Category: Note

On February 20, 1472, the Orkney and Shetland Islands were ceded by Norway to Scotland as part of a dowry payment. (Pictured are some of the Shetland Islands.) — February 20, 1824: The first description of a dinosaur: ‘Megalosaurus or Great Fossil Lizard of Stonesfield’ was pesented to the Geological Society of London by William Buckland, beginning dinosaur mania — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 123 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Gunsite Academy Three-Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, …

On February 19, 2008, Fidel Castro finally stepped down as Cuba’s president. He was then 81 years old and had been in power for 49 years. His successor was his younger brother Raul, who was also a stiff-necked communist.  He held power until 2021. The nation is still mired in communist bureaucracy and central planning. — And on February 19, 1910, Typhoid Mary (Mary Mallon) was  freed from her first periods of forced isolation and went on to cause several further outbreaks of typhoid in the New York area. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round …

February 18, 1678: John Bunyan‘s Christian novel “The Pilgrim’s Progress” was published in London by Nathaniel Ponder.  Pictured is John Bunyan’s Tomb, at Bunhill Field, London. — Today is also the birthday of astronaut Theodore Cordy “Ted” Freeman (February 18, 1930 – October 31, 1964.) Ted Freeman and his wife Faith were friends of my mother and father.  Both my father and Ted Freeman were stationed at Bryan Air Force base in the early 1950s, and they rented houses three blocks apart, in College Station, Texas. (My father was a T-33 instructor pilot.) About ten years later, while training as …

On February 17, 1940, the Altmark Incident: The crew of the British destroyer Cossack (pictured) boarded the German tanker Altmark in Jøssingfjord, Norway, releasing 299 British prisoners after hand-to-hand fighting with bayonets and the last recorded Royal Naval action with cutlasses. — I just heard that actor Robert Duvall passed away at age 95.  May he rest in peace. – JWR — Using a 13-inch (33-cm) telescope at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, Clyde W. Tombaugh, a 24-year-old American with no formal training in astronomy, discovered the dwarf planet Pluto this day in 1930. — We are nearly done …

On February 16, 1960, the newly-commissioned 447-foot US nuclear submarine USS Triton (SSRN/SSN-586) set off on a 60-day underwater round-world trip — the first submarine to do so.  The sub’s skipper, Captain Edward L. “Ned” Beach Jr., was also famous as the author of Run Silent, Run Deep. — February 16,1968: The first US 911 phone system went into service in Haleyville, Alabama. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 123 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Gunsite Academy Three-Day Course Certificate. This can be used for …

90 years ago, today: The coldest day in North Dakota history. Minus 60 degrees on the Fahrenheit scale was recorded on February 15th, 1936, by a coal miner and volunteer National Weather Service weather observer in Parshall, North Dakota. This remains the lowest temperature ever recorded in the state. Pictured is the Broste Museum in Parshall, North Dakota. February 15th 1809: Birthday of Cyrus Hall McCormick, inventor of a mechanical reaper. Gun developer Richard “Dick” Casull was born on February 15, 1931. Casull passed away on May 6, 2018 after a long battle with cancer. Dick Casull is most famous …

On February 14, 1803, writing the majority opinion text of the landmark Marbury v. Madison case, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall declared that any act of U.S. Congress that conflicts with the Constitution is null and void. — February 14, 1804: Karadjordje led the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottoman Empire. — And February 14, 1942 was the birthday of the late Prepper/Economist Dr. Gary North. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 123 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Gunsite Academy Three-Day Course Certificate. This …

On February 13, 1633, Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei arrived in Rome for trial before the Inquisition for professing the belief that Earth revolves around the Sun. — February 13th is the birthday of Robert Charles “R.C.” Sproul (born 1939, died December 14, 2017), a well-respected American Calvinist theologian — Today is also the birthday of General Chuck Yeager (born, 1923), the first man to break the sound barrier. He passed away on December 7, 2020. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 123 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First …

February 12, 1935: The 785-foot long rigid airship USS Macon (pictured above, at Moffett Field, Sunnyvale, California) was downed in a storm off Point Sur, California, with the loss of two lives, and 64 people rescued. — On February 12, 1873 US Congress passed the Coinage Act of 1873, abolishing bimetallism and placing the country on the gold standard. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 123 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Gunsite Academy Three-Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, …

On February 11th, 1812, Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry signed a redistricting bill. This was the origin of the word “Gerrymander”. — February 11, 2016: Confirmation of gravitational wave theory (through the observed collision of two black holes) announced by physicists from the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 123 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Gunsite Academy Three-Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value), American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is …

On February 10th, 1676, in King Philip’s War: A force of 1,500 Wampanoag, Nipmuc, and Narragansett Indians killed more than 30 men and destroyed buildings in Lancaster, Massachusetts. King Philip’s War, sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom’s War, Pometacomet’s Rebellion, or Metacom’s Rebellion, was fought from 1675 to 1678. Even the leftist/apologist Wikipedia concedes: “King Philip’s War was the last-ditch effort by Native tribes to expel the colonists from New England. Instead, it turned out to be the beginning of the development of an independent American identity. The New England colonists faced their enemies without support from any European …

On February 9th, 1540: The first recorded horse race meeting in England was held at Roodee Fields in Chester. Horse races are still regularly held there. — February 9th, 1555:  My 17th great-grandfather, Dr. Rowland Taylor (born 6 October 1510) was burned alive at the stake during the Marian Persecutions, for professing that Bible scripture is inerrant. He died singing hymns. His martyrdom is described in Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. – JWR — February 9th is the birthday of gun writer Major George Charles Nonte Jr. (Born 1926, died June 30, 1978.) — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another …

On February 8, 1807, the Battle of Eylau ended inconclusively between Napoleon Bonaparte‘s forces and the Russian Empire. This was the first battle where Napoleon wasn’t victorious. — February 8, 1627: Gunpowder was used for the first time in a mining operation, in present-day Slovakia. — And on February 8,1743: Comet C/1743 C1 approached within 0.0390 Astronomical Units of Earth. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 123 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Gunsite Academy Three-Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their …

On February 7, 1812, a magnitude 8.2 earthquake shook New Madrid, Missouri. The public domain photo above was taken in 2006. JWR’s Comment: I’d suggest woodframe rather than brick construction, for earthquake-prone locales… — And on February 7, 1904, The Baltimore Fire.  An estimated 1,500 buildings were destroyed. Fires raged through 80 blocks. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 123 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: 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 February 6, 1891:  The first great train robbery by the Dalton Gang: Southern Pacific #17, near Alila (now Earlimart), California. Pictured are deceased Dalton gang members, following the failed 1892 Coffeyville, Kansas raid. Left to right: Bill Powers; Bob Dalton; Grat Dalton, and Dick Broadwell. — On this day in 1935, the board game Monopoly went on sale for the first time. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 123 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Gunsite Academy Three-Day Course Certificate. This can be used for …