Today in History for Feb. 26, 2015

Robert R. Livingston

Feb. 26, 1802 – French author Victor Hugo was born in Besançon. His most famous books include “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1831) and “Les Miserables” (1862).

Feb. 26, 1813 - Robert R. Livingston, a prominent Freemason who was also known as "the Chancellor," passed away at the age of 66 in Clermont, N.Y. and was buried in Tivoli, New York. In 1776, he represented the Provincial Congress of New York at the Continental Congress and helped to draft the Declaration of Independence. He also administered President George Washington's first oath of office, and under President Thomas Jefferson, he negotiated the Louisiana Purchase.

Feb. 26, 1836 – At the Alamo, a “norther” or cold front blew in, dropping the temperature and bringing rain. James W. Fannin returned to Goliad after learning that a column of Mexican troops under Col. José Urrea was advancing northward from Matamoros.

Feb. 26, 1846 – Frontiersman and showman William "Buffalo Bill" Cody was born in Le Claire, Iowa.

Feb. 26, 1855 – In an incident attributed to the Bermuda Triangle, the James B. Chester, a three-master, was found by the Marathon, sailing aimlessly without her crew but with her sails set within the Sargasso Sea.

Feb. 26, 1863 - The National Currency Act was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln, creating a national banking system, a Currency Bureau and the office of Comptroller of the Currency. The act's goal was to establish a single currency.

Feb. 26, 1887 – Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander was born in Elba, Nebraska. He would go on to play for the Philadelphia Phillies, the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Feb. 26, 1896 - Alabama author William Russell Smith died in Washington, D.C.

Feb. 26, 1919 – President Woodrow Wilson signed an act of the U.S. Congress establishing most of the Grand Canyon as a United States National Park, the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.

Feb. 26, 1929 - Alabama author Idora McClellan Moore died in Talladega, Ala.

Feb. 26, 1929 – President Calvin Coolidge signed an Executive Order establishing the 96,000-acre Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

Feb. 26, 1932 – Musician Johnny Cash was born in Kingsland, Ark.

Feb. 26, 1935 - The New York Yankees released Babe Ruth, who went on to sign with the Boston Braves for $20,000 and a share in the team's profits.

Feb. 26, 1935 – Adolf Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe to be re-formed, violating the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles.

Feb. 26, 1946 – Finnish observers reported the first of many thousands of sightings of “ghost rockets.”

Feb. 26, 1952 – Evergreen High School’s boys basketball team, led by Head Coach Wendell Hart, improved to 4-2 on the season by beating Greenville, 51-43, at Memorial Gym in Evergreen, Ala. . Shirley Frazier led Evergreen with 21 points.

Feb. 26, 1952 – State Geologist Dr. Walter B. Jones was the guest speaker at the Evergreen Kiwanis Club meeting held in the Evergreen City School lunchroom.

Feb. 26, 1959 – Searchers found the Dyatlov Expedition’s abandoned and badly damaged tent on Kholat Syakhl.

Feb. 26, 1972 – NFL running back Marshall Faulk was born in New Orleans, La. He would go on to play for San Diego State, the Indianapolis Colts and the St. Louis Rams.

Feb. 26, 1975 – Major League Baseball utility player Mark DeRosa was born in Passaic, N.J. He would go on to play for the Atlanta Braves, the Texas Rangers, the Chicago Cubs, the Cleveland Indians, the St. Louis Cardinals, the San Francisco Giants, the Washington Nationals and the Toronto Blue Jays.

Feb. 26, 1975 - On the Today Show, the first televised kidney transplant took place.

Feb. 26, 1981 - Edgar F. Kaiser Jr. purchased the Denver Broncos from Gerald and Allan Phillips.

Feb. 26, 1985 – The 11th Annual Miss Alpha Pageant at Sparta Academy was held at 7:30 p.m. in the school’s gymnatorium in Evergreen, Ala.

Feb. 26, 1989 - The New York Yankees announced that Tom Seaver would be their new TV sportscaster.

Feb. 26, 1991 – During the Gulf War, United States Army forces captured the town of Al Busayyah.

Feb. 26, 1991 - Iraqi President Saddam Hussein announced on Baghdad Radio that Iraqi troops were being withdrawn from Kuwait.

Feb. 26, 1999 – Two locations in Wilcox County were added to the National Register of Historic Places. Those locations included the Dry Fork Plantation at Coy and the Pine Apple Historic District in Pine Apple. The historic district’s boundaries are roughly Wilcox County Roads 59, 7 and 61, Broad Street, Banana Street, AL 10 and Adams Drive. It contains 3,350 acres, 54 buildings, and one structure.

Feb. 26, 2004 – The Alabama Senate received House Joint Resolution No. 100, which proposed making Conecuh Ridge Alabama Fine Whiskey the Alabama State Spirit. The Senate voted to approve it by two to one (14-6) on March 9.

Feb. 26, 2006 - The U.S. Census Bureau's World Population Clock ticked up to 6.5 billion people.