Today in History for Nov. 22, 2014

Flag of the 'Conecuh Guards'

Nov. 22, 1307 – Pope Clement V issued the papal bull “Pastoralis Praeeminentiae” which instructed all Christian monarchs in Europe to arrest all Templars and seize their assets.

Nov. 22, 1718 – During a battle off the coast of North Carolina, British pirate Edward Teach (best known as "Blackbeard") was killed in battle with a boarding party led by Royal Navy Lieutenant Robert Maynard. British soldiers cornered him aboard his ship and killed him. He was shot and stabbed more than 25 times.

Nov. 22, 1763 – British Lt. Thomas Ford took possession of Fort Tombecbee, located on Jones’ Bluff, on the west side of the Tombigbee River in Sumter County, Ala., and he renamed it Fort York.

Nov. 22, 1825 - Benjamin Faneuil Porter admitted to the South Carolina Bar in Charleston, S.C. at the age of 18. He joined the law office of the Honorable George B. Eckhart and remained there until the fall of 1828. He would go on to become a doctor and lawyer, live in Claiborne, Ala. for about six years, before becoming a state legislator, judge and Mayor of Greenville, Ala.

Nov. 22, 1833 - Whipple Van Buren Phillips, the grandfather of H.P. Lovecraft, was born in Moosup Valley, Foster, Rhode Island.

Nov. 22, 1864 - Confederate General John Bell Hood invaded Tennessee in an unsuccessful attempt to draw Union General William T. Sherman from Georgia.

Nov. 22, 1877 - Alabama sportswriter Bozeman Bulger was born in Dadeville, Ala.

Nov. 22, 1888 – The lumber mill at Fulton, Ala. officially began as a partnership between Marcus B. Behrman and Joseph Zimmerman who had acquired eight acres of land and a total of $3,850.00 each in either cash or real property to form the Virgin Pine Lumber Company.

Nov. 22, 1889 – The Monroe Journal reported that the “loud noise which we heard (at River Ridge) some time ago was a large meteor. It fell about three o’clock in the evening.”

Nov. 22, 1899 - The Marconi Wireless Company of America was incorporated in New Jersey.

Nov. 22, 1902 – Dr. Walter Reed, who served as post surgeon at the Mount Vernon Arsenal and Barracks in the 1880s, passed away in Washington, D.C. at the age of 51. He died from peritonitis due to a ruptured appendix and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Nov. 22, 1907 – The flag of the Conecuh Guards was presented to the Alabama Department of Archives and History by Col. Pickney D. Bowles and Capt. James W. Darby, both formerly of the 4th Alabama Infantry, a.k.a. the “Conecuh Guards.”

Nov. 22, 1914 – Paranormal author Charles Berlitz was born in New York, N.Y.

Nov. 22, 1914 – Escambia County, Ala. Tax Collector W.J. Holland, one of the oldest and most respected citizens of Escambia County, Ala. died at his home in Brewton after a short illness. Holland, a 67-year-old Mason, moved to Escambia County from Conecuh County in 1872 and served 17 years as Escambia County Tax Collector. Prior to his death, he’d served four consecutive terms as tax collector and was a little over a year into his present term when he died.

Nov. 22, 1923 – The home of Judge F.J. Dean in Evergreen was completely destroyed by fire during the afternoon. The orgin of the fire was unknown, but it was believed to have been caused by “rats in the attic igniting a match.”

Nov. 22, 1926 – Major League Baseball pitcher Lew Burdette was born in Nitro, West Va. He would go on to play for the New York Yankees, the Boston Braves, the Milwaukee Braves, the St. Louis Cardinals, the Chicago Cubs, the Philadelphia Phillies and the California Angles.

Nov. 22, 1943 – Major League Baseball pitcher Wade Blasingame was born in Deming, New Mexico. He would go on to pitch for the Milwaukee Braves, the Atlanta Braves, the Houston Astros and the New York Yankees.

Nov. 22, 1950 – Major League Baseball left fielder and designated hitter Greg “The Bull” Luzinski was born in Chicago, Ill. He would go on to play for the Philadelphia Phillies and the Chicago White Sox.

Nov. 22, 1950 – Major League Baseball pitcher Lyman Wesley Bostock Jr. was born in Birmingham, Ala. He would go on to play for the Minnesota Twins and the California Angels.

Nov. 22, 1957 – Alabama assistant football coach Jerry Claiborne attended the Excel-W.S. Neal football game in East Brewton to scout a Neal fullback. Instead, he discovered a 6-foot, 190-pound Excel junior named Lee Roy Jordan.

Nov. 22, 1962 – The Evergreen Courant reported that “Bobbie,” – Conecuh County’s “Panhandling Dog” – had collected $40 at Claud Murphy’s Store for the United Fund. The year before, the trained dog collected $60 for the United Fund, tuberculosis and cancer charity drives.

Nov. 22, 1962 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Barbara Stinston had been named Miss Homecoming and Brenda Ellis Miss Football during Evergreen High School’s recent homecoming activities. Gayle Ryland was crowning homecoming queen during Repton High School’s homecoming game. 

Nov. 22, 1963 – About 12:30 p.m. in Dallas, Texas, US President John F. Kennedy was assassinated and Texas Governor John Connally was seriously wounded while riding in a motorcade. Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson was later inaugurated as the 36th U.S. President. Suspect Lee Harvey Oswald was later captured and charged with the murder of both the President and police officer J. D. Tippit. Oswald was shot dead two days later by Jack Ruby while in police custody.

Nov. 22, 1989 - Kathryn Thornton, a native of Montgomery and graduate of Auburn University, became the first woman to fly on a military space mission on the Space Shuttle Discovery. Thornton became the second woman to walk in space in 1992. Dr. Thornton retired from NASA in 1996 to join the faculty of the University of Virginia.

Nov. 22, 1992 – The Rhonda Morrison murder and Walter “Johnny D” McMillian case was profiled on 60 Minutes.