Category: Note

May 10th is the birthday of the late Janis Pinups (born 1925, died 15 June 2007). He was one of the last of the Forest Brothers anti-communist resistance fighters. He came out of hiding, after five decades, to obtain a Latvian passport in 1994, after the collapse of eastern European communism. (He was never issued any communist government identity papers and by necessity lived as a nonexistent ghost during the entire Soviet occupation of Latvia.) The history of the Forest Brothers movement certainly deserves more recognition. May 10, 1972. Top Gun Graduate Randall “Duke” Cunningham and his backseater Wally “Irish” …

On May 9th, 1945, Herman Goering– commander in chief of the Luftwaffe, president of the Reichstag, head of the Gestapo, prime minister of Prussia, and Hitler’s designated successor– was taken prisoner by the U.S. Seventh Army in Bavaria. Goering, who was addicted to painkillers due to a wound, was instrumental in creating concentration camps for political enemies. It was Goering who ordered the purging of German Jews from the economy following the Kristallnacht program in 1938, initiating an “Aryanization” policy that confiscated Jewish property and businesses. Tried and convicted at the Nuremberg trials, he was sentenced to hanging, but before …

May 8th is the birthday of missionary and U.S. military intelligence officer John Birch. (Born, 1918, died August 25, 1945.) He is considered by many to be the first American casualty of the Cold War. This is also the birthday of Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek. And today is the 77th anniversary of VE Day, otherwise known as Victory in Europe Day. — 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% …

On May 7, 1867 Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel patented dynamite in England. This was the first of three patents that he would receive for the explosive. — 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 be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a …

May 6th is the birthday of Tuvia Bielski. (Born 1906, died 1987.) You may remember him as the main character in the movie Defiance. This movie was based on the book Defiance: The Bielski Partisans by Nechama Tec. — 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 …

This is the birthday of Pat Frank (1908-1964). This was the pen name of newspaper journalist Harry Hart Frank. His novel Alas, Babylon is a survivalist classic. His personal life was marred by alcoholism, but his writing is admired and still surprisingly popular, today. (Alas, Babylon is still in print, after 63 years!) As an homage to Pat Frank, one of the settings in my novel Expatriates is Mt. Dora, Florida, which was fictionalized by Pat Frank as “Fort Repose” in Alas, Babylon. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 100 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing …

May 4th 1943 – A patent for helicopter controls was obtained by Igor Sikorsky. Sikorsky designed and patented improvements to fixed-wing and multi-engined aircraft, transoceanic flying boats, and most famously, helicopters. On May 4, 1415, reformers John Wycliffe and Jan Hus were condemned as heretics at the Council of Constance. The death of Hus inspired the later Hussite revolution in Bohemia. — 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% …

His 70th birthday! May 3rd, 1952 was the birthday of Pastor Chuck Baldwin. His ministry has strongly promoted the American Redoubt movement. — I was saddened to hear that pro-gun novelist John Ross passed away. He is of course remembered as the author of the very influential novel Unintended Consequences. Please say a prayer for his family members. — Two interesting new SurvivalRealty.com property listings: 1.) West of Socorro, New Mexico: Unique New Mexico Mountain Home – Prepper/Safe Haven, Hunting Camp. It even has a fallout shelter! 2.)  Beautiful and practical, ideal for lifestyle and as a refuge: A 10-acre …

On May 2, 1945, the Soviet Union announced the fall of Berlin and the Allies announced the surrender of Nazi troops in Italy and parts of Austria. — Today we present a review written by our stalwart Field Gear Editor Emeritus, Pat Cascio.

May 1st is the birthday of the late Joel Rosenberg, a Canadian-born novelist and gun rights advocate (born 1954, died June 2, 2011). He is not to be confused with Joel C. Rosenberg (born 1967), who is another great novelist and the author of The Last Jihad series. — 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 …

April 30, 1777 was the birthday of Carl Friedrich Gauss, who is widely considered the world’s greatest mathematician. Today is also the birthday of sci-fi novelist Larry Niven (born April 30, 1938). Along with Jerry Pournelle, he co-authored the survivalist classic Lucifer’s Hammer. April 30th is also the birthday of Ed Yourdon, who was born in 1944. — 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 …

Today is the birthday of actor Daniel Day-Lewis (born 1957), often remembered for his starring roles in Last of the Mohicans and in Lincoln. — 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 be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value), …

April 28th is the birthday of Aimo Johannes Lahti. (Born in 1896.) This inventive Finn designed (or co-designed) an amazing array of weapons including the L-35 Lahti pistol, the Suomi M-31 SMG, the Lahti-Saloranta M/26 LMG, the famous Lahti L-39 20mm anti-tank rifle, and even the 20 ItK 40 (a 20mm dual anti-aircraft cannon.) — I just heard that David J. Theroux, the founder of the Independent Institute, has passed away, after a brief illness.  Our condolences to his family.  Take the time to read his biography — with links to some of his well-reasoned writings. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest …

On this day in 1789, the crew of the British ship Bounty mutinied, setting Captain William Bligh and 18 sailors adrift in a launch in the South Pacific. — 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 be used for any of their one, two, or three-day …

On April 26, 1986, one of the world’s worst nuclear accidents occurred at the Chernobyl plant in the Ukrainian portion of the USSR. An explosion and fire in the No. 4 reactor sent radioactivity into the atmosphere; at least 31 Soviets died immediately. JWR’s Comments: I was unfortunately a Chernobyl down-winder. You see, I was TDY with the 2nd M.I. Battalion at Stuttgart Army Airfield that spring, working live Guardrail intel missions. After the Soviet reactor went kablooey, we were all lied to by both the West German government and the U.S. Army. They later revealed that they had downplayed …