May 21, 1871, French troops began their attack on the Commune de Paris.
![](https://survivalistbriefing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Barricade18March1871-978x570.jpg)
On May 21, 1871, French regular troops began their attack on the Commune de Paris — an attempted French revolutionary government that seized power and barricaded streets in Paris from 18 March to 28 May, 1871. By July 28th, 17,000 had died.
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On May 21, 32, after flying for 17 hours from Newfoundland, Amelia Earhart landed near Londonderry, Northern Ireland, becoming the first transatlantic solo flight by a woman.
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Today is the birthday of English poet Alexander Pope. (Born May 21, 1688, died May 30, 1744.) In addition to his own poetical works and essays, he translated the Iliad and then the Odyssey. He also issued a new edition of Shakespeare‘s works.
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May 21st is also the birthday of weapons designer John Douglas Pedersen. (Born 1881, died 1951.) His name is almost synonymous with the short-lived Pedersen Device — a conversion kit that turned a Model 1903 Springfield bolt action rifle into a semi-automatic “trench broom.”
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The Sporter Sale is On! For just the next four days, all of the sporterized rifles in my inventory are on sale, at Elk Creek Company. This sale ends at midnight Pacific Time, Friday, May 24th, so order soon.
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Today we present another entry for Round 112 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:
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More than $875,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 112 ends on May 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.