Author: James Wesley Rawles

August 26, 1946 was the official release date of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm.” — Today we present the fifth and last installment of SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Emeritus Pat Cascio’s autobiography. — We are in great need of entries for Round 108 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $840,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. We recently polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 108 ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. …

August 25th is a birthday shared by novelist Frederick Forsyth (born 1938 – pictured), humorist Bret Harte (born 1836), and the late American humorist Patrick F. McManus (born 1933). Forsyth was the author of The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, The Fourth Protocol, The Dogs of War, The Devil’s Alternative, and many others. Pat McManus was born and raised in Sandpoint, Idaho, so his books could be classified as American Redoubt humor. — I just heard that Ready Made Resources is running a sale on U.S.-made Photonis Echo AN/PVS-14 monoculars (Normally $3,350) for $2,999 each.  These are the …

On August 24, 79, Mount Vesuvius in Italy erupted, destroying the ancient cities of Pompeii (pictured) and Herculaneum. The excavations of these sites in the mid-18th century precipitated the modern science of archaeology. — On August 24th, 410, Rome was overrun by the Visigoths in an event that symbolized the fall of the Western Roman Empire. This is a moment in history that we would do well to remember. An empire that ruled the known world was corrupted from the inside to the point that they could not defend themselves from a much weaker enemy. — My #1 Son, Jonathan …

On August 23rd, 1305, in London, William Wallace (pictured) was executed for treason, condemned for leading Scottish resistance forces during the first years of the long and ultimately successful struggle to free Scotland from English rule. — August 23rd is the anniversary of the declaration of the independent state of “Franklin” in Eastern Tennessee by the settlers there in 1784. Unfortunately, the Continental Congress rejected it, so the state of Franklin never became a reality. — On this day in 1833, Britain abolished slavery in its colonies and 700,000 slaves were freed.    

Today is the anniversary of the founding of the London Armoury Company, in 1851. It was founded by Robert Adams (1810–1870). He patented the first successful double-action revolver in 1851. His revolvers were used during the Crimean War, the Indian Mutiny, the U.S. Civil War, and the Anglo-Zulu War. — August 22nd, 1992 was the second day of the Incident at Ruby Ridge. FBI sharpshooter Lon Horiuchi wounded Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris, and murdered Weaver’s wife, Vicki. It should be noted that in 1994, after being acquitted by a federal court, Weaver filed a federal civil rights case against …