Nov. 3, 1493 – Christopher Columbus first sighted the island
of Dominica in the Caribbean Sea.
Nov. 3, 1679 - There was a great panic in Europe over the
close approach of a comet.
Nov. 3, 1777 - General George Washington was informed that a
conspiracy was afoot to discredit him with Congress and have him replaced by
General Horatio Gates. Thomas Conway, who would be made inspector general of
the United States less than two months later on December 14, led the effort. The
rumored conspiracy would go down in history as the “Conway cabal.”
Nov. 3, 1783 – The American Continental Army was disbanded.
Nov. 3, 1793 – French playwright, journalist, abolitionist
and feminist Olympe de Gouges was guillotined in Paris.
Nov. 3, 1794 – Poet and translator William Cullen Bryant was
born in Cummington, Mass.
Nov. 3, 1813 - The Battle of Tallushatchee occurred in
what is now Calhoun County, Ala. Under the command of General John Coffee, 900
of Andrew Jackson’s Tennessee volunteer cavalrymen, including Davy Crockett,
Sam Houston and Cherokee scouts John Ross and Sequoyah, as they attacked the
Creek Indian village Tallushatchee near the Coosa River. Coffee surrounded the town and then sent two companies into the
center of the town to draw the Creeks out, after which they were caught in a
crossfire between the two lines of cavalry. Fighting lasted until the last
warrior fell. In all, 186 Red Sticks were killed, including a number of women
and children. The remaining women and children were taken prisoner. Coffee's
troops casualties were five killed and 41 wounded. This was the first
offensive as Andrew Jackson made his way south to Horseshoe Bend.
Nov. 3, 1816 - Confederate General Jubal Early was born in
Franklin City, Va. Early had a distinguished career in the Confederate army,
and in 1864 he waged a campaign in the Shenandoah Valley that kept Confederate
hopes alive by relieving the pressure on General Robert E. Lee's army around
Richmond.
Nov. 3, 1831 – Novelist, orator and social reformer Ignatius
Donnelly was born in Philadelphia. He published “Atlantis” in 1882, which traced
the origins of human civilization to the legend of the lost continent of
Atlantis. He went on to publish two more novels, and two books, “The Great Cryptogram” and “The Cipher in the Plays and on the Tombstone”
(1888 &1899), which attempted to prove that Francis Bacon had written the
works of Shakespeare.
Nov. 3, 1855 – Isaac Betts Jr. became postmaster at Burnt
Corn, Ala.
Nov. 3, 1861 – During the Civil War, a Federal expedition
into lower Maryland, led by Brig. Generals Oliver O. Howard, and George Sykes,
began.
Nov. 3, 1861 – During the Civil War, Confederate Major
General Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson assumed the command of the Shenandoah
Valley District at Winchester, Va.
Nov. 3, 1862 – During the Civil
War, Union Major General Israel Bush Richardson died at the Pry House in
Sharpsburg, Md. from wounds received on Sept. 17, 1862 at the Battle of
Antietam, Md.
Nov. 3, 1862 – During the Civil
War, Federal scouts left from Fort Crook, Calif. and Fort Churchill in the
Nevada Territory for Honey Lake Valley, Calif.
Nov. 3, 1862 – During the Civil
War, a seven-day Federal expedition began along the coasts of Georgia and East
Florida, aboard the steamer, Darlington, between Saint Simon’s Island and
Fernandina, to destroy Confederate salt works and coastline picket stations.
Nov. 3, 1862 – During the Civil
War, Confederate Captain Edward W. Fuller of the gunboat CSS Cotton had a particularly
enjoyable day in Berwick Bay, Louisiana on this day. He seemed to be in a
thoroughly dreadful situation, being the only Confederate ship in the bay, and
being confronted by no less than four Union vessels, the USS Calhoun, Kinsman,
Estella and Diana. The odds were not as uneven as they may have seemed,
however: what the U.S. captains did not know was that there were Confederate
shore batteries concealed on the banks of the waterway. Between the batteries
and the Cotton’s own guns, considerable damage was inflicted on the Federal
ships until the Cotton started to run low on ammunition. Captain Fuller ordered
his men to cut off their pants legs and tie the ends to make additional powder
bags to extend the fight. The Federal ships withdrew.
Nov. 3, 1862 – During the Civil
War, skirmishes were fought near Harrisonville, Cass County, in Missouri, as
Quantrill’s guerrillas attacked and captured a Federal wagon train. A skirmish
was also fought at Ashby’s Gap, Va.; and a Federal Cavalry reconnaissance was
conducted to Snicker’s Gap, Va., where a skirmish was fought.
Nov. 3, 1862 – During the Civil
War, as Major General James Longstreet’s Army Corps and General Robert E. Lee
arrived at Culpepper Courthouse to front McClellan’s advance, currently at
Warrenton, Va.
Nov. 3, 1862 – During the Civil
War, Captain Raphael Semmes and his ship CSS Alabama had created a reign of
terror recently in the North Atlantic. Whaling ship after whaling ship had come
under his guns, and one after the other had gone up in flames and headed for
the bottom of the sea. This, for whatever happiness it may have engendered in
the local whale population, was causing conniption fits in the industries
dependent on whale oil and bone, not to mention the insurance companies of New
York. Captains began to avoid the seas off Nova Scotia, and Semmes was running
out of targets. Like any other hunter Semmes knew the solution: go to where the
game is. He shifted to the seas around Bermuda, and the whaling ship Levi
Starbuck was his next conquest.
Nov. 3, 1863 – During the Civil
War, skirmishes were fought at Carrion Crow Bayou and at Bayou Bourbeau, near
Grand Coteau, in Louisiana; at Quinn and Jackson’s Mill, Coldwater River,
Miss., on the Memphis & Charleston Railroad; and at Lawrenceburg, Tenn. A
skirmish was also fought at Collierville, Tenn., on the Memphis & Charleston
Railroad, and Confederate Brigadier General John Ronald Chalmers attacked the
Federals with no success, losing 95 men in the process.
Nov. 3, 1863 - To the thousands of
mortar, cannon and artillery shells which had already been flung at the
battered hulk of Fort Sumter were added another 661 which were shot off on this
day. The problem, from the point of view of the Union attackers, was that as
long as the bombproof shelters provided cover for the Confederate defenders,
any further damage to the shell of the fort itself was more or less
unimportant. The essential point was summed up in a report by Admiral John
Dahlgren after inspecting the fort through a telescope from his flagship in
Charleston Harbor. He could, he wrote “plainly observe the further effects of
the firing; still, this mass of ruin [Sumter] is capable of harboring a number
of the enemy, who may retain their hold until expelled by the bayonet.”
Nov. 3, 1863 – During the Civil
War, two days of Confederate operations began on the Memphis & Charleston
Railroad in Tennessee; and Confederate scouts began conducting operations
around Catlett’s Station, Va., led by Confederate Major John S. Mosby.
Nov. 3, 1863 - Since July 4, the
small Pennsylvania town of Gettysburg had struggled to cope with the aftermath
of the gigantic battle which had taken place for three days on their door
steps. The putrifying horses and mules had been buried, occasionally by those
caught scavenging for souvenirs on the battlefield. More slowly had proceeded
the burial of the soldiers. Those who died on the field had been buried where
they fell, by friend or foe. Those who died later in field hospitals, or the
immense Camp Letterman compound east of town, had either been shipped home to
their families or buried nearby. Finally, the National Cemetery had been
designed, and the dead were dug up and moved there. A ceremony of dedication
was being planned, with the greatest orators of the North invited to speak. One
other invitation was sent, and Abraham Lincoln, taking no offense at being an
afterthought, agreed to say a few words at the Gettysburg dedication.
Nov. 3, 1864 – During the Civil
War, the 4th US Army Corps arrived at Pulaski, Tenn. to block any move in that
direction by Confederate Lieut. Gen. John B. Hood.
Nov. 3, 1865 - U.S. President Andrew Johnson signed the
execution order for Henry Wirz. Wirz was executed for the brutality and
mistreatment under his command at Andersonville Prison during the Civil War.
Nov. 3, 1879 – Explorer and ethnologist Vilhjalmur
Stefansson was born in Canada.
Nov. 3, 1885 – Monroe County (Ala.) Sheriff Burns went to
Greenville, Ala. on this Tuesday and returned with a prisoner the next day.
Nov. 3, 1886 – A three-day Southern Cotton-Picking Contest
began, and Thomas B. Nettles, 17, of Monroe County won the championship by
picking a record 1,560 pounds, an average of 520 pounds per day.
Nov. 3, 1903 – Photographer and author Walker Evans was born
in St. Louis, Mo. In the summer of 1936, he went down to Greensboro, Alabama,
to photograph tenant farmers struggling through the Great Depression with
journalist James Agee. The photographs, with Agee’s text, were published in the
book “Let Us Now
Praise Famous Men” in
1941, and Evans’ photos are among the most famous images of the Great
Depression.
Nov. 3, 1905 – Tom McDonald shot a “fine white squirrel” on
this Friday near the “McDonald place” about two miles from Jackson, Ala.,
according to The South Alabamian newspaper. The squirrel had pink eyes, and
some of the oldest citizens said it is the only white squirrel they have ever
seen. McDonald had the squirrel mounted and had it on exhibition.
Nov. 3, 1908 - Alabama author Clifford Lanier died in
Montgomery, Ala.
Nov. 3, 1908 – Pro Football Hall of Fame fullback Bronko
Nagurski was born in Rainy River, Ontario. He went on to play for the
University of Minnesota and the Chicago Bears. He was inducted into the Hall of
Fame in 1963.
Nov. 3, 1914 – An election was held in Conecuh County, Ala.
and the total vote was described as the “lightest in many years.” Democratic candidate
for Alabama governor Charles Henderson received 502 votes in Conecuh County.
Republican Socialist’s Jno. B. Shields and W.C. Swain got eight votes each,
while Progressive candidate E.H. Cross got no votes.
Nov. 3, 1915 – The Evergreen Courant reported that A.H.
Mason and C.J. Hines, who’d been recently appointed to the Conecuh County, Ala.
board of equalization, had failed to select a third member of the board, so
Alabama Gov. Charles Henderson was called on to appoint the third member.
Nov. 3, 1915 – The Evergreen Courant reported that the
school at Lenox, Ala. was “progressing nicely” with Sadie Melton as principal
and Estelle Petty as assistant.
Nov. 3, 1915 – The Evergreen Courant reported that “Mrs.
Legrand” of Atlanta had been placed in charge of the millinery department of
the Riley Department Store in Evergreen, Ala.
Nov. 3, 1918 – National Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Bob
Feller was born in Van Meter, Iowa. He went on to play his entire Major League
career for the Cleveland Indians. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in
1962.
Nov. 3, 1918 - As the First World War drew to a close, angry rebels in both Germany and Austria-Hungary revolted, raising the red banner of the revolutionary socialist Communist Party and threatening to follow the Russian example in bringing down their imperialist governments.
Nov. 3, 1929 - Providence became the first National Football League team to host a game at night under floodlights. The game was against the Cardinals.
Nov. 3, 1939 – Monroe County High School’s football team beat
Wilcox County, 26-0, in Monroeville, Ala.
Nov. 3, 1942 - Alabama author Tom Weatherly was born in
Scottsboro, Ala.
Nov. 3, 1942 – American mystery novelist Martin Cruz Smith
was born in Reading, Pa.
Nov. 3, 1943 – Audrey Wilson, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
M.E. Wilson of Evergreen, Ala., was elected president of the Women’s Student
Government Association at Auburn University. Wilson, who defeated Martha Blake
of Sheffield in the election, was a junior in the Home Economics Department.
Nov. 3, 1950 – Humorist and cultural critic Joe Queenan was
born in Philadelphia.
Nov. 3, 1953 - The Rules Committee of organized baseball
restored the sacrifice fly. The rule had not been used since 1939.
Nov. 3, 1954 – The first “Godzilla” film was released and
marked the first appearance of the character of the same name.
Nov. 3, 1956 – A fire of an undetermined origin destroyed
two-thirds of the Evergreen Garment Co. building on this Saturday night,
causing an estimated $300,000 loss. The fire began around 7 p.m. and the
building was engulfed in flames when the fire department arrived. A crowd of
around 2,000 people “watched the fire in horror as it burned away at the
quarters of one of the town’s largest payrolls.”
Nov. 3, 1957 - Controversial psychiatrist and scientist,
Wilhelm Reich, passed away at the age of 60 at the United
States Penitentiary, Lewisburg, Pa.
Nov. 3, 1958 – Shortly before
midnight on this Monday night, Evergreen, Ala. police officers McDonald and
Morrison apparently foiled the attempted burglary of the then new Rutland-Price
Building in Evergreen, Ala. While making their routine rounds, they found a
door to the building open, but they believed that the burglars managed to
escape through a rear door. The building’s business tenants, Katherine W.
Owens, the owner of Katherine’s, and Dr. Cecil E. Price found nothing missing.
Nov. 3, 1959 – John Bolton was born
in Evergreen, Ala.
Nov. 3, 1964 – U.S. District Judge
Daniel H. Thomas of Mobile, Ala. sentenced 21-year-old Lawrence Earl Vonderau
of Brewton, Ala. to nine years and 10 months in federal prison in connection
with the robbery of $16,000 from the Union Bank in Repton in June 1964.
Vonderau, a Brewton service station attendant, had pleaded guilty to the crime.
Nov. 3, 1964 – During an election in
Monroe County, Ala., Probate Judge David M. Nettles defeated N.S. “Nick” Hare
in the race for probate judge.
Nov. 3, 1965 - The movie “Juliet of the Spirits,” with Alabama
author Eugene Walter playing the role of a Mother Superior, was released in the
United States.
Nov. 3, 1967
– During the Vietnam War, the Battle of Dak To began in some of the heaviest
fighting seen in the Central Highlands area, heavy casualties were sustained by
both sides in bloody battles around Dak To, about 280 miles north of Saigon
near the Cambodian border.
Nov. 3, 1969
– During the Vietnam War, U.S. President Richard M. Nixon addressed the nation
on television and radio, asking the "silent majority" to join him in
solidarity on the Vietnam War effort and to support his policies.
Nov. 3, 1970 - Fred Gray and Thomas Reed were elected
to the state House of Representatives to become the first black Alabama
legislators since Reconstruction. Both men won seats from the 31st House
District, composed of Macon, Bullock and Barbour counties.
Nov. 3, 1972 – Former University of Alabama quarterback Joe
Namath was featured on the cover of LIFE magazine.
Nov. 3, 1976 – “Carrie,” a horror film starring Sissy Spacek
and based on Stephen King’s 1974 best-selling first novel, opens in theaters
around the United States.
Nov. 3, 1979
– In what’s now known as the “Greensboro Massacre,” five members of the Communist
Workers Party were shot dead and seven were wounded by a group of Klansmen and neo-Nazis
during a "Death to the Klan" rally in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Nov. 3, 1988 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Erastus
“Ras” L. McCreary, 46, a former science teacher at Evergreen High School, had
been terminated by the Conecuh County Board of Education, following his
conviction and sentencing for growing and possessing marijuana in Federal
District Court in Mobile. McCreary had been suspended with pay by the board
following his arrest in March 1988. After his conviction on Sept. 30, 1988, the
school board asked for and received his resignation.
Nov. 3, 1989 - Lou Piniella was named the manager of the
Cincinnati Reds. He replaced the banned Pete Rose.
Nov. 3, 1993 - Greg Maddux of the Atlanta Braves became the
first player to win back-to-back Cy Young Awards on different teams.
Nov. 3, 1996 - Jerry Rice of the San Francisco 49ers became
the first NFL player to catch 1,000 career receptions.
Nov. 3, 1998 - Bob Kane, the creator of Batman, died at the
age of 83 in Los Angeles, Calif.
Nov. 3, 1998 - A state-run newspaper in Iraq urged the
country to prepare for to battle "the U.S. monster."
Nov. 3, 1998 – During an election in Monroe County, voters
in Monroe County Commission District 2 gave Commissioner Carlisle McClure four
more years on the commission. McClure, a 12-year incumbent, defeated
Independent challenger Bill Dailey by a margin of about 200 votes.
Nov. 3, 2006 – Truman Capote’s aunt Edna Marie Faulk
Rudisill, aka the “Fruitcake Lady,” passed away at the age of 95 in Hudson,
Fla. Born in Monroeville, Ala. on March 13, 1911 to James Arthur Faulk and Edna
Marie Hendrix Faulk, she went on to become an author and television personality.
She became a regular guest on “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno. She was an aunt
to Truman Capote and helped raise him when he was a child in Alabama. She was
the author of eight books, and it was her book titled "Fruitcake: Memories
of Truman Capote and Sook" that led to her first appearance on The Tonight
Show in December 2000 when she was 89 years old. On that show, she taught Jay
Leno and Mel Gibson how to make a fruitcake. By 2002, "Ask The Fruitcake
Lady" became a regular segment on “The Tonight Show.” She would answer
questions from the audience and do cooking segments with celebrity guests such
as Tom Cruise, Hugh Grant and Cuba Gooding Jr. Among her other books were
"The Southern Haunting of Truman Capote" and "Truman Capote: The
Story of His Bizarre and Exotic Boyhood by an Aunt Who Helped Raise Him".
Her final book, "Ask The Fruitcake Lady: Everything You Would Already Know
If You Had Any Sense" was released on Nov. 7, 2006 - four days after her
death. She was buried in Grace Memorial Gardens in Pasco County, Fla.
Nov. 3, 2009 – Grove Hill, Ala. voted to legalize alcohol
sales.
No. 3, 2014
– One World Trade Center officially opened.
No comments:
Post a Comment