Category: Note

On May 25th, 1787, the Constitutional Convention convened in Philadelphia with George Washington presiding. The task of the peaceful overthrow of the new American government as it had been defined by the Articles of Confederation eventually led to the United States Constitution that is so abused today. — Here are two new property listings over at our family’s SurvivalRealty.com spin-off: Two 5 Acre Parcels near Puget Sound, Washington. and, near Boise, Idaho: Totally Remodeled Cabin on 40 Acres. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 100 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this …

On May 24th, 1775, John Hancock was elected president of the Second Continental Congress. He is best known for his large signature on the Declaration of Independence, which he jested the British king could read “without his spectacles.” — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 100 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 …

May 23 is the birthday of George Lars Kellgren (born 1943 in Borås, Sweden), the founder and chief engineer of Kel-Tec. According to LeftistAgendaPedia: He designed many firearms earlier for Husqvarna and Swedish Interdynamics AB in Sweden. He moved to the US in 1979 and his original US designs were for Intratec and Grendel brand firearms. He founded Kel-Tec in 1991. On this day in 1934 the outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were killed by a pair of deputized former Texas Rangers and assorted local police, near Gibbsland, Louisiana. — Today’s feature article is a review written by our …

The War of the Roses began on May 22, 1455. From History.com’s description: “In the opening battle of England’s War of the Roses, the Yorkists defeat King Henry VI’s Lancastrian forces at St. Albans, 20 miles northwest of London. Many Lancastrian nobles perished, including Edmund Beaufort, the duke of Somerset, and the king was forced to submit to the rule of his cousin, Richard of York. The dynastic struggle between the House of York, whose badge was a white rose, and the House of Lancaster, later associated with a red rose, would stretch on for 30 years. Both families, closely …

May 21st is the birthday of weapons designer John Douglas Pedersen. (Born 1881, died 1951.) His name is almost synonymous with the short-lived Pedersen Device (pictured) — a conversion kit that turned a Model 1903 Springfield bolt action rifle into a pistol caliber semi-automatic “trench broom.” — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 100 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 …

May 20th, 1942 The birthday of Carlos Hathcock (died February 23, 1999) was a United States Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant sniper with a service record of 93 confirmed kills. — Also: Happy birthday to my old pal, Brad C. We are friends for life! — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 100 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 …

On May 19, 1796, the first game law was approved in the United States. The law created penalties for hunting or destroying game within Indian Territory. Modern American fish and game laws make “living off the land” nearly impossible, outside of Alaska. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 100 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 …

On May 18th, 1980, Mount St. Helens in Washington erupted, causing a massive avalanche and killing 57 people. Ash from the volcanic eruption fell as far away as Minnesota. Seismic activity at Mount St. Helens, which is 96 miles south of Seattle, began on March 16. A 4.2-magnitude tremor was recorded four days later and then, on March 23-24, there were 174 different recorded tremors. The first eruption occurred on March 27, when a 250-foot wide vent opened up on top of the mountain. Ash was blasted 10,000 feet in the air, some of which came down nearly 300 miles …

On this day in 1769, George Washington launched a legislative salvo at Great Britain’s fiscal and judicial attempts to maintain its control over the American colonies. He brought a package of non-importation resolutions, drafted by George Mason, before the Virginia House of Burgesses. This initiated a chain of events that led to Britain’s House of Lords demanding that men involved in the extra-legal Massachusetts convention of towns be tried in England. Britain’s plan backfired and created an American identity where before there had been none. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 100 of the SurvivalBlog …

On May 16, 1997, Zaire’s president, Mobutu Sese Seko, ended 32 years of dictatorial rule, giving control of the country to rebel forces. — Today is the birthday of clarinetist, saxophonist, and bandleader Woody Herman.  (Born 1913, died October 29, 1987 — Today we present a review written by our Field Gear Editor Emeritus,  Pat Cascio.

I just heard that actor Fred Ward (of Tremors, The Right Stuff, and Remo Williams fame) passed away at age 79. He will be missed. — Today is the birthday of Evelyn Ernest Owen (15 May 1915 – 1 April 1949) was an Australian who developed the Owen submachine gun which was used by the Australian Army in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. — On May 15th, 1942, gasoline rationing began in 17 Eastern states as an attempt to help the American war effort during World War II. The main concern behind the rationing scheme …

I received news that Randy Weaver has passed away. While I had no fondness for his racism, I certainly empathized with him, for what the ATF, US Marshalls, and FBI put his family through. Clearly, he was set up, for overtly political reasons. I never met Randy, but I did meet his daughter Sara, in 2019. My condolences to her and the rest of the Weaver family. — May 14th, 1686 was the birthday of Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, who invented the thermometer. On May 14th, 1948, in Tel Aviv, Jewish Agency Chairman David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the State of Israel, reestablishing …

May 13th is the birthday of firearms engineer Theodor Koch (born 1905, died 1976.) Koch, along with Edmund Heckler and Alex Seidel salvaged tooling from the bombed-out Mauser factory at Oberndorf, and with it founded Heckler und Koch. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 100 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 …

101 years ago this week, in May of 1921 a solar storm began, dubbed: The Great Geomagnetic Storm of May 1921. These were some of the headlines: “Telegraph Service Prostrated, Comet Not to Blame” — declared the Los Angeles Times on May 15, 1921. “Electrical Disturbance is ‘Worst Ever Known’” — reported the Chicago Daily Tribune. “Sunspot credited with Rail Tie-up” — in The New York Times. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 100 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest …

On May 11, 1949, Israel was admitted into the United Nations. — Reader Tracy M. mentioned that Spaceweather.com reported this yesterday: X-CLASS SOLAR FLARE: An unusually-magnetized sunspot exploded on May 10th, producing an intense X1.5-class solar flare. Shortwave radio signals were blacked out around the Atlantic Ocean for as much as an hour, and now there’s a chance a CME is heading our way. SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 100 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 …