Author: James Wesley Rawles

January 11, 1915 was the birthday of Lieutenant Colonel Robert Blair “Paddy” Mayne, DSO and Three Bars (died 14 December 1955) was a British Army officer from Newtownards, capped for Ireland and the British Lions at rugby union, lawyer, amateur boxer, and a founding member of the British Special Air Service (SAS). — Today is also the birthday of famed big game hunter and writer Peter Hathaway Capstick (1940-1996.) — I just heard that Ready Made Resources is running a special on L3 Aviation Grade Binocular NVDs with a 10-year warranty! These are full mil-spec White Phosphor, 2300+ min FOM, …

On January 10, 1901, the first major oil field in Texas was discovered, near Beaumont. — On January 10, 1946, radar signals bouncing off the Moon were detected for the first time. — When I made my annual 10 Cent Challenge appeal, on January 2nd, I had no idea that PayPal had just changed their link codes on December 31st, so most of our PayPal links were broken at that time!  My apologies!  Here are the updated links: You can make a one-time payment of any amount, at the Ten Cent Challenge PayPalMe page. Or subscribe for $3 per month …

On January 9, 1839, Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre of France proclaimed his invention of the daguerreotype, the first commercially successful form of photography. — January 9, 1943 was the birthday of gunsmith Paris Theodore, developer of the ASP modifications to the S&W M39 pistol. — On this day in 1776, writer Thomas Paine published his pamphlet “Common Sense,” setting forth his arguments in favor of American independence. Although little used today, pamphlets were an important medium for spreading ideas in the 16th through 19th centuries. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 110 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing …

On January 8, 1815, U.S. General Andrew Jackson defeated Great Britain in the Battle of New Orleans, the final engagement in the War of 1812. On this day in 1997, the principality of Monaco began a yearlong celebration in honour of the 700th anniversary of the rule of the Grimaldi family, who seized power in 1297 and gained firm possession of Monaco in 1419. On January 8, 1997 Mexican criminal Joaquín Guzmán (“El Chapo”), head of the Sinaloa drug cartel, was captured in Los Mochis after escaping prison some six months earlier; he was later extradited to the United States, …

Today is the birthday of Cresson Kearny (born 1914, died December 18, 2003.) He was the primary author of the now standard reference text: Nuclear War Survival Skills. (The public domain 1987 edition is one of the many bonus books included in the SurvivalBlog Archive USB stick.) — January 7th is also the birthday of Bent Faurschou-Hviid, known as The Flame (born 1921, died October 18, 1944). The Flame was a red-haired Danish resistance fighter in the Holger Danske Group during World War II. His exploits were dramatized in the movie Flame and Citron. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we …