Category: Note

On October 20, 1600, the Battle of Sekigahara established the Tokugawa clan as Japan’s rulers (Shoguns.) — October 20, 1634: King of England Charles I levied the “Ship Money” tax on all English and Welsh counties. — October 20, 1906: Dr Lee DeForest demonstrated his electrical vacuum tube. (Soon commonly called a radio tube.) — Today is the birthday of the late Tom Petty. (Born October 20, 1950, died October 2, 2017). He was a great singer-songwriter and a passable actor. — Today is also the birthday of shootist Ed McGivern (born 1874, died December 12, 1957.) He was born …

October 19, 1987: Black Monday. Stock market indices around the world crashed, including the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), which fell 508.32 points (22%). That was 4½ times the previous daily record. — October 19th also marks the anniversary of Operation Gatling; the famous “Green Leader” raid in 1978 in which Rhodesia attacked ZIPRA (Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army) in retaliation for ZIPRA shooting down a scheduled passenger flight, Rhodesia flight 825, during the Rhodesian Bush War. The Rhodesian military suffered only minor casualties in the raid, but claimed to have killed 1,500 ZIPRA personnel as well as some Cuban military …

October 18th 1356: The Basel Earthquake. This was the most significant historically recorded seismological event north of the Alps. It destroyed the city of Basel, Switzerland. It was rebuilt with many of the buildings that can still be seen today. — October 18th, 1662 was the birthday of Matthew Henry (died 22 June 1714). He was a Presbyterian minister who lived primarily in Chester, England. Matthew Henry’s six-volume Exposition of the Old and New Testaments (commonly called Matthew Henry’s Commentary) (1708–1710) is a must for the bookshelf of any serious Bible scholar. — Today’s feature article is short piece by …

On October 17, 1814:  The London Beer Flood: A burst vat at Meux & Company Brewery floods city streets with over 300,000 gallons of porter ale, killing eight, with a possible ninth death from alcohol poisoning — October 17, 1967: USAF test pilot William “Pete” Knight set a record, reaching an altitude of 102,100 feet (31.1 km) in the experimental X-15 spaceplane. — Today’s feature article is a guest post by A.C. of the Stakeholder Prepping Podcast. Since he is a SurvivalBlog advertiser, this article is not eligible for our writing contest. — We need entries for Round 121 of …

On October 16, 1846, dentist William T. G. Morton demonstrated the effectiveness of inhaled ether as a surgical anesthetic. — October 16, 1923: John Harwood patented the self-winding watch in Switzerland. — Mark your calendar for February 16, 2026, to order your 20th Anniversary Edition SurvivalBlog archive USB sticks. We might open pre-ordering as early as January  5th. – JWR SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 121 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 October 15, 1764, Edward Gibbon observed a group of friars singing in the ruined Temple of Jupiter in Rome. This inspired him to begin work on writing The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. — Herbert W. McBride, the author of A Rifleman Went To War, was born in Waterloo, Indiana October 15, 1873. He died in Indianapolis of a heart attack on March 17, 1933, shortly after finishing writing A Rifleman Went To War. — On October 15, 1529, Ottoman armies under Suleiman ended their siege of Vienna and turned back to Belgrade. — …

October 14, 1834: In Philadelphia, Whigs and Democrats staged a gun, stone, and brick battle for control of a Moyamensing Township election, resulting in one death, several injuries, and the burning of a block of buildings. — On October 14,1899, Morning Post reporter Winston Churchill departed to South Africa, toting a Broomhandle Mauser pistol. His goal was to report on the Second Boer War. He was later taken prisoner of war, but escaped. He recounted his exploits in an autobiography titled My Early Life. — The Cuban Missile Crisis began on October 14, 1962, bringing the United States and the …

On October 13, 1775, the Whirlpool Galaxy was discovered by French astronomer Charles Messier. — Margaret Thatcher was born on October 13, 1925. She was the UK’s first female Prime Minister. She died in 2013. — On October 13, 1972, A flight chartered by a Uruguayan rugby team crashed in the Andes Mountains of Argentina, and the wreckage was not located for more than two months; the incident garnered international attention, especially after it was revealed that the survivors had resorted to cannibalism.  

On October 12, 1823, Charles Macintosh of Scotland began selling his trademark raincoats. (Still called “Macintoshes” or “Macs”). — Today, in 1492, after sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus sighted a Bahamian island, believing he had reached East Asia. His expedition went ashore the same day and claimed the land for Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain, who sponsored his attempt to find a western ocean route to China, India, and the fabled gold and spice islands of Asia. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 121 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The …

On October 11, 1923, the hyperinflated German Mark issued by the Weimar regime fell to 10 billion per British Pound and\ 4 billion per U.S. Dollar. — October 11, 1138: A massive earthquake in Aleppo, Syria, killed an estimated 230,000 people. — Today is the 75th birthday of novelist William R. Forstchen. He is best known for his survivalist novel One Second After. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 121 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 …

October 10, 732: The Battle of Tours. The Umayyad army led by Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi was defeated by the Frankish Aquitainian force led by Charles Martel. — Today is the birthday of the late singer-songwriter John Prine (1946-2020). — And this is also the birthday of composer Giuseppe Verdi. (Born 1813, died 1901.) — On October 10th, 1913, the Panama Canal officially linked the Atlantic to the Pacific. — Today’s feature article is a guest post by A.C. of the Stakeholder Prepping Podcast. Since he is a SurvivalBlog advertiser, this article is not eligible for our writing contest. — …

On October 9th, 869: Charles the Bald (a.k.a. Charles II of West Francia) was crowned king of Lotharingen. — October 9, 1000: Leif Ericson discovers “Vinland” (possibly at what was later named L’Anse aux Meadows, Canada) reputedly becoming the first European to reach North America. — And on October 9, 1999, the last flight was made with a Lockheed SR-71 “Blackbird”. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 121 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 …

October 8, 1480: Great Stand on the Ugra River: A standoff between the forces of Akhmat Khan, Khan of the Great Horde, and Ivan III, Grand Prince of all Rus (pictured), ended with a Tatar-Mongol retreat, leading to the disintegration of the Horde. Ivan III, a.k.a. Ivan The Great, sometimes referred to as the “gatherer of the Russian lands”, tripled the territory of his state, ended the dominance of the Golden Horde over the Rus, renovated the Moscow Kremlin, and laid the foundations of the Russian state. — October 8th, 1947 was the birthday of economist and libertarian commentator J. …

On October 7, 1826, the Granite Railway began operations. It was the first chartered railway in the United States. It was built to carry granite from a quarry in Quincy, Massachusetts, to a dock on the Neponset River in Milton. From there, boats carried the heavy stone to Charlestown, for construction of the Bunker Hill Monument. The railway ran three miles (4.8 km) from quarries to the Neponset River. Its wagons had wheels 6 ft (1.83 m) in diameter and were pulled by horses. Pictured is the railway’s incline section, photographed in 1934. — On October 7, 1909, the British …

On October 6, 1889: The first recorded ascent of the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak, by German climber Hans Meyer and Austrian Ludwig Purtscheller. — October 6, 1890: The General Conference of the Latter-day Saints belatedly outlawed polygamy. Their foot-dragging delayed Utah’s admission as a state until 1896. — Today is the birthday of science fiction author David Brin (born, 1950.) He wrote The Postman, which was very loosely the foundation of a movie of the same name by Kevin Costner. — Today’s feature is a review by Field Gear Editor Tom Christainson.