Category: Note

Mat Stein: Rest In Peace We are sad to report the death of Matthew Stein, our Back-Country Editor. At the request of a family member, the publication of his obituary was delayed in SurvivalBlog. (They wished to downplay Mat’s survivalist outlook and preparations.) Mat was a design engineer, green builder, and author of two best-selling books: When Technology Fails: A Manual for Self-Reliance, Sustainability, and Surviving the Long Emergency and When Disaster Strikes: A Comprehensive Guide for Emergency Planning and Crisis Survival. He also authored a children’s book, titled Geronimo the Frog. All three of those books are still in …

December 17th, 1905 was the birthday of Simo Häyhä, who was the world’s most successful sniper. Using an iron-sighted Mosin–Nagant in Finland’s Winter War, he had an astounding 505 confirmed sniper kills. He died April 1, 2002, at age 96. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 86 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A $3,000 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 …

December 16th is the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, in 1773. — And December 16th, 1928, was the birthday of Philip K. Dick, who died March 2, 1982. He penned a remarkable number of sci-fi novels and novellas that have been adapted into movies, including Blade Runner, Total Recall, Screamers, Impostor, Minority Report, Paycheck, A Scanner Darkly, Next, and The Adjustment Bureau. Though he had a troubled personal life (with drug use and several failed marriages), his captivating books certainly had a knack for envisioning potential futures.

The 15th of December, 1923, was the birthday of Uziel “Uzi” Gal (born Gotthard Glas). According to Wikipedia, he was “…born in Weimar, Germany. When the Nazis came to power in 1933 he moved first to England and later, in 1936, to Kibbutz Yagur in the British Mandate of Palestine where he changed his name to Uziel Gal. In 1943, he was arrested for illegally carrying a gun and sentenced to six years in prison. However, he was pardoned and released in 1946, serving less than half of his sentence.” He is, of course, remembered as the inventor of the …

December 14th is the birthday of the late John Warren Wadleigh (born 1927, died September 24, 2013). Wadleigh was better known to many SurvivalBlog readers by his pen name– Oliver Lange. He was the author of the best-selling resistance warfare novel Vandenberg. — This is also the birthday of Air Force General James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle, who died September 27, 1993.

After spending nine months on the run, former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was captured on December 13, 2003. During his 24 years in office, Saddam’s secret police, charged with protecting his power, terrorized the public, ignoring the human rights of the nation’s citizens. While many of his people faced poverty, he lived in incredible luxury, building more than 20 lavish palaces throughout the country. It was fitting that, in the end, he was hiding in nothing more than a hole in the ground covered by plywood. — December 13th is also the birthday of Sergeant Alvin York.

On December 12, 1989, the Queen of Mean was sentenced to four years in prison, 750 hours of community service, and a $7.1 million tax fraud fine in New York. Leona Helmsley, nicknamed the “Queen of Mean” by the press, became the object of loathing and disgust when she quipped that “only the little people pay taxes.” Helmsley died in August 2007 at age 87. She famously left $12 million to her dog, Trouble.

Happy birthday to actress Teri Garr (born 1944.) She was unforgettable in Young Frankenstein.

On December 10, 1520, Martin Luther publicly burned the papal edict demanding that he recant or face excommunication. — On this day in 1942, my great uncle Lt. Robert I. Kinsella was killed when his B-24 bomber (part of the 90th Bombardment Group, Heavy, 320th Bomber Squadron), flying from the Iron Range Airfield in Northern Queensland, Australia mysteriously went down in the South Pacific. — Palmetto State Armory (one of our affiliate advertisers) is continuing their big 15 Days of Christmas sale.  One of the specials they are offering is their PSA 16″ 5.56 NATO 1:7 Midlength Nitride 13.5″ Lightweight …

December 9th, 1914 was the birthday of Maximo Guillermo “Max” Manus. He was one of the few Norwegians who had the testicular fortitude to put his life on the line, fighting the Nazi occupiers. (There surely would have been more active resistance fighters, but fearing widespread reprisal executions by the Germans, King H7 asked the civilian populace to stand down.) Max Manus passed away in 1996. I would have liked to have met him. His exploits are fairly accurately shown in the movie Max Manus: Man of War. — Today, another review by our Field Gear Editor, Pat Cascio.

Today marks the birthday of Eli Whitney, (1765–1825) the inventor of the labor-saving cotton gin, several firearms, and dozens of other mechanical devices. — And today we present a guest article written by economist Brandon Smith, the Editor of Alt-Market.com.

On Sunday, December 7, 1941, America was caught sleeping, at Pearl Harbor. Then there was that September morning, in 2001. Let’s continue to pray that nothing like those days ever happens again. – JWR — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 86 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A $3,000 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 Course Certificate. This can be …

Today is the birthday of “claymation” artist and filmmaker Nick Park (born, 1958.) He is best known for his Wallace & Gromit films. — On December 6th, 1865, the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, ending the institution of slavery. “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” With these words, the single greatest change wrought by the Civil War was officially noted in the Constitution. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another …

Today is the birthday of film-maker Walt Disney. (1901–1966) — On December 5th, 1964, the first Medal of Honor awarded to a serviceman for action in Vietnam was presented to Capt. Roger Donlon of Saugerties, New York. Captain Donlon and his Special Forces team were manning Camp Nam Dong, a mountain outpost near the borders of Laos and North Vietnam. Just before two o’clock in the morning on July 6, 1964, hordes of Viet Cong attacked the camp. He was shot in the stomach, but Donlon stuffed a handkerchief into the wound, cinched up his belt, and kept fighting. He …

December 4th is the birthday of Gregory “Pappy” Boyington, (born 1912) an AVG “Flying Tiger” volunteer pilot for the Chinese Nationalist government, WWII Marine Corps aviator, and Medal of Honor recipient. (He died January 11, 1988.) A proto-Redoubter, Pappy Boyington was born in Couer d’Alene, Idaho and was raised in Spokane, Washington. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 86 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A $3,000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from veteran-owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP …