Today in History for Aug. 3, 2015

Gordon Granger

Aug. 3, 1492 - Columbus set sail from Palos de la Frontera, Spain, with three small ships, the Santa María, the Pinta, and the Niña. The voyage led him to what is now known as the Americas. He reached the Bahamas on October 12.

Aug. 3, 1777 - During the Siege of Fort Stanwix the first U.S. flag was officially flown during battle.

Aug. 3, 1797 - Jeffrey Amherst, who twice refused the position of commander of British forces against the rebelling American patriots, died at his estate, called Montreal, in England. Amherst is remembered foremost for victory against the French in the Seven Years’ War, culminating in the surrender of Montreal–after which Amherst named his estate–and Canada by the French to the British in 1760.

Aug. 3, 1807 – After his arrest in present day Washington County, Ala., Aaron Burr was officially charged with treason in the U.S. Circuit Court in Richmond, Va.

Aug. 3, 1811 – The first ascent of Jungfrau, third highest summit in the Bernese Alps by brothers Johann Rudolf and Hieronymus Meyer, was achieved.

Aug. 3, 1823 - Thomas Francis Meagher, an Irish revolutionary who later served as a general in the Union army during the U.S. Civil War, was born in Waterford, Ireland.

Aug. 3, 1861 – During the Civil War, scouting for Indians occupied Federal troops from Fort Crook to Round Valley, California.


Aug. 3, 1861 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought at McCulla’s Store, Missouri.

Aug. 3, 1861 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought at Mesilla, New Mexico Territory.

Aug. 3, 1862 - The Confederate ironclad Arkansas was ordered south to Baton Rouge to support operations there. The ship suffered engine problems and ran aground. The crew blew up the ship before the Union ship Essex could capture it. The Arkansas was only in action for 23 days.

Aug. 3, 1864 – During the Civil War, after an amphibious landing on Dauphin Island (in the vicinity of the present day Dauphin Island Elementary School) by Federal forces, under the command of Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger, USA, progress was made toward the landward investment of Fort Gaines. Ft Gaines was on the western side of the mouth of Mobile Bay, Ala., and Fort Morgan was on the eastern side of the mouth of Mobile Bay.

Aug. 3, 1864 - Union General John Schofield and his forces arrived at Utoy Creek.

Aug. 3, 1894 – National Baseball Hall of Fame right fielder and first baseman Harry Heilmann was born in San Francisco, Calif. During his career, he played for the Detroit Tigers and the Cincinnati Reds. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1952.

Aug. 3, 1913 – In Lovecraftian fiction, ethnologist and poet Arthur Jermyn died after setting himself on fire after receiving a mummy worshiped by a group of natives. Jermyn first appeared in 1921’s “Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family” by H.P. Lovecraft.

Aug. 3, 1919 – During World War I, Army Cpl. Frank Rutherford of Greenville, Ala. “died from disease.”

Aug. 3, 1920 – British crime novelist P.D. James was born Phyllis Dorothy James in Oxford.

Aug. 3, 1921 – Major League Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis confirmed the ban of the eight Chicago Black Sox, the day after they were acquitted by a Chicago court.

Aug. 3, 1921 – Poet Hayden Carruth was born in Waterbury, Conn. In 1996, at the age of 75, his collection “Scrambled Eggs and Whiskey” won the National Book Award.

Aug. 3, 1922 - WGY radio in Schenectady, N.Y., presented the first full-length melodrama on radio. The work was "The Wolf", written by Eugene Walter.

Aug. 3, 1923 - Calvin Coolidge was sworn in as the 30th president of the United States, hours after the death of President Warren G. Harding, who was the great-grandson of Henchie Warren of Conecuh County.

Aug. 3, 1928 – In Lovecraftian fiction, Wilbur Whateley of Dunwich, Mass., noted by his neighbors for his magical delvings and unnatural size, died at the age of 15 in an attempt to steal a copy of the “Necronomicon” from the Miskatonic University library. His body vanished under shocking circumstances and rumors as to his “twin brother” still abound. He first appeared in “The Dunwich Horror” by H.P. Lovecraft.

Aug. 3, 1934 – James Uriah Blacksher passed away at the age of 58 and was buried in Magnolia Cemetery in Mobile, Ala.

Aug. 3, 1936 - Lawrence County, Ala. native Jesse Owens wins his first gold medal at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany. He won the 100-meter dash, defeating Ralph Metcalfe. Owens went on to win four gold medals in Berlin, but German leader Adolf Hitler snubbed the star athlete because he was black. Today visitors can learn more about Owens at the Jesse Owens Memorial Park and Museum in Oakville, Alabama.

Aug. 3, 1950 - Author Linda Howard was born in Gadsden, Ala.

Aug. 3, 1954 – The Kiwanis team beat the American Legion, 15-13, in Evergreen, Ala. Also that day, the Garment Co. beat the Evergreen Equipment Co., 6-5.

Aug. 3, 1955 – “Waiting for Godot” by Irish playwright Samuel Beckett premiered at the Arts Theatre in London. Beckett went on to win the Nobel Prize in literature in 1969.

Aug. 3, 1958 - The U.S. nuclear submarine Nautilus accomplished the first undersea voyage to the geographic North Pole. The world's first nuclear submarine, the Nautilus dived at Point Barrow, Alaska, and traveled nearly 1,000 miles under the Arctic ice cap to reach the top of the world. It then steamed on to Iceland, pioneering a new and shorter route from the Pacific to the Atlantic and Europe.

Aug. 3, 1962 – Former Auburn center Wayne Frazier, a native of Evergreen, Ala., was among the 50-man College All-Star Team scheduled to play the Green Bay Packers on this Friday night at Chicago’s Soldier Field. Frazier was the 225-pound son of Mr. and Mrs. Ellis Frazier of Evergreen and he had signed to play with the AFL’s San Diego Chargers.

Aug. 3, 1964 – Football coach Kevin Sumlin born in Brewton, Ala.

Aug. 3, 1965 – The State Health Department and the U.S. Department of Health notified Monroe County Hospital board chairman Karl J. Lazenby of Monroeville that their application for an 18-bed addition to the hospital had been approved. With the addition, the hospital had 53 beds.

Aug. 3, 1967 - James Law and some high school buddies rode the entire New York City subway system in a total of 22 hours and 11 minutes.

Aug. 3, 1969 – In Conecuh County, Mr. and Mrs. J.N. Gorum celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary.

Aug. 3, 1977 – The United States Senate begins its hearing on the covert CIA mind-control program, Project MKUltra.

Aug. 3, 1980 - Author Julian Lee Rayford died in Mobile, Ala.

Aug. 3, 1990 - Thousands of Iraqi troops pushed within a few miles of the border of Saudi Arabia. This heightened world concerns that the invasion of Kuwait could spread.

Aug. 3, 1999 – Evergreen, Ala. Mayor Lomax Cassady announced to the Evergreen City Council that he had received a letter from J.B. Nix Jr., announced that he was resigning as city judge, effective Aug. 19.

Aug. 3, 2011 – The FBI announced that no fingerprints had been found on a guitar strap made by L.D. Cooper, a suspect in the D.B. Cooper hijacking case. One week later they added that his DNA did not match the partial DNA profile obtained from the hijacker's tie, but acknowledged, once again, that there is no certainty that the hijacker was the source of the organic material obtained from the tie.

Aug. 3, 2012 – The Bradford Cemetery in Clarke County was added to the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register.