Today in History for Dec. 16, 2014

General Joseph E. Johnston

Dec. 16, 1497 – Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope, the point where Bartolomeu Dias had previously turned back to Portugal.

Dec. 16, 1770 - Composer Ludwig Van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany.

Dec. 16, 1773 – Members of the Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawk Indians dump nearly 350 chests of tea into Boston Harbor off of British ships by Colonial patriots. The act was to protest taxation without representation and the monopoly the government granted to the East India Company.

Dec. 16, 1811 - The town of New Madrid, Missouri was hit by the first of three magnitude 8 earthquakes. Witnesses reported cracks opening in the earth's surface, the ground rolling in visible waves, and landmasses sinking and rising.

Dec. 16, 1862 - Union General Jeremiah Sullivan dispatched Colonel Robert Ingersoll and 200 men from Jackson to Lexington. Ingersoll's forces were routed on Dec. 18 by troops under Conferate calvalry leader General Nathan Bedford Forrest.

Dec. 16, 1863 – W.H. Snowden of Brooklyn, Ala., with Co. E (Conecuh Guards) of the 4th Alabama Infantry, was “permanently disabled” during a skirmish at Lenior Station, Tenn.

Dec. 16, 1863 - Confederate President Jefferson Davis named General Joseph E. Johnston as commander of the Army of Tennessee. Johnston replaced Braxton Bragg.

Dec. 16, 1864 - The Battle of Nashville concluded as Major General George Thomas’s Union forces defeated Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s Confederate Army of Tennessee. The battle had started the day before.

Dec. 16, 1898 - U.S. President William McKinley visited Tuskegee Institute at the invitation of Booker T. Washington, the school's president. To Washington the visit signified that he had achieved his goal of "build[ing] up a school that would be of so much service to the country that the President of the United States would one day come to see it."

Dec. 16, 1907 - Eugenia H. Farrar became the first singer to broadcast on radio. She sang from the USS Dolphin docked at Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Dec. 16-17, 1914 – A mass meeting directed by the State Department of Agriculture and U.S. Farm Demonstration agents was held in Evergreen in cooperation with local businessment and farmers for farmers, merchants, bankers and businessmen in Conecuh and adjoining counties “for the purpose of ‘reasoning together’ on agricultural and other matters of vital interest to all, and to put forth earnest efforts to effect a common understanding for the betterment of all classes under the changed conditions caused by the invasion of the boll weevil and the effects of the European war.” Many people were expected to attend, but attendance was light due to “bitter cold weather.”

1916 - Gregory Rasputin, the monk who had wielded powerful influence over the Russian court, was murdered by a group of noblemen.

Dec. 16, 1917 – Science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke was born in Minehead, Somerset, England.

Dec. 16, 1922 – Former Confederate soldier Walter Newton Duke died and was buried in Ramah Cemetery at Teneha in Shelby County, Texas. Born on Jan. 13, 1840, he enlisted in Co. D. of the 5th Alabama Regiment (later Co. C after April 27, 1862) on March 16, 1861. Listed as sick at St. Frances de Sales Hospital between March 1, 1862 and Aug. 31, 1862. Taken prisoner at South Mountain, Md. on Sept. 14, 1862, forwarded to Ft. Delaware, Del. on Oct. 2, 1862 and to Aikens Landing for exchange on Nov. 10, 1862. He was a patient at Winder General Hospital No. 4 from Nov. 3, 1862 to Dec. 16, 1862. He was taken prisoner at Gettysburg on July 4, 1863 and forwarded to Ft. Delaware on July 7, 1863 and arrived on July 12, 1863. He arrived at Point Lookout, Md. on Oct. 23, 1863 and was paroled on Feb. 18, 1865.

Dec. 16, 1926 – Most of the buildings on the south side of Monroeville’s downtown square were totally lost to a blazing inferno.

Dec. 16, 1928 – Science fiction writer Philip K. Dick was born in Chicago, Ill.

Dec. 16, 1936 – Civil rights attorney Morris Dees was born in Shorter, Ala.

Dec. 16, 1962 – NFL defensive tackle and fullback William "Refrigerator" Perry was born in Aiken, S.C. He would go on to play for Clemson, the Chicago Bears, the Philadelphia Eagles and the London Monarchs.


Dec. 16, 1965 – Marine Sgt. Jesse Frank Morgan of Camden, Ala. was killed in action in Vietnam.

Dec. 16, 1965 – Evergreen High School’s annual Holiday Invitational Basketball Tournament was scheduled to end at Memorial Gym in Evergreen.

Dec. 16, 1972 – Selma, Alabama’s Water Avenue was added to National Register of Historic Places.

Dec. 16, 1972 - The Miami Dolphins became the first NFL team to go unbeaten and untied in a 14-game regular season. The Dolphins went on to defeat the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII.

Dec. 16, 1973 - O.J. Simpson broke Jim Brown’s single-season rushing record in the NFL. Brown had rushed for 1,863 yards, while Simpson attained 2,003 yards.

Dec. 16, 1979 - Roger Staubach of the Dallas Cowboys played his last regular season game. The Cowboys came from behind to win the game in the last five minutes.

Dec. 16, 1990 - Warren Moon of the Houston Oilers threw for 527 yards against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Dec. 16, 1993 - MTV aired Nirvana's New York "Unplugged" performance.

Dec. 16, 2000 - A tornado killed 12 people in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Dec. 16, 2001 - The Detroit Lions won their first game of the 2001-2002 season against the Minnesota Vikings. The Lions, after the win, had the record 1-12.

Dec. 16, 2001 - An instant replay decision led to a bottle-throwing melee in a game between the Cleveland Browns and the Jacksonville Jaguars. The decision disallowed a catch by the Browns with 48 seconds left in the game. The Jaguars won the game, 15-10.

Dec. 16, 2010 – Old Carter Hospital in Repton added to Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage