Today in History for Sept. 10, 2015

Mobile, Alabama's Milt Bolling.

Sept. 10, 1608 – John Smith was elected council president of Jamestown, Virginia.

Sept. 10, 1758 – Novelist Hannah Webster Foster was born in Salisbury, Mass. She is best known for her 1797 novel, “The Coquette; or, The History of Eliza Wharton.”

Sept. 10, 1759 – Croatian missionary and explorer Ferdinand Konščak passed away at the age of 55 at San Ignacio in present-day Mexico.

Sept. 10, 1776 – During the American Revolutionary War, Capt. Nathan Hale of the 19th Regiment of the Continental Army volunteered to spy for the Continental Army after General George Washington asked for a volunteer for an extremely dangerous mission: to gather intelligence behind enemy lines before the coming Battle of Harlem Heights. Hale stepped forward and subsequently become one of the first known American spies of the Revolutionary War. The British captured Hale, age 21, on Sept. 21, 1776 while he was sailing Long Island Sound, trying to cross back into American-controlled territory, and he was hanged by the British on the morning of Sept. 22.

Sept. 10, 1818 – Outlaw Joseph Thompson Hare was hanged in Baltimore, Md. before a crowd of 1,500. He is said to have used Turk’s Cave (present-day Sanders Cave) near Brooklyn as a hideout.

Sept. 10, 1818 – David Mitchell, the newly appointed Creek Indian agent, wrote to Secretary of War John C. Calhoun that he could get no private citizens in the Alabama territory to offer to build bridges for the road between Line Creek and Claiborne because the inhabitants were clearing land and making plantations and ‘no reasonable compensation could detach them from such objectives.’

Sept. 10, 1822 – James Godbold was commissioned as Monroe County, Alabama’s Sheriff.

Sept. 10, 1861 - Confederate forces withdrew from the Kanawha Valley in western Virginia after fighting an indecisive battle at Carnifex Ferry in the early months of the war. This move facilitated the formation of West Virginia. Future U.S. Presidents Rutherford B Hayes and William McKinley fought at Carnifex Ferry with the 23rd Ohio Infantry.

Sept. 10, 1861 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought near Lewinsville,Va.

Sept. 10, 1861 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought at Lucas Bend, Mo.

Sept. 10, 1886 – Poet Hilda “H.D.” Doolittle was born in Bethlehem, Pa.

Sept. 10, 1895 – The first edition of The Evergreen Courant was published in Evergreen, Ala.

Sept. 10, 1897 – Judge John W. Leslie of Monroeville, Ala. passed away at the age of 83.

Sept. 10, 1897 - A taxi driver in London named George Smith became the first person ever arrested for drunk driving after he slammed his cab into a building.

Sept. 10, 1905 - Author Sara Mayfield was born in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Sept. 10, 1913 - The Lincoln Highway opened. It was the first paved coast-to-coast highway in the U.S.

Sept. 10, 1914 - Simeon Lambriecht, a well known citizen of Monroe County, Ala., died at his home near Lower Peach Tree, age 75 years. He was a Confederate veteran and was a prosperous planter.

Sept. 10, 1915 – “Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch” was scheduled to be shown in five reels at the Arcade Theater in Evergreen, Ala. The movie was scheduled to be shown at 5 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. with music to be furnished by the string band.

Sept. 10, 1918 – Conecuh County High School in Castleberry, Ala. was scheduled to open the 1918-19 school year on this Tuesday. Sarah E. Luther was the school’s principal.

Sept. 10-12, 1925 – Extension Agricultural Engineering Specialist L.C. LeBron conducted demonstrations of the military explosive pyrotol for Conecuh County, Ala. farmers, who were to use the substance for stump and land clearing operations. Demonstrations were held in the Bowles community, Belleville, Repton, Lenox and Kirkland.

Sept. 10, 1929 – Post No. 61 of the America Legion in Monroeville, Ala. was formally organized, and Lucian Jones was elected its first Post Commander.

Sept. 10, 1933 – In the regular season finale, Evergreen’s baseball team was scheduled to play Greenville on this Sunday in Evergreen, Ala.

Sept. 10, 1934 – Baseball great Roger Maris was born in Hibbing, Minn.

Sept. 10, 1935 – Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mary Oliver was born in Maple Heights, Ohio.

Sept. 10, 1939 – In the second game of the Interstate Baseball League championship series, Evergreen beat Flomaton, 3-2. Watson pitched for Evergreen, and James Lane added a home run.

Sept. 10, 1952 – Mobile, Alabama’s Milt Bolling made his Major League debut, playing for the Boston Red Sox, replacing Johnny Lipon at shortstop. Bolling walked in his first at bat in the seventh inning against Bill Wight of the Detroit Tigers. In the top of the ninth, Bolling slugged his first major league hit. The Red Sox would go on to lose the game, 6-2.

Sept. 10, 1954 – In what’s believed to be one of the biggest crowds ever assembled at Brooks Memorial Stadium in Evergreen, an estimated crowd of 2,500 (2,300 paid) watched Evergreen beat Bay Minette, 26-12.

Sept. 10, 1954 – Evergreen High School was scheduled to open the 1954 football season against the Bay Minette Tigers in Evergreen at 8 p.m. Evergreen’s probable starting lineup for that game included Tommy Melton or Randy White, left end; Wayne Douglas, left tackle; Vernon Purnell, left guard; Wayne Bell, center; Richard Taylor, right guard; Murray Johnson, right tackle; John Sirmon or Wayne Frazier, right end; Jimmy Frazier, quarterback; Buck Lewis, right halfback; Ronnie Edson, left halfback; and Ward Alexander, fullback. Other players on that year’s team included Jimmy Bell, Robbie Boykin, Timmy Boykin, Walter Carrier, Howard Claybrook, Bert Cook, Hubert Culbreth, Bobby English, Johnny Fussell, Bobby Hanks, Stanley Hardin, Eugene Hyde, Neal Hyde, Mickey Joiner, Bobby Kendall, Robert Mason, Leon McKenzie, Milton Moorer, Harry Pugh, Charles Roberts, Palmer Smith, Robert Smith, Bert Tuggle and Tommy Watts. Wendell Hart was Evergreen’s head coach, and Bill Parsons was assistant coach.

Sept. 10, 1961 - Mickey Mantle tied a major league baseball record for home runs when he hit the 400th of his career.

Sept. 10, 1963 - Twenty black students entered public schools in Alabama at the end of a standoff between federal authorities and Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace.

Sept. 10, 1963 – National Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher great Randall David "Randy" Johnson, aka "The Big Unit," was born in Walnut Creek, Calif. During his career, he played for the Montreal Expos, the Seattle Mariners, the Houston Astros, the Arizona Diamondbacks, the New York Yankees and the San Francisco Giants. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015.

Sept. 10, 1964 – J.U. Blacksher beat Monroe County High School, 12-7, their last win over the Monroeville school in football. The game was played at Uriah, Ala.

Sept. 10, 1972 - Gayle Sayers of the Chicago Bears retired from the National Football League.

Sept. 10, 1974 - Lou Brock of the St. Louis Cardinals set a new Major League Baseball record when he stole his 105th base of the season.

Sept. 10, 1977 - Hamida Djandoubi, a convicted murderer, became the last person to be executed by guillotine in France.

Sept. 10, 1984 - The Federal Communications Commission changed a rule to allow broadcasters to own 12 AM and 12 FM radio stations. The previous limit was seven of each.

Sept. 10, 1990 - Iran agreed to resume full diplomatic ties with past enemy Iraq.

Sept. 10, 1990 - Iraq's Saddam Hussein offered free oil to developing nations in an attempt to win their support during the Gulf War Crisis.

Sept. 10, 1991 - Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was released as a single.

Sept. 10, 1992 - In Minneapolis, Minn., a federal jury struck down professional football's limited free agency system.

Sept. 10, 1993 – The first episode of "The X-Files" – entitled “Pilot” - aired on FOX. The series finale was aired on May 19, 2002.

Sept. 10, 2007 – The movie “Honeydripper,” which starred Danny Glover, debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival. Much of this movie was filmed in Greenville, Georgiana and Forest Home in Butler County.