Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Today in History for June 16, 2015

Union General Henry W. Benham
June 16, 1692 – In connection with the Salem witchcraft trials, Roger Toothaker died in prison.

June 16, 1738 - Mary Katharine Goddard was born in New London, Conn. She would publish the first version of the Declaration of Independence that included all of the Congressional signatures.

June 16, 1775 - George Washington accepted the post of commander in chief of the Continental Army.

June 16, 1816 – Lord Byron read “Fantasmagoriana” to his four house guests at the Villa Diodati, Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley, Claire Clairmont and John Polidori, and inspired his challenge that each guest write a ghost story, which culminated in Mary Shelley writing the novel “Frankenstein,” John Polidori writing the short story “The Vampyre,” and Byron writing the poem “Darkness.”

June 16, 1848 – Arthur P. Bagby of Claiborne, Ala. resigned from the U.S. Senate after nearly seven years as a senator.

June 16, 1850 – English-Australian explorer William Lawson passed away at the age of 76 at Prospect, New South Wales, Australia. He co-discovered a passage inland through the Blue Mountains from Sydney.


June 16, 1858 – Senate candidate Abraham Lincoln delivered his “House Divided” speech in Springfield, Illinois. Lincoln said that the slavery issue had to be resolved and declared that, "A house divided against itself cannot stand."

June 16, 1862 – At the Battle of Secessionville, a Union attempt to capture Charleston, South Carolina was thwarted when the Confederates turned back an attack at Secessionville, just south of the city on James Island. All three attacks against the fort failed. Union General Henry W. Benham was arrested three days later for an assault without permission.

June 16, 1869 – Indian-English explorer Charles Sturt passed away at the age of 74 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Sturt was a British explorer of Australia, and part of the European exploration of Australia. He led several expeditions into the interior of the continent, starting from both Sydney and later from Adelaide.

June 16, 1883 - The New York Giants baseball team admitted all ladies for free to the ballpark. It was the first Ladies Day.

June 16, 1897 - The U.S. government signed a treaty of annexation with Hawaii.

June 16, 1903 – The Ford Motor Company was incorporated.

June 16, 1903 – Roald Amundsen commenced the first east-west navigation of the Northwest Passage, leaving Oslo, Norway.

June 16, 1904 – Irish author James Joyce began a relationship with Nora Barnacle, his future wife, and subsequently used the date to set the actions for his novel “Ulysses.” This date is now traditionally called "Bloomsday".

June 16, 1906 – The Andalusia Star, which was established in 1896, absorbed The Andalusia Times.

June 16, 1909 - Author Archie Carr was born in Mobile, Ala.

June 16, 1915 – T.A. Gantt, the manager of the Arcade Theatre in Evergreen, Ala., announced that the film, “The Trey o’ Hearts,” was being discontinued due to low attendance. An action film serial, this 1914 movie is currently considered to be lost.

June 16, 1915 – Evergreen’s baseball team beat Andalusia, 8-2, in Evergreen, Ala.

June 16, 1938 - Jimmy Foxx of the Boston Red Sox set a major league record when he was walked six times in one game.

June 16, 1938 – Author Joyce Carol Oates was born in Lockport, N.Y.

June 16, 1946 – The Evergreen Greenies beat Uriah, 8-1, as rain halted the game at the end of the eighth inning. In his Greenie pitching debut, Jim Windham gave up just one hit and no runs while Page led the Greenies at the plate with a home run.

June 16, 1952 - "Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl" was published in the United States.

June 16, 1959 - TV's Superman, 45-year-old George Reeves, was found dead in an apparent suicide at Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles, Calif. It was to be the start of the urban legend known as the Superman Curse.

June 16, 1963 - Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space.

June 16, 1967 – Army Spc. Joseph Earl Hammac of Brewton, Ala. was killed in action in Vietnam.

June 16, 1969 - U.S. President Nixon sent a telegram to Reggie Jackson thanking him for hitting two home runs while he was in the park on June 11.

June 16, 1970 – Chicago Bears running back Brian Piccolo died of cancer at the age of 26 in New York City.

June 16, 1972 - Four men that worked for the Committee to Re-Elect the President were caught breaking into the Watergate office of the Democratic National Committee. They were arrested while planting listening devices in the office.

June 16, 1977, Rocket scientist and one-time Alabama resident Wernher Von Braun died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 65 in Alexandria, Va.

June 16, 1981 - The "Chicago Tribune" purchased the Chicago Cubs baseball team from the P.K. Wrigley Chewing Gum Company for $20.5 million.

June 16, 1983 – Evergreen, Ala. received 1.33 inches of rain.

June 16, 1991 - Otis Nixon of the Montreal Expos broke a major league record with six stolen bases in one game.

June 16, 2005 – The Coleman Cemetery in Butler County, Ala. was added to the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register.

June 16, 2014 – National Baseball Hall of Fame right fielder Tony Gwynn passed away at the age of 54 from salivary gland cancer in Poway, Calif. He played his entire career, 1982-2001, for the San Diego Padres. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007. 

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