Category: Note

February 2nd is the birthday of Ayn Rand (born Alisa Zinov’yevna Rosenbaum in 1905, died March 6, 1982). She is of course remembered for her novel Atlas Shrugged, which is considered a Libertarian classic. While I sharply disagree with her views on religion (since she was an atheist), I admire both her skill as a writer and her ability to articulate some core precepts of human liberty. o o o Since the 1,000 SurvivalBlog 2005-2016 Archive USB sticks sold out so quickly, we’ve had to revert to offering it on DVD. It is now orderable here, for just $19.95. o …

February 1st is the anniversary of the secession of Texas from the United States in 1861. A State Convention considering secession opened in Austin on January 28th, 1861 and on February 1st, by a vote of 166-8, adopted an Ordinance of Secession from the United States. It’s important to note that not all Texans favored this act and the state Governor, Sam Houston, while being loyal to the union, refused offers from President Lincoln to keep him in office and was subsequently deposed as governor. We also remember February 1st, 2003, when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas and …

On January 31, 1606, Guy Fawkes was executed for his part in the Gunpowder Plot against parliament and King James. Also on this day in 1872, American author Pearl Zane Grey was born. He was best know for his popular adventure western novels, including Riders of the Purple Sage, which was his best-selling book. As a boy, Hugh could often be found behind a copy of one of Zane Grey’s books, because he was an avid reader and any Zane Grey book was a favorite. o o o Today, we present the last entry for Round 68 of the SurvivalBlog …

January 30th is the birthday of historian Barbara Tuchman (born 1912, died February 6, 1989). She wrote some of the most engaging history books JWR ever read. January 30th is also the anniversary of the 1945 Great Raid on Cabanatuan Prison Camp where U.S. Army Rangers and Filipino Guerrillas liberated Allied prisoners. See Rescue At Los Baños, by historian and bestselling author Bruce Henderson.

Today is the birthday of journalist and inventor Thomas Paine (1737–1809). This is also the birthday of actor Tom Selleck (born 1945), best known for playing the title role of Magnum, P.I. He once dropped by my tables at the Reno gun show, and we had a great conversation. He is an avid shooter and quite pro-gun. – JWR

January 28th is the anniversary of the rescue of General James L. Dozier from his Italian Red Brigades kidnappers. Tangentially, Colonel Jeff Cooper created a shooting drill in honor of those who freed him– The Dozier Drill. o o o Our sincere thanks to all the folks who ordered a limited edition SurvivalBlog 2005-2016 Archive loaded on a 8 gigabyte waterproof USB flash drive. Those orders have all been packaged and labeled, and about half of them have now been mailed out, via First Class Mail, with tracking. The rest should be mailed on or before Monday, January 30th. That …

January 27th is commemorated at International Holocaust Remembrance Day. This is also the birthday of the late Helen Chenoweth (born, 1938, died October 2, 2006). She was a controversial Republican congresswoman from Orofino, Idaho. o o o Camping Survival is moving to a new location just a few miles away. Their new address is 1000 North Horner Blvd in Sanford, North Carolina. You can take advantage of this today with a 10% discount off of everything with a coupon. o o o Today, we present another entry for Round 68 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $15,000 worth …

January 26th, 1945 is the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by the Soviet Army. Established in 1941, Auschwitz was composed of a group of three large and 40 smaller camps used for slave labor, unethical medical experiments, and monstrous killing grounds where prisoners were gassed and cremated. As the Soviets headed for Auschwitz, the German Gestapo began a murder spree and began destroying the facility in an attempt to hide the evidence of their crimes. When the Soviets arrived, they encountered 648 corpses and more than 7000 starving camp survivors along with storehouses filled with hundreds of thousands of …

On January 25th, 1995, the world was minutes from nuclear annihilation. Russia’s early-warning defense radar detected an unexpected missile launch near Norway and calculated that they only had minutes before impact on Moscow. Russian President Boris Yeltsin, the defense minister, and the chief of staff were informed of the missile launch and the nuclear command systems were switched to combat mode and the nuclear suitcases were activated for the first time in the history of the Soviet-made system. Five minutes after launch Russian command determined that the missile’s impact point would be outside Russia’s borders and three minutes after that …

January 24 is the birthday of Tamara K., the editor of the View From The Porch blog. This is also the birthday of René Barjavel (born 1911, died November 24, 1985). This prescient French science fiction author wrote several books with survivalist themes, including Ravage, which was titled Ashes, Ashes in its English translation. o o o The Limited Edition of 1,000 SurvivalBlog Archive Waterproof USB sticks have now sold out, after just one week. But you can still get the digital download. And that, of course can be loaded onto a waterproof USB 8GB (or larger) stick that you …

January 23rd is the birthday of John Moses Browning, born 1855. He was the brilliant designer of dozens of guns, including the M1911 pistol, Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), and the venerable M2 .50 Caliber Machinegun. The latter is still in service in at least 95 countries, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it is still in service in 2075 or even 2100.

Between 1861 and 1865, more than 50,000 civilians died as a direct result of the American Civil War. In the years between 1914 and 1918, more than 7,000,000 innocent civilians died as a direct result of World War I. From 1939 to 1945, more than 23,000,000 innocents died as a direct result of World War II. (This number includes the 11 million deliberately killed in concentration camps.) Between 1905 and 1941, Stalin purged Russia of anyone whom he considered a threat or disloyal, murdering somewhere over 25,000,000 innocent people. Mao Tse-tung murdered more than 45,000,000 people from his own country …

On January 21st, 1948, Eliza Moore, the last surviving individual born into slavery before the Emancipation Proclamation, died in Montgomery County, Alabama, at age 105. Since 68 years have now elapsed since her death and 151 years have now elapsed since 1865, JWR perhaps presumptuously hereby declares that it is now fully high time for Americans to Get Over It and instead focus on current slavery issues, like the uncounted thousands of slaves now being held by Muslims in North Africa. There is no cause for so-called White Guilt in our generation, but we should feel badly about doing little …

Today is the birthday of Congressman Richard Henry Lee (1732–1794). o o o FYSA (For Your Situational Awareness), Forward Observer has started their battle tracking for the Inauguration, just like they did for the Ferguson riots. Check out the battle map and if you want to participate in this tracking effort to learn the process, scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the instructions. This is an excellent opportunity to see how a community can pull together and create real time intelligence that can benefit your decisions. (Note: You do not have to be local to Washington, …

January 19th is the birthday of the late Carla Emery (born 1939, died October 11, 2005). She is well known in self-sufficency circles as the author of The Encyclopedia of Country Living. (This book re-released in a 40th Anniversary edition.) o o o Seed for Security is having a sale with 20% off of their Super Survival Pack. This Pack includes 4 lbs. of survival seeds and 2 pints of healthful grains. All of their seed is heirloom, non GMO, and none is hybrid. Their 4 page detailed Seed Saving Guide is included. They are also including 6 metallized Polybags …