Sunday, March 29, 2015

Today in History for March 29, 2015

March 29, 1638 – Swedish colonists established the first European settlement in Delaware, naming it New Sweden.

March 29, 1776 - General George Washington appointed Major General Israel Putnam commander of the troops in New York. In his new capacity, Putnam was expected to execute plans for the defense of New York City and its waterways.

March 29, 1790 - John Tyler, the 10th President of the United States, was born in Charles City County, Va.

March 29, 1806 – Construction was authorized of the Great National Pike, better known as the Cumberland Road, becoming the first United States federal highway.

March 29, 1848 - Niagara Falls stopped flowing for one day due to an ice jam.

March 29, 1865 - The final campaign of the Civil War began in Virginia when Union troops under General Ulysses S. Grant moved against the Confederate trenches around Petersburg, Va. General Robert E. Lee’s outnumbered Rebels were soon forced to evacuate the city and begin a desperate race west.

March 29, 1865 – During the Civil War, Major General Frederick Steele’s column reached Weatherford, Ala.


March 29, 1867 – Hall of Fame baseball pitcher and manager Cy Young was born in Gilmore, Ohio. During his career, he played for the Cleveland Spiders, the St. Louis Perfectos, the Boston Americans/Red Sox, the Cleveland Naps and the Boston Rustlers. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1937.

March 29, 1882 - The Knights of Columbus organization was granted a charter by the State of Connecticut.

March 29, 1886 – Dr. John Pemberton brewed the first batch of Coca-Cola in a backyard in Atlanta.

March 29, 1903 - A regular news service began between New York and London on Marconi's wireless.

March 29, 1911 – The M1911 .45 ACP pistol became the official U.S. Army side arm.

March 29, 1912 – Three members of the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition to Antarctica died from a combination of exhaustion, starvation and extreme cold on the Ross Ice Shelf. They included English lieutenant and explorer Robert Falcon Scott, 43; Scottish lieutenant and explorer Henry Robertson “Birdie” Bowers, 28; and English physician, natural historian, painter, ornithologist and explorer Edward Adrian “Uncle Bill” Wilson, 39.

March 29, 1913 – Poet R.S. Thomas was born in Cardiff, Wales.

March 29, 1916 – Politician and author Eugene McCarthy was born in Watkins, Minnesota. His books include “Ground Fog and Night” (1979) and “Other Things and the Aardvark” (1970).

March 29, 1943 – Comedian, author, actor, singer, comedy writer, composer and alumnus of the Monty Python troupe Eric Idle was born in South Shields, England.

March 29, 1955 – NFL running back Earl Campbell was born in Tyler, Texas. He would go on to play for the University of Texas, the Houston Oilers and the New Orleans Saints. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1991.

March 29, 1961 – The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to vote in presidential elections.

March 29, 1961 – Actress, author and comedian Amy Sedaris was born in Endicott, N.Y.

March 29, 1969 – The annual Miss Evergreen Pageant was held at the Evergreen City School auditorium. A total of 45 young ladies were slated to compete for the title, which Patricia Montgomery won the 1968.

March, 29, 1973 – The last United States combat soldiers left Vietnam.

March 29, 1973 - Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show appeared on the cover of "Rolling Stone." The members of the band included Ray “Eye Patch” Sawyer, a native of Chickasaw, Ala.

March 29, 1974 – Local farmers in Lintong District, Xi'an, Shaanxi province, China, discovered the Terracotta Army that was buried with Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China, in the third century BCE.

March 29, 1977 – The First Presbyterian Church and the Lomax-Hannon Junior College, both in Greenville, Ala., were added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.

March 29, 1979 - The Committee on Assassinations Report issued by U.S. House of Representatives stated the assassination of President John F. Kennedy was the result of a conspiracy.

March 29, 1984 – The Baltimore Colts loaded its possessions onto 15 Mayflower moving trucks in the early morning hours and transferred its operations to Indianapolis.

March 29, 1985 – Dr. Luther Terry, a native of Red Level, Ala., passed away from heart failure at the age of 73 in Philadelphia, Pa. He was appointed the ninth Surgeon General of the United States from 1961 to 1965, and is best known for his warnings against the dangers and the impact of tobacco use on health.

March 29, 1987 – Shortly after 2:40 p.m., Frank Dewberry and his wife, Dorothy, found the badly decomposed nude body of Vickie Lynn Pittman of East Brewton off County Road 43 at Brooklyn, Ala.

March 29, 1995 – Former Major League Baseball outfielder Terry Moore, a native of Lamar County, Ala., passed away at the age of 82 in Collinsville, Ill. He played his entire career for the St. Louis Cardinals. He was a four-time All Star and was part of two World Series championship teams.

March 29, 1998 - Author Eugene Walter died in Mobile, Ala.

March 29, 2001 – Norwegian explorer Helge Ingstad Norwegian passed away at the age of 101 at Diakonhjemmet Hospital in Oslo. After mapping some Norse settlements, Ingstad and his wife Anne Stine, an archaeologist, in 1960 found remnants of a Viking settlement in L'Anse aux Meadows in the Province of Newfoundland in Canada. With that they were the first to prove conclusively that the Greenlandic Norsemen had found a way across the Atlantic Ocean to North America, roughly 500 years before Christopher Columbus and John Cabot.

March 29, 2010 – Jordan Van der Sloot allegedly contacted John Q. Kelly, legal representative of Beth Twitty, with an offer to reveal the location of Holloway's body and the circumstances surrounding her death for an advance of $25,000 against a total of $250,000. After Kelly notified the Federal Bureau of Investigation, they arranged to proceed with the transaction.

March 29, 2012 – Oak Lawn Farm in Greenville, Ala. was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.




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