Today in History for Aug. 14, 2015

Robert Anderson

Aug. 14, 1720 – The Spanish military Villasur expedition was wiped out by Pawnee and Otoe warriors near present-day Columbus, Nebraska.

Aug. 14, 1776 - The city of Boston observed the 11th anniversary of the popular resistance that prevented the execution of the Stamp Act there on this day in 1776. The celebration included the erection of a pole at the site of the original “Liberty Tree.”

Aug. 14, 1779 - An expedition from Massachusetts attacked a British garrison at Castine on the Penobscot Peninsula. The plan ended in disaster as Commodore Dudley Saltonstall retreated and burned his own ships.

Aug. 14, 1828 – Frederick Williams became the postmaster at Burnt Corn, Ala.

Aug. 14, 1834 - Nineteen-year-old Richard Henry Dana, author of “Two Years Before the Mast,” began his two-year stint as a seaman. During his two years at sea, he sailed to California, then around Cape Horn, then back to Boston. In 1840, he published “Two Years Before the Mast,” a highly popular autobiographical account of the abuse endured by seamen.

Aug. 14, 1839 – Union surgeon Edward DeWelden Brenneman was born on this day in Lancaster, Pa. He would go on to receive his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1861. In July 1863 at the Battle of Gettysburg, Brenneman would amputate Confederate soldier Mitchell Burford Salter’s right arm. Salter was a member of the Conecuh Guards, and the bone from his amputated arm is currently on display at the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington, D.C.

Aug. 14, 1842 – The Second Seminole War ended with the Seminoles forced from Florida to Oklahoma.

Aug. 14, 1848 – The Oregon Territory was organized by act of Congress.

Aug. 14, 1851 – John Henry “Doc” Holliday was born in Griffin, Ga.

Aug. 14, 1861 - Just months after he surrendered Fort Sumter, Union General Robert Anderson was named commander of the Department of the Kentucky. Released by Confederates nearly six weeks after the surrender of Fort Sumter, Anderson was promoted to brigadier general. He was given command of the Department of Kentucky and carefully maintained the balance of neutrality in the state.

Aug. 14, 1862 - Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith began an invasion of Kentucky as part of a Confederate plan to draw the Yankee army of General Don Carlos Buell away from Chattanooga, Tenn. and to raise support for the Southern cause in Kentucky.

Aug. 14, 1862 - A temporary Union jail in Kansas City collapsed. Confederate guerrilla leader William 'Bloody Bill" Anderson's 14-year-old sister was killed and his other two sisters were injured. Pro-Confederate William C. Quantrill exacted revenge on Lawrence, Kansas on August 21. The band killed 150 residents and much of the town was burned.

Aug. 14, 1864 - Union General Ulysses S. Grant's troops began attacking Confederate fortifications around Deep Bottom Run.

Aug. 14, 1879 – Former Monroe Journal publisher Horace Hood began publishing The Montgomery Journal in Montgomery, Ala.

Aug. 14, 1896 - Gold was discovered in Canada's Yukon Territory. Within the next year more than 30,000 people rushed to the area to look for gold.

Aug. 14, 1905 – Mrs. Craighead, the wife of Mobile Daily Register editor, the Hon. Erwin Craighead, was scheduled to address the people of Monroeville, Ala. in the Circuit Court Room at 8 p.m. on this Monday on the subject of “School Improvement Associations.”

Aug. 14, 1905 – The Monroe County Board of Education held a special meeting in Monroeville, Ala. Superintendent J.D. Forte, Secretary J.A. Barnes, E.J. Hardy and T.B. Nettles were in attendance.

Aug. 14, 1915 – Charles Morris and Walter Murphee were charged with highway robbery and placed in the Conecuh County Jail after they allegedly robbed I.S. Hyde of Herbert, Ala. of $23.50 around 2 p.m. on this Saturday near the home of Mrs. Temple Rutland. Hyde returned to Herbert, described the two robbers to his neighbors, who caught Morris and Murphe when they appeared in Herbert later that night.

Aug. 14, 1915 – A baseball game was played in Conecuh County’s Bowles community on this Saturday afternoon and was attended by Edgar Adams, J.T. Bolton, Percy Burnie and Clinton Sanders.

Aug. 14, 1921 – H.P. Lovecraft completed “The Other Gods,” which was originally published in the Nov. 1933 issue of The Fantasy Fan.

Aug. 14, 1925 – Russell Baker was born in Loudoun County, Va.

Aug. 14, 1930 – National Baseball Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver was born in St. Louis, Mo. He played his entire career for the Baltimore Orioles and managed the Orioles for 17 years. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1996.

Aug. 14, 1935 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law. The act created unemployment insurance and pension plans for the elderly.

Aug. 14, 1936 – Rainey Bethea was hanged in Owensboro, Kentucky in the last public execution in the United States.

Aug. 14, 1937 - The Detroit Tigers and the St. Louis Browns set an American League record for most runs scored combined in a doubleheader with 36.

Aug. 14, 1941 - The U.S. Congress appropriated the funds to construct the Pentagon (approximately $83 million). The building was the new home of the U.S. War Department.

Aug. 14, 1943 – National Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder and manager Joe Kelley passed away at the age of 71 in Baltimore, Md. During his career, he played for the Boston Beaneaters, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Baltimore Orioles, the Brooklyn Superbas, the Cincinnati Reds and the Boston Doves, and he also managed the Reds and the Doves. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1971.

Aug. 14, 1945 - It was announced by U.S. President Truman that Japan had surrendered unconditionally. The surrender ended World War II.

Aug. 14, 1945 – Humorist Steve Martin was born in Waco, Texas.

Aug. 14, 1947 – Novelist Danielle Steel was born in New York City.

Aug. 14, 1950 – Cartoonist Gary Larson, the creator of “The Far Side,” was born in Tacoma, Wash.

Aug. 14, 1952 – The Evergreen Courant reported that two soldiers from Conecuh County – Master Sgt. A.D. Clark of Castleberry and Cpl. Franklin D. Smith of Castleberry – had been awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge for service with the 25th Infantry Division in Korea. Clark, who joined the Army in December 1950, was the first sergeant of HQ Co., 14th Infantry Regiment. Smith, who joined the Army in January 1951 and arrived in Korea on May 1, 1952, was an automatic rifleman in Co. K of the 5th Regiment.

Aug. 14, 1952 – The Courant reported that an “extra large” egg, that weighed six ounces, from a hen owned by Ruby Wright, who lived on Main Street in Evergreen, was cracked and revealed another complete egg inside it. Between the two eggs, there were two yolks in addition to another two yolks inside the inner egg.

Aug. 14, 1953 - The whiffle ball was invented.

Aug. 14, 1958 - Vic Power of the Cleveland Indians stole home twice during the same game.

Aug. 14, 1959 - The first meeting was held to organize the American Football League.

Aug. 14, 1961 - The Philadelphia Phillies extended their losing streak to 17 games with a loss to the Chicago Cubs.

Aug. 14, 1964 – The Alabama North-South All-Star Football Game was played at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, and the South Team’s roster included Frisco City High School quarterback Joe Kelly, who had signed a scholarship to play for Ole Miss.

Aug. 14, 1964 – FBI agents arrested Lawrence Earl Vonderau, 20, and Junior Wesley Bernard, 39 (some sources say 30), both of Brewton in connection with the robbery of the Union Bank at Repton on June 20, 1964. Vonderau was said to have robbed the bank of $16,386, and Bernard was said to have drove the get-away vehicle. At the time of their arrest, $2,350 of the stolen money was recovered by the FBI from Vonderau.

Aug. 14, 1971 - St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson threw the first (and only) no-hitter of his storied career, helping his team to an 11-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was the first no-hitter at Forbes Field in 61 years.

Aug. 14, 1973 – The William T. Shepard House in Opp was added to National Register of Historic Places.

Aug. 14, 1974 - The NFL Players Association ended their seven-week strike.

Aug. 14, 1975 – Local citizens thanked the Evergreen City Council and the Conecuh County Board of Education for the recently completed improvements to the public tennis court behind Memorial Gymnasium at Evergreen High School. The court had been resurfaced and a new fence had been erected around it.

Aug. 14, 1977 – Major League Baseball outfielder Juan Pierre was born in Mobile, Ala. He went on to play for the Colorado Rockies, the Florida Marlins, the Chicago Cubs, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Chicago White Sox, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Miami Marlins.

Aug. 14, 1979 - Lou Brock of the St. Louis Cardinals got his 3,000th hit.

Aug. 14, 1981 – In front of a large crowd, Evergreen, Ala. Mayor Lee F. Smith cut the ribbon during the grand opening of the Johnson Furniture & Salvage Co., which was located in the former American Salvage Co. building on the corner of Rural Street and Jackson Street in downtown Evergreen.

Aug. 14, 1982 - Bill Neal paddled across the English Channel in a steel bathtub in 13.5 hours.

Aug. 14, 1984 – Major League Baseball catcher and manager Spud Davis passed away in Birmingham, Ala. at the age of 79. He played for the St. Louis Cardinals, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh, Pirates. He also managed the Pirates for one season.

Aug. 14, 1986 - Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds had his 4,256th and last base hit in a game against the San Francisco Giants.

Aug. 14, 1987 - Mark McGwire set the record for major league home runs by a rookie when he connected for his 49th home run of the season.

Aug. 14, 1997 - Timothy McVeigh was formally sentenced to death for the Oklahoma City bombing.

Aug. 14, 1999 – National Baseball Hall of Fame shortstop Pee Wee Reese passed away at the age of 81 in Louisville, Ky. He played his entire career for the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1984.

Aug. 14, 2000 - Police in Los Angeles, Calif. fired pepper spray and rubber bullets to clear a crowd of 9,000 people when a free concert by Rage Against the Machine turned violent.

Aug. 14, 2003 - A blackout hit the Northeast United States, with 21 power plants shutting down within just three minutes. Fifty million people were affected, in some places for more than a day.

  

Aug. 14, 2007 – “Doctor Strange: The Sorcerer Supreme,” an animated direct-to-DVD movie, was released.

Aug. 14, 2007 - Thomasville, Ala. voted to legalize alcohol sales.