Today in History for Jan. 22, 2015

CSA General John A. McCausland

Jan. 22, 1561 – Philosopher, essayist and statesman Francis Bacon was born in London.

Jan. 22, 1779 - Famed Tory outlaw Claudius Smith, known as the "Cowboy of the Ramapos," was hanged in Goshen, New York. Smith earned his nickname for his use of guerrilla tactics against Patriot civilians.

Jan. 22, 1788 – Poet Lord Byron was born George Gordon Noel Byron in London.

Jan. 22, 1813 – Tecumseh was not far away from the scene of conflict when Frenchtown was taken.

Jan. 22, 1814 – The Battle of Emuckfa Creek occurred as 400 to 500 Red Stick Indians attacked the camp of General Andrew Jackson, Lower Creek and Cherokee near Imuckfa Creek in Clay County, 20 to 50 miles northeast of Horseshoe Bend. In this indecisive battle, 54 Red Sticks were killed and 24 of Jackson’s forces were killed and 71 wounded.

Jan. 22, 1863 - Union General Ambrose Burnside issued his troops liquor in an effort to lift the spirits of the soldiers. However, drunken troops fought each other making the "Mud March" a complete fiasco.

Jan. 22, 1881 - The ancient Egyptian obelisk known as Cleopatra's Needle was erected in NYC's Central Park.

Jan. 22, 1888 – Rube Burrow and his brother, Jim Burrow, arrived by train in Montgomery, Ala. Jim Burrow was arrested and Rube Burrow escaped by shooting a 29-year-old Montgomery Advertiser compositor, Cornelius Hartford “Neil” Bray, in the left lung.

Jan. 22, 1901 - Queen Victoria of England passed away at the age of 81 at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight after reigning for nearly 64 years. Edward VII, her son, succeeded her.

Jan. 22, 1911 – Jas. Andrews of Skinnerton, Ala. was killed by a train, his body being “literally ground to pieces.” His remains were buried in Skinnerton.

Jan. 22, 1923 – Milt Tolbert’s Big Tent Theatre, which featured a “repertoire of high class comedies and dramas” and included a band and orchestra, began a series of performances in Evergreen. Their performances, which began at 8 p.m. included a four-act comedy drama called “The Woman He Wanted.” Shows were held under their heated, “big, waterproof” tent.

Jan. 22, 1926 – Conecuh County Sheriff A.M. Barfield carried out Conecuh County’s last legal execution when he hung Murray Rankins, who’d been convicted of assaulting a white woman, from the gallows at the Conecuh County Jail in Evergreen.

Jan. 22, 1927 – H.P. Lovecraft completed “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath,” which was originally published in 1943’s “Beyond the Wall of Sleep.”

Jan. 22, 1927 - Confederate General John A. McCausland passed away at the age of 90 in West Virginia. He lived for over 50 years after the war and remained an unreconstructed Rebel at the time of his death. McCausland died 13 months before Felix Robertson, the last surviving Confederate general.

Jan. 22, 1929 – Evegreen High School’s boys basketball team, led by Coach Abe Robinson, won their 13th straight game by beating Conecuh County High School, 59-10.

Jan. 22, 1931 – In Lovecraftian fiction, Miskatonic University’s Pabodie Antarctic Expedition discovered the huge Mountains of Madness.

Jan. 22, 1938 - "Our Town" by Thornton Wilder was performed publicly for the first time, in Princeton, N.J.

Jan. 22, 1949 – The Air Force suspended search operations for the Star Ariel, which disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle on Jan. 17, 1949.

Jan. 22, 1951 - Fidel Castro was ejected from a Winter League baseball game after hitting a batter. He later gave up baseball for politics.

Jan. 22, 1952 - Teddy Gentry, bassist for the band Alabama, was born near Fort Payne.

Jan. 22, 1953 - The Arthur Miller drama "The Crucible" opened on Broadway.

Jan. 22, 1959 – The Evergreen Courant reported that “one of Conecuh County’s longest periods of service” had ended that week when Ann B. Salter left the office of Conecuh County Circuit Clerk, where she’d worked for nearly 15 years. Circuit Judge F.W. Hare appointed Salter to the office in June 1944 to fill the unexpired term of Margaret Wilson, who had resigned. Her husband Leon A. Salter was elected to a six-year term as Circuit Clerk in 1946, and she served as deputy clerk until her husband was called to active duty during the Korean War. When his term expired, he was still in Korea, so Ann Salter ran for the office and won without opposition. Her term in office ended at midnight on Jan. 19, 1959.

Jan. 22, 1966 – Mabel Amos of Brooklyn qualified to run for Alabama Secretary of State becoming the first Conecuh County woman in many years to seek an office subject to statewide vote.

Jan. 22, 1969 – In Lovecraftian fiction, during the Wilmarth Foundation’s expedition to track down the fabled Wendigo, Texas telepath Hank Silberhutte and the crew of his plane vanished. Silberhutte’s true fate remains a mystery. He first appeared in 1978’s “Spawn of the Winds” by Brian Lumley.

Jan. 22, 1982 - Reggie Jackson, a free agent at the time, ended five seasons as a New York Yankee when he signed a four-year contract with the California Angels.

Jan. 22, 1984 - Apple introduced the Macintosh during the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII.

Jan. 22, 1984 - Barry Manilow sang the U.S. national anthem at Super Bowl XVIII.

Jan. 22, 1987 – The Ritz Theater in Brewton, Ala. closed. Its last feature movie was “Crocodile Dundee.”

Jan. 22, 1998 - Theodore Kaczynski pled guilty to federal charges for his role as the Unabomber. He agreed to life in prison without parole.

Jan. 22, 2001 – Marengo County, Ala. native Tommie Lee Agee suffered a heart attack while leaving a Midtown Manhattan office building and passed away later that day at the age of 58 at Bellevue Hospital Center in New York City. He was a Major League Baseball center fielder most noted for making two of the greatest catches in World Series history, both of which occurred in game three of the 1969 World Series. He was buried in Pine Crest Cemetery in Mobile, Ala. He was posthumously inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 2002.

Jan. 22, 2002 - Pat Summerall announced that he would leave his NFL broadcasting partner, John Madden, after they called the Super Bowl for Fox Sports. The two had worked together for 21 years.

Jan. 22, 2014 – Alabama native Bo Jackson rejoined the Chicago White Sox as an ambassador to the team, joining the ranks of Frank Thomas, Minnie Minoso, Carlton Fisk, Ron Kittle, Carlos May, and Bill Melton.