Category: Note

January 30th, 1925 was the birthday of Douglas Engelbart, who invented the computer mouse. Actor Eugene “Gene” Allen Hackman was born January 30, 1930. January 30th is the birthday of historian Barbara Tuchman. (Born 1912, died February 6, 1989). — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 98 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 …

Today is the birthday of actor Tom Selleck (born 1945), best known for playing the title role of Magnum, P.I. He is an avid shooter and quite pro-gun. On this day in 1845 Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” was published. Today is also the birthday of journalist and inventor Thomas Paine (1737–1809.) — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 98 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 …

January 28, 1855 was the birthday of William Seward Burroughs, who invented the adding machine. January 28th is also the anniversary of the rescue of General James L. Dozier from his Italian Red Brigades kidnappers. Tangentially, Colonel Jeff Cooper created a shooting drill in honor of those who freed him – The Dozier Drill. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 98 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 is the birthday of the late Helen Chenoweth (born, 1938, died October 2, 2006). She was a controversial Republican congresswoman from Orofino, Idaho. January 27, 1880 — Patent No. 223,898 was granted to Thomas A. Edison for “an electric lamp for giving light by incandescence.” Today is also the birthday of singer-songwriter Kate Wolf. (Born 1942, died December 10, 1986.) Her untimely death at age 44 cut short an amazing career and robbed America of a great songwriting talent. — UPDATE:  The first batch of 1,000 SurvivalBlog Waterproof 2005-2021 Archive USB sticks have now all been mailed!  Mailings of …

January 26th, 1945 is the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by the Soviet Army. Established in 1941 Auschwitz was a complex of three large camps and 40 smaller camps used for slave labor, unethical medical experiments, and monstrous killing grounds where prisoners were gassed and cremated. As the Soviets headed for Auschwitz, the German Gestapo began a murder spree and began destroying the facility in an attempt to hide the evidence of their crimes. When the Soviets arrived, they encountered 648 corpses and more than 7,000 starving camp survivors along with storehouses filled with hundreds of thousands of dresses, …

Today is the birthday of celebrated Scottish poet Robert “Bobby” Burns. He was born on January 25, 1759. — A quick update on the latest edition of the SurvivalBlog Archive USB stick:  455 orders have already been mailed. The remainder of the first batch of 1,000 sticks should be in the mail by early February. Since the first batch sold out so quickly, we’ve already ordered another 600 sticks, and we are taking backorders. Mailings from that second batch should begin in the third week of February. Thanks for your patience. SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for …

Today is the birthday of Tamara K., the editor of the long-running and very entertaining View From The Porch blog. January 24th is also the birthday of René Barjavel (born 1911, died November 24, 1985). This prescient French science fiction author wrote several books with survivalist themes, including Ravage, which was titled Ashes, Ashes in its English translation. — Today we present another review written by our Field Gear Editor Emeritus, Pat Cascio.  

On January 23rd, 1570, the world’s first assassination by firearm occurred when James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray was shot in Linlithgow, Scotland. On January 23rd, 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell was awarded her M.D., becoming the first female doctor in the U.S. January 23rd, 1855 was the birthday of John Moses Browning. He was the brilliant designer of dozens of guns, including the M1911 pistol, Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), and the venerable M2 .50 Caliber Machinegun. Today is also the birthday of my #2 Grandson. His coincidental “Browning Birthday” ensures that he will inherit a disproportionately large portion of my guns …

On January 22, 1944, Allied forces began landing at Anzio, Italy. On January 22, 1984 the first Apple Macintosh Computer was announced. The memorable first ad for the Mac aired just once, during the 1984 Super Bowl. One interesting fact is that the advertisement aired only once prior to its nationwide showing. A few minutes before midnight on December 31, 1983, it aired on Twin Falls, Idaho television station KMVT, Channel 11. This was so that it complied with rules that allowed it to be entered into an advertising competition. Once the ad aired, the tape was mailed back to …

On this day in 1968, the siege of Khe Sanh began, as NVA regulars surrounded the USMC hilltop airfield near the Laotian border. Fearing a repeat of the French Army’s 1953 Dien Bien Phu debacle, the Pentagon assigned maximum round-the-clock air power to the region, including B-52 bomber strikes, to break the siege. According to the Infogalatic wiki this was “‘the most concentrated application of aerial firepower in the history of warfare’. On an average day 350 tactical fighter-bombers, 60 B-52s, and 30 light observation or reconnaissance aircraft operated in the skies near Khe Sanh.” More than 100,000 tons of …

Today is the birthday of Congressman Richard Henry Lee (1732–1794) — January 20th, 1993 is a Red Letter Day for me. That was the day that Bill Clinton was first sworn in as President. That is also the same day that I resigned my commission as a U.S. Army Captain. I did so because I detested the idea of Clinton as my Commander in Chief. My commissioning document has Ronald Reagan’s signature. — You may recall reading that my mother passed away, in October. Her house in Livermore, California just went up for sale, yesterday. That was where I lived, …

Today is the birthday of the late Carla Emery (born 1939, died October 11, 2005). She is well known in self-sufficiency circles as the author of The Encyclopedia of Country Living. January 19th is also the birthday of General Robert E. Lee. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 98 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 …

January 18th, 1813 was the birthday Joseph Glidden, who invented barbed wire. And speaking of barbed wire — and the lack thereof — Kevin Costner, who starred in Open Range, was born on this day in 1955. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 98 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 …

On this day in 1994, the 6.7 magnitude Northridge Earthquake struck Los Angeles. It caused about $20 billion in damage and killed 61 people. This is also the anniversary of the Battle of Cowpens in 1781. This small battle was the turning point of the American Revolution in the South. In it, the best battlefield tactician America produced, the backwoodsman Daniel Morgan, decisively and utterly defeated the most arrogant, bloody, and successful field grade officer in the British Army, Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton. The battle set in motion the chain of events that led directly to the decisive siege at …

On January 16, 1920, one year after it was ratified, the 18th Amendment to the Constitution went into effect, for the prohibition of the sale of alcoholic beverages. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 98 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 …