Category: Note

June 27th is the birthday of economist Dr. Ravi Batra. (Born 1943.) — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 89 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 one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value), A course certificate from onPoint Tactical …

June 26th is the birthday of Marine Corps Lt. General Chesty Puller (born 1898, died October 11, 1971). Perhaps America’s finest-ever maverick officer, Puller was part of what I call the Even Greater Generation. — I just heard that Palmetto State Armory (one of our affiliate advertisers) is running a short term sale on a combo offering: a SIG-Sauer Whiskey 3 (3-9×40) rifle scope along with one of their Kilo 1400 laser rangefinders.  They are offering this combo at just $249.99. These would have normal retail prices of $199 and $249, respectively. So you are essentially getting the scope for free. …

On June 25th, 1876, Native American forces led by Chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull defeated the U.S. Army troops of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer in a bloody battle near southern Montana’s Little Bighorn River. The Battle of Little Bighorn–also called Custer’s Last Stand – marked the most decisive Native American victory and the worst U.S. Army defeat in the long Plains Indian War. While complicated, the generally accepted reason for the battle is that the discovery of gold in South Dakota’s Black Hills in 1875 led to the U.S. government disregarding previous treaty agreements. The gruesome fate of …

June 24th the birthday of rifle-toting abolitionist pastor Henry Ward Beecher. (Born 1813, died March 8, 1887.) He and his adherents from his church smuggled so many Sharps rifles to Bleeding Kansas that the Sharps rifles picked up the nickname Beecher’s Bibles. Wikipedia says of Beecher: “Several of his brothers and sisters became well-known educators and activists, most notably Harriet Beecher Stowe, who achieved worldwide fame with her abolitionist novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” I wonder if the monument to Henry Ward Beecher will be the next target of the BLM iconoclasts. I suppose that someone should inform them of the …

On June 23, 1868, American inventor Christopher Latham Sholes received a patent for a typewriter. Sholes invented the QWERTY keyboard. Along with Samuel W. Soule, Carlos Glidden and John Pratt, Sholes has been contended as one of the inventors of the first typewriter in the United States. — Today: Part 1 of a three-day series, with some useful oral history, from my mother.

On June 22, 1633, Galileo Galilei was coerced by Pope Gregory XV to recant his belief in heliocentrism–that the Earth orbits the Sun. The Vatican did not concede that it was wrong until October 31, 1992. — Today, another review by our tireless Field Gear Editor, Pat Cascio.

Today is the summer solstice–the day with the most hours of daylight, for our readers in the northern hemisphere. With this many daylight working hours, I’m confident that today was productive, in your gardens! — June 21st is the birthday of Rex Applegate. Pictured. He was born June 21, 1914  and died July 14, 1998. He was the author of Kill or Be Killed. Applegate was the friend and mentor of SurvivalBlog’s Field Gear Editor, Pat Cascio. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 89 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: …

Today is the anniversary of the death of novelist Vince Flynn. (Born April 6, 1966, died June 19, 2013.) His death at age 47 was a loss to the literary world. And June 20th is the birthday of Audie L. Murphy. He was born in 1925. He died in a plane crash on May 28, 1971. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 89 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 …

June 19, 1834 was the birthday of Charles Haddon (C.H.) Spurgeon. He died 31 January 1892. He was a British Particular Baptist preacher. SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 89 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 one, two, or three day …

June 18th is birthday of Pastor Douglas Wilson. Born in 1953, he is the pastor at Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho and a prodigious author of books and articles on Reformed theology. — I had to delete a product suggestion from yesterday’s Recommendations of the Week column, post facto.  The link was to an Internet vendor that sells DAK canned hams, in pairs.  When I created that link about six days ago, they were priced at $8.50 per pair. But as of Wednesday, they had jumped to $37 per pair. So it seems that my warning of an imminent price …

Today is the birthday of musician Red Foley (born, 1910, died September 19, 1968). His patriotic song Smoke on the Water topped the music charts for 13 weeks in late 1944 and early 1945, and charted for 24 weeks. This song, which describes the doom of tyrants, would be considered quite politically incorrect these days. June 17th is also the birthday of novelist John Ross, who was born in 1957. He is best known as the author of the novel Unintended Consequences. And June 17th is the birthday of Libertarian economist Harry Browne. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present …

On June 16, 1980 the movie The Blues Brothers debuted in Chicago. It was very successful in its theatrical release, and has had a cult-like following as a home video. — I just heard that the folks who run Naturally Cozy (one of our long-time writing contest sponsors) is re-launching their Privy Paper business. They sell massive rolls of TP, stacked in 5 gallon plastic buckets.  This is a brilliant idea that saves a tremendous amount of storage space. SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 89 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this …

On July 15th, 1888, the Bandai Volcano erupted on the Japanese island of Honshu killing hundreds and burying many nearby villages in ash. While Honshu is in an area of frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, this eruption was surprising. The volcano had erupted only four times in the 1,000 years prior and none had been particularly deadly. However, this eruption was different. The rumblings started just after 7 a.m. Within 30 minutes there was an explosion on the north side of the mountain and over the next two hours there were dozens of explosions giving villagers very little time to …

During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress adopted a resolution on June 14th, 1777, stating that “the flag of the United States be thirteen alternate stripes red and white” and that “the Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.” The national flag, which became known as the “Stars and Stripes,” was based on the “Grand Union” flag– a banner carried by the Continental Army in 1776 that also had 13 red and white stripes. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 89 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes …

On June 13, 1983, after more than a decade in space, Pioneer 10– the world’s first outer-planetary probe– left the solar system. The next day, it radioed back its first scientific data on interstellar space. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 89 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 …