Category: Note

On March 30, 1981, President Reagan was shot and seriously injured outside a Washington, D.C. hotel by John W. Hinckley Jr. Also wounded were White House news secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy, and District of Columbia police officer Thomas K. Delahanty. Agent McCarthy took a bullet protecting Reagan. McCarthy was not wearing a bulletproof vest. He later became Chief of Police in Orland Park, Illinois. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present the another entry for Round 105 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at …

Today would have been the 104th birthday of William “Bill” Summers Anderson. He passed away on June 29, 2021, at age 102. The following is from his biography at the Infogalactic wiki: “He was born March 29, 1919, in Hankow, China. On December 8, 1941, the day after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Hong Kong was also attacked by the Japanese. As a member of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps (HKVDC), Anderson fought the Japanese but after 17 days of heavy fighting, Hong Kong surrendered. On Christmas Day 1941, exactly four years after he had escaped from the Japanese …

On this day in 845, a 5,000-man strong fleet of Danish Vikings invaded Frankish lands. They only retreated after besieging Paris and securing a ransom from the Frankish King Charles the Bald. This was part of a series of devastating raids begun by the Vikings in the 790s. The Vikings were led by a man named “Reginherus” or Ragnar, sometimes linked to the legendary saga figure Ragnar Lodbrok. The Vikings easily overcame defenses set in place by Charlemagne and are known to have attacked the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés just outside the city. Although struck by an outbreak of plague, the …

On March 127, 1975, construction began on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline; spanning 800 miles (1,300 km), the oil pipeline cost $8 billion. It was completed in 1977. Today is also the anniversary of Tennirife airliner collision disaster, in 1977. And March 27th is the birthday of the late Robert W. Ford (born 1923, died 20 September 2013). He was an amazing man who had a remarkable life. His book, Wind Between The Worlds (an account of experiences in Tibet, captivity by the communist Chinese, and his fight against brainwashing), is highly recommended. It is available for free download. — Today’s feature …

On March 26, 1812, in opposition to the redrawing of districts to favor incumbents in an upcoming election, the Boston Gazette published a satiric cartoon that graphically transformed the districts into a fabulous animal, “The Gerry-mander”; the terms gerrymander and gerrymandering entered the American lexicon. — The Battle of Glorieta Pass began on March 26, 1862.  The outcome of this battle ensured that the west stayed with the Union, and denied the Confederacy the gold and silver from the western states. — On March 26th, 1812 And earthquake now estimated at 7.7 on the Richter scale destroys 90% of Caracas, …

National Medal of Honor Day is officially observed on March 25th of each year in the United States. — On March 25 1944, RAF Flight Sergeant Nicholas Alkemade survived a jump from a burning Lancaster bomber from 18,000 feet over Germany without a parachute. His fall was broken by pine trees boughs and soft snow, and he suffered only a sprained leg. He died on June 22nd, 1987. — This is also the birthday of English film director David Lean. He was born in Croydon, England in 1908. He died in 1991. He is best known for his films Lawrence …

March 24th is the birthday of Dr. Art Robinson, who was born in 1942. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 105 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 freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 …

Today is the anniversary of Patrick Henry’s famous Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death speech. It was delivered to the Second Virginia Revolutionary Convention meeting at St. John’s Church, Richmond, on March 23, 1775. This is also the birthday of Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. He directed 30 films. His samurai films (many of them starring Toshiro Mifune) such as Yojimbo, Sanjuro, The Hidden Fortress, Rashomon, The Seven Samurai, Kagemusha, and Ran are considered legendary in the cinema world. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 105 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for …

March 22nd, 1821 was the birthday of Benjamin Tyler Henry. He was an American gunsmith and manufacturer. On October 16, 1860, he received a patent on the Henry .44 caliber repeating rifle. The first Henry rifles were not produced for Union Army use until mid-1862. Henry died on December 29, 1898. This is the birthday of Louis L’Amour. (Born 1908, died 1988.) Some of his novels have survival themes. One of particular interest to survivalists is Last of the Breed. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 105 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes …

On March 21, 1556, Thomas Cranmer, the first Protestant archbishop of Canterbury, was burned at the stake for violating heresy laws revised under the Roman Catholic queen Mary I. (“Bloody Mary.”) — We’ve reached the Vernal Equinox, so Spring is officially here. Though there is still some unusually late snow still on the ground here at the Rawles Ranch, it certainly feels like Spring. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 105 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 …

Mel Tappan was born 90 years ago today — March 20, 1933. He died in 1980. His perennially popular survivalist books Survival Guns and Tappan on Survival have a well-deserved following. I designated March 20th as National Survivalism Day, in his honor. It is also apropos that National Survivalism Day falls in March–one of the months that both Northern Europeans and Native Americans refer to as The Starving Season–when stored food runs low, but before spring bounty appears. Plan ahead. Stock up. Don’t let your family starve. – JWR — A new listing near Weaverville, North Carolina, over at my …

On March 19, 1982, 50 Argentines landed on South Georgia in the Falkland Islands to plant the Argentine flag. They renamed the islands The Malvinas. This precipitated the Argentine army invasion on April 2nd. Despite some significant naval losses and dreadful weather, British Marines re-took the island on April 25th in a well-coordinated ground campaign.  The photo above shows some of the captured Argentine soldiers, at the end of the war. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 105 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power …

On March 18, 1837, Grover Cleveland, was born. He was the only U.S. president to serve two discontinuous terms (1885–89 and 1893–97). March 18th is the birthday of novelist John Updike. (He was born in 1932 and died in 2009.) It is also the birthday of Luc Besson, director and producer of films such as Nikita and The Fifth Element. He was born in 1959. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 105 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are …

March 17th is the birthday of Józef Franczak (born 1917, died 21 October 1963), who was a Polish Army Corporal who fought in the World War II resistance against the invading Germans. He then carried on after the war, to fight against the occupying Soviets and their Polish communist stooges. Eventually, he was one of the last of the Cursed Soldiers resistance in Poland. His nom de guerre was Lalek. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 105 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists …

A Special Note From JWR to SurvivalBlog Readers:  The Credit Suisse collapse has many analysts predicting a general credit market collapse in Europe. The sticking point, at least at the outset of this mess, will be Credit Default Swaps (CDSes.) Those are derivative contracts. The counterparty risk for banks, trading partners, and customers engaged with Credit Suisse is now off the charts. But that may be the case with the majority of European banks, within a few days. (BNP-Parabas, HSBC, Barclays, Société Générale SA, Banco Santander, Deutsche Bank, Lloyds Banking Group PLC, ING Bank, Standard Chartered, UBS, Rabobank, Commerzbank, Svenska …