Category: Note

The late Jerry Ahern passed away on this day, July 24th, in 2012. His survivalist novels created an entire genre. — Just a few days left! Get your article in for Round 107 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $825,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. We recently polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 107 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that …

On July 23, 1777  Polish military leader Casimir Pulaski arrived in Marblehead, Massachusetts, to volunteer in the Continental Army cavalry. On July 23, 1944 Battle of Kursk (Koersk) ended. This massive tank battle in the USSR was a defeat for the Nazis, with thousands of German tanks destroyed. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 107 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 …

Led by U.S. General George S. Patton, Allied forces took Palermo, on the northwest corner of Sicily, on July 22, 1943.  This gave them a strategic foothold from which to invade mainland Italy during World War II. — On July 22, 1489, the Treaty of Frankfurt was signed between Maximilian of Austria and King Charles VIII of France. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 107 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 …

July 21st is the birthday of Ernest Hemingway. He was born in 1899 in Oak Park, Illinois. He committed suicide on July 2, 1961 in Ketchum, Idaho, after being diagnosed with haemochromatosis, and after electroshock treatments failed to lift him from chronic alcoholic depression. He lived a sad life but was a great writer. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 107 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, …

Today would have been the 90th birthday of novelist Cormac McCarthy (born, 1933.) Sadly, he passed away on June 13, 2023 — just a month shy of his 90th. He is the author of the survivalist novel The Road, which later became a popular movie with the same title. He also wrote No Country For Old Men, which later became an even more popular movie. On July 20th, 1969, At 10:56 p.m. EDT, American astronaut Neil Armstrong, 240,000 miles from Earth, spoke these words to more than a billion people listening at home: “That’s one small step for a man, …

July 19th is coincidentally the birthday of handgun designers Samuel Colt (born 1814, pictured) and Gaston Glock (born 1929). — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 107 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. 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), Two cases of Mountain House …

July 18th, 1954 is the birthdate of Ricky Skaggs, an American country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, mandocaster, and banjo. — At the request of a reader in Michigan, I’ve begun posting my SurvivalBlog meme creations to Twitter.  You can see them here.  Yes, that really is my Twitter account.  Now that Elon Musk has settled in at running the show, and seems to be keeping his Free Speech promises, I decided to reactivate my moribund Twitter account. By the way, your “Follows” and re-tweets are greatly appreciated.  …

On July 17, 1996, TWA flight 800 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Long Island, killing all 230 people on board; a U.S. government inquiry determined that a mixture of fuel and air had ignited accidentally within a fuel tank, though others believe the jetliner was shot down by a missile. — July 17th was also the birthdate of Erle Stanley Gardner, in 1889. He was an American lawyer and author. Though best known for the Perry Mason series of detective stories, he wrote numerous other novels and shorter pieces, as well as a series of nonfiction …

July 16th is the anniversary of the first successful atomic bomb test in Alamogordo, New Mexico in 1945. This portentous event heralded the advent of the age of nuclear weapons. Plans for the creation of a uranium bomb by the Allies were established as early as 1939. In 1940, the federal government granted a total of $6,000 for research, but in early 1942, with the United States at war, the limits on spending were removed. The total cost was in excess of $2 billion. Germany was also feared to be working on a bomb, as was Japan, though neither of …

On July 15th, 1888, the Bandai Volcano erupted on the Japanese island of Honshu killing hundreds and burying many nearby villages in ash. While Honshu is in an area of frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, this eruption was surprising. The volcano had erupted only four times in the 1,000 years prior and none had been particularly deadly. However, this eruption was different. The rumblings started just after 7 a.m. Within 30 minutes there was an explosion on the north side of the mountain and over the next two hours there were dozens of explosions giving villagers very little time to …

During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress adopted a resolution on June 14th, 1777, stating that “the flag of the United States be thirteen alternate stripes red and white” and that “the Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.” The national flag, which became known as the “Stars and Stripes,” was based on the “Grand Union” flag– a banner carried by the Continental Army in 1776 that also consisted of 13 red and white stripes. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 107 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The …

On July 13, 1832, Henry Rowe Schoolcraft identified the source of the Mississippi River as Lake Itasca in Minnesota. — On this day in 1787, Congress enacted the Northwest Ordinance structuring settlement of the Northwest Territory and creating a policy for the addition of new states to the nation. The members of Congress knew that if their new confederation were to survive intact, it had to resolve the states’ competing claims to western territory. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 107 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: …

On July 12, 1979, between games of a baseball doubleheader involving the Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers at Comiskey Park, disco records were blown up as part of a promotion dubbed Disco Demolition Night. Fans subsequently rushed the field, and, as a result of the ensuing mayhem, the second game was forfeited to the Tigers. (Photo by Fred Jewell, Associated Press.) — On July 12, 1543, King Henry VIII of England wed his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 107 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The …

July 11th is the birthday of John Quincy Adams. He was born in 1767 and died in 1848. Not to be confused with his father John Adams, the younger Adams also served as a diplomat, congressman, and as president. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 107 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. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This …

July 10th is the birthday of British novelist John Wyndham. (His full name was John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris, but Harris shortened that to just “John Wyndham” for his pen name.) He we was born in 1903 and died March 11, 1969. Harris was a good friend of fellow novelist Samuel Youd (1922-2012), who wrote under several pen names, including John Christopher. Both men were famous for writing what are often called “cozy catastrophes”. Several of Wyndham’s novels and short stories have been adapted to film, with varying degrees of success. One of the best of these was a …