Today in History for Jan. 14, 2015

Robert G. Fowler

Jan. 14, 1699 - The colony of Massachusetts held a day of fasts in protest of wrongly persecuted witches.

Jan. 14, 1772 – During the British occupation of Alabama, explorer Bernard Romans visited St. Stephens in present-day Washington County and recorded – “Stout sloops and schooners may come up to this rapid; therefore I judge some considerable settlement will take place.”

Jan. 14, 1784 - The United States ratified a peace treaty with England ending the Revolutionary War.

Jan. 14, 1819 – A “train of emigrants,” consisting of 52 horses and 12 wagons from South Carolina, stopped for the night on the present site of Greenville, Ala. to “rest themselves from the fatigue of the day.” The next day, after further investigation, they decided to settle the location which was wilderness at the time. The group included James Dunklin, Joseph Dunklin, John Dunklin, Dr. Hilary Herbert, Webster Gilbert, John Bolling, William Graydon, John Graydon, William Payne, Thomas Coleman and Dr. George Herbert.

Jan. 14, 1861 - The Committee of Thirty Three submitted a proposed constitutional amendment that would protect slavery in all areas where it already existed. The plan also called for the enforcement of fugitive slave laws and repealed state personal liberty laws. The committee was made up of one representative from each state.

Jan. 14, 1864 – During the Civil War, the Confederate commerce raider, CSS Alabama, captured and burned the Emma Jane off the coast of Malabar, Indian, now having destroyed over 60 such Federal vessels.

Jan. 14, 1864 – During the Civil War, a skirmish occurred at Shoal Creek in Shelby County, Ala.

Jan. 14, 1891 – James K. Kyser became postmaster at Burnt Corn, Ala.

Jan. 14, 1908 – While unloading a shotgun, the 10-year-old son of Bob Mosley accidentally shot and killed his sister, age 12, at their home on this date, according to the Jan. 16 edition of The Conecuh Record. “The full charge of the gun struck the girl between the shoulders, completely severing the spinal column. Death was almost instantaneous.”

Jan. 14, 1911 – Roald Amundsen's South Pole expedition made landfall on the eastern edge of the Ross Ice Shelf.

Jan. 14, 1912 – The “bird man,” Robert G. Fowler of San Francisco, reached Evergreen on this Sunday afternoon and attracted a large crowd. He circled Evergreen at least 1,000 feet above the ground, and the crowd below could hear his aircraft’s little motor. He circled the city several times and landed about two miles east of Evergreen and north of the L&N Railroad tracks. He remained until Tuesday, waiting for favorable weather, and took off for other points around 3 p.m. Fowler’s landing in Evergreen is believed to have been the first plane landing ever in Conecuh County.

Jan. 14, 1926 – In Lovecraftian fiction, a total solar eclipse occurred and Nyarlathotep was only stopped by the nearest of margins.

Jan. 14, 1938 – Jay, Fla. beat Evergreen High School’s boys basketball team, 11-6.

Jan. 14, 1938 – Lyeffion High School’s boys basketball team beat Conecuh County High School, 20-18, in Castleberry, Ala. Brooklyn’s girls basketball team beat CCHS, 20-15, that same night in Castleberry.

Jan. 14, 1948 - Plastic helmets were prohibited in the NFL.

Jan. 14, 1951 - The first National Football League Pro Bowl All-Star Game was played in Los Angeles, Calif.

Jan. 14, 1952 – Bruce Dale Jones was born. On March 9, 1972, at the age of 20, he was killed at Tan Son Nhut Airbase in Gia Dinh, South Vietnam, where he was serving as a sergeant in the Air Force’s 377th Security Police Squadron.

Jan. 14, 1953 – Army 1LT Charles Smith of Covington County, Ala. was killed in action in Korea.

Jan. 14, 1954 – Actress Marilyn Monroe and baseball legend Joe DiMaggio were married, but the marriage only lasted nine months.

Jan. 14, 1963 - George Wallace was inaugurated as the governor of Alabama, promising his followers, "Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!" His inauguration speech was written by Ku Klux Klan leader Asa Carter, who later reformed his white supremacist beliefs and wrote “The Education of Little Tree” under the pseudonym of Forrest Carter. (The book, which gives a fictitious account of Carter's upbringing by a Scotch-Irish moonshiner and a Cherokee grandmother, poignantly describes the difficulties faced by Native Americans in American society).

Jan. 14, 1969 – Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl was born in Warren, Ohio.

Jan. 14, 1971 – Army Spc. Donald Wayne Smith of Brewton, Ala. was killed in action in Vietnam.

Jan. 14, 1973 - The Miami Dolphins became the first NFL team to go undefeated in a regular season when they beat the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII.

Jan. 14, 1974 - The World Football League was founded.

Jan. 14, 1976 – In connection with the “Amityville Horror” case, George and Kathy Lutz, with their three children and their dog, Harry, left their home at 112 Ocean Ave., leaving all of their possessions behind.

Jan. 14, 1976 - Ted Turner completed the purchase of the Atlanta Braves.

Jan. 14, 1990 - "The Simpsons" began airing regularly on television.

Jan. 14, 1990 - Joe Montana of the San Francisco 49ers set an NFL record when he threw his 30th and 31st post-season touchdown passes. Terry Bradshaw held the previous record of 30.

Jan. 14, 1993 - NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue announced the establishment of the "NFL World Partnership Program."

Jan. 14, 1996 - Fox aired the San Francisco 49ers-Dallas Cowboy NFC championship game, and the game pulled a 34.2/57 Nielsen rating.

Jan. 14, 2002 - Barry Bonds signed a contract with the San Francisco Giants worth $90 million for five years.

Jan. 14, 2004 - In St. Louis, a Lewis and Clark Exhibition opened at the Missouri History Museum. The exhibit featured 500 rare and priceless objects used by the Corps of Discovery.