Today in History for Feb. 28, 2015

Hugh Judson Kilpatrick

Feb. 28, 1525 – The Aztec king Cuauhtémoc was executed by Hernán Cortés's forces.

Feb. 28, 1692 - In Salem, Massachusetts 10 children identify the "witches" in their community who afflicted them: Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne and an old Native American woman named Tituba. Warrants were obtained, and they were arrested.

Feb. 28, 1766 - Revolutionary War soldier and Georgia Governor John Clarke was born in Edgecombe County, North Carolina. Clarke County, Ala. was named in his honor on Dec. 10, 1812.

Feb. 28, 1784 - John Wesley chartered the first Methodist Church in the United States. Despite the fact that he was an Anglican, Wesley saw the need to provide church structure for his followers after the Anglican Church abandoned its American believers during the American Revolution.

Feb. 28, 1824 - Charles Blondin, the first person to walk across Niagra Falls on a tightrope, was born in St Omer, Pas-de-Calais, France.

Feb. 28, 1827 - The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad became the first railroad incorporated for the commercial transportation of people and freight.

Feb. 28, 1829 – Edgar Allan Poe’s foster mother, Frances Allan, died.

Feb. 28, 1836 - The Alamo endured prolonged cannonade from Santa Anna’s artillery batteries.

Feb. 28, 1855 – Hinchey W. Warren passed away at the age of 67 near Sparta, Ala. and was buried in the Warren Family Cemetery. A War of 1812 veteran, he was also the great-grandfather of U.S. President Warren G. Harding.

Feb. 28, 1858 – The ill-fated Eliza Battle left Demopolis, Ala. fully loaded with passengers and with more than 1,200 bales of cotton. During an already cold night, a strong north wind began to blow, with the air temperature decreasing another 40°F in the two hours after nightfall.

Feb. 28, 1861 - The U.S. territory of Colorado was organized.

Feb. 28, 1864 – After getting captured by the Union at Campbell’s Station, Noah Dallas Peacock (Lewis Lavon Peacock’s older brother) was transferred from Asylum General Hospital in Nashville to Louisville Military Prison.

Feb. 28, 1864, a major Union cavalry raid begins when General Hugh Judson Kilpatrick led 3,500 troopers south from Stevensburg, Virginia. Aimed at Richmond, the raid sought to free Federal prisoners and spread word of President Abraham Lincoln's Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction in hopes of convincing Confederates to lay down their arms. The next day the group split into two wings on their way to Richmond.

Feb. 28, 1872 - John Gassaway Rush passed away at the age of 54 and was buried in McIntosh Cemetery, which is located behind Andrews Chapel in McIntosh, Ala. In 1860, he and his wife donated the land where the church was constructed.

Feb. 28, 1887 - Alabama passed its first child labor law, fixing age limits and restricting work hours for ceartian types of labor. The legislation, which also protected women workers, was repealed in the 1890s, but efforts of reformers like Rev. Edgar Gardner Murphy of Montgomery resulted in new child labor laws during the first two decades of the 20th century.

Feb., 28, 1895 – The Monroe Journal reported that “a little colored girl was shot and killed by her brother near Perdue Hill last week. The two children were playing with an old gun which went off with the above result.”

Feb. 28, 1918 – During World War I, Army Pvt. Edward E. English of Evergreen, Ala. “died in an accident.”

Feb. 28, 1921 – H.P. Lovecraft completed “The Quest of Iranon,” which was originally published in the July-August 1935 issue of The Galleon.

Feb. 28, 1925 – In Lovecraftian fiction, the lost island of R’lyeh rose once again.

Feb. 28, 1930 – Major League Baseball third baseman Frank Malzone was born in Bronx, N.Y. He would go on to play for the Boston Red Sox and the California Angels.

Feb. 28, 1932 – H.P. Lovecraft completed “The Dreams in the Witch House,” which was originally published in the July 1933 issue of Weird Tales.

Feb. 28, 1945 – NFL defensive end Bubba Smith was born in Orange, Texas. He would go on to play for Michigan State, the Baltimore Colts, the Oakland Raiders and the Houston Oilers.

Feb. 28, 1946 – Ernie and Dot Lind, aka “The Shooting Linds,” performed a “spectacular exhibition of fancy shooting” in Evergreen, Ala.

Feb. 28, 1947 – Major League Baseball shortstop and second baseman Marty Perez was born in Visalia, Calif. He would go on to play for the California Angels, the Atlanta Braves, the San Francisco Giants, the New York Yankees and the Oakland Athletics.

Feb. 28, 1952 – The Evergreen Courant reported that PFC William Howard Peacock of Route One, Owasssa, Ala., was preparing to return to Fort Campbell, Ky. from Camp Drum, N.Y. after several weeks of extensive cold weather warfare training in Exercise Snow Fall in northern New York state. Peacock was a member of the 11th Airborne Division and a gunner with the 188th Airborne Regiment’s Support Command. He attended Evergreen High School, entered the Army in 1949 and completed Parachutist School at Fort Benning, Ga.

Feb. 28, 1953 – NFL running back Roland Harper was born in Seguin, Texas. He would go on to play for Louisiana Tech and the Chicago Bears.

Feb. 28, 1953 - In a Cambridge University laboratory, scientists James D. Watson and Francis H.C. Crick discovered the double-helix structure of DNA.

Feb. 28, 1964 - A television version of Alabama author Ambrose Bierce's story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" was broadcast as part of the series “The Twilight Zone.”

Feb. 28, 1988, a television version of Alabama author Borden Deal's book “Bluegrass” was broadcast.

Feb. 28, 1991 – The first Gulf War ended as U.S. President George H.W. Bush declared a cease-fire, and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein pledged to honor future United Nations peace terms.

Feb. 28, 1993 – Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents raided the Branch Davidian church in Waco, Texas with a warrant to arrest the group's leader David Koresh. Four BATF agents and five Davidians died in the initial raid, starting a 51-day standoff.

Feb. 28, 2002 - It was announced that John Madden would be replacing Dennis Miller on "Monday Night Football." Madden signed a four-year $20 million deal with ABC Sports.

Feb. 28, 2008 – The Barnes Cemetery in Butler County, Ala. was added to the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register.

Feb. 28, 2014 – Country music singer-songwriter Hank Locklin of Brewton, Ala. was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame.

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Feb. 28, 1953 - In a Cambridge University laboratory, scientists James D. Watson and Francis H.C. Crick discovered the double-helix structure of DNA.

Feb. 28, 1964 - A television version of Alabama author Ambrose Bierce's story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" was broadcast as part of the series “The Twilight Zone.”

Feb. 28, 1988, a television version of Alabama author Borden Deal's book “Bluegrass” was broadcast.