January 20, 1954, a low of -70°F was measured at Rogers Pass, Montana.

On January 20, 1954, a low of -70°F was measured at Rogers Pass, Montana. This still stands as the record low temperature in the contiguous United States.

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January 20, 1981: 52 American hostages were released by the Iranian government, following 444 days of captivity, to be reunited with their families. Not coincidentally, Ronald Reagan was sworn in as President, the same day. I have a feeling that Hamas may soon be releasing its Israeli hostages, for a quite similar reason.  – JWR

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The new 2005-2024 SurvivalBlog waterproof archive sticks are selling out rapidly. There are now less than 70 available. Many readers are ordering 2 or 3 of them at a time. The sticks are now in hand with the family that handles our order fulfillment, and they are packing orders.  Mailings of the USB sticks will begin on Thursday, more than a week ahead of schedule.  Orders will be filled in the order that they were received. For a full list of the included bonus books, see my post from Monday, January, 13th.

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Today’s feature article is a review written by our own Tom Christianson.

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We need a few more articles to complete Round 116 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $935,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. 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. Round 116 ends on January 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.