconnaissance aircraft operated in the skies near Khe Sanh.” More than 100,000 tons of …

Today is the birthday of Congressman Richard Henry Lee (1732–1794) — January 20th, 1993 is a Red Letter Day for me. That was the day that Bill Clinton was first sworn in as President. That is also the same day that I resigned my commission as a U.S. Army Captain. I did so because I detested the idea of Clinton as my Commander in Chief. My commissioning document has Ronald Reagan’s signature. — You may recall reading that my mother passed away, in October. Her house in Livermore, California just went up for sale, yesterday. That was where I lived, …

Today is the birthday of the late Carla Emery (born 1939, died October 11, 2005). She is well known in self-sufficiency circles as the author of The Encyclopedia of Country Living. January 19th is also the birthday of General Robert E. Lee. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 98 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000. A Gunsite Academy Three Day …