Today in History for Feb. 11, 2015

Sir James Wright

Feb. 11, 1776 - Georgia's royal governor, Sir James Wright, escaped from his residence in Savannah to the safety of a waiting British warship, the HMS Scarborough, anchored at the mouth of the Savannah River, and returned to London. Wright had been taken into custody and placed under house arrest nearly a month earlier on Jan. 18, 1776 by Patriots under the command of Major Joseph Habersham of the Provincial Congress.

Feb. 11, 1815 - British forces take Fort Bowyer on return from defeat at New Orleans, then abandon upon learning that the war is over.

Feb. 11, 1820 - Alabama journalist and poet Theodore O'Hara was born in Frankfort, Ky.

Feb. 11, 1850 – The Alabama & Florida Railroad was incorporated.

Feb. 11, 1856 - Alabama author Caroline Lee Hentz died in Marianna, Fla.

Feb. 11, 1858 – The first groundbreaking held for the Alabama & Florida Railroad occurred on this day.

Feb. 11, 1858 - The apparitions at Our Lady of Lourdes began. A 14-year old French girl, Bernadette Soubirous saw the appearance of a "lady" in a cave-- the first of 18 visions of what many believe was the Virgin Mary. Soubirous was eventually canonized as a saint, and a sanctuary was built on the site, where water from a spring is said to have remarkable healing power.

Feb. 11, 1861 – During the Civil War, the United States House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in any state.

Feb. 11, 1861 – Confederate President-elect Jefferson Davis left his home at Brierfield Plantation, Miss. for his inauguration at Montgomery, Ala.

Feb. 11, 1861 - U.S. President-elect Abraham Lincoln left his home in Springfield, Illinois on his journey to Washington.

Feb. 11, 1864 - Union General William Sooy Smith left for Mississippi.

Feb. 11, 1895 – By order of Capt. T.B. Nettles, every member of the Monroe County Corps, Co. M, First Regiment of the Alabama State Troops, was to appear in uniform in Monroeville at 9:30 a.m. for the unit’s regular monthly drill and “to attend to other matters of importance.”

Feb. 11, 1912 – On this Saturday afternoon, Martin Sheffield allegedly shot and killed Charles Perdue during an argument near Herbert, Ala. Sheffield was placed in the Conecuh County Jail and was later released on $2,000 bond.

Feb. 11, 1915 – The Monroe Journal reported that there were 35 county convicts employed on the public roads in the county and that “another portable cage has been purchased for the safekeeping of the convicts.”

Feb. 11, 1915 – The Monroe Journal reported that “an epidemic of measles has prevailed among the juvenile population of this community during the last two weeks.”

Feb. 11, 1915 - Mrs. Charles Boone of Steadham (believed to be in Escambia County, Ala.) gave birth to triplets, all three being boys. They were named Oscar Underwood, William Jennings Bryan and Woodrow Wilson.

Feb. 11, 1918 - A movie version of Alabama author Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews' book “The Unbeliever” was released.

Feb. 11, 1941 - Alabama author Linda Cline was born in New York, N.Y.

Feb. 11, 1943 – Pensacola, Fla. firefighter Henry C. Mandel was killed in the line of duty.

Feb. 11, 1950 - Alabama author Rodney Jones was born in Hartselle, Ala.

Feb. 11-12, 1955 – A new Ferguson 35 Tractor was displayed at the J&W Tractor Co. on North Court Square in Evergreen, Ala.

Feb. 11, 1966 - Willie Mays became the highest paid player in baseball when he signed a two-year contract with the San Francisco Giants for $130,000 a year.

Feb. 11, 1986 - The single, "Superbowl Shuffle," by the Chicago Bears Shufflin' Crew was certified gold by the RIAA.

Feb. 11, 1988 – The Magee Farm at Kushla, near Mobile, Ala. was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Feb. 11-12, 1989 – The famous UFO incident in Fyffe, Ala. occurred. The incident began when a woman called police reporting something strange in the sky, which was later seen by over 50 witnesses, including the town’s police chief and assistant police chief as well as officers from two other towns and an Alabama State Trooper. Over 100 media outlets descended on the town, including the New York Times.

Feb. 11, 1994 – Episode No. 16 of “The X-Files” – entitled “Young at Heart” – aired for the first time.

Feb. 11, 1997 – Alabama native Neil Bonnett, who won 18 NASCAR events in the 1970s and 1980s, was killed in a practice session accident at Daytona International Speedway. He was a member of the Alabama Gang, a group of successful stockcar racers centered in the Hueytown area who first gained national attention in the 1960s.

Feb. 11, 2008 - In the latest of a series of legal battles involving J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved trilogy “The Lord of the Rings” and film adaptations made of the books, several of Tolkien’s heirs joined a group of publishers in filing a $150 million lawsuit against New Line Cinema in Los Angeles Superior Court.