Author: James Wesley Rawles

September 23, 1800 was the birthday of William McGuffey, a college president who is best known for writing the McGuffey Readers, the first widely-used series of textbooks. It is estimated that at least 122 million copies of McGuffey Readers were sold between 1836 and 1960, placing its sales in a category with the Bible and Webster’s Dictionary. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 90 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A gift certificate from Quantum Harvest LLC (up to a $2,200 value) good for 12% off the purchase of …

September 22nd is the birthday of the late Lieutenant Colonel Ronald Reid-Daly, who founded and commanded the Rhodesian Selous Scouts. He was born 1928, and he died August 9, 2010. His history of the Selous Scouts, titled Pamwe Chete is fascinating to read, but it is a very hard-to-find book. And today is also the birthday of survivalist writer Joel Skousen. (Born, 1946.) Skousen authored the excellent books Strategic Relocation and The High Security Shelter – How to Implement a Multi-Purpose Safe Room in the Home. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 90 of the …

On this day in 1780, during the American Revolution, American General Benedict Arnold met with British Major John Andre to discuss handing over West Point to the British in return for the promise of a large sum of money and a high position in the British army. The plot was foiled and Arnold, a former American hero, became synonymous with the word “traitor”. — Today we have another product review by our stalwart Field Gear Editor, Pat Cascio. — Be advised that there are just nine days left in Round 90 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. There will be …

On this day in 1519 Magellan left Europe on his voyage of discovery. On September 20, 1995, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to drop the national 55 MPH speed limit. This allowed the states to again decide their own speed limits, without fear of losing Federal highway funding. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 90 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A gift certificate from Quantum Harvest LLC (up to a $2,200 value) good for 12% off the purchase of any of their sun-tracking models, and 10% off …

On September 19th, 1796, George Washington addressed the nation in his farewell address as president. And on September 19th, 1778, the Continental Congress passed the first budget of the United States. While the budget may have passed, the states responded poorly to the call for taxes to fund the government, and the government resorted to printing paper money to cover debts. In effect, the first budget was a failure, due in large part to the states not responding to the demands of Congress and the depreciation of fiat paper money. Sound familiar? — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another …