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| Queen Elizabeth II in 1957 |
Oct. 17, 1604 – German astronomer Johannes Kepler observed a
supernova in the constellation Ophiuchus.
Oct. 17, 1771
– Premiere in Milan of the opera “Ascanio
in Alba,” composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, age 15.
Oct. 17, 1777 - British general and playwright John Burgoyne
surrendered 5,000 British and Hessian troops to American General Horatio Gates
at Saratoga, New York.
Oct. 17, 1781 – During the American Revolutionary War,
British General Lord Charles Cornwallis surrendered at the Siege of Yorktown.
George Washington accepted the British surrender, and this event effectively
ended America's War for Independence.
Oct. 17, 1814 – Eight people died in the London Beer Flood.
Oct. 17, 1824 – During his tour of the United States, the
Marquis de Lafayette visited Mount Vernon and George Washington's tomb in
Virginia.
Oct. 17, 1841 – Greenberry “Green” Henry Shell was born in
Georgia. He later moved to Escambia County, Ala. and the community of Appleton
was named for his apple orchard. The name, a combination of “apple” and “-ton,”
which means “town,” was suggested by Shell’s son, Andrew. The Appleton post
office was established in 1901. Greenberry Shell was also a Civil War veteran,
having served in Co. D, 16th Regt., Ala. Inf., CSA.
Oct. 17, 1859 - A company of marines arrived and surrounded
abolitionist John Brown after his raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia. On the
morning of Oct. 19, the soldiers overran Brown and his survivors. Ten of
Brown's men were killed, including two of his sons.
Oct. 17, 1861 – During the Civil
War, two days of skirmishing began at Federicktown, Mo.
Oct. 17, 1862 – During the Civil
War, skirmishes were fought at Mountain Home and Sugar Creek in Arkansas; at
Camp Wild Cat, Valley Woods, and Rocky Hill in Kentucky; at Lexington, Mo.; and
at Shepherdstown, W.Va. Civilian resistance to the Union draft also broke out
in Carbon, Luzerne and Schuylkill Counties in Pennsylvania.
Oct. 17, 1863 – During Civil War,
an engagement was fought at Fort Brooke, Fla. Skirmishes were also fought at
Bogue Chitto Creek, Robinson’s Mills (near Livingston) and near Sartarsia in Mississippi;
in Cedar County, Mo.; near Camden Court House, N.C.; and at Accotink. near
Chantilly, Groveton, Berryville, Frying Pan Church, and Manassas Junction in Virginia.
Oct. 17, 1864 - Confederate General James Longstreet assumed
command of his corps in Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Wounded at
the Battle of the Wilderness in Virginia in May of that year, Longstreet missed
the campaign for Richmond, Va. and spent five months recovering before
returning to his command.
Oct. 17, 1864 – During the Civil
War, skirmishes were fought at Eddyville, Kentucky; and Carrollton, Smithville,
and near Lexington, Missouri. An affair also occurred at Cedar Run Church,
Virginia.
Oct. 17, 1888
– Thomas Edison filed a patent for the Optical Phonograph (the first movie).
Oct. 17, 1888 - The first issue of "National Geographic
Magazine" was released at newsstands.
Oct. 17, 1892
– German SS general Theodor Eicke was born in Hudingen, Alsace-Lorraine, German
Empire now Hampont, Moselle, France.
Oct. 17, 1898 – Shinichi Suzuki, who developed the Suzuki
Violin Method, was born in Nagoya, Japan.
Oct. 17, 1915 – Dramatist and playwright Arthur Miller was
born in New York City.
October 17, 1916 - Cumberland University (the forerunner of
present-day Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham) was defeated by Georgia
Tech, 222-0. The Georgia team was coached by a
former elocution and oratory instructor, and football coach, at the
Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama (now Auburn University). His
name was John Heisman.
Oct. 17, 1917 - Serving aboard the USS Cassin,
Alabamian Kelly Ingram became the first American serviceman killed in
action during World War I.
Oct. 17, 1917 – The Evergreen
Courant reported that there was “a vast quantity of timber throughout this
section which was blown down by the recent hurricane, and unless persons who
own it take prompt measures to utilize and get something out of it, much of it
will go to decay.”
Oct. 17, 1918 –
During World War I, Army Pvt. Will Frye of Lower Peachtree, Ala. “died from
disease.”
Oct. 17, 1918 – During World War I, Army Pvt. Marion Lee
Haigler, 22, of Greenville, Ala. “died from disease.” Born on Feb. 26, 1896, he
was buried in the Fort Dale Cemetery in Butler County.
Oct. 17, 1919 – RCA was incorporated as the Radio
Corporation of America.
Oct. 17, 1924 – Evergreen was scheduled to play Florala in
football at Gantt Field in Evergreen, starting at 3:30 p.m. Florala’s coach was
Grady Vaughn, who was a former Evergreen coach.
Oct. 17, 1924
– Croatian SS officer Anton Geiser was born in Đak-Selci, Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
Oct. 17, 1927 – Major League Baseball pitcher Johnny
Klippstein was born in Washington, D.C. He would go on to pitch for the Cubs,
the Red, the Dodgers, the Indians, the Senators, the Phillies, the Twins and
the Tigers.
Oct. 17, 1927 - Martin Hancock, Leslie Morris and Everette
Pritchett, three men of the Repton community were arrested on this Monday on
warrants charging them with kidnapping and assault and battery. The warrants
were sworn out by relatives of Malcolm Nicholson, who it was alleged was
kidnapped by these men Sunday afternoon near Repton. Hancock and Morris were in
jail as of Oct. 20 awaiting trial. Pritchett made bond immediately after his
arrest.
Oct. 17, 1930 – A pep rally the night before the
Alabama-Tennessee football game in Tuscaloosa turned into a near riot when
parading students “bombarded” a movie theater with eggs and vegetables after
being refused admittance. The fire department and police had to be called in to
disperse the students, but no arrests were made. The theater suffered minor
damage. The next day, Alabama beat Tennessee, 18-6.
Oct. 17, 1930 – Repton High School beat Conecuh County High
School of Castleberry, 25-0, in Repton.
Oct. 17, 1932 – One of Evergreen’s oldest and most highly
respected citizens Edward Johnston McCreary, 68, passed away around 11 p.m. at
his home in Evergreen following “a stroke of paralysis” around 4 p.m. McCreary
was born in the Johnstonville community on Feb. 5, 1864. He was buried in the
Magnolia Cemetery in Evergreen.
Oct. 17, 1933
– Albert Einstein fled Nazi Germany and moved to the United States.
Oct. 17, 1940 – The body of Communist propagandist Willi
Münzenberg was found in South France, starting a never-resolved mystery.
Oct. 17, 1943 - The Detroit Lions set a rushing record when
they achieved a -53 yards against the Chicago Cardinals.
Oct. 17, 1948 – The Evergreen Methodist Church dedicated its
new, custom-built Moeller pipe organ during its Sunday morning worship service.
Members of the organ committee included Mrs. E.B. Stowers, Mrs. O.C. McGehee
and Mrs. Verna W. Millsap.
Oct. 17, 1957 – The Monroe Journal reported that Capt. W.H.
(Billy) Lee, a native Monroe Countian, had been named one of the physicians to
attend Queen Elizabeth of England during her tour of the nation’s capital. Son
of Mr. and Mrs. John T. Lee Sr. of Frisco City, Capt. Lee was stationed at Ft.
Myers, Va., where he was in charge of a clinic.
Oct. 17, 1957 – The Monroe Journal reported that the
Monroeville Kiwanis Club had elected eight members to its board of directors
for 1958. Those board members included C.H. Harper, J.P. Farish III, Chuck
Pelham, Lee Duvall, John Finklea, R.A. Wible and L.L. Dees. Their election
followed by a week the naming of new officers for the club: Robison Harper,
president; A.B. Blass Jr., first vice-president; and George Gibson, treasurer.
Oct. 17, 1957 - Judge George C. Wallace of Clayton was
scheduled to speak to the Evergreen Rotary Club at its meeting at noon at the
Methodist Church. Wallace was judge of the Third Judicial Circuit of Alabama
and had been mentioned as a possible candidate for governor in the 1958
Democratic primary.
Oct. 17, 1957 – The Evergreen Courant reported that the
search for a private plane missing since Sat., Oct. 12, was being continued in
the area. Civil Air Patrol pilots and ground searchers had combed the large
area from Evergreen north to Montgomery several times, but no trace of the
plane had been found. The pilot, Larry Reid, construction company employee of
Birmingham, and his fiancée, Miss Mary Catherine Finch, 21-year-old nurse at
Montgomery hospital, were last heard from at 6:36 p.m. on Oct. 12.
Oct. 17, 1957 – The Evergreen Courant reported that
Evergreen’s Conecuh County Training School Eagles, outweighed man for man by 20
pounds, played a valiant defensive game, though on the short end of a 7-0 score
in a recent football game against Camden. The entire game was played
practically on the Eagle’s side of the 50-yard line. The Eagles made four brilliant
goal line stands to keep within striking distance. The Eagles made their only
threat in the final stanza. With four minutes remaining in the game, Hood
Johnson intercepted a Camden pass on his 30 and ran it back to the Camden 40.
The Eagles failed to gain a first down and Camden took possession on their 35.
Other standout CCTS players in that game included James Watson, Walter Hill,
Johnny Tullis and Norman Nettles.
Oct. 17, 1961
– Scores of Algerian protesters (some claim up to 400) are massacred by the
Paris police at the instigation of former Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon, then
chief of the Prefecture of Police.
Oct. 17, 1962 - The New York Yankees won their 20th World
Series when they beat the San Francisco Giants.
Oct. 17, 1963 – “All the Way Home,” a movie version of
Alabama author James Agee's book “A Death in the Family,” was released.
Oct. 17, 1966 - President Johnson
left Washington for a 17-day trip to seven Asian and Pacific nations and a
conference scheduled in Manila.
Oct. 17, 1975 – On homecoming night, Sparta Academy improved
to 6-1-1 by beating Chickasaw Academy, 56-20, at Stuart-McGehee Field in
Evergreen. Kelsey Nix was crowned Miss Homecoming.
Oct. 17, 1975 – T.R. Miller beat Evergreen, 22-8, at Brooks
Stadium in Evergreen. Also that night, Frisco City beat Conecuh County High
School, 36-0, in Castleberry. McKenzie beat Repton, 14-6, in Repton. Bill
Watkins scored Repton’s only touchdown.
Oct. 17, 1976 - Part 2 of “The Biscuit Eater,” a movie version of
the story by Alabama author James H. Street, was broadcast as part of the “Wonderful World of Disney” television series.
Oct. 17, 1978 - U.S. President Jimmy Carter signed a bill
that restored full U.S. citizenship rights to Confederate President Jefferson
Davis.
Oct. 17, 1989 - An earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter
Scale hit the San Francisco Bay area in California at 5:04 p.m. The quake
caused about 67 deaths, 3,000 injuries, and damages up to $7 billion. The
tremor hit just before the live TV broadcast of the World Series game at
Candlestick Park, and the sportscasters took on the role of news anchors.
Oct. 17, 2000 – Pro Football Hall of Fame tackle Leo
Nomellini died at the age of 76 in Stanford, Calif. During his career, he
played for the University of Minnesota and the San Francisco 49ers. He was
inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1969.
Oct. 17, 2012 – The Mt. Moriah Fellowship Baptist Church Cemetery
in Butler County, Ala. was added to the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register.
Oct. 17, 2014 – The World War II tanker movie, “Fury,” was
released in U.S. theaters. Starring Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman,
Michael Peña and Jon Bernthal, the film portrays US tank crews in Nazi Germany
during the final days of World War II.
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