Today in History for Sept. 18, 2015

Sept. 18, 1502 – Christopher Columbus landed at Honduras on his fourth, and final, voyage.

Sept. 18, 1679 – New Hampshire became a county of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Sept. 19, 1709 - The creator of the first dictionary of the English language, Samuel Johnson, was born in Litchfield, England.

Sept. 18, 1776 - General George Washington wrote to the president of the Continental Congress, John Hancock, to report on the Battle at Harlem Heights and relayed the news of the death of Captain Thomas Knowlton.

Sept. 18, 1793 – George Washington laid the U.S. Capitol’s cornerstone in a Masonic ceremony. Wearing an apron embroidered with Masonic symbols, Washington led a ceremony laced with the society's rituals. The apron, along with the trowel and tools used to set the Capitol's cornerstone in place, is currently housed at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, Va.

Sept. 18, 1817 – David A. Moniac of Alabama entered West Point Military Academy. He would become the first Native American graduate of West Point.

Sept. 18, 1819 – French physicist Jean Bernard Leon Foucault was born in Paris. He invented the gyroscope and took the first clear photograph of the sun, and he introduced and helped develop a technique of measuring the absolute velocity of light with extreme accuracy. He is probably best known for originating the pendulum that demonstrated the earth’s rotation.

Sept. 18, 1850 - The Fugitive Slave Act was declared by the U.S. Congress. The act allowed slave owners to claim slaves that had escaped into other states.

Sept. 18, 1851 – The first issue of The New-York Daily Times was published. Originally founded by journalists Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jomnes, it was later renamed “The New York Times.”

Sept. 18, 1861 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought near Berlin, Md.

Sept. 18, 1862 – During the Civil War, Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s army pulled away from Antietam Creek, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and headed back to Virginia. The day before, at the Battle of Antietam, Lee’s force had engaged in the bloodiest one-day battle of the Civil War against the army of General George B. McClellan. The armies struggled to a standstill, but the magnitude of losses forced Lee to abandon his invasion of Maryland.

Sept. 18, 1864 – During the Civil War, a 15-day Federal operation between Barrancas and Marianna, Fla. began.

Sept. 18, 1870 – The Old Faithful Geyser was observed and named by Henry D. Washburn during the Washburn–Langford–Doane Expedition to Yellowstone.

Sept. 18, 1893 - William Edward Campbell was born in Mobile, Ala. He would gain fame as the author, William March. In June 1917, March enlisted as a private in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was assigned to the Marine Brigade in the Army's Second Division and took part in several notable actions. March received the French Croix de Guerre and the Distinguished Service Cross and Navy Cross – the United States' second-highest decorations for bravery in combat – for his actions in the assault on Blanc Mont Ridge, a key German stronghold east of Reims, in October 1918. March's first novel, “Company K,” was published in 1933. It dealt with his war experiences and is recognized today as a classic of its type.

Sept. 18, 1895 - The first chiropractic adjustment was performed by Daniel David Palmer, who ignited a new, sometimes controversial field of medicine.

Sept. 18, 1905 – The school in the Drewry, Ala. community was scheduled to open on this day, the “patrons having elected their old teachers.”

Sept. 18, 1905 – J. Alex Grace, who had been the proprietor of the upper warehouse at Claiborne, Ala. for more than 20 years, died at his home at Claiborne after an illness of several days.

Sept. 18, 1907 – Work continued on the Cedar Creek Mill Co. logging road from Brewton to Andalusia in Alabama, where it was to connect to the Central of Georgia railroad terminus.

Sept. 18, 1912 – The Agricultural School in Evergreen, Ala. opened the 1912-13 school year with 94 pupils on the roll.

Sept. 18, 1925 – H.P. Lovecraft completed “In the Vault,” which was originally published in the November 1925 issue of The Tryout.

Sept. 18, 1927 - Columbia Phonograph Broadcasting System made its debut with its network broadcast over 16 radio stations. The name was later changed to CBS.

Sept. 18, 1939 - The Monroe County, Ala. schools opened on this Monday for the 1939-40 session.

Sept. 18, 1947 – The United States Air Force became an independent branch of the United States Armed Forces when it was established as a separate military branch by the National Security Act.

Sept. 18, 1947 – The National Security Council and the Central Intelligence Agency were established in the United States under the National Security Act.

Sept. 18, 1953 – Evergreen High School, under head coach Wendell Hart and assistant coach Bill Parsons, opened the 1953 season with a 6-6 tie against Escambia County High School at Municipal Stadium in Atmore, Ala. Standout players on Evergreen’s team that year included Capt. Sam Cope, Wayne “Dog” Douglas, Richard Taylor, Ronnie Edson, Bud Ward, Wayne Bell, Paul Hanks, Vernon Purnell, Alt. Capt. Ward Alexander Jr., Jimmy Frazier, Buck Lewis, Walter Carrier, Johnny Fussell and Eugene “Pee Wee” Hyde. Atmore’s best player was running halfback James Kennedy.

Sept. 18, 1956 - Mickey Mantle hit his 50th career home run.

Sept. 18, 1959 – Before one of the largest crowds in several years, Andalusia High School beat Evergreen High School, 20-6, in Evergreen, Ala. James Reeves scored Evergreen’s only touchdown on a two-yard run. Other standout Evergreen players in that game included Billie Bateman, Leon Stinson, Phillip Brown, H.W. Ward, Edwin Harper, Paul Hardin, Jimmy Eddins, Billy Melton, Ceylon Strong and Wayne Stinson.

Sept. 18, 1959 – National Baseball Hall of Fame second baseman and manager Ryne Sandberg was born in Spokane, Wash. He went on to play for the Philadelphia Phillies and the Chicago Cubs and managed the Phillies for two seasons. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005.

Sept. 18, 1961 – The fall session of court in Conecuh County, Ala. opened with Judge A.H. Elliott presiding.

Sept. 18, 1962 - Charlie Finley was denied permission to move the Athletics baseball team to Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas.

Sept. 18, 1964 – Frisco City High School, under head coach Leon Jackson, beat Excel High School, 18-6, in Frisco City, Ala. Fairhope beat Monroeville, 10-7. Repton High School, under head coach Gene Madison, beat Baker, 7-0, in Baker, Fla.

Sept. 18, 1965 - Mickey Mantle played in his 2,000th game.

Sept. 18, 1970 - James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix died in his London apartment at the age of 27. The death was from an overdose of sleeping pills.

Sept. 18, 1973 - Future President Jimmy Carter filed a report with the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), claiming he had seen an Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) in Leary, Ga. in October 1969.

Sept. 18, 1975 – The FBI captured and arrested newspaper heiress Patty Hearst in San Francisco, Calif. after a year on the FBI Most Wanted List. Nineteen months earlier she had been kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army.

Sept. 18, 1981 – Evergreen High School lost to Opelika High School, 41-14, in Opelika, Ala. Mark Bell led Evergreen’s offense with eight carries for 75 yards and two touchdowns. Barry Padgett led Evergreen’s defense with seven solos and seven assists.

Sept. 18, 1983 - George Meegan reached the edge of an Alaskan tundra, and completed his 2,426-day trek of the Western Hemisphere- a journey of over 19,000 miles or 31 million steps.

Sept. 18, 1987 – Jerzy Kukuczka became the second mountaineer to summit all 14 Eight-thousanders.

Sept. 18, 1991 - U.S. President George H.W. Bush said that he would send warplanes to escort U.N. helicopters that were searching for hidden Iraqi weapons if it became necessary.

Sept. 18, 1996 - Boston Red Sox pitcher Roger Clemens struck out 20 Detroit Tigers, tying his own major league record for most strikeouts in a game.

Sept. 18, 2001 – The first mailing of anthrax letters from Trenton, New Jersey in the 2001 anthrax attacks took place.

Sept. 18, 2003 – Robert Duvall, who played the role of Boo Radley in 1962’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Sept. 18, 2006 - With the Los Angeles Dodgers playing the San Diego Padres for first place in the National League West with only two weeks left in the regular season, Marlon Anderson of Montgomery, Ala. went five for five, including two home runs. His second home run that night was the last of a record tying four consecutive home runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, following home runs hit by Jeff Kent, J. D. Drew and Russell Martin. Anderson's home run tied the score at 9-9 after the Dodgers trailed 9-5 to begin the inning. The Dodgers would eventually win the game on a walk-off home run by Nomar Garciaparra, and would tie San Diego for the NL West title. The tiebreaker however, went to San Diego as they had beaten the Dodgers 13 of 18 games in 2006. The Dodgers would still make the playoffs after being awarded the wild card spot.