SurvivalBlog.com

On June 26, 1794 the Battle of Fleurus was a major victory by forces of the First French Republic under General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan over the Coalition Army (Great Britain, Hanover, Dutch Republic, and Habsburgs). It marked the first use of a military reconnaissance balloon.

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June 26th is the birthday of Marine Corps Lt. General Chesty Puller (born 1898, died October 11, 1971). Perhaps America’s finest-ever maverick officer, Puller was part of what I call the Even Greater Generation.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 119 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.

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. A $269 retail value survival-ready power package from Solar Power Lifestyle. This includes two Solar Power Lifestyle 25W Portable Solar Panels, plus a $150 gift card to use for any purchase at solarpowerlifestyle.com.
3. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from TOUGHGRID.com (a $287 value).
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 $960,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 119 ends on July 31st, 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 June 25th, 1530, German Protestant princes forced Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (pictured) to hear their Confession of Faith — a statement of Lutheran theology, now known as The Augsburg Confession.

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On June 25th, 1798, the US Congress passed the Alien Act, allowing the president to deport dangerous aliens.

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June 25th, 1876: Native American forces led by Chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull defeated the U.S. Army troops of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer in a bloody battle near southern Montana’s Little Bighorn River. The Battle of Little Bighorn–also called Custer’s Last Stand – marked the most decisive Native American victory and the worst U.S. Army defeat in the long Plains Indian War.

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I’m sad to report that Quantum Harvest — one of our long-time writing contest prize donors — has gone out of business.  This means that we are now looking for another writing contest prize donor.  If you own a company that has a product or service of interest to SurvivalBlog readers, please let me know if you’d like some publicity.  Thanks!  –  JWR

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We are running a one-week sale on all of our pre-1899 sporter rifles at Elk Creek Company. There are some very deep discounts. Order yours, soon. They can be mailed directly to your doorstep or your P.O. box, in most states.  This sale will end on Monday, June 30th.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 119 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.

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. A $269 retail value survival-ready power package from Solar Power Lifestyle. This includes two Solar Power Lifestyle 25W Portable Solar Panels, plus a $150 gift card to use for any purchase at solarpowerlifestyle.com.
3. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from TOUGHGRID.com (a $287 value).
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.

—

More than $960,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 119 ends on July 31st, 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 June 24, 1374, a sudden outbreak of St. John’s Dance caused people in the streets of Aachen, Germany, to experience hallucinations and begin to jump and twitch uncontrollably until they collapsed from exhaustion. There is now conjecture that this strange outbreak was caused by rye bread contaminated with ergot fungus — a mycotoxin.

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June 24th is the birthday of rifle-toting abolitionist pastor Henry Ward Beecher. (Born 1813, died March 8, 1887.) He and his adherents from his church smuggled so many Sharps rifles to Bleeding Kansas that the Sharps rifles picked up the nickname Beecher’s Bibles. The Infogalactic Wiki states: “Several of his brothers and sisters became well-known educators and activists, most notably Harriet Beecher Stowe, who achieved worldwide fame with her abolitionist novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”

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And on June 24, 1853, US President Franklin Pierce signed the Gadsden Purchase, buying 29,670 square miles (76,800 square km) from Mexico for $10 million.  (That equates to about $1.72 per acre.) This area is now known as southern Arizona and New Mexico).

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 119 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.

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. A $269 retail value survival-ready power package from Solar Power Lifestyle. This includes two Solar Power Lifestyle 25W Portable Solar Panels, plus a $150 gift card to use for any purchase at solarpowerlifestyle.com.
3. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from TOUGHGRID.com (a $287 value).
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.

—

More than $960,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 119 ends on July 31st, 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.