Category: Note

On July 11, 1804, Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr mortally wounded former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in a pistol duel. — July 11th is the birthday of John Quincy Adams. — Just one more day!!!  Because of a change in direction at Trident Media Group (my partner publisher) my novel Land Of Promise will go out of print in trade paperback by Amazon.com. It is still priced at just $11.99 per copy. The last day of the sale (and of Amazon Print on Demand ordering capability) will be tomorrow, Friday, July 12, 2024. Thereafter, it …

On July 10, 1913, the world’s official highest recorded temperature was recorded at Greenland Ranch (now known as Furnace Creek Ranch), Death Valley, California at 134°F (56.7 °C) — July 10, 1553, Lady Jane Grey, daughter of the Duke of Suffolk, proclaimed Queen of England, succeeding Edward VI, who had proclaimed his half-sisters illegitimate. She reigned for just nine days. — July 10th is the birthday of British novelist John Wyndham. (His full name was John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris, but Harris shortened that to just John Wyndham for his pen name.) He we was born in 1903 and …

Today is the anniversary of three famous battles: On July 9, 1386, in the Battle of Sempach: the pike-armed militias of the Old Swiss Confederacy defeated the Habsburg army of Duke Leopold III of Austria. — On July 8, 1401, the Turko-Mongol ruler Tamerlane (Timur) destroyed Baghdad, killing 20,000 people. — On July 9th, 1755: Battle of the Wilderness. This was also known as the Battle of The Monongahela. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 113 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at …

On July 8, 1283, the Battle of Malta occurred during the War of the Sicilian Vespers.  From the Infogalactic wiki: “The War of the Sicilian Vespers, also shortened to the War of the Vespers, was a conflict waged by several medieval European kingdoms over control of Sicily from 1282 to 1302. The war, which started with the revolt of the Sicilian Vespers, was fought over competing dynastic claims to the throne of Sicily and grew to involve the Crown of Aragon, Angevin Kingdom of Naples, Kingdom of France, and the papacy.” — Just four more days! Because of a change …

On July 7, 1807, French Emperor Napoléon Bonaparte and Russian Tsar Alexander I met on a raft in the middle of the Neman River and signed the first Treaty of Tilsit. — On July 7, 1520, Battle of Otumba, Mexico: Hernán Cortés and the Tlaxcalans defeated a numerically superior Aztec force. — July 7th, 1907 was the birthday of science fiction novelist Robert A. Heinlein. He passed away on May 8, 1988, at age 80. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 113 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First …

Today is the 30th anniversary of the 1994 Storm King Mountain wildfire that took the lives of 14 firefighters. Weather changes, resulting in 45 mph wind gusts, caused a modest wildfire to erupt into a blazing inferno, which threatened homes in and around the town of Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Firefighters from around the country were called to assist in fighting this wildfire. We will never forget the young men and women who lost their lives battling this fire: Prineville, Oregon Hotshots: Kathi Beck, Tamera Bickett, Scott Blecha, Levi Brinkley, Douglas Dunbar, Terri Hagen, Bonnie Holtby, Rob Johnson, Jon Kelso Missoula …

On July  5, 1687, Isaac Newton‘s great work Principia was published by the Royal Society in England, outlining his laws of motion and universal gravitation. — July 5, 1715: Ottoman troops storm citadel of Acrocorinth in the Peloponnese, massacring a large part of the population and selling the rest into slavery. Inspires Lord Byron‘s poem “The Siege of Corinth”. — Joly 5, 1950:  US forces entered combat in the Korean War for the first time, in the Battle of Osan. — We are seeking entries for Round 113 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $900,000 worth of prizes …

We wish our readers a happy Independence Day! — July 4th is also the birthday of Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) and of General Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807–1882). — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 113 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 $2,000. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 …

On July 3, 1861, the Pony Express arrived in San Francisco with the first delivery of overland letters from New York. — On July 3, 1778, British forces massacred 360 men, women, and children in Wyoming, Pennsylvania. — On July 3, 1890, the Idaho Territory became the 43rd state in the Union. — July 3rd is also the birthday of both musician Aaron Tippin and of actor Tom Cruise. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 113 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at …

July 2nd, 1881, US President James Garfield was shot by Charles Guiteau, a disappointed office-seeker. Garfield died 79 agonizing days later. — July 2nd, 1937 aviator Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to make the first round-the-world flight at the equator. In January of 2024, there came this report: Explorers say they think they’ve found Amelia Earhart’s long-lost plane. — July 2nd, 1679. Europeans first visited Minnesota and saw headwaters of Mississippi in an expedition led by Daniel Greysolon de Du Luth. — On July 2nd, 1808, Simon Fraser completed his trip down …

On July 1st, AD 70,  Roman General Titus (Titus Flavius Vespasianus) and his forces set up battering rams to assault the walls of Jerusalem. July 1st, 1535, Sir Thomas More went on trial for treason for refusing to accept King Henry VIII as head of the Church of England. On July 1, 1798 Napoleon‘s fleet reached Alexandria, Egypt. July 1st is the anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War Battle of Gettysburg, in 1863. Today is Canada Day. On July 1, 1867, the Dominion of Canada was formed, comprising the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Quebec, …

On June 30, 1893, the Excelsior diamond (blue-white 995 carats) then the world’s largest, was discovered in Jagersfontein Mine, South Africa. On June 30, 1834, the U.S. Congress created Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). June 30th is also the anniversary of the tragic death of 19 hotshots in the Yarnell Hill Fire, in 2013. On June 30, 1908, a giant fireball, most likely caused by the air burst of a large meteoroid or comet flattened 80 million trees near the Stony Tunguska River in Yeniseysk Governorate, Russia, in the largest impact event in recorded history. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we …

On June 29, 1939, Ford introduced the revolutionary Ford-Ferguson 9N tractor incorporating Harry Ferguson‘s three-point hitch system. — On June 29th,  1540, the UK parliament passed The Act of Attainder over former Chancellor of the Exchequer of England Thomas Cromwell, indicting him as a heretic — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today’s feature article is a review written by SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Thomas Christianson. We are in need of entries for Round 113 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $900,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running the contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking …

On June 28, 1880, the Australian bushranger and outlaw Ned Kelly was captured at Glenrowan.  He was executed on November 11th of the same year. — June 28th, 1703 was the birthday of theologian John Wesley. He died March 2, 1791. — Today’s feature article is a guest piece by Brandon Smith, the Editor of Alt-Market.us. — We need some entries for Round 113 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $900,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll …

On June 27, 1778, the Liberty Bell returned home to Philadelphia after the British army’s departure. Today is the birthday Leroy James Sullivan (born June 27, 1933) is an American firearms inventor. Going by Jim Sullivan, he has designed several “scaled-down” versions of larger firearms. He also designed the Beta C-MAG double snail drum magazines. Today is also the birthday of Paul Mauser, (June 27, 1838 – May 29, 1914). He was a German weapon designer and manufacturer.  His strong and reliable bolt action design was used by many nations. The U.S. Springfield Model 1903 is based on the Mauser …