Today in History for Sept. 12, 2015

Fitz Hugh Ludlow

Sept. 12, 1609 – Henry Hudson began his exploration of the Hudson River while aboard the Halve Maen.

Sept. 12, 1777 - The Continental Congress received a letter from Continental Army General George Washington informing them of the Patriot defeat the previous day at Brandywine, Pa. Upon receiving the news of the American defeat, members of Congress began sending orders to their state representatives in Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania asking them to dispatch reinforcements to join Washington’s beleaguered Continental Army

Sept. 12, 1781 - In North Carolina, the British captured Governor Burke and 13 high-ranking Whig officials in Hillsborough.

Sept. 12, 1813 – Having been informed of the attack on Fort Mims, General Jackson directed Col. John McKee to return to the Indian country and “get out” as many Choctaw and Chickasaw warriors as practicable and then march against the Creek town, situated at the Falls of the Black Warrior, under the rule of the chieftain, Oseeochee Emathla.

Sept. 12, 1822 – Mary Boykin passed away at the age of six and was buried in the Old Beulah Cemetery in Conecuh County. Her tombstone is the oldest known grave in the cemetery.

Sept. 12, 1842 – Confederate soldier William George Riley was born. He was the brother of Monroe Guards commander Thomas Mercer Riley. W.G. Riley died on June 22, 1940 and was buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Evergreen, Ala.

Sept. 12, 1846 – Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning eloped.

Sept. 12, 1853 – George Clothies was commissioned for his first of two terms as Monroe County, Alabama’s Sheriff.

Sept. 12, 1857 – The SS Central America sank about 160 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, drowning a total of 426 passengers and crew, including Captain William Lewis Herndon. The ship was carrying 13–15 tons of gold from the California Gold Rush.

Sept. 12, 1861 – This day’s issue of The Clarke County Democrat carried the following notice on its editorial page – “We are requested by Capt. Stephen B. Cleveland to state that there is still room for any persons desirous of joining his Cavalry Company.”

Sept. 12, 1861 – During the Civil War, at the First Battle of Lexington, Confederate General Sterling Price converged on a Union garrison at Lexington, Missouri. The 19-day siege ended with the surrender of the Federals under Colonel James Mulligan. Price secured the town with only 25 men killed and 72 wounded while Federal losses numbered 39 dead and 120 wounded.

Sept. 12, 1861 – During the Civil War, U.S. Major General George Brinton McClellan, ordered the arrest of the members of the Maryland legislature as well as other citizens of the state deemed disloyal to the Federal Union. The greatest fear in Washington, D.C. at this point in the War was the possible secession of Maryland. With Virginia already gone on one side, Maryland’s departure would leave the Federal capital entirely surrounded by Confederate territory, which would be embarrassing at the very least. A meeting of secessionist-minded state legislators had been scheduled for Sept. 17 in Frederick, Md., far from the capital of Annapolis. Orders were quietly issued, and starting today, the gentlemen were quietly arrested. To decrease opportunities for further agitation they were taken for confinement to Ft. Warren in Boston Harbor.

Sept. 12, 1861 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Petersburg and Peytona, West Virginia.

Sept. 12, 1861 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought at Black River, Mo.

Sept. 12, 1865 – The New Alabama Constitution was adopted to comply with Presidential Reconstruction dictates to rejoin the Union. The document was later rejected by U.S. Congress.

Sept. 12, 1870 – American journalist, explorer, and author Fitz Hugh Ludlow passed away at the age of 34 in Geneva, Switzerland. He is best known for his autobiographical book “The Hasheesh Eater” (1857). Ludlow also wrote about his travels across America on the overland stage to San Francisco, Yosemite and the forests of California and Oregon, in his second book, “The Heart of the Continent.”

Sept. 12, 1883 – John Burns was commissioned for the first of his two terms as Monroe County, Alabama’s Sheriff.

Sept. 12, 1897 – French scientist Irene Joliot-Curie, the daughter of Pierre and Marie Curie, was born in Paris. She and her husband, Frederic Joliot, was the Noble Prize in 1935 in chemistry for artificially creating radioactive elements.

Sept. 12, 1913 - Jesse Owens was born in Oakville, Alabama. Owens was one of the first U.S. athletes who combined talents as a sprinter, low hurdler, and broad jumper. In 1936, he won four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics: in the100 meter, 200 meter, broad jump, and as a participant on the 400-meter relay team.

Sept. 12, 1915 – On this Sunday night, the Rev. N.H. Gibson and his wife were called from Monroeville, Ala. to Columbus, Ga. after they received a telegram saying that their son, police officer N.H. Gibson Jr., had been fatally shot in the line of duty.

Sept. 12, 1918 – During World War I, Army Pvt. Will Frank Williams of Greenville, Ala. was killed in action.

Sept. 12, 1918 – President Wilson called upon men between 18 and 45 (estimated at 13 million men) to register for “America’s greatest draft.”

Sept. 12, 1919 – Adolf Hitler joined the German Workers' Party (later the Nazi Party).

Sept. 12, 1925 – Construction of the Wilson Dam in Florence, Ala. was completed, and at the time, it was the largest dam in the world at 137 feet tall and 4,535 long. Construction began on Nov. 8, 1918.

Sept. 12, 1939 – A landmark dwelling in western Monroeville, Ala. was completely destroyed by fire during the morning hours. Occupied by “Shorty” Johnson, the house was one of the oldest dwellings in Monroeville. Built about 1850 by Harris Malden, and it was owned and occupied after the Civil War by Dr. Flake. Several well known families either owned or occupied the house in later years, including F.M. Jones, George W. Salter, J.T. Salter and many others.

Sept. 12, 1940 - The prehistoric Lascaux cave paintings were discovered near Montignac, France by four teenagers who stumbled upon the ancient artwork after following their dog, Robot, down a narrow entrance into a cavern. The cave paintings were 17,000 years old and were some of the best examples of art from the Paleolithic period.

Sept. 12, 1950 - A movie version of Alabama author William March's book “The Bad Seed” was released.

Sept. 12, 1952 – In their “first game on their new lighted field before an overflowing crowd,” Repton High School opened the 1952 football season with a 13-0 loss to Flomaton in Repton, Ala.

Sept. 12, 1952 – The strange “Flatwoods Monster” incident took place in the Town of Flatwoods in Braxton County, West Virginia.

Sept. 12, 1963 – Beatrice High School principal Marvin Gwin announced the cancellation of the school’s football season because the school didn’t have enough players to field a team. Out of the 15 players who reported for practice that season, most were in the seventh and eighth grade. Football returned to the school the following year with a six-game schedule against the ‘B’ teams from other schools.

Sept. 12, 1963 – Circuit Judge T.W. Thaggard of Greenville, Ala. issued a writ of mandamus requiring the Butler County Board of Education to provide bus transportation for students in the Beat 8 community in Evergreen to the McKenzie School in Butler County. Beat 8 residents petitioned the court for the writ after the Conecuh County Board of Education voted to transport Beat 8 students to Evergreen rather than McKenzie as it had been done in the past.

Sept. 12, 1964 – T.R. Miller beat Frisco City, 19-0, and Excel beat Lyeffion, 25-0.

Sept. 12, 1979 – Hurricane Frederic made landfall on this night at Dauphin Island with winds of 125 mph, five people killed and $23 million damage resulted.

Sept. 12, 1979 - Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox became the first American League player to get 3,000 career hits and 400 career home runs.

Sept. 12, 1984 – Mark Childress’ first novel, “A World Made of Fire,” was first released by Knopf.

Sept. 12, 1984 - Dwight Gooden of the New York Mets set the baseball record for strikeouts in a season by a rookie with 246, previously set by Herb Score in 1954. Gooden's 276 strikeouts that season, pitched in 218 innings, set the current record.

Sept. 12, 2002 - The house that Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain lived in as a child, from ages 11 to 15, was sold on eBay for $210,000. The house had been valued at $52,660 in 2000.

Sept. 12, 2002 - A judge announced that a jury would have to decide who would get the ball that Barry Bonds hit for his record 73rd home run. The ownership of the ball, with an estimated value of $1 million, was being disputed between two men that had been in the bleachers.

Sept. 12, 2002 - U.S. President George W. Bush addressed the U.N. about Iraq's continued refusal to abide by U.N. resolutions dating back to the Persian Gulf War. He told the body that it risked becoming irrelevant if it did not confront Saddam Hussein.

Sept. 12, 2003 – During the Iraq War, U.S. forces mistakenly shot and killed eight Iraqi police officers in Fallujah.

Sept. 12, 2011 – Jeff Daniels of Evergreen completed his 2,181-mile thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail.

Sept. 12, 2011 – The 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York City opened to the public.