Category: Note

On this day, June 4th, in 1944 United States Navy Task Group 22.3 captured U-505, a German submarine and with it an intact Enigma cypher machine. This was the first time since the USS Peacock seized HMS Nautilus in 1815 that the USN had captured an enemy vessel at sea. The sub, reunited with its periscope a decade ago, is displayed at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Today is also the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, in 1989.  The Chinese government hasn’t changed much, since then. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry …

June 3rd is considered the “birthday” of the U.S. Army. (It was established by Congress on June 3rd, 1784.) On June 3rd, 1539, Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto claimed Florida for Spain. Also on this day, in 1911, actress Ellen Corby was born. She is often remembered for her role as Grandma Walton, in the television series The Waltons.

On June 2, 1774, Parliament renewed the Quartering Act allowing British military to stay in private homes if necessary, completing the Coercive Acts. The Quartering Act, in conjunction with the Massachusetts Government Act, the Administration of Justice Act, and the Boston Port Act, were known as the Coercive Acts. These Acts were Parliament’s way of asserting their control over the colonists after the Boston Tea Party and were one of the main motivations for the 3rd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 83  of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The …

On June 1st, 1942, seven months after the extermination of prisoners began, the Warsaw underground newspaper, the Liberty Brigade, made the public announcement of the gassing of tens of thousands of Jews at Chelmno, a Nazi-operated death camp in Poland. The story came from a young man, Emanuel Ringelblum, who had escaped the Chelmno death camp after being forced to bury bodies as they were thrown out of the asphixiation vans. The West then knew the horrific truth about the slaughter of Jews. SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present the first entry for Round 83  of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing …

May 31st, 1895 was the birthday of George R. Stewart. Prior to his death on August 22, 1980, he was a novelist, university professor, and toponymist. In the preparedness community, he is best remembered as the author of the classic post-pandemic novel Earth Abides. On 31 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 100 MPH. with a mass of roughly 80 million cubic feet of ice, mud, and rock. Teh avalanche traveled nearly 11 miles, burying the towns …

By proclamation of General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, the first major Memorial Day observance was held on May 30th, 1868 to honor those who died “in defense of their country”. Known to some as “Decoration Day,” mourners honored the Civil War dead by decorating their graves with flowers. On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried in the cemetery. The 1868 celebration was inspired by local observances that …

George Washington, a young lieutenant colonel in the British Army and future president of the United States, led an attack on French forces at Jumonville Glen on this day in 1754. This battle was later credited with being the opening salvo in the French and Indian War (1754 to 1763). In the biography His Excellency: George Washington, historian Joseph Ellis recounts Washington’s first combat experience. Washington and 40 colonial troops had been encamped near the French garrison at Fort Duquesne when he received an urgent message to rescue Indian allies in the area who were threatened by French forces. In …

I’ll start with a bit of breaking EU election news, from England: The newly-formed Brexit Party +31.2% Labour: – 11.9% Liberal Democrat +11.1% Conservative: -12.5% UKIP: -23.9% (Nearly all having apparently jumped to the Brexit Party) Others (Greens, Etc.):  +10.4 That is an astounding result, for a party that didn’t even exist, two months ago! I hope that the new national government that is formed following Teresa May’s imminent ouster gets the message from the voters: Quit fiddling around, and make a hard Brexit! — On this extended weekend, we honor Memorial Day, a day of solemn remembrance in the …

May 26th is the birthday of Randall Hank Williams (Hank Williams, Jr.) He was born 1949. When not touring, he lives Somewhere in Montana, so he qualifies as a Redoubter. He reportedly has a large gun collection which is heavy on Sharps rifles and rifles that have factory letters showing that they were originally shipped to Montana. His song A Country Boy Can Survive is of course practically a survivalist anthem. His father was just 29 when he died, and despite a couple of close calls, Hank Jr. is now well into his golden years, so he may yet live …

On May 25th, 1787, The Constitutional Convention convened in Philadelphia with George Washington presiding. The task of the peaceful overthrow of the new American government as it had been defined by the Article of Confederation eventually led to the United States Constitution that is so abused today. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 82  of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System …

On May 24th, 1775, John Hancock was elected president of the Second Continental Congress. He is best known for his large signature on the Declaration of Independence, which he jested the British king “could read without his spectacles.” — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 82  of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public. A Gunsite Academy Three Day …

On May 23rd, 1934 Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were killed by police and two deputized former Texas Rangers near Gibbsland, Louisiana. This ambush and the events in the months leading up to it were dramatized in the recent Netflix movie, The Highwaymen, starring Kevin Costner. May 23rd is also the birthday of George Lars Kellgren (born 1943 in Borås, Sweden), the founder and chief engineer of Kel-Tec. According to LeftistAgendaPedia: “He designed many firearms earlier for Husqvarna and Swedish Interdynamics AB in Sweden. He moved to the US in 1979 and his original US designs were for Intratec and …

May 22, 1859 was the birthday of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. Doyle was born in Scotland and studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, where he met Dr. Joseph Bell, a teacher with extraordinary deductive reasoning power. Bell partly inspired Doyle’s character Sherlock Holmes years later. After medical school, Doyle moved to London, where his slow medical practice left him ample free time to write. His first Sherlock Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet, was published in Beeton’s Christmas Annual in 1887. Starting in 1891, a series of Holmes stories appeared in The Strand magazine. …

May 21st is the birthday of weapons designer John Douglas Pedersen. (Born 1881, died 1951.) His name is almost synonymous with the short-lived Pedersen Device (pictured) — a conversion kit that turned a Model 1903 Springfield bolt action rifle into a semi-automatic “trench broom.” — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 82  of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the …