Today in History for Feb. 9, 2015

Joseph Bloomfield

Feb. 9, 1739 – William Bartram, one of America’s first professional botanists, was born near Philadelphia, Pa. Between 1773 and 1777, he went on a botanical and anthropological expedition through the Southeast, including Alabama, passing through Butler, Conecuh, Escambia and Monroe counties. Published the famous book, Bartram’s “Travels” in 1791.

Feb. 9, 1773 - William Henry Harrison, the ninth president of the United States, was born on Berkeley Plantation in Virginia. Harrison served as president for a brief 32 days in 1841, the shortest term ever served. He was also the last president to be born an English subject.

Feb. 9, 1775 – During the American Revolutionary War, the British Parliament declared Massachusetts in rebellion.

Feb. 9, 1776 - Joseph Bloomfield became captain of the third New Jersey Regiment of Foot in the Continental Army. He later became Governor of New Jersey.

Feb. 9, 1778 - Rhode Island became the fourth state to ratify the Articles of Confederation.

Feb. 9, 1798 – Jephtha V. Perryman was born in Twiggs County, Ga. He would serve as a legislator, judge and education superintendent in Conecuh County.

Feb. 9, 1825 – After no candidate received a majority of electoral votes in the U.S. presidential election of 1824, the United States House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams President of the United States.

Feb. 9, 1818 – Dallas County, Ala. was created by Territorial Legislature.

Feb. 9, 1852 – The Conecuh Plank Road Co. was incorporated.

Feb. 9, 1861 – This day’s edition of Harper’s Weekly included a sketch of U.S. Representative James Adam Stallworth of Evergreen, Ala.

Feb. 9, 1861 – During the Civil War, Jefferson Davis was elected the Provisional President of the Confederate States of America by the Confederate convention at Montgomery, Ala.

Feb. 9, 1861 - Fort Pickens, Fla. refused to receive the Federal troops that arrived on the steamer, Brooklyn, in order to maintain the status quo of that situation.

Feb. 9, 1864 - Union General George Armstrong Custer and Elizabeth Bacon were married in Monroe, Michigan. Custer was killed on June 25, 1876 by Lakota and Northern Cheyenne Indians at the Battle of the Little Big Horn in Montana.

Feb. 9, 1870 – U.S. president Ulysses S. Grant signed a joint resolution of Congress establishing the U.S. Weather Bureau, which is now known as the National Weather Service.

Feb. 9, 1902 - Dr. Eugene-Louis Doyen of Paris surgically separated Radica and Doodica, Siamese twins from the Barnum and Bailey Circus. The operation was initially considered a success, but both girls died within a year of the procedure.

Feb. 9, 1903 - Alabama's last county, Houston County, was created by act of the legislature. Formed from parts of Dale, Geneva, and Henry counties in the extreme southeastern corner of the state, it was named for former Gov. George S. Houston. The city of Dothan was made the county seat.
Feb. 9, 1913 – A group of meteors was visible across much of the eastern seaboard of North and South America, leading astronomers to conclude the source had been a small, short-lived natural satellite of the Earth.

Feb. 9, 1914 – Legendary baseball owner and showman Bill Veeck was born in Chicago.

Feb. 9, 1915 - The third attraction in the Lyceum series was presented at the Monroe County High School auditorium in Monroeville, Ala. Wells Watson Ginn appeared in the “varied and entertaining role of impersonator and reader.”

Feb. 9, 1922 – In the fictional video game, “Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth,” after a FBI raid on the Marsh Gold Refinery in Innsmouth, the U.S. military begins a combined land-and-sea assault on Innsmouth. The only part of the town that proved resistant to the attack was the headquarters of the Esoteric Order of Dagon, a religious organization devoted to two undersea demigods and Cthulhu that holds the whole town under its grip. The building proved unbreachable for the Coast Guard and the Marines, but private investigator Jack Walters found a way in through an old smuggling entrance that was guarded by a star-spawn of Cthulhu.

Feb. 9, 1930 - A movie version of Alabama author Octavus Roy Cohen's book “The Other Tomorrow” was released.

Feb. 9, 1953 - The movie "Superman" premiered.

Feb. 9, 1960 - A verbal agreement was reached between representatives of the American and National Football Leagues. Both agreed not to tamper with player contracts.

Feb. 9, 1971 – Pitcher Leroy "Satchel" Paige of Mobile, Ala. became the first Negro League veteran to be nominated for the Baseball Hall of Fame. In August of that year, Paige, a pitching legend known for his fastball, showmanship and the longevity of his playing career, which spanned five decades, was inducted.

Feb. 9, 1976 – Actor Charlie Day was born in New York City. He is best known for playing Charlie Kelly on "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia."

Feb. 9, 1985 – Sparta Academy’s boys basketball team beat Wilcox Academy, 71-69, in the consolation game of the District Tournament at Monroe Academy in Monroeville, Ala. Sparta Academy’s Al Etheridge and Jim Wagstaff were named to the All-Tournament Team.

Feb. 9, 1986 – Halley's Comet last appeared in the inner Solar System.

Feb. 9, 1992 - Thomas Scholl of Munich issued the world's fastest yodel-- 22 tones (15 falsetto) within one second.

Feb. 9, 1993 - Fourteen people were arrested when violence erupted at the Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl victory parade.

Feb. 9, 1997 - "The Simpsons" became the longest-running prime-time animated series, breaking the record previously held by "The Flintstones.”

Feb. 9, 2001 - "Hannibal," the sequel to "Silence of the Lambs," opened in theaters.

Feb. 9, 2009 - Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees admitted that he had taken banned substances from 2001 to 2003.