Today in History for Nov. 23, 2014

Union General Benjamin Prentiss

Nov. 23, 1819 - Union General Benjamin Prentiss was born in Belleville, Virginia.

Nov. 23, 1863 – At the Battle of Chattanooga, Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant began to reinforce troops at Chattanooga, Tenn. and to attack the center of Confederate lines around Chattanooga. The lines were successfully broken on Nov. 25.

Nov. 23, 1911 – The Conecuh Record in Evergreen, Ala. reported that temperatures reached 20 degrees during a cold snap on this day and the next.

Nov. 23, 1911 – The Butler County News in Georgiana, Ala. was established.

Nov. 23, 1918 – During World War I, Army Pvt. William Kelsaw of Camden, Ala. “died from disease.”

Nov. 23, 1926 – In Lovecraftian fiction, it was on this day that George Gammell Angell, a Professor Emeritus of Semitic Languages at Brown University, died from a heart attack. Born in 1857, Angell pioneered the research on the worldwide Cthulhu cult. He originally appeared in Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulhu.”

Nov. 23, 1971 - The Washington Senators announced that they would now use the name Texas Rangers after their move to Arlington, Texas.

Nov. 23, 1984 - Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie threw a last-second, 64-yard pass to beat the University of Miami, 47-45. The 30,235 fans in the Orange Bowl had already begun to celebrate the victory they were sure their Hurricanes had won, and they were stunned when Flutie’s pass found his teammate (and roommate) Gerard Phelan in the end zone.

Nov. 23, 1988 - The New York Yankees signed free agent Steve Sax to a 3-year contract.

Nov. 23, 2001 - A crowd of 87,555 people watched the Texas Longhorns beat the Texas A&M Aggies, 21-7. The crowd was the largest to see a football game in Texas.