Arch Hoxsey |
Oct. 11, 1492 – During his first voyage to America, two
hours after sunset, Columbus became the first observer on record to notice the
unexplained, luminous “white water of the Bahamas,” near the western edges of
the Sargasso Sea.
Oct. 11, 1759 - Parson Mason Weems was born in Anne Arundel
County, Maryland. He is best remembered as the source of some of the apocryphal
stories about George Washington, including the famous tale of Washington and the
cherry tree ("I cannot tell a lie, I did it with my little hatchet"),
which was included in “The Life of Washington” (1800), a bestseller that
depicted Washington's virtues and was intended to provide a morally instructive
tale for the youth of the young nation.
Oct. 11, 1767 – Surveying for the Mason–Dixon line,
separating Maryland from Pennsylvania, was completed.
Oct. 11, 1776 – During the American Revolutionary War, at
the Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain (in what is now Clinton County,
N.Y.), a fleet of 15 American gunboats under Brigadier General Benedict Arnold
suffered heavy losses and was defeated by a British fleet under Sir Guy
Carleton. Although nearly all of Arnold’s ships were destroyed, it took more
than two days for the British to subdue the Patriot naval force, delaying
Carleton’s campaign and giving the Patriot ground forces adequate time to
prepare a crucial defense of New York.
Oct. 11, 1779 - Casimir Pulaski, a Polish nobleman, was
killed while fighting for American independce during the Revolutionary War
Battle of Savannah, Ga.
Oct. 11, 1809 – Along the Natchez Trace in Tennessee, famous
explorer Meriwether Lewis, age 35, died under mysterious circumstances in the
early hours of the morning after stopping for the night at Grinder’s Tavern, an
inn that was also called Grinder's Stand. Some say he committed suicide, while
others say he may have been murdered.
Oct. 11, 1821 – Sir George Williams, who founded the YMCA,
was born in Dulverton, England.
Oct. 11, 1861 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought
at Harper's Ferry, West Va.
Oct. 11, 1861 – During the Civil War, a six-day operation
against Lipan Indians from Fort Inge, Texas began.
Oct. 11, 1862 – During the Civil War, in the aftermath of
the Battle of Antietam, Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart and his men looted
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, during a daring raid into the north. About half of
the supplies for the Union army came through the rail center at Chambersburg,
and Stuart planned to destroy a railway bridge in the town. On the morning of
Oct. 11, they began cutting telegraph lines, seizing horses and any supplies
they could carry, and destroying everything else before Stuart ordered his men
to turn back to Virginia by the afternoon of Oct. 11.
Oct. 11, 1870 – Union doctor Edward DeWelden Brenneman
passed away at the age of 31 and was buried in Washington, D.C.’s Oak Hill
Cemetery. During the Battle of Gettysburg he amputated the right arm of
Conecuh Guards’ Mitchell B. Salter of Evergreen.
Oct. 11, 1881 – Physicist and psychologist Lewis Fry
Richardson was born in Northumberland, England. He was the first to apply
mathematical techniques to predict the weather accurately, but his system did
not become practical until the advent of electronic computers after World War
II.
Oct. 11, 1884 – Eleanor Roosevelt, the longest-serving First
Lady, was born in New York City.
Oct. 11, 1885 – Noble Prize-winning French writer Francois
(Charles) Mauriac was born in Bordeaux. He became famous for his book “A Kiss for the Leper” (1922), about a
wealthy but hideous man whose life is destroyed by an arranged marriage to a
beautiful peasant woman. He also wrote “The
Desert of Love” (1925), “Thérèse”
(1927), and “The Knot of Vipers”
(1932).
Oct. 11, 1889 – The Monroe Journal reported that Monroe
County, Ala. native Charles J. Torrey had been elected as Mobile’s city
attorney by a “flattering majority.” He served as Monroeville’s chancery
registrar before moving to Mobile in 1875. He lost the circuit judge’s race in
1886 by a small margin.
Oct. 11, 1890 - The Daughters of the American Revolution was
founded in Washington, DC.
Oct. 11, 1899 – Major League Baseball’s Western League was
renamed the American League of Professional Baseball Clubs.
Oct. 11, 1890 – Famous train-robbing outlaw Rube Burrow was
buried in Fellowship Cemetery, about four miles northeast of Vernon in Lamar
County, Ala.
Oct. 11, 1895 – Dr. Ray Fountain of Finchburg, Ala. passed
away.
Oct. 11, 1905 – During the evening, on the road leading from
Claiborne, Ala., to their homes near Axel (between Peterman and Fountain), Jim
Wiggins shot and killed his employee A.T. Aycock after an argument over pay.
Aycock was said to have been drunk, and Wiggins shot him in the head with a
pistol.
Oct. 11, 1910 – Former President Theodore Roosevelt became
the first U.S. president to fly in an airplane. He flew for four minutes with
Arch Hoxsey in a plane built by the Wright brothers at Kinloch Field
(Lambert–St. Louis International Airport), St. Louis, Missouri.
Oct. 11, 1915 – The fall term of Conecuh County, Ala.
Circuit Court convened at noon with Judge Gamble presiding and Solicitor
Bricken at his post. The grand jury was organized with J.A. Culpepper of
Brooklyn as foreman. In the Oct. 20, 1915 edition of The Courant, it was
reported that the grand jury returned 39 indictments.
Oct. 11, 1918 – During World War I, James Leroy Burge died,
reportedly from influenza and was buried at sea in route to Europe. He was a
member of the U.S. Army’s 150st Infantry Regiment, 38th Infantry Division. He
is listed on the Tablets of the Missing at Suresnes American Cemetery in
Suresenes, France.
Oct. 11, 1918 – During World War I, Army Pvt. James Williams
of Camden, Ala., Army Pvt. Emmett N. Richburg of Castleberry, Ala., Army Pvt.
Wm. J. McEntire of Brewton, Ala., Army Pvt. Fred Dixon of Andalusia, Ala. and
Army Pvt. Caley S. Harrell of Grove Hill, Ala. “died of disease.” Army Pvt. Wm.
McD. Reaves of Camden, Ala. was killed in action.
Oct. 11, 1922 - Alabama author Thomas Hal Phillips was born
in Corinth, Miss.
Oct. 11, 1925 - The New York Giants played their first NFL
game. The Giants lost to Providence, 14-0.
Oct. 11, 1939 – J.M. Minish, the owner of a furniture
factory in Monroeville, Ala., died in a Johnson City, Tenn. hospital. He was
buried the next day in Butler, Tenn.
Oct. 11, 1945 - Alabama author Fred Bonnie was born in
Bridgton, Maine.
Oct. 11, 1951 – The Monroe Journal reported that the final
inspection of Monroeville, Alabama’s regional livestock coliseum had been held during
the past week and that the dedication of the coliseum was scheduled for early
spring. E.T. Millsap was Monroe County’s Probate Judge at the time.
Oct. 11, 1961 – Pro Football Hall of Famer Steve Young was
born in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Oct. 11, 1962 – Pope John XXIII convened the first session
of the Second Vatican Council, also known as Vatican II, with the goal of
bringing the church up to date with the modern world. More than 3,000 delegates
attended, including many of the Catholic bishops from around the world,
theologians, and other church officials. As a result of Vatican II, Catholics
were allowed to pray with Protestants and attend weddings and funerals in
Protestant churches; priests were encouraged to perform mass facing the
congregation, rather than facing the altar; and priests were allowed to perform
mass in languages other than Latin, so that parishioners could finally
understand what was being said throughout the service.
Oct. 11, 1971 – Evergreen, Ala. Future Farmers of America
Chapter members and recent Evergreen High School graduates John Crum Sessions
and Herbert Brown left Evergreen to attend the National FFA Convention in
Kansas City, Mo. On Oct. 14, Sessions was to receive the National FFA Award in
Processing. Brown, who was a past State FFA Vice President, served on the
Courtesy Corps at the convention.
Oct. 11, 1973 – The famous “Pascagoula Abduction” occurred
as co-workers Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker claimed that they were abducted
by aliens while fishing near Pascagoula, Miss. The case received widespread
media attention and is among the best-known cases of alien abduction.
Oct. 11, 1975 – The NBC sketch comedy/variety show Saturday
Night Live debuted with George Carlin as the host and Andy Kaufman, Janis
Ian and Billy Preston as guests. Ian performed "At Seventeen" and
"In the Winter." Preston played "Nothing from Nothing" and
"Fancy Lady."
Oct. 11, 1976 – George Washington's appointment,
posthumously, to the grade of General of the Armies by congressional joint
resolution Public Law 94-479 was approved by President Gerald R. Ford.
Oct. 11, 1976 – American actress and producer Emily
Deschanel was born in Los Angeles, Calif. She is best known for starring in the
Fox crime procedural comedy-drama series “Bones” as Dr. Temperance Brennan
since 2005.
Oct. 11, 1978 – The Prestwood Grist Mill near Roeton in
Coffee County, Ala. was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and
Heritage.
Oct. 11, 1982 – The Mary Rose, a Tudor carrack which
sank on July 19, 1545, was salvaged from the sea bed of the Solent, off
Portsmouth.
Oct. 11, 1987 - An extensive search for the Loch Ness
Monster reached its conclusion. Dubbed Operation Deepscan, the week-long
project utilized sonar equipment valued at over one million pounds as well as a
fleet of 24 boats. Aside from a few anomalous sonar blips, the expedition ended
with no tangible results to suggest the existence of the creature. It would not
be the last massive undertaking to scour the Loch for the infamous beast, as
the BBC used a myriad of modern technological devices to look for Nessie in
2003. Much like its predecessor 16 years earlier, this project also failed to
yield an answer to the cryptozoological enigma.
Oct. 11, 1990 - Nirvana had it's first show with David Grohl
on drums.
Oct. 11, 1994 - Iraqi troops began moving away from the
Kuwaiti border.
Oct. 11, 1996 – “The Grass Harp,” a comedic drama film based
on Truman Capote’s novella, was released. Directed by Charles Matthau, it
starred Sissy Spacek, Walter Matthau and Nell Carter.
Oct. 11, 1998 - Steve Young of the San Francisco 49ers
became the 20th player in NFL history to throw for 30,000 yards.
Oct. 11, 2003 - A bench-clearing brawl between the Boston
Red Sox and the New York Yankees interrupted the third game of the American
League playoffs in Boston. During the fight, 73-year-old Yankee bench coach Don
Zimmer charged out of the dugout and tried to tackle Red Sox pitcher Pedro
Martinez, but Martinez dodged the older man’s blows and threw him to the
ground. The Yankees won the game and the pennant, but they lost the World
Series to the Marlins in six games
Oct. 11, 2004 - The Houston Astros won a postseason series
for the first time in their 43-year history. They defeated the Atlanta Braves,
12-3, in Game 5. The Astros had lost seven playoff series previously, three of
them to Atlanta.
Oct. 11, 2006 - In New York, Cory Lidle of the New York
Yankees and his flight instructor were killed when Lidle's plane crashed into a
high-rise apartment building.
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