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November 19, 1530: The final decree of the Diet of Augsburg, “The Recess,” is signed by Charles V and Catholic princes, reaffirming Catholic rites and principles after the departure of Protestant princes.

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Today is the anniversary of the Kyle Rittenhouse “Not Guilty” verdicts, in 2021.

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On this day in 1863, U.S. President Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address, at the dedication service for the National Cemetery in Pennsylvania.

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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:

1. 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),
2. A Peak Refuel “Wasatch Pack” variety of 60 servings of premium freeze-dried breakfasts and dinners in individual meal pouches — a whopping 21,970 calories, all made and packaged in the USA — courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
3. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses. Their course catalog now includes their latest Survival Gunsmithing course.
4. HSM Ammunition in Montana is providing a $350 gift certificate. The certificate can be used for any of their products.
5. Harvest Guard is providing a 200-Piece Bulk Mix Pack of their Regular and Wide-Mouth Reusable Canning Jar Lids & Gaskets. This is a $161 + shipping value.

Second Prize:

1. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
2. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from TOUGHGRID.com (a $287 value).
3. Preparedness author Jennifer Rader is offering a $200 purchase credit for any of her eight published food storage and medical preparedness books, including the Good Eats at the TEOTWAWKI Café series, the Armageddon Pharmacy series, and the Medicine Surrounds Us series.
4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of gun purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

1. A Berkey Light water filter, courtesy of USA Berkey Filters (a $305 value),
2. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.
3. A $200 credit from Military Surplus LLC that can be applied to purchase and/or shipping costs for any of their in-stock merchandise, including full mil-spec ammo cans, Rothco clothing and field gear, backpacks, optics, compact solar panels, first aid kits, and more.
4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

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More than $970,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 121 ends on November 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic.

According to Swiss lore, on November 18, 1307, William Tell of the canton of Uri was forced by Habsburg invaders to shoot an apple off his son’s head, with a crossbow. The international gun rights organization ProTell was named in his honor.

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On November 18, 1865, Mark Twain published the short story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” in The New York Saturday Press.

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On this day in 1978, Peoples Temple founder Jim Jones led hundreds of his followers in a mass murder-suicide at their agricultural commune in a remote part of the South American nation of Guyana. This incredibly tragic occurrence introduce the term “…drink the Kool-Aid” into our parlance, since poison-laced punch was the vehicle behind most of the deaths.

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Today’s feature article is by our friend Patrice Lewis, from her outstanding Rural Revolution blog. I think she intended it as a dose of reality for some of her urban readers who dream of being homesteaders.  The article is re-posted with permission.

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We need a few more entries for Round 121 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $970,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 121 ends on November 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic.

November 17,  1774: First City Troop, Philadelphia City Cavalry formed at Carpenter’s Hall, Philadelphia. It is one of the oldest US military units still in service.

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On this day in 1777, the Articles of Confederation were submitted to the states for ratification.

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Be sure to mark your calendar for February 1, 2026, to order your 20th Anniversary Edition of the waterproof SurvivalBlog Archive USB stick. The 2005-2025 edition will have at least 12 more bonus books.  These will include the 4-volume Audel’s Carpenters and Builders Guide as well as Horace Kephart’s classic book on Woodcraft, and the USMC’s most recent photo-illustrated Hand and Arm Signals field manual. There will also be two more books authored by Lowell Thomas, an Army manual on Rigging, and a 645-page textbook on Practical Physics.

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Today’s feature article is a review penned by Field Gear Editor Tom Christianson.

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We still need some articles for Round 121 of the blog’s writing contest. More than $970,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 121 ends on November 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic.

On November 16, 534, the Second and final revision of the Justinian Code (“Codex Justinianus“) was published. This was a codified set of imperial and classical laws that initially began in 528.

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November 16, 1933: Swiss physicist Fritz Zwicky published the first evidence for the existence of dark matter in his seminal article “The Redshift of Extragalactic Nebulae”.

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November 16th was the birthday of Michael D. Echanis (born 1950, died September 1978), a former United States Army Special Forces and 75th Ranger Battalion enlisted man. He was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star with “V” device as a LRRP in the Vietnam War. He was born and raised in eastern Oregon. Echanis was killed while working for the CIA in Nicaragua in 1978 in a plane crash along with his colleague Charles Sanders and members of the Nicaraguan armed forces. There was conjecture that the plane was destroyed in flight by a saboteur’s bomb. My novel Survivors includes a minor character from Oregon with the surname Echanis, as a small homage to Mike Echanis.

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Today’s feature article is an essay by Brandon Smith.  He is a frequent guest contributor to SurvivalBlog. He is the editor of the free Alt-Market.us website and the by-subscription newsletter The Wild Bunch Dispatch.

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We still need some entries for Round 121 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.  More than $970,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running the contest.  Round 121 ends on November 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic.