September 24, 2015: According to Saudi officials, 769 people died in a stampede during the hajj to Mecca; however, other estimates claim that more than 2,400 were killed, making it one of the deadliest accidents in the pilgrimage’s history.
On September 24, 1869, plummeting gold prices led to a panic known as Black Friday, when U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant, after learning of an attempt by Jay Gould and James Fisk to drive up the gold market, ordered $4 million of government gold to be sold on the market.
In 1493, Columbus set sail with 17 ships on his second voyage to the Americas.
Also on this date in 1775, Ethan Allen was captured by the British.
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Today’s feature article was too short to qualify as an entry for Round 108 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.
More than $840,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running the contest. We recently polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 108 ends on September 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.
