Category: Note

Jan-de-Heem (Jan Davidszoon de Heem) was born April 17, 1606 in Utrecht.  From the InfoGalactic Wiki: “Jan-de-Heem was a stilllife painter who was active in Utrecht and Antwerp. He is a major representative of that genre in both Dutch and Flemish Baroque painting. De Heem was born in Utrecht as Johannes van Antwerpen. He studied first under his father David de Heem the Elder (1570–1631), then under Balthasar van der Ast. His ‘middle name’, Davidsz, is a patronym referring to his father’s name: In Dutch a name ending in -sz is like -son in English and Mac- in Scottish, meaning …

On April 16, 73 AD, the Masada fortress fell to the Romans after several months of siege, ending the Jewish Revolt.  From the InfoGalactic Wiki: “The siege of Masada was one of the final events in the First Jewish–Roman War, occurring from 72 to 73 CE on and around a hilltop in present-day Israel. The siege is known to history via a single source, Flavius Josephus, a Jewish rebel leader captured by the Romans, in whose service he became a historian. According to Josephus the long siege by the troops of the Roman Empire led to the mass suicide of …

The Battle of Rain was fought on April 15, 1632. Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus defeated Count Tilly of the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years’ War. — Today is guitarist Roy Clark‘s birthday. He was born April 15, 1933. — On April 15th, 1912, the “unsinkable” Titanic sank. 1,517 people lost their lives on that 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, …

On April 14, 1471, in the Wars of the Roses, the Battle of Barnet was fought.  In this battle, Yorkists defeated the Lancastrians and killed the Earl of Warwick. — April 14, 1775: The first abolitionist society in US was organized in Philadelphia. — On this day in 1865, just after the effective end of the American Civil War, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth while attending a production at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., and died the next morning. Also on April 14, 1865, U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward and his family were …

On April 13, 1520 Raphael‘s final influential masterpiece “The Transfiguration” was put on display just a week after the artist’s death. — April 13, 1743 was the birthday of Thomas Jefferson. (He died on July 4, 1826 just a few hours before the death of John Adams.) — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 118 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 $2000. …

April 12, 1893:  “Massacre of Hoornkrans”: Curt von François (pictured), colonial Governor of German South West Africa (now Nambia), led an attack by 225 Schutztruppe soldiers on Nama leader Hendrik Witbooi’s headquarters at Hoornkrans. The shelling of the village caused tremendous civilian casualties. Witbooi escaped and waged several months of guerrilla warfare against the German forces. — April 12th is the birthday of the late novelist Tom Clancy. (Born 1947, died October 1, 2013). It was Clancy who almost single-handedly created the modern techno-thriller genre, with his first novel, The Hunt For Red October. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we …

On April 11, 1900, the first modern submarine designed and built by John Philip Holland, USS Holland was acquired by the U.S. Navy. — Lieutenant Colonel George Vincent Fosbery VC (11 April 1832 – 8 May 1907) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was also a designer and inventor of firearms including the Webley-Fosbery revolver and the Paradox Gun. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 118 of the SurvivalBlog …

On April 10, 1841, the New York Tribune began publishing under editor Horace Greeley. — April 10, 1827 was the birthday of General Lew Wallace. He wrote books (author of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ), sculpted, practiced law, painted, played the violin and made them as well. In the “Battle of Monocacy” he fought alongside 8,000 Union troops against 15,000 Confederates. He was second in command of the Lincoln conspiracy trial as well as principal in the trial of the Commander of Andersonville prison where prisoners had been starved to death. He was U.S. Ambassador to Turkey. And he …

On April 9, 1768, John Hancock refused to allow two British customs agents to go below the deck of his ship. This was considered the first act of physical resistance to British authority in the colonies. — April 9, 1869: The Hudson Bay Company ceded its territory to the Commonwealth of Canada. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 118 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 …

April 8, 217: Roman Emperor Caracalla was assassinated by (and succeeded by) his Praetorian Guard prefect, Marcus Opellius Macrinus. — On April 8, 1913, the 17th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified by Congress, providing for the election of senators by popular vote. — April 8th was the birthday of the late Ian Smith, Prime Minister of Rhodesia. (Born, 1919, died November 20, 2007.) — April 8th is also the anniversary of the death of English experimental gunsmith and author Phillip Luty, in 2011. He was hounded by British authorities for many years. He died of cancer before …

Gerrit Dou (April 7, 1613 – February 9, 1675) — also known as Gerard Douw or Dow — was a Dutch Golden Age painter.  From the InfoGalactic Wiki: “…[his] small, highly polished paintings are typical of the Leiden fijnschilders. He specialized in genre scenes and is noted for his trompe-l’œil “niche” paintings and candlelit night scenes with strong chiaroscuro. He was a student of Rembrandt. Dou was born in Leiden, where his father was a manufacturer of stained-glass. He studied drawing under Bartholomeus Dolendo, and then trained in the stained-glass workshop of Pieter Couwenhorn. In February 1628, at the age …

On April 6, 1320, Scottish nobles reaffirmed their independence by signing the Declaration of Arbroath addressed to Pope John XXII. — And on April 6, 1652, the Cape Colony, the first European settlement in South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company under Jan van Riebeeck. — Today is the birthday of novelist Vince Flynn. (Born April 6, 1966, died June 19, 2013.) His death at age 47 was a loss to the literary world. — This is also the birthday of famous American newsreel and radio journalist/narrator Lowell Thomas. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another …

On April 5, 1722, Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen was the first European to discover Easter Island (aka Rapa Nui) in the southeastern Pacific. Today is the birthday of Baron Arisaka Nariakira (April 5, 1852 –January 12, 1915), the inventor of the Arisaka Rifle. On this day in 1614, Pocahontas married John Rolfe which ensured peace between the Jamestown settlers and the Powhatan Indians for several years. — Today’s feature article is a guest post by our friend and fellow blogger and American Redoubt resident Brandon Smith. — We are seeking entries for Round 118 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. …

Today is the 100th birthday of famed Navy fighter pilot Royce Williams. From Wikipedia: “He is known for his solo dogfight with seven Soviet pilots during the Korean War, which, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune, has been called “one of the greatest feats in aviation history” by military experts. A retired admiral and multiple members of Congress have been campaigning for him to receive the Medal of Honor for his exploit. On January 20, 2023, he received the Navy Cross—the second highest military decoration awarded by the U.S. Navy—from Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro. In 1952, then-Lieutenant …

April 3, 2025 is the 60th anniversary of the first attack on the Thanh Hoa Bridge. The Vietnamese called it the Ham Rong (Hàm Rồng) — or Dragon’s Jaw. It spanned the Ma River in North Vietnam, and had been built by the French during their colonial period in Indochina. The U.S. Air Force and Navy launched hundreds of sorties against it, losing at least 11 aircraft in the effort. After the 1968 to 1972 bombing pause on missions against North Vietnam, the U.S. finally took the bridge down with laser-guided munitions in 1972. The bridge was rebuilt and still …