Today in History for May 25, 2015

Ralph Waldo Emerson

May 25, 1420 – Henry the Navigator was appointed governor of the Order of Christ.

May 25, 1787 - The Constitutional convention opened in Philadelphia with George Washington presiding.

May 25, 1803 – Philosopher, poet and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson was born in Boston, Mass.

May 25, 1825 – During his tour of the United States, the Marquis de Lafayette visited Washington, Pennsylvania, dining at the Pioneer Grill, the George Washington Hotel and staying at the Globe Inn.

May 25, 1844 - The first telegraphed news dispatch, sent from Washington, D.C. to Baltimore, Md. appeared in the Baltimore "Patriot."

May 25, 1856 - Abolitionist John Brown and his sons attacked three cabins along Pottawatomie Creek. They killed five men. The attack was Brown's revenge for an attack on Lawrence, Kansas on May 21.

May 25, 1861 - John Merryman, a vocal secessionist, was arrested in Cockeysville, Maryland. He appealed for his release under a writ of habeas corpus. U.S. President Abraham Lincoln had suspended the writ of habeas corpus between Washington and Philadelphia on April 27. The move was made to give the military the necessary power to silence dissenters and rebels.

May 25, 1862 – Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson led Confederates to victory at the First Battle of Winchester, Va.

May 25, 1863 - Clement Vallandigham was banished to the Confederacy. Vallandigham had been found guilty by a military tribunal of violating General Ambrose Burnside's Order No. 38. The order stated that public criticism of the war would not be tolerated.

May 25, 1865 - During the early weeks of Federal occupation of Mobile, the city suffered one of its worst disasters as 20 tons of captured Confederate gunpowder exploded in a warehouse being used as an arsenal. Property loss was put at $5,000,000 and the number of casualties was never determined, although it has been estimated at possibly 300. The entire northern part of the city was laid in ruins by the explosion. Many of the dead were never identified.

May 25, 1885 – The Monroe Journal reported that L.H. Henley of Burnt Corn was in Monroeville “a short time ago” and “took the first degree in Masonry.”

May 25, 1885 – The Monroe Journal reported that W.B. Jones had plans to again open his beef market in Monroeville. The market was scheduled to open every Saturday at 6:30 p.m. on the northeast corner of the public square.

May 25, 1885 – The Monroe Journal editorialized that “the draught and backgammon board furnish an unending source of amusement to the ‘gentlemen of leisure’ of this place. It is a more sensible source of pleasure than roller skating or base ball.” (This is one of the earliest mentions of baseball that I’ve found in The Journal.)

May 25, 1905 – The Monroe Journal reported that chancery court was in session in Monroeville, Ala. during the past week. Chancellor Thomas H. Smith presided.

May 25, 1905 – The Monroe Journal reported that “two more shooting scrapes” occurred in Monroe County during the past week, one with fatal results. The first involved an 11-year-old boy, who killed his father, in the King community. The second involved a man, who shot a woman in the arm, in the Scotland community. Both incidents were said to be accidental.

May 25, 1910 - The first-ever nighttime airplane flight was made at Orville Wright's flying school near Montgomery, Ala. Walter Brookins and Archibald Hoxsey piloted the plane, which the Montgomery Advertiser described as "glinting now and then in the moonlight" during flight. The flying school closed shortly after the historic event, but the site eventually became home to Maxwell Air Force Base.

May 25, 1914 – Prof. W.C. Blasingame was elected principal of the Southwest Alabama Agricultural School in Evergreen during a meeting of the school’s board of control in Montgomery. He replaced Prof. J.T. McKee, who took a faculty position at the State Normal School in Florence. He was a graduate of the State Normal College, the University of Tennessee and the University of Chicago. Prior to coming to Evergreen, he’d been in charge of schools in Demopolis and Thomaston.

May 25, 1920 – The commencement exercises at the Agricultural School in Evergreen came to a close with senior class exercises on this day. On May 23, the commencement sermon was delivered at the Baptist Church by the Rev. Norman McLeod of Auburn. On May 21, commencement exercises began with the school play, a four-act drama that was present by pupils from several departments.

May 25, 1922 - Babe Ruth was suspended for one day and fined $200 for throwing dirt on an umpire.

May 25, 1927 – Novelist Robert Ludlum was born in New York City. He is best known for his thriller novels about Jason Bourne.

May 25, 1935 - Babe Ruth hit his final homerun, his 714th, and set a record that would stand for 39 years.

May 25, 1935 – Oakville, Ala. native Jesse Owens of Ohio State University broke three world records and tied a fourth at the Big Ten Conference Track and Field Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Owens tied the world record for the 100-yard dash, running it in 9.4 seconds.

May 25, 1944 – Conecuh County High School in Castleberry, Ala. was scheduled to hold its graduation exercises at 8 p.m. Those receiving diplomas included Jessie Ruth Godwin, Mabel Green, Doris Davis, Lois Ward, Virginia Griffin, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Clara Evelyn Albreast, Mary Ellen Dolihite, John Josey, Joe Josey, Hairston Powell, Lamar Stapleton and Kenneth Brooks.

May 25, 1950 – The Evergreen Greenies were scheduled to play Atmore in a Dixie Amateur League game at Brooks Stadium in Evergreen, Ala.

May 25, 1951 – Westfield, Ala. native Willie Mays made his debut with the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds.

May 25, 1955 – The first ascent of Kangchenjunga, the third-highest mountain in the world, was made by a British expedition led by Charles Evans. Joe Brown and George Band reached the summit on May 25, followed by Norman Hardie and Tony Streather the next day.

May 25, 1961 - President John F. Kennedy made his historic speech before a joint session of Congress, declaring that America would aim to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. 

May 25, 1963 – Hartford, Ala. native Early Wynn won his 300th baseball game.

May 25, 1968 - The Gateway Arch, part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis, Mo. was dedicated.

May 25, 1971 - President Richard Nixon visited Mobile, Ala. to mark the start of construction of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. The waterway, when completed in 1985, ran from Pickwick Lake to Demopolis, Alabama, to connect the Tennessee River to the Tombigbee River. A link between the two rivers had long been desired, having been first proposed by the French in the eighteenth century.

May 25, 1974 - Pam Morrison, Jim Morrison's widow, died of a drug overdose.

May 25, 1977 - "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope" opened in theaters and became the largest grossing film to date.

May 25, 1982 - Ferguson Jenkins became the seventh pitcher to strike out 3,000 batters.

May 25, 1983 - "The Return of the Jedi" opened nationwide. It set a new record in opening day box office sales. The gross was $6,219,629.

May 25, 1997 - The Minnesota Twins retired Kirby Puckett's number.

May 25, 1997 - Todd and Mel Stottlemyre became the first father and son duo to win 100 baseball games.

May 25, 2001 – Erik Weihenmayer, 32, of Boulder, Colorado became the first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

May 25, 2001 - Sherman Bull, 64, of New Canaan, Conn. became the oldest climber to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

May 25, 2012 – Renovations were completed at the Historic Louisville & Nashville Depot in downtown Evergreen, Ala.