Today in History for Aug. 22, 2015

Ned Hanlon

Aug. 22, 565 – On this day, the Irish monk Saint Columba is said to have made the first sighting of the Loch Ness "monster."

Aug. 22, 1607 – English explorer Bartholomew Gosnold passed away at either the age of 35 or 36 in Jamestown, Va. He was instrumental in the founding of the Virginia Company of London and Jamestown in colonial America. He led the first recorded European expedition to Cape Cod and is considered by Preservation Virginia to be the "prime mover of the colonization of Virginia".

Aug. 22, 1770 – James Cook named and landed on Possession Island, Queensland and claimed the east coast of Australia as New South Wales in the name of King George III.

Aug. 22, 1775 - The American colonies were proclaimed to be in a state of open rebellion by England's King George III.

Aug. 22, 1776 - British General William Howe's large army arrived on Long Island between Gravesend and New Utrecht with “near twenty four thousand men ready to land in a moment,” according to one observer. General William Howe’s large army came to Long Island hoping to capture New York City and gain control of the Hudson River, a victory that would divide the rebellious colonies in half.

Aug. 22, 1777 – During the American Revolutionary War, British forces abandoned the Siege of Fort Stanwix after hearing rumors of Continental Army reinforcements.

Aug. 22, 1780 – James Cook's ship HMS Resolution returned to England (Cook having been killed on Hawaii during the voyage).

Aug. 22, 1831 – Nat Turner's slave rebellion commenced just after midnight in Southampton County, Virginia, leading to the deaths of more than 50 whites and several hundred African Americans who are killed in retaliation for the uprising.

Aug. 22, 1848 – The United States annexed New Mexico.

Aug. 22, 1857 – Elizabeth Huggins Josey passed away on this day, and her grave is believed to be the oldest marked grave in the Consolation Church Cemetery at Oakey Streak in Butler County, Ala.

Aug. 22, 1857 – National Baseball Hall of Fame centerfielder and manager Ned Hanlon was born in Montville, Conn. During his career, he played for the Cleveland Blues, the Detroit Wolverines, the Pittsburgh Alleghenys, the Pittsburgh Burghers, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Baltimore Orioles, and he managed the Alleghenys, the Burghers, the Pirates, the Orioles, the Brooklyn Superbas and the Cincinnati Reds. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1996.

Aug. 22, 1861 – During the Civil War, the Federal vessel USS Lexington captured the steamers CSS W.B. Terry and the mail steamboat Samuel Orr at Paducah, KY.

Aug. 22, 1862 – During the Civil War, a skirmish occurred at Trinity, near Decatur, Ala.

Aug. 22, 1862 – During the Civil War, Capt. Pinckney D. Bowles of the Conecuh Guards was promoted to major when Major Charles L. Scott resigned. Also, 2nd Lt. John G. Guice was promoted to first. lieutenant.

Aug. 22, 1862 - President Abraham Lincoln wrote a carefully worded letter in response to an abolitionist editorial by Horace Greeley, the editor of the influential New York Tribune, and hinted at a change in his policy concerning slavery. In the letter Lincoln stated "If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that" and "I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free."

Aug. 22, 1864 – During the Civil War, the Battle of Weldon, Va., ended. The battle began when Union General Ulysses S. Grant attempted to cut Confederate lines into Petersburg, Va.

Aug. 22, 1864 – During the Civil War, the siege of Fort Morgan in Mobile Bay, Ala. continued.

Aug. 22, 1893 – Writer Dorothy Parker was born Dorothy Rothschild in Long Branch, N.J.

Aug. 22, 1895 – The Monroe Journal reported that Prof. N.J. Ivey, A.B., of Monroe County’s Fork community had been elected principal of the Perdue Hill High School.

Aug. 22, 1895 – The Monroe Journal reported that Claiborne farmer W.S. Moore had produced the first bale of the 1895 cotton crop in Monroe County, having already gathered and shipped three bales.

Aug. 22, 1895 – Hungarian pilot and explorer László Almásy was born in Borostyánkő, Austria-Hungary. He was the basis for the protagonist in both Michael Ondaatje's novel “The English Patient” (1992) and the movie adaptation of the same name (1996).

Aug. 22, 1900 - Confederate heroine Emma Sansom passed away at the age of 53 in Upshur County, Texas and she was buried in Little Mound Cemetery. In 1863, the 16-year-old Sansom helped Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest cross Black Creek near Gadsden as he pursued Union forces led by Col. A.D. Streight. Later in 1863, Sansom was awarded a gold medal by the Alabama legislature for her actions. (Some sources say she died on Aug. 9, 1900.)

Aug, 22, 1902 – In Hartford, Conn., Theodore Roosevelt became the first President of the United States to ride in an automobile.

Aug. 22, 1905 – “One of the bloodiest tragedies” in Monroe County, Ala. history occurred near Tunnel Springs on this Tuesday morning, resulting in the deaths of three men. Some time before the incident, Groffery Talley, who operated a saw mill at Tunnel Springs, assumed a debt for Oliver Lett, who agreed to work off the debt at Talley’s sawmill. Lett later quit, saying he’d worked off the debt, but Talley disagreed. On this Tuesday morning, Talley sent his foreman, Harry Helton, and John Helton to see Lett and demand that Lett either return to work or pay the balance of his debt. The Helton’s went to Lett’s house “at an early hour,” and Lett agreed to go with them as soon as he put on his shoes. Lett invited the Heltons inside his house, but when John Helton walked through the door, Lett fired a load of buckshot into his chest, killing him instantly. Lett also fired at Harry Helton, wounding him in the face and head. Helton “gave the alarm” and a posse soon returned to Lett’s house only to find that Lett had taken refuge in a relative’s house a short distance away. When the posse arrived at the relative’s house with Talley in the lead, Lett shot Talley, inflicting a mortal wound. The posse laid siege to the house, and after several hours, Lett “was finally overcome.” Monroe County Sheriff Fountain went to the scene as soon as he heard about what was going on, but when he arrived he “found Lett dead and his body literally riddles with bullets.” Talley died the next day.

Aug. 22, 1915 - Dr. P.E. Burroughs of Nashville, Tenn., “one of the greatest Bible scholars in the south,” spoke at Monroeville Baptist Church on this Sunday morning.

Aug. 22, 1918 – During World War I, Army Pvt. Edward Williams of River Falls “died of disease.”

Aug. 22, 1920 – Science fiction and horror writer Ray Bradbury was born in Waukegan, Illinois.

Aug. 22, 1935 – Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Annie Proulx, author of “The Shipping News,” was born in Norwich, Connecticut.

Aug. 22, 1939 – National Baseball Hall of Fame left fielder and first baseman Carl Yastrzemski was born in Southampton, N.Y. He played his entire career for the Boston Red Sox (1961-1983), and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1989.

Aug. 22, 1941 – Football coach Bill Parcells was born in Englewood, N.J.

Aug. 22, 1943 - Alabama author Robert Inman was born in Elba, Ala.

Aug. 22, 1953 – Major League Baseball third baseman Jim Tabor, a native of New Hope, Ala., died of a heart attack at the age of 36 in Sacramento, Calif. During his career, he played for the Boston Red Sox and the Philadelphia Phillies.

Aug. 22, 1956 – National Baseball Hall of Fame designated hitter, infielder and manager Paul Molitor was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota. During his career, he played for the Milwaukee Brewers, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Minnesota Twins. He was inducted int the Hall of Fame in 2004.

Aug. 22, 1957 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Evergreen took the pennant at the end of regular season play in the Conecuh County Amateur Baseball League. The final league standings showed Evergreen in first place, Garland, second; Paul, third; Castleberry, fourth; Red Level, fifth; and Lyeffion, sixth. Bernard Powell was the league’s president.

Aug. 22, 1957 – The Evergreen Courant reported that there were no new developments to report regarding the beating of four blacks in Evergreen, Ala. two weeks before by assailants dressed in what appeared to be Ku Klux Klan regalia. Local Klan leaders denied any knowledge of the beating, and local Klan members reported that they hadn’t taken part in the incident. The beatings received widespread media attention, and “calls from all over the country flooded” the Conecuh County Sheriff’s office seeking information about the incident.

Aug. 22, 1957 – The Evergreen Courant reported that work was scheduled to begin within the next week on the Conecuh County Lake as workers were set to begin the erection of a dam at Tomlinson’s Mill, about seven miles north of Evergreen, Ala. Marion Wilkins was Conecuh County’s County Engineer.

Aug. 22, 1964 – Lawrence Earl Vonderau, 20, of Brewton, Ala. pleaded guilty before Judge Daniel H. Thomas of Mobile to holding up the Union Bank in Repton on June 20, 1964 and robbing the bank of $16,386.

Aug. 22, 1968 – Marine Lance Cpl. Dwayne Lamont Salter of Evergreen, Ala. was killed in action in Vietnam.

Aug. 22, 1981 – A horse show sponsored by the Lyeffion High School FFA and the Lyeffion Saddle Club was scheduled to be held at the Lyeffion Saddle Club Arena, starting at 5 p.m. with proceeds to go to the FFA Chapter.

Aug. 22, 1987 – Warrior Academy beat Sparta Academy, 21-0, in Eutaw, Ala. Standout players for Sparta in that game included Craig Blackburn, Kenny Bledsoe, Robbie Bolton, Jeff Carrier, Jamie Deason, Brad Watts and Lee Wild.

Aug. 22, 1988 – The Fall Term of Circuit Court in Conecuh County, Ala. began with Judge Robert E.L. Key presiding. Key was the 35th Judicial Circuit’s first and only judge at the time, and this was his final regular court term in Conecuh County before his retirement in January 1989.

Aug. 22, 1989 - Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers struck out Rickey Henderson to become the first pitcher in major league history to register 5,000 career strikeouts.

Aug. 22, 1990 - U.S. President George H.W. Bush signed an order for calling reservists to aid in the build up of troops in the Persian Gulf.

Aug. 22, 1990 - The U.S. State Department announced that the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait would not be closed under President Saddam Hussein's demand.

Aug. 22, 1990 - The 1990-91 school year at both Monroe Academy and Monroe County public schools was scheduled to begin.

Aug. 22, 2003 – Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore was suspended after refusing to comply with a federal court order to remove a rock inscribed with the Ten Commandments from the lobby of the Alabama Supreme Court building.

Aug. 22, 2003 - Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals went 0-5 to end a 30-game hitting streak.

Aug. 22, 2007 – The Texas Rangers defeated the Baltimore Orioles 30–3, the most runs scored by a team in modern Major League Baseball history. The combined run total was also Major League record.

Aug. 22, 2014 – Sparta Academy’s varsity football team was scheduled to play Hooper Academy in a pre-season game at Davis Henry Field in Hope Hull, Ala. The game was not to count against either team’s regular season record. Also on this night, Hillcrest High School’s varsity football team was scheduled to play a preseason game against Clarke County High School.