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| General Edmund Kirby Smith |
April 30, 1006 AD - A new star, possibly the brightest
supernova in recorded human history, appeared in the sky.
April 30, 1492 – Spain gave Christopher Columbus his
commission of exploration.
April 30, 1692 – In connection with the Salem witchcraft
trials, several girls accused former Salem minister George Burroughs of
witchcraft.
April 30, 1770 – English-Canadian cartographer and explorer
David Thompson was born in Westminster, London, England.
Over his career, he mapped over 3.9 million square kilometres of
North America and for this has been described as the "greatest land
geographer who ever lived."
April 30, 1776 - Samuel Adams wrote to the Rev. Samuel
Cooper that he hoped for another battle between British and American troops,
stating his belief that, "One battle would do more towards a Declaration
of Independence than a long chain of conclusive arguments in a provincial
convention or the Continental Congress."
April 30, 1789 – On the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall
Street in New York City, George Washington took the oath of office to become
the first elected President of the United States.
April 30, 1803 – In what is now known as the “Louisiana
Purchase,” the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France for
$15 million, more than doubling the size of the young nation. The
territory covered 828,000 square miles, stretching from present-day Louisiana
north to Canada, and as far west as the border of Idaho, doubling the
geographical area of the United States.
April 30, 1812 – The Territory of Orleans became the 18th
U.S. state under the name Louisiana.
April 30, 1859 – Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities” was
first published in serial form, appearing in the first issue of a new weekly
journal, “All the Year Round,”
which Dickens founded himself.
April 30, 1862 – Kolb’s Battery (also known as the Barbour
Light Artillery and 4th Battalion, Co. C, Hilliard’s Legion) mustered into
Confederate service and then proceeded to Montgomery, Ala. where it was divided
in two. The unit was organized at Eufaula, Ala. in April 1862 with a complement
of about 325 officers and men. With two other companies, it organized as the
artillery battalion of Hilliard's Legion.
April 30, 1863 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Cooked
Creek and Hog Mountain, Ala.
April 30, 1863 - The Battle of Day's Gap was
fought between the cavalry forces of Union Col. Abel Streight and Confederate
Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest. The engagement was the first in a series of
skirmishes between Streight and Forrest during Streight's Raid across north
Alabama. The raid ended with Streight's surrender to Forrest just short of
Streight's intended destination of Rome, Ga.
April 30, 1864 - Work began on the dams along the
Red River. The work would allow Union General Nathaniel Banks' troops to sail
over the rapids above Alexandria, La.
April 30, 1864 - The Battle of Jenkin's Ferry,
Ark. took place. Union troops under General Frederick Steele fought off General
Edmund Kirby Smith while retreating toward Little Rock, Ark.
April 30, 1866 – John Edward Witherington, who died at the age
77 in 1944, was born. While postmaster in the China community, he established
the first rural postal route in Conecuh County, Ala.
April 30, 1875 – French explorer, lithographer and
cartographer Jean-Frédéric Waldeck passed away at the claimed age of 109 years
and 45 days. He supposedly died of a heart attack while eying a beautiful woman
near the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
April 30, 1877 – American-French writer and author Alice B.
Toklas was born in San Francisco, Calif.
April 30, 1885 – Governor of New York David B. Hill signed
legislation creating the Niagara Reservation, New York's first state park,
ensuring that Niagara Falls would not be devoted solely to industrial and
commercial use.
April 30, 1889 - George Washington's inauguration became the
first U.S. national holiday.
April 30, 1900 - Hawaii was organized as an official U.S.
territory.
April 30, 1922 - Charlie Robertson of the Chicago White Sox
threw a perfect game against the Detroit Tigers.
April 30, 1928 – Birmingham, Ala. native Spud Davis made his
Major League Baseball debut for the St. Louis Cardinals.
April 30, 1939 - Lou Gehrig played his last game with the
New York Yankees, having played in 2,130 consecutive games.
April 30, 1943 – During World War II’s “Operation
Mincemeat,” the submarine HMS Seraph surfaced in the Mediterranean Sea off
the coast of Spain to deposit a dead man planted with false invasion plans and
dressed as a British military intelligence officer.
April 30, 1945 – During World War II, Adolf Hitler and Eva
Braun committed suicide after being married for one day. Soviet soldiers raised
the Victory Banner over the Reichstag building. One week later Germany
surrendered unconditionally.
April 30, 1945 – Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Annie Dillard
was born in Pittsburgh, Pa. and is most famous for her 1974 book, “Pilgrim at
Tinker Creek.”
April 30, 1961 - Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants hit
four home runs against the Milwaukee Braves.
April 30, 1970 - Billy Williams of the Chicago Cubs became
the first National League player to play in 1,000 straight games.
April 30, 1977 – Darlene Stevens, 21, and her two-year-old
daughter, Christine Michelle, both of Conecuh County, were killed in a two-car
collision on a Butler County road.
April 30, 1979 – The Alston-Cobb House (now the Clarke
County Historical Museum) in Grove Hill, Ala. was added to the National
Register of Historic Places.
April 30, 1988 - Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the
Moon" fell out of the Billboard 200 chart for the first time in 725 weeks.
April 30, 1996 - The New York Yankees and the Baltimore
Orioles played the longest nine-inning game in Major League Baseball history.
The game took four hours and 21 minutes.
April 30, 1997 - The Atlanta Braves set a major league
record when they got their 19th win in the month of April.
April 30, 1998 – Clarke Mills, a historic textile factory in
Jackson, Ala.; the Grove Hill Courthouse Square Historic District in Grove
Hill, Ala.; and the Whatley Historic District in Whatley, Ala.; were added to
the National Register of Historic Places.
April 30, 1998 - The first Alabama Writers Symposium opened
in Monroeville, Ala.
April 30, 2002 - Alex Rodriguez became the second youngest
major league player to reach 250 home runs. He was 26 years and 277 days old.
April 30, 2004 - The Harper Lee Award for Alabama's Distinguished
Writer was given to Alabama author Sonia Sanchez at the Alabama Writers
Symposium in Monroeville, Ala.
April 30, 2004 – U.S. media released graphic photos of
American soldiers abusing and humiliating Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison.
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