Today in History for July 1, 2015

Thomas F. Meagher

July 1, 1770 – Lexell's Comet passed closer to the Earth than any other comet in recorded history, approaching to a distance of 0.0146 a.u.

July 1, 1775 - Francis Salvador earned the nickname "Southern Paul Revere" when he rode 30 miles to warn of a Cherokee attack on backcountry settlements of South Carolina.

July 1, 1775 - The New England Restraining Act went into effect and required New England colonies to trade exclusively with Great Britain.

July 1, 1775 - The Continental Congress resolved to recruit Indian nations to the American side in their dispute with the British if necessary, should the British take native allies of their own.

July 1, 1804 – French novelist George Sand was born Lucile Aurore Dupin in Paris.

July 1, 1818 - Josiah Gorgas was born in Dauphin County, Pa. on July 1, 1818. He would go on to serving as a Confederate general and would head the Confederate artillery. He later served as the president of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

July 1, 1822 – David Moniac of Alabama graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 6th Infantry Regiment. He was the first Native American graduate of West Point.

July 1, 1830 – Edgar Allan Poe entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point as a cadet.

July 1, 1859 – The first baseball game played between two colleges took place on this day when Amherst beat Pittsfield, 73-32. Only 35 feet separated the pitcher from the batter, and the bases were a mere 60 feet apart.

July 1, 1861 - John R. Baylor declared himself governor of the Confederate Territory of Arizona.

July 1, 1862 – During the Civil War, the Battle of Malvern Hill took place in Henrico County, Va. as Confederate General Robert E. Lee assaulted George B. McClellan’s army. It was the final battle in the Seven Days Campaign, part of George B. McClellan's Peninsula Campaign. John Hodo and Emanuel Johnston, both of the Conecuh Guards were killed at Malvern Hill; Lt. William Lee was wounded there as well and G.R. Boulware was also slightly wounded.

July 1, 1863 – The Battle of Gettysburg, the largest military conflict in North American history, began in Adams County, Pa. The epic battle lasted three days and resulted in a retreat to Virginia by Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Noah Dallas Peacock (Lewis Lavon Peacock’s older brother) was in the thick of this climatic battle, serving with Co. F, 15th Ala. Inf., Army of Northern Virginia.

July 1, 1863 – Canadian-English captain and explorer William Grant Stairs was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He had a leading role in two of the most controversial expeditions in the history of the colonisation of Africa – the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition and the Stairs Expedition to Katanga.

July 1, 1864 – A month-long Federal operation on the west coast of Florida began.

July 1, 1867 - Former Union General Thomas F. Meagher died when he mysteriously fell from the deck of a riverboat on the Missouri River. His body was never recovered. President Andrew Johnson had appointed Meagher secretary of Montana Territory after the war.

July 1, 1869 – Cornell English professor William Strunk Jr., who published “The Elements of Style” in 1918, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio.

July 1, 1874 – Charley Ross of Philadelphia, age four, was abducted by men in a carriage and became the primary victim of the first kidnapping for ransom in America to receive widespread attention from the media.

July 1, 1889 – Mrs. M.C. McLean began serving at Monroeville’s new postmistress, replacing Mr. Seymour, who retired after seven years of service as Monroeville’s postmaster.

July 1, 1898 – During the Spanish-America War, the Battle of San Juan Hill occurred when the U.S. Army’s Fifth Corps engaged Spanish forces at El Caney and San Juan Hill as part of their campaign to capture Spanish-held Santiago de Cuba on the southern coast of Cuba. During the battle, Theodore Roosevelt and his "Rough Riders" waged a victorious assault on San Juan Hill in Cuba.

July 1, 1905 – An a picnic near Axle, Ala. Andrew Broughton shot and killed Bill Henderson. Both men were “tanked up on Peruna or some similar concoction, and the killing was the result.”

July 1, 1905 - Frank Owen of the Chicago White Sox pitched two complete games in one day.

July 1, 1909 – The Conecuh Record newspaper reported that E.C. Page resigned as Evergreen, Alabama’s mayor “owing to the press of business in law.” Councilman I.F. Goodson was appointed to serve out the rest of Page’s term. W.H. Wild was appointed to fill Goodson’s place on the council.

July 1, 1910 - White Sox Park opened, and the park's name was later changed to Comiskey Park.

July 1, 1910 – Monroeville, Alabama’s Rural Delivery Mail Route No. 2 was discontinued “because the patronage of people along the route did not justify continuance of the service.”

July 1, 1911 – A regular meeting of Camp William Lee, United Confederate Veterans, was scheduled to be held on this Saturday in Evergreen, Ala. M.B. Salter was the camp’s sergeant major.

July 1, 1915 - Statewide prohibition went into effect in Alabama, five years before nationwide prohibition. The sale and regulation of alcohol has often been a bitter issue in Alabama politics, and the 1915 ban was first vetoed by Gov. Charles Henderson, but the legislature overrode his veto. Despite prohibition, 386 illegal stills were seized in Alabama in 1915.

July 1, 1915 – The local camp of Confederate Veterans was scheduled to meet at the Conecuh County Courthouse at 10 a.m. in Evergreen, Ala.

July 1, 1915 – Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jean Stafford was born in Covina, Calif.

July 1, 1916 – The Battle of the Somme began at 7:30 a.m. as the British launched a massive offensive against German forces in the Somme River region of France. The battle was the first to use tanks.

July 1, 1917 - Fred Toney of the Cincinnati Reds pitched two complete games in one day.

July 1, 1918 – “The Kaiser's Shadow,” a movie version of Alabama author Octavus Roy Cohen's book “The Triple Cross,” was released.

July 1, 1934 - The Federal Communications Commission replaced the Federal Radio Commission as the regulator of broadcasting in the United States.

July 1, 1936 – Baseball pitcher Paul Kardow, who would go on to manage the Evergreen Greenies, made his Major League debut with the Cleveland Indians.

July 1, 1939 – The Bureau of Vital Statistics of the State Department of Health estimated Monroe County’s population was 31,143, compared to 31,027 on July 1, 1938.

July 1, 1941 - Joe DiMaggio extended his hitting streak to 44 games.

July 1, 1943 – A dedication and christening ceremony for Dannelly Field (now Montgomery Regional Airport) was scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. The airfield was named in honor of Evergreen native, Navy Ensign Clarence Moore Dannelly Jr., the son of former Conecuh County Superintendent of Education C.M. Dannelly, who was killed in an airplane crash in Pensacola on Dec. 17, 1940. Dannelly, who was born on Feb. 3, 1916 in Evergreen, grew up in Montgomery and is considered to be the first casualty of World War II from Montgomery.

July 1, 1943 – The Evergreen Courant published a portion of a letter from Major J.P. Walker to Miss Lyndall Middleton, the sister of Lt. Laula Middleton, an Evergreen, Ala. pilot who was killed in action during World War II. Walker was the commanding officer of Lt. Middleton’s squadron and told Miss Middleton that her brother was flying on his left wing at the time of the “accident.” An enemy fighter “hit his ship, knocking off the tail,” and it “spiraled down toward the ocean.” Three parachutes were seen coming out of the plane and they landed near an enemy convoy,” so Walker figured that Lt. Middleton had been taken prisoner.

July 1, 1944 – Knud Nielsen Jr. of Evergreen, Ala. was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army’s field artillery at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma.

July 1, 1946 - U.S. President Harry Truman signed Public Law 476 that incorporated the Civil Air Patrol as a benevolent, nonprofit organization. The Civil Air Patrol was created on Dec. 1, 1941.

July 1, 1951 - Cleveland Indians ace Bob Feller pitched the third no-hit game of his career to lead the Indians over the Detroit Tigers, 2-1. This made him the first modern pitcher ever to throw three no-hitters.

July 1, 1953 - Alabama author Harryette Mullen was born in Florence, Ala.

July 1, 1961 – Morris T. Ward began serving as principal at Evergreen High School in Evergreen, Ala, a position he would hold until his resignation on June 30, 1967. Prior to becoming principal at Evergreen, Ward had been a successful coach at Lyeffion High School and Thomaston High School.

July 1, 1961 - British troops landed in Kuwait to aid against Iraqi threats.

July 1, 1963 – The U.S. Postal Service introduced ZIP codes (Zoning Improvement Plan Codes) on this day. The first three digits represent the part of the country the mail is going to, and the last two identify the post office within that region. ZIP codes start with zero in the Northeast and get bigger as one moves south and west.

July 1, 1963 – In an incident attributed to the Bermuda Triangle, Sno’ Boy, a 63-foot fishing boat with 40 aboard, sailed from Kingston, Jamaica to Northeast Cay, 80 miles to the south, but disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle with all hands.

July 1, 1973 – During the Sunday morning service, Dr. Sam Granade submitted his resignation from the position of pastor at Evergreen Baptist Church in Evergreen, Ala., where he’d been pastor for the past 25 years. He was to preach his final sermon as pastor on July 15 and his resignation was to take effect on Aug. 15.

July 1, 1973 - In New York City, "Jesus Christ Superstar" closed after 711 shows on Broadway.

July 1, 1979 – Sony introduced the Walkman portable cassette player.

July 1, 1982 - Cal Ripken began playing shortstop for the Baltimore Orioles.

July 1, 1985 - Robin Yount of the Milwaukee Brewers got the 1,800th hit of his career.

July 1, 1988 – Weather reporter Harry Ellis reported 1.33 inches of rain in Evergreen, Ala.

July 1, 1996 - The Milwaukee Brewers ended a 19-game home run hitting streak.

July 1, 1996 - Frank Thomas of the Chicago White Sox got his 1,000th hit.

July 1, 1997 - Randy Myers of the Baltimore Orioles got his 300th career save.

July 1, 2000 - The Confederate flag was removed from atop South Carolina's Statehouse.

July 1, 2004 – The McIntosh Cemetery in Wilcox County, Ala. was added to the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register.

July 1, 2004 – Saturn orbit insertion of Cassini–Huygens begins at 01:12 UTC and ends at 02:48 UTC. Cassini-Huygens sent back the closest images yet of the planet's rings.