Author: James Wesley Rawles

On July 12, 1865, George Washington Carver, the African-American scientist whose numerous discoveries helped to improve agriculture in the South, was born. He died on Jan. 5, 1943. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 83  of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A $3,000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, …

July 11th is the birthday of John Quincy Adams. He was born in 1767 and died in 1848. Not to be confused with his father–John Adams– the younger Adams also served as a diplomat, congressman, and as president. — Our small remaining supply of waterproof SurvivalBlog Archive USB sticks is currently on close-out sale, at just $19.95 each.  This is just until we exhaust the annual supply. When I last checked, there were less than 25 left. This is your chance to order some extras, for gifts. I expect them to sell out in the next 48 hours. So consider …

July 10th is the birthday of British novelist John Wyndham. (His full name was John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris, but Harris shortened that to just John Wyndham for his pen name.) He we was born in 1903 and died March 11, 1969. Harris was a good friend of fellow novelist Samuel Youd (1922-2012), who wrote under several pen names, including John Christopher. Both men were famous for writing what are often called cosy catastrophies. Several of Wyndham’s novels and short stories have been adapted to film, with varying degrees of success. One of the best of these was a …

July 9, 1938 was the birthday of Brian Dennehy. He is most often remembered for his role as the alien leader in Coccoon and as Sheriff Teasel in Rambo: First Blood, but he was also in the cast of in many other movies and in hundreds of television show episodes. July 9, 1956 was the birthday of actor/director/producer Tom Hanks. His acting in the movie Saving Private Ryan is riveting. — Our small remaining supply of waterproof SurvivalBlog Archive USB sticks is currently on close-out sale, at just $19.95 each.  This is just until we exhaust the annual supply. This …

Today marks the birth of actor Kevin Bacon (who was born in 1958.) Preppers and survivalists usually associate him with the campy movie Tremors. — This is the last day of the big Independence Day Sale, at Palmetto State Armory. Many of the sale  prices are amazing. They have their standard “Safe/Fire” AR-15 stripped lowers on sale for just $29.99. M16 complete bolt carriers for $49.99. And they have complete AR pistol lowers with SBA3 adjustable arm braces on sale for just $179.99.  (Those normally sell for $319.) There are several other lowers and lots of different complete uppers (AR-15/M4 …