On  March 10, 1831, the French Foreign Legion was established by King Louis-Philippe to support his war in Algeria. — March 10, 1891: Almon Brown Strowger, an undertaker in Topeka, Kansas, patented the Strowger Switch, a device which led to the automation of telephone circuit switching. — And on March 10, 1910, China officially ended slavery. But unofficially, China now has one of the world’s largest slave populations. These are mostly political prisoners, working in prison factories. Sadly, there is no way of reliably knowing whether or not most of the “Made In China” merchandise that you buy might originate…

On Wednesday, after a day of impassioned public comment and sometimes baffling deliberations, the Colorado Parks & Wildlife Commission voted 6-4 to advance a citizen’s petition to prohibit the lawful sale, barter, and trade of wildlife fur. This vote is a win for animal rights groups, but it’s far from an immediate ban on fur sales. Above all, it’s a confusing mess, so let’s dig in, find out what’s going on, and figure out where we go from here.Animal rights groups knew that Colorado Governor Jared Polis appointed several Parks & Wildlife Commissioners who are sympathetic to their cause, and…

00:00:08 Speaker 1: This is the me Eater podcast coming at you shirtless, severely, bug bitten, and in my case, underwear. Listening to podcast, you can’t predict anything brought to you by first Light. When I’m hunting, I need gear that won’t quit. First Light builds, no compromise, gear that keeps me in the field longer, no shortcuts, just gear that works. Check it out at first light dot com. That’s f I R S T L I T E dot com. Hot Damn. We’re joining today by the one of the greatest guests, oh man. I mean, for like…

The M3 Fighting Knife was designed with a single purpose: to kill the enemy. It was designed to penetrate deeply into an opponent during hand-to-hand combat, severing arteries and veins along the way, so that the opponent would quickly lose enough blood to cease to be a threat. The M3 and the KA-BAR were evaluated together for the US military in 1942 by civilians on the Smaller War Plants Corporation Board. It was adopted by that board based on civilian rather than military criteria. The chairman of that board was eager to select designs that could be quickly and economically…

On March 9, 1776, Adam Smith published the influential economics book “The Wealth of Nations”. — March 9, 1916: Pancho Villa‘s men killed more than a dozen in a raid on Columbus, New Mexico. — March 9, 1945, the U.S. Army Air Forces bombed Tokyo with napalm, causing fires that destroyed a quarter of the city and killed some 80,000 civilians. — Today’s feature is by SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Tom Christianson. — We still need entries for Round 123 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $981,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this…

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Richard “Dick” Hyman turns 99 today! (He was born March 8, 1927.) Dick Hyman is a jazz pianist and composer. Over a 70-year career, he has worked as a pianist, organist, arranger, music director, pioneering electronic musician, and composer. He was named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters fellow in 2017. — March 8th is also the birthday of famed revolver shooter, big game hunter, and gun writer Elmer Keith, who co-designed the S&W .44 Magnum and .41 Magnum cartridges. He authored the book Sixguns, which is still considered a standard reference. His fascinating life story is told…

Billed as the oldest continuously operating rifle club in the United States, though several other clubs also claim the title, the Newport Rifle Club (NRC) near Middletown, R.I., is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2026. It’s not the NRC’s longevity that’s headline-worthy; it’s also the fact membership is way up and shows no signs of slowing. The secret to the longevity, according to officials interviewed by American Rifleman, is a mix of community outreach programs, hearty mix of competitions, dedication to safety and family-friendly atmosphere. The fact it was established long ago by one of the era’s most accomplished long-distance…

United Kingdom manufacturer Shield Sights is a pioneer in the field of electronic optics on handguns for competition and self-defense. While most of the company’s contributions were behind the scenes, its introduction of the RMSc (Reflex Mini Sight Compact) brought the red dot into the mainstream for compact, concealed carry firearms. New for 2026, the company is bringing out its latest product, the OSMx, a micro red dot designed for competitive shooting. The Shield OSMx takes the OMSsc sight introduced last year and gives it a larger lens. The OSMx is based on the OMSsc (Open Mini Sight subcompact) introduced…

While shotguns provide a host of benefits, one of the most overlooked is that they are a fair bit quieter than most pistols and rifles. To that end, adding a suppressor to one only expands their versatility. Suppressing a shotgun is easier said than done, though, as options are limited, and mounting one involves using the threads that normally hold a choke. Alas, at that point, weight becomes an issue, as shotgun shells require more suppressor volume to house and vent the enormous amount of gas created when they are fired. Taking these issues into account, Yankee Hill Machine (YHM)…