Category: Note

This Week in History: On  August 4, 1873, while protecting a railroad survey party in Montana, the US 7th Cavalry, under Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer (pictured), clashed for the first time with the Sioux Indian tribe near the Tongue River, killing one man on each side. — August 6, 1806, the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved. It was described by Voltaire as “in no way holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.” Emperor Francis II renounced his title of Holy Roman Emperor, becoming instead the first Emperor of Austria. — August 4, 1900: An allied expeditionary force, made up of …

This Week in History: On July 28, 1851, the first-ever photograph of a total solar eclipse was captured on a daguerreotype by Johann Julius Friedrich Berkowski at the Royal Observatory in Königsberg, Prussia. — On or about July 28, 1586, English astronomer and mathematician Thomas Harriot introduced potatoes to England on his return from Roanoke Island, in modern-day North Carolina. (The date is disputed.) — July 29, 238: The Roman Senate and Praetorian Guard proclaimed 13-year-old Gordian III as Emperor. He was the youngest-ever emperor of a united Rome. — July 29, 1609: Samuel de Champlain shot and killed two …

This Week in History July 21, 1403: The Battle of Shrewsbury. An army led by the Lancastrian King of England, Henry IV defeated a rebel army led by Henry “Harry Hotspur” Percy of Northumberland thus ending the Percy challenge to the throne. This was also the first battle English archers fought each other on English soil. — 1669: John Locke‘s constitution for the English Province of Carolina was adopted. — July 23, 1764: James Otis published “The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved,” in which he argued against taxation without representation. — And on July 24, 1847,  Brigham …

Pictured above is the homestead of a SurvivalBlog reader in northern Indiana. This anonymous reader has been developing his homestead since 1984.  The pictured well pump is a reliable Bison Pump that is popular with preppers and homesteaders.. This Week in History On July 16, 1969, the Apollo 11 mission was launched, carrying the first men to land on Earth’s moon. — July 14th is the birthday of Colonel Einar A. Malmstrom. He was born in 1907 and died August 21, 1954 near Great Falls, Montana, in the crash of a T-33 jet. He was a decorated Air Force pilot, …

This Week in History: On July 7, 1850 Scottish explorer Edward John Eyre (pictured above) reached Albany, Western Australia. — July 8,1731: Theologian Jonathan Edwards preached his sermon “God Glorified in Man’s Dependence” in Boston. This was later his first published sermon. — And on  July  10, 1553 Lady Jane Grey, daughter of the Duke of Suffolk, was proclaimed Queen of England, succeeding Edward VI,. In June, the dying Edward VI had written his will, nominating Jane and her male heirs as successors to the Crown, in part because his half-sister Mary was Catholic, whereas Jane was a committed Protestant …

This Week in History: As we prepare for the semiquincentennial celebration of the Declaration of Independence, Americans reflect on the meaning of our liberty and independence. — Happy birthday to actor/director Mel Brooks, who turned 100, on Sunday! — In June, 1786, Bishop Alexander Macdonell and more than 500 other Roman Catholic highlanders left Scotland to settle in Glengarry County, Ontario. — June 30th is the anniversary of the tragic death of 19 hotshots in the Yarnell Hill Fire in 2013. — June 30, 1908: A giant fireball, most likely caused by the air burst of a large meteor, flattened …

This Week in History: On June 23, 1810, John Jacob Astor (born Johann Jakob Astor) organized the Pacific Fur Company in Astoria, Oregon. — 1931: American pilot Wiley Post and Australian navigator Harold Gatty took off from Roosevelt Field, New York, to attempt to set a new record circumnavigating the Earth. They successfully complete their series of flights in 8 days, 15 hours, and 51 minutes. — And on June 25, 1798, US President John Adams signed into law the Alien Friends Act, authorizing the president to deport any foreigner deemed “dangerous to the peace and safety of the United …

This Week in History: On June 16, 1779 US General Anthony Wayne (pictured) captured Stony Point, New York, inflicting heavy losses on the British. — June, 1462: Vlad III the Impaler (the inspiration for “Dracula”) attempted to assassinate Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II in a night attack at Târgoviște. But the failure of that attack forced him to retreat from Wallachia. — And in 1873: US President Ulysses Grant declared a portion of Wallowa Valley, Oregon are a reservation for the Nez Perce Native American tribe. But the order was rescinded two years later and the tribe was forcibly re-located to …

On June 9, 1628: The first deportation from what is now the United States: Thomas Morton was deported from Massachusetts. For the local Puritans, Morton’s behavior was just too much. He was a drunken womanizer who constructed a May Pole, organized orgies, and sold guns to Indians. — And on June 9, 1772: The first naval attack of Revolutionary War took place in Providence, Rhode Island. — A reminder: SurvivalBlog is now a weekly web blog, delivered Fresh Every Tuesday. — Today’s feature article is the conclusion of a guest piece by long-time SurvivalBlog reader “Tunnel Rabbit”, who makes his …

SurvivaBlog Now Comes Fresh Every Tuesday Today we are commencing our weekly posting schedule, with posts on Tuesdays. After more than 20 years of daily posts I was feeling exhausted. But with this new editorial pace, I’m feeling re-energized and confident that I have another 20 years ahead of me. To recap the changes: Starting today SurvivalBlog will be posted on Tuesdays, and perhaps the occasional Thursday, if the Tuesday posts get too crowded. So, you can expect to see SurvivalBlog “Fresh Every Tuesday.” (An homage the late, great Ol’ Remus.) We discontinued the SurvivalBlog Writing Contest. Round 124 was the …

June 1, 1676: The Battle of Öland: Allied Danish-Dutch forces defeated the Swedish navy in the Baltic Sea during the Scanian War (1675–79). The painting above is Claus Møinichen’s “Slaget ved Øland”, on display at the Danish War Museum. — June 1, 1880: The US census reached 50,155,783. — And on June 1, 1861, the US and Confederacy simultaneously stopped their mail interchange. — A reminder that we will be switching SurvivalBlog to weekly postings, tomorrow. Thenceforth, you can look for SurvivalBlog “Fresh Every Tuesday.” — Just one day left! The big sale on all of our blackpowder rifles, all of …

May 31, 1930 was the birthday of actor/director/producer Clint Eastwood.  Happy 96th birthday! — On the 31st of May 1970, an earthquake off the coast of Peru caused a substantial section of the north slope of Mt. Huascaran to collapse. The avalanche moved downhill at a speed estimated at 175 to 210 mph. with a mass of roughly 80 million cubic meters of ice, mud, and rock. The avalanche traveled nearly 11 miles, burying the towns of Yungay and Ranrahirca in up to 300 feet of rock and debris. It is estimated that this earthquake and avalanche killed more than …

On May 30, 1626, an explosion at the Wanggongchang Gunpowder Factory in Beijing destroyed part of the city and killed and estimated 20,000 people. Pictured above are ancient Chinese cannon, near the Forbidden City. — And on May 30, 1806, future US President Andrew Jackson killed Charles Dickinson in a duel after Dickinson accused Jackson’s wife of bigamy. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 124 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. This is the final round of the contest. There will not be a “Round 125”! — Take Note: Our editorial calendar is now filled …

On May 29, 1648, King Charles I of England attempted to escape captivity at Carisbrooke Castle, Isle of Wight, for the second time, by hacksawing through a barred window but he was caught in the act. — On this day in 1780, the treatment of Patriot prisoners by British Colonel Banastre Tarleton and his Loyalist troops led to the coining of a phrase that defined British brutality for the rest of the War for Independence: “Tarleton’s Quarter.” Tarleton and his Torries proceeded to shoot any an all Patriots that had surrendered after the fall of Charleston. The Patriots lost 113 …

On May 28, 1588 King Philip II dispatched the Spanish Armada under the Duke of Medina-Sidonia from Lisbon, Portugal to invade England. When it left Lisbon, the fleet was composed of 141 ships, with 10,138 sailors and 19,315 soldiers. The fleet carried 1,500 brass guns and 1,000 iron guns. The armada was hampered by bad weather, and then was outmaneuvered by the 200-ship British navy in several decisive engagements. The remainder of the Armada was devastated by storms, disease, and starvation.  An analysis of the human cost of the campaign reveals that 25,696 men departed and just 13,399 returned. — …