Category: Note

On this day in 1835, Texans approve a resolution to create the Texas Rangers– a corps of armed and mounted lawmen designed to “range and guard the frontier between the Brazos and Trinity Rivers”. After winning their revolutionary war with Mexico the following year, Texans decided to keep the Rangers, both to defend against Indian and Mexican raiders and to serve as the principal law enforcement authority along the sparsely populated Texan frontier. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 91 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The …

October 16th, 1859 was the second day of abolitionist John Brown’s raid against the federal armory in Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), in an attempt to start an armed slave revolt and destroy the institution of slavery. Although the raid failed, it inflamed sectional tensions and raised the stakes for the 1860 presidential election. Brown’s raid helped make any further accommodation between North and South nearly impossible and thus became an important impetus of the Civil War. — A reminder: Book Bomb Day for my latest book (The Ultimate Prepper’s Survival Guide) will be this coming Tuesday: October 20, …

On October 15, 1529, Ottoman armies under Suleiman ended their siege of Vienna and turned back to Belgrade. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 91 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value), A course certificate from onPoint Tactical …

The Cuban Missile Crisis began on October 14, 1962, bringing the United States and the Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear conflict. Photographs were taken by a high-altitude U-2 spy plane and offered incontrovertible evidence that Soviet-made medium-range missiles were in Cuba. These missiles were capable of carrying nuclear warheads and were stationed 90 miles off the American coastline. — Today we present Part 2 of a guest article written by our friends and fellow bloggers, Don and Patrice Lewis. Patrice Lewis is the North Idaho-based Editrix of the excellent Rural Revolution homesteading blog. I strongly recommend bookmarking it. …

Today is the 79th birthday of songwriter and singer Paul Simon. (Born, 1941.) — Today we present Part 1 of a guest article written by our friends and fellow bloggers, Don and Patrice Lewis. Patrice is the North Idaho-based Editrix of the excellent Rural Revolution homesteading blog. I strongly recommend bookmarking it. She is a regular columnist for WorldNet Daily. Patrice is also the author of a large series of “how-to” homesteading mini books, the nonfiction book The Simplicity Primer, and the co-author of How to Start a Home-based Craft Business. Most recently, Patrice branched out into writing Amish-themed Christian …

Today, in 1492, after sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus sighted a Bahamian island, believing he had reached East Asia. His expedition went ashore the same day and claimed the land for Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain, who sponsored his attempt to find a western ocean route to China, India, and the fabled gold and spice islands of Asia. Despite the liberal hive mind’s attempt to twist this into “Indigenous People’s Day”, it is still Columbus Day. — Our big Pre-Election Sale at Elk Creek Company is underway. I’ve reduced the prices on every gun in my …

Today is the 70th birthday of novelist William R. Forstchen. (He was born 1950.) Forstchen is best known for his survivalist novel One Second After. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 91 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value), …

We’ve just started our big Pre-Election Sale, at Elk Creek Company.  I’ve reduced the prices on every gun in my inventory. The chances of a contested election are fairly high, so this is your chance to tuck away a few pre-1899 guns, just in case. Imagine if Creepy Joe Biden wins, and we end up with a ban on private party sales, nationwide. (So-called “Universal Background Checks.”)  It is important to have a few guns that are out of Federal jurisdiction–and hence exempt. And heaven help us if we end up with Nancy Pelosi as “Interim President.”  This sale ends …

On this day in 1995, saboteurs tinkered with a stretch of railroad track in Arizona. An Amtrak train derailed killing one and injuring a hundred. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 91 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 the purchase price of any of their other models. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their …

On October 8, 1957 Jerry Lee Lewis recorded “Great Balls Of Fire” in Memphis, Tennessee. October 8th is also the birthday of economist and libertarian commentator J. Orlin Grabbe. (Born, 1947, died March 15, 2008.) — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 91 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 the purchase price of any of their other models. A Gunsite Academy Three Day …

The Battle of Lepanto (on 7 October 1571) was a naval engagement wherein a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of European Catholic maritime states arranged by Pope Pius V and led by Spanish admiral Don Juan of Austria, decisively defeated the fleet of the Ottoman Empire on the northern edge of the Gulf of Corinth, off western Greece. October 7th is also the day that we remember the 96 American POWs from Wake Island that were executed in 1943 on the orders of the commander of the Japanese garrison on the island, Rear Admiral Shigematsu Sakaibara. The execution …

Today is the birthday of science fiction author David Brin. (born, 1950.) He wrote The Postman, which was very loosely the foundation of a movie by Kevin Costner. October 6 is also the birthday of Thor Heyerdahl. (Born 1914, died April 18, 2002.) Although his east-to-west theory of Pacific Ocean transmigration was later disproved by genetics studies, his many adventures were still remarkable. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 91 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 …

October 5, 1703 was the birthday of Jonathan Edwards. He died March 22, 1758. He was a prolific Calvinist theological writer. Many of his writings were later collected in the multi-volume book The Rational Biblical Theology of Jonathan Edwards, edited by John Gerstner. — Please mark your calendar and wait until the “Book Bomb Day”, Tuesday, October 20th, 2020, to order your copy of my new book, The Ultimate Prepper’s Survival Guide. By concentrating the orders on that day, our goal is to get it into Amazon’s Top 100, and on The New York Times bestsellers list. Thanks! — Today, …

October 4th, 1923 was the birthday Charlton Heston, who was born John Charles Carter. He died April 5, 2008. He is often remembered for movies like Ben Hur, The Ten Commandments, Soylent Green, The Planet of the Apes, and the survivalist classic The Omega Man. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 91 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 the purchase price of …

October 3rd is the anniversary of the Mogadishu, Somalia raid. The 18 Americans killed were: MSG Gary Gordon, 1st SFOD-D SFC Randy Shughart, 1st SFOD-D SSG Daniel Busch, 1st SFOD-D SFC Earl Fillmore, 1st SFOD-D MSG Timothy Martin, 1st SFOD-D CPL Jamie Smith, 3/75 Ranger SPC James Cavaco, 3/75 Ranger SGT Casey Joyce, 3/75 Ranger PFC Richard Kowaleski, 3/75 Ranger SGT Dominic Pilla, 3/75 Ranger SGT Lorenzo Ruis, 3/75 Ranger SSG William Cleveland, Jr. 160th SOAR SSG Thomas Field, 160th SOAR CW4 Raymond Frank, 160th SOAR CW3 Clifton Wolcott, 160th SOAR CW2 Donovan Briley, 160th SOAR SGT Cornell Houston, 10th …