April 28th is the birthday of Aimo Johannes Lahti. (Born in 1896.) This inventive Finn designed (or co-designed) an amazing array of weapons including the L-35 Lahti pistol, the Suomi M-31 SMG, the Lahti-Saloranta M/26 LMG, the famous Lahti L-39 20mm anti-tank rifle, and even the 20 ItK 40 (a 20 mm dual anti-aircraft cannon.)
On this day in 1789, the crew of the British ship Bounty mutinied, setting Captain William Bligh and 18 sailors adrift in a launch in the South Pacific. This famous incident has inspired many novels, plays, and movies. — A reminder: My mail order antique gun business — Elk Creek Company — is on Pandemic Hiatus until May 4th. I’ve taken this opportunity to re-stock heavily. This now includes some replica guns in obsolete (not factory produced) calibers such as .44 S&W Russian and .45-90 Winchester that qualify as No-FFL “antiques”, in most states. Take a look at our store …
On April 26, 1986, one of the world’s worst nuclear accidents occurred at the Chernobyl plant in the Soviet Union. An explosion and fire in the No. 4 reactor sent radioactivity into the atmosphere; at least 31 Soviets died immediately. I had the misfortune of being down-wind from Chernobyl, since I was TDY that year with the 2nd MI Battalion (Aerial Exploitation), working a live Guardrail intelligence gathering and analysis mission. I was stationed at Stuttgart Army Airfield. That was the operating base for the 2nd MI’s Beechcraft RC-12D (IGR-V) aircraft. By the time that I returned to CONUS on …
Today is the birthday of physicist, inventor, and entrepreneur Guglielmo Marconi (1874–1937). He was known for his pioneering work on long-distance radio transmission as well as for the development of Marconi’s Law and a radio telegraph system. He is often considered the inventor of radio. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 88 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 …
April 24th is the birthday of Carolyn Cole (born 1961), a well-known staff photographer for the Los Angeles Times, and long-time friend of the Rawles family. This is also the day that the Armenian Genocide began, in 1915. Ottoman (Turk) Muslims slaughtered 1.5 million of their Christian neighbors, intellectuals, and community leaders. The Ottoman government proceeded with multiple phases to round up men in mass executions and drive women and children into the desert on death marches. They also led the general Muslim citizens to participate in brutal periodic massacres within their communities signaled with the blow of a bugle. …
On April 23, 1968, base metal decimal coins (using a system divisible by 10) were introduced in England. The 5 Pence coin replaced the former 1 Shilling (which was 12 old Pence.) And the new 10 Pence coin replaced the 2 Shillings Florin (which equated to 24 old Pence). The old non-decimal coins were removed from circulation by 1971. Eventually, with inflation, a base metal One Pound coin was added. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 88 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A gift certificate from Quantum …
Today is the birthday of the late Charles Rankin Bond, Jr., who was born in Dallas on April 22, 1915. (Died, 2009.) He was one of the last of the AVG Flying Tiger pilots. Today is the birthday of actor Eddie Albert (born Edward Albert Heimberger April 22, 1906.) He died May 26, 2005, at age 99.) For his actions in the battle of Tarawa, he was awarded the Bronze Star with “V” device. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 88 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: …
April 21st is Aggie Muster Day, for all Texas A&M Corps of Cadets graduates. Aggie Muster celebrations/meetings are held as far away as Japan, Germany, and Afghanistan. I should mention that my grandfather (a U.S. Army Cavalry LTC) was an Aggie– something mentioned so often that everyone in my family felt like de facto Aggies, too. Other than the officers that matriculate though West Point, the four institutions that seem to have the greatest esprit de corps for graduates are Texas A&M, The Citadel, Norwich University, and VMI. I felt almost obliged to include an Aggie character in my novels …
On April 20th, 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform, leased by BP, killed 11 workers and began spewing an estimated 200 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico for nearly three months, creating the worst known offshore oil spill. April 20th is also the day that we remember the victims of the Columbine High School tragedy, where two students stormed into a suburban high school in Littleton, Colorado in 1999, at lunch time with guns and explosives, killing 13 and wounding dozens more in what was, at the time, the nation’s deadliest school shooting. …
April 19th is the original Patriot Day which marks the multiple anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord, known as “The Shot Heard ‘Round the World”. This first battle, leading to our nation’s independence, was the then-dictator’s (United Kingdom King George III’s) failed attempt at “gun control”– an act being carried out in too many parts of our USA right now. This first gun control of the colonies was a failure, because of the will and determination of a small part of the population (about 3% actually fought for our independence actively, with many others supporting) to stand up …
April 18th is the birthday of Washington Representative Matt Shea. (Born 1974). On April 18th, 1906, the San Francisco earthquake struck northern California, killing hundreds of people as it toppled numerous buildings and started fires that engulfed whole neighborhoods. The quake was so powerful that it knocked down chimneys in the Anderson Valley, 120 miles north of the city. The Doolittle Tokyo Raid was on April 18, 1942 — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 88 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A gift certificate from Quantum Harvest LLC (up …
On April 17, 1961, about 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in a failed attempt to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro. Due to the Cuba/Soviet intelligence network as well as loose talk by members of the brigade, which was repeated in US and foreign newspaper reports, the Cuban government knew, in advance, of the planned invasion. The Washington Post also reported that the Soviets knew the exact date of the attack, that the CIA was aware that they knew, and that the CIA did not inform president Kennedy. — Today’s guest article …
April 16th is the birthday of two notable novelists– the late J. Neil Schulman (pictured) and Samuel Youd. Agorist-Libertarian activist J. Neil Schulman (born April 16, 1953, died 2019) was best known as author of the novel Alongside Night. The late Samuel Youd (born 1922, died February 3, 2012) was the British novelist who was best known for his science fiction writings under the pseudonym John Christopher, including the survivalist novel Death of Grass (titled No Blade of Grass, in the American edition) as well as the Tripods Series of young adult sci-fi novel series. A fascinating man, Youd wrote …
On April 15th, 1912, the “unsinkable” Titanic sank. 1,517 people lost their lives on the maiden voyage. As research into the incident has progressed over the last 100 years, it seems as if, one way or another, the ship was just going to sink. Impact with an iceberg, raging coal fires in the fuel supply, wrong turns, locked-up binoculars, weak rivets, too few lifeboats, and more. Perhaps this whole incident was really the result of man’s hubris. — With commerce returning to most of the western states on May 1st, I’ve decided re-open Elk Creek Company, as of the first …
Today marks the birthday of actor Adrien Brody (born 1973). He played the lead role in The Pianist. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 88 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), …
