Thursday, June 11, 2015

Today in History for June 11, 2015

Alabama Gov. William D. Jelks
June 11, 1741 – Dr. Joseph Warren was born in Roxbury, Province of Massachusetts Bay. He was an early leader in the American Revolution. Warren enlisted Paul Revere and William Dawes to leave Boston and warn of the British plan to raid Concord and arrest John Hancock and Samuel Adams.

June 11, 1769 - Alabama author Anne Newport Royall was born near Baltimore, Md.

June 11, 1770 – British explorer Captain James Cook discovered the Great Barrier Reef off of Australia when he ran aground.

June 11, 1775 – The American Revolutionary War's first naval engagement, the Battle of Machias, resulted in the capture of a small British naval vessel.

June 11, 1776 – The Continental Congress appointed Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston to the Committee of Five to draft a declaration of independence from Britain.

June 11, 1788 – Russian explorer Gerasim Izmailov reached Alaska.

June 11, 1847 - Sir John Franklin died in Canada while attempting to discover the Northwest Passage. Franklin was an English naval officer and an Arctic explorer.


June 11, 1864 - Confederate warship CSS Alabama arrived at the harbor of Cherbourg, France.

June 11, 1864 - The Battle of Brice's Crossroads concluded. Confederate Nathan Bedford Forrest was able to capture 1,600 troops, 16 cannons and 176 supply wagons from Union General Samual D. Sturgis's cavalry.

June 11, 1864 - Union General George Custer's men attacked General Wade Hampton's supply train near Trevilian Station. General Phillip Sheridan's Union cavalry came to Custer's rescue in the late afternoon. The battle ended the next day.

June 11, 1864 – German composer Richard Strauss was born in Munich.

June 11, 1879 – National Baseball Hall of Fame catcher and manager Roger Bresnahan was born in Toldeo, Ohio. He went on to play for the Washington Senators, the Chicago Orphans, the Baltimore Orioles, the New York Giants, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs. He also managed the Cardinals and the Cubs and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1945.

June 11, 1901 – Alabama Gov. William J. Samford died while in office and was succeeded by the president of the Alabama Senate, William D. Jelks. The Constitutional Convention, then in session, would recreate the office of Lieutenant Governor in the 1901 Constitution. Originally created in the 1868 constitution, the office of Lieutenant Governor had been dropped from the 1875 version.

June 11, 1902 – The Evergreen Courant reported that “L.L. Peacock of Gregville” was in Evergreen on this morning.

June 11, 1902 – The Evergreen Courant reported that “Lenox is the name of a new post office recently established in this county, with Joseph Ryals postmaster.”

June 11, 1902 – The Evergreen Courant reported that W.B. James had taken the oath of office to serve as a Conecuh County Sheriff’s Deputy.

June 11, 1902 – The Evergreen Courant reported that on June 7 Conecuh County Sheriff W.W. Pridgen arrested 64-year-old Albert Brown in Stockton, Ala. on 31-year-old murder charges and transported him to the Conecuh County Jail in Evergreen. Brown was arrested for the stabbing of Levi Brown on the night of Aug. 10, 1871 on the railroad tracks in downtown Evergreen. Levi Brown died three days later, but Albert Brown claimed he stabbed the man in self-defense.

June 11, 1909 – The Conecuh Record reported that on this day J.P. Yates, W.P. Yates, A.F. Daw, Andrew Philyaw, John Philyaw and two others were struck by lightning at Owassa, Ala. on this afternoon while packing tomatoes. They all recovered.

June 11, 1910 – French underwater explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau was born in Saint-André-de-Cubzac, Gironde, France. He also invented the Aqua-Lung diving apparatus and was known around the world as an ecologist and filmmaker.

June 11, 1913 – Pro Football Hall of Fame football coach Vince Lombardi was born in Brooklyn, N.Y.

June 11, 1915 – The first cotton bloom of the season in Conecuh County, Ala. came from the farm of W.T. Chapman near West Side.

June 11, 1917 – Confederate veteran Gus Riley died at his home six miles west of Evergreen, Ala. About 70 years of age, he was a devoted member of the Arkadelphia Baptist Church, near where his family lived.

June 11, 1925 – Novelist William Styron was born in Newport News, Va.

June 11, 1935 – Inventor Edwin Howard Armstrong gave the first public demonstration of FM broadcasting in the United States at Alpine, New Jersey. Armstrong demonstrated the clarity of FM compared to AM radio by playing classical music and the sound of water being poured.

June 11, 1938 - Johnny Vander Meer of the Cincinnati Reds threw the first of two consecutive no-hitters.

June 11, 1947 – R.F. Hyde brought the first cotton bloom of the 1947 season by The Courant office around noon on this Wednesday.

June 11, 1949 – Country music legend Hank Williams debuted on Grand Ole Opry. He performed "Lovesick Blues" and "Mind Your Own Business."

June 11, 1951 – Army PFC Edward W. Rigdon of Escambia County, Ala. was killed in action in Korea.

June 11, 1956 – Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana was born in New Eagle, Pa. He went on to play for Notre Dame, the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2000.

June 11, 1959 - The Hovercraft, a new form of transport described as a cross between an aircraft, boat, and land vehicle, was officially launched.

June 11, 1962 – In Evergreen Senior League play, the Braves beat the Pirates, 13-6, to remain in first place. Claude Aaron recorded three hits and four RBI for the Braves, and Grady Hobbs and Ronnie Jackson pitched for the Braves.

June 11, 1962 – Six people were injured in a two-car accident on this Monday afternoon at the intersection of Rural Street and West Front Street, at the foot of the overhead bridge, in Evergreen, Ala. The accident involved a 1959 Oldsmobile, driven by Patrick T. Casey of Montgomery, and a 1954 Chevrolet, driven by Willard Harrington of Evergreen.

June 11, 1963 - Dr. James Hardy, a native of Shelby County, Alabama, and chief of surgery at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, performed the world's first human lung transplant. The patient lived for three weeks before dying of chronic kidney disease. The next year Hardy transplanted a chimpanzee's heart into another patient, marking the first transplant of a heart into a human.

June 11, 1963 - In a vain attempt to halt the enrollment of black students Vivian Malone and James Hood, Governor George C. Wallace stood in front of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama. This became known as the "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door". Later in the day, accompanied by federalized National Guard troops, Malone and Hood both registered for classes quietly away from the spotlight to become the first two black students to successfully enroll at the university.

June 11, 1963 - Robert Muckel, a 29-year-old white high school teacher from Nebraska, unintentionally became the first student to successfully integrate a public educational institution in Alabama. Shortly before Gov. George Wallace made his "stand in the schoolhouse door" at the University of Alabama, Muckel sat down for his first class at Alabama A&M College, an all-black institution. Attending a summer science institute, Muckel did not realize when he applied that A&M was a segregated school. 

June 11, 1972 - Hank Aaron tied the National League record for 14 grand-slam home runs in a career.

June 11, 1979 – American actor, director, and producer John Wayne passed away from stomach cancer at the age of 72 in Los Angeles, Calif.

June 11, 1981 - The first Major League Baseball player's strike began. It would last for two months.

June 11, 1981 – The Monroe Journal announced that Mike Qualls, then age 25, would begin covering sports for The Journal. In that same edition of The Journal, his first sports story, “Crispy Chick suffers first loss; Wiggins Hardware defeats D&S,” appeared.

June 11, 1982 - Steven Spielberg's movie "E.T." opened.

June 11, 1988 - Rick Rhoden of the New York Yankees became the first pitcher to start as a designated hitter.

June 11, 1990 - Nolan Ryan became the oldest player to throw a no-hitter. It was the sixth of his career.

June 11, 1993 - Steven Spielberg's movie "Jurassic Park" opened.

June 11, 1994 - A popcorn container was filled with approximately 6,619 cubic feet of popped corn. The box was over 39 feet long, 20 feet wide and 8 feet tall.

June 11, 1995 - Mark McGwire tied a major league record when he hit home runs in five consecutive games.

June 11, 1995 - Lee Smith set a major league record when he got his 16th consecutive save in 16 appearances.

June 11, 1998 – In “V for Vendetta,” Gordon is murdered by Alistair Harper. Evey goes to the Kit Kat Keller to murder Harper, but is arrested by Norsefire. That same night, Rosemary begins working at the Keller.

June 11, 2001 – Timothy McVeigh was executed by the U.S. federal government for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.

June 11, 2005 - As the investigation into the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, 18, of Mountain Brook continued, David Cruz, spokesman for the Aruban Minister of Justice, indicated that Holloway was dead and authorities knew the location of her body. Cruz later retracted the statement, saying he was a victim of a "misinformation campaign."

June 11, 2005 - During an interleague game with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, New York Met Marlon Anderson of Montgomery, Ala. tied the score in the ninth inning with an inside-the-park home run off Angels closer Francisco Rodríguez. The ball caromed away from center fielder Steve Finley, who ran it down in right-center field as Anderson circled the bases. Anderson barely beat the play at the plate, colliding face-first into catcher José Molina's mask.

June 11, 2010 - ESPN launched ESPN 3D.

June 11, 2011 – San Diego Padre Anthony Rizzo impressed Washington Nationals starter John Lannan by belting his first home run – a 388-foot solo shot to right field in a 2-1 home loss to Washington. Lannan was trying to miss the zone inside – which he did – but the rookie turned on the pitch and deposited it on top of the out-of-town scoreboard to account for the only Padres run.

No comments:

Post a Comment