Today in History for Dec. 31, 2014

Dec. 31, 1759 – Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000-year lease at 45 pounds per year and started brewing Guinness.

Dec. 31, 1841 – The Burnt Corn Male Academy was incorporated by the Alabama legislature.

Dec. 31, 1841 – Alabama became the first state to license dental surgeons by enacting the first dental legislation in the U.S.

Dec. 31, 1862 – During the Civil War, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signed an act that admitted West Virginia to the Union, thus dividing Virginia in two.

Dec. 31, 1862 – During the Civil War, the Battle of Stones River began near Murfreesboro in central Tennessee. The battle ended on Jan. 2, 1863 as a victory for Union General William Rosecrans over Confederate Braxton Bragg.

Dec. 31, 1862 - Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest narrowly escaped capture during a raid in western Tennessee. The raid resulted in Union General Ulysses S. Grant abandoning his first attempt to capture Vicksburg, Mississippi. (Battle of Parker's Crossroads)

Dec. 31, 1864 – During the Civil War, a skirmish occurred at Paint Rock Bridge and Russellville, Ala.


Dec. 31, 1891 - New York's new Immigration Depot was opened at Ellis Island to provide improved facilities for the massive numbers of arrivals.

Dec. 31, 1897 – Dr. W.A. Locke of Axle in Monroe County passed away.

Dec. 31, 1907 – The first New Year's Eve celebration was held in Times Square (then known as Longacre Square) in New York, New York.

Dec. 31, 1910 – The Manistee & Repton Railroad incorporated. (Some sources say this happened on Dec. 29.)

Dec. 31, 1930 – Odetta Holmes Felious, the woman Martin Luther King Jr. called "The Queen of American Folk Music," was born in Birmingham, Ala. Her albums include “My Eyes Have Seen” (1959), “Sometimes I Feel Like Crying” (1962), and “Movin' It On” (1987).

Dec. 31, 1946 - U.S. President Harry Truman officially proclaimed the end of hostilities in World War II.

Dec. 31, 1954 - The last episode of the radio show "Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok" aired.

Dec. 31, 1967 - The Green Bay Packers won the National Football League championship game by defeating the Dallas Cowboys, 21-17. The game is known as the Ice Bowl since it was played in a wind chill of 40 degrees below zero.


Dec. 31, 1972 - Roberto Clemente of the Pittsburgh Pirates was killed in a plane crash near Puerto Rico while flying relief supplies to Nicaraguan earthquake victims.

Dec. 31, 1973 – No. 3-ranked Notre Dame, coached by Ara Parseghian, beat Bear Bryant’s No. 1-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide, 24-23, in the Sugar Bowl at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans. Notre Dame quarterback Tom Clements was named the MVP. Broadcast nationally on ABC, the game was one of the highest-rate college football games of all time.

Dec. 31, 1974 – Fort Sinquefield in Clarke County, Ala. was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Dec. 31, 1975 – Bear Bryant’s No. 3-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide beat Joe Paterno’s No. 7-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions, 13-6, in the Sugar Bowl in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. Alabama quarterback Richard Todd was named the MVP. It was the first Sugar Bowl played in the Superdome.

Dec. 31, 1977 – Evergreen, Ala. weather reporter Earl Windham reported 55.12 inches of rain in 1977 as compared to 56.29 inches of rain in 1976. Approximately 111 inches fell in 1975.


Dec. 31, 1984 - ESPN debuted in Hawaii, making it available in all 50 states.

Dec. 31, 1988 – Mark Childress’ second novel, “V for Victor,” was released by Knopf.

Dec. 31, 1992 – Weather reporter Harry Ellis reported 5.08 inches of rain in Evergreen during the month of December 1992. Total rainfall for 1992 was 70.08 inches.

Dec. 31, 1999 – The United States Government handed control of the Panama Canal (as well all the adjacent land to the canal known as the Panama Canal Zone) to Panama. This act complied with the signing of the 1977 Torrijos–Carter Treaties.


Dec. 31, 1999 - The world braced for the “Y2K” chaos as computer systems switched over to the year 2000.