Oct. 7, 1540 – The DeSoto Expedition passed through in
Indian village of Humati, which was probably situated on the west bank of the
Alabama River, just north of Camden, in present-day Wilcox County, Ala.
Oct. 7, 1542 – Explorer Cabrillo discovered Santa Catalina
Island off of the California coast.
Oct. 7, 1691 – The English royal charter for the Province of
Massachusetts Bay was issued.
Oct. 7, 1763 - In the aftermath of the French and Indian
War, Britain's King George III established the colonies of East and West
Florida by royal proclamation. West Florida's northern boundary was set at
the 31st parallel, which today forms most of Alabama's boundary with Florida.
Oct. 7, 1763 – King George III of the United Kingdom issued
the Royal Proclamation of 1763, closing aboriginal lands in North America north
and west of Alleghenies to white settlements.
Oct. 7, 1765 - Nine American colonies sent a total of 28
delegates to New York City for the Stamp Act Congress. The delegates adopted
the "Declaration of Rights and Grievances."
Oct. 7, 1777 – During the American Revolutionary War, an
American force under General Benedict Arnold defeated a British reconnaissance
force in the Second Battle of Saratoga, also known as the Battle of Bemis
Heights.
Oct. 7, 1780 – During the American Revolutionary War at the
Battle of Kings Mountain, American Patriot militia under Col. William Campbell
defeated Loyalist irregulars led by British major Patrick Ferguson in North
Carolina, near the border with Blacksburg, S.C. The Loyalists suffered 157
killed, 163 wounded and 698 captured, while Campbell’s force suffered just 28
killed and 60 wounded. The Patriot success was the first against the British in
the South, and convinced General Cornwallis to stop his march through the
territory.
Oct. 7, 1835 – Former Georgia senator and U.S. federal judge
Charles Tait passed away at the age of 67 near Claiborne, Ala. and was buried
in Dry Forks Cemetery on his country estate in Wilcox County, Ala.
Oct. 7, 1849 – Around 5 a.m., horror writer Edgar Allan Poe
died at the age of 40 at the Washington Medical College in Baltimore, Md.
Oct. 7, 1850 – George O. Miller acquired the Tristram Bethea
House (also known as Pleasant Ridge) at Canton Bend in Wilcox County, Ala.
after Bethea moved to Mobile. Miller paid $2,800 for the house, which was built
in 1842, and 157 acres.
Oct. 7, 1861 – During the Civil War, the following were
appointed Confederate Major Generals: William Joseph Hardee, Theophilius Hunter
Holmes, Benjamin Huger, Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall“ Jackson, James “Pete”
Longstreet, Mansfield Lovell and John Bankhead Magruder.
Oct. 7, 1861 – During the Civil War, a Federal
reconnaissance operation was conducted from Cairo, Illinois, to Lucas Bend,
Missouri.
Oct. 7, 1864 - Union troops turned back General Robert E.
Lee's assault at the Battle of Darbytown Road (Johnson's Farm) near Richmond,
Virginia. The Confederates lost 700 men while the Yankees lost only 400, and no
ground was gained. Lee did not make another attempt to regain lost ground in
the area and focused instead on setting up defenses closer to Richmond.
Oct. 7, 1864 - The Union warship USS Wachusett illegally
captured the Confederate raider CSS Florida. The Rebel ship was in port at
Bahia, Brazil in violation of Brazilian neutrality.
Oct. 7, 1885 – Noble Prize-winning Danish physicist Niels
Bohr was born in Copenhagen.
Oct. 7, 1889 – Two people were convicted of “disturbing
religious worship” and were fined $80 in Monroe County Court in
Monroeville,Ala.
Oct. 7, 1890 – Jesse Hildreth, George Ford and Frank
Marshall helped John S. McDuffie of Monroe County and Jefferson Davis “Dixie”
Carter of Myrtlewood capture wanted train robber Rube Burrow at Ford’s cabin at
Boneyville, about two miles east of Myrtlewood in Marengo County, Ala. From
there, McDuffie and Carter took Burrow to Linden, Ala.
Oct. 7, 1892 – In Monroe County, Ala. “perhaps the most
brutal crime ever in the county occurred on the west side of the river in the
King neighborhood” on this night. Richard L. Johnson, “an aged gentleman from
the north who moved into the community a short time previously, was called to
the door and brained with an axe, his daughter outraged and the bodies of both
consumed in their burning home.” Four men were arrested, confronted with
evidence against them, confessed and were put in jail. “In the dead hours of
night, a mob stormed the prison, took the miscreants there from and meted out
punishment.”
Oct. 7, 1904 – English historian and explorer Isabella Bird
died in Edinburgh at the age of 72. With Fanny Jane Butler, she founded the
John Bishop Memorial hospital in Srinagar. She was also the first woman to be
elected Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
Oct. 7, 1905 – William Gandy, about 18 years old, was
crushed to death by a falling tree near Mexia, Ala. Gandy, his father and
another man were in a wagon on a public road when they saw a large pine in the
act of falling. Gandy urged the horses on, but was caught beneath the tree and
crushed by “the ponderous weight of the trunk.” The father and other man jumped
from the wagon, and the father was slightly injured.
Oct. 7, 1914 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Editor
Abe Lehman had sold The Greenville Living Truth to V.R. Thagard, who changed
the name of the paper to The Greenville Ledger.
Oct. 7, 1916 – Georgia Tech defeated Cumberland University,
222–0, in the most lopsided college football game in American history. Georgia
Tech carried the ball 978 yards and never threw a pass.
Oct. 7, 1918 – During World War I, Army Pvt. Hance F. Stokes
of Jackson, Ala. “died from disease.”
Oct. 7, 1925 – National Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher
Christy Mathewson died of tuberculosis at the age of 45 in Saranac Lake, New
York. During his career, he played for the New York Giants and the Cincinnati
Reds and he also managed the Reds for two seasons. He was inducted into the
Hall of Fame in 1936.
Oct. 7, 1928 – In Lovecraftian fiction, Randolph Carter
vanished in the ruins of his family’s ancestral mansion outside Arkham. Carter
first appeared in “The Statement of Randolph Carter” by H.P. Lovecraft.
Oct. 7, 1931 – Tommy Lewis of Alabama football fame was born
in Greenville, Ala. Lewis is best remembered for his second quarter
off-the-bench tackle of Rice halfback Dicky Moegle on a running play that
started at the Rice 5 yard line in the 1954 Cotton Bowl. Moegle took the
handoff and raced along the sideline near the Alabama bench. As Moegle passed
midfield, Lewis sprang from the bench to tackle Moegle. The referee awarded
Rice a 95 yard touchdown on the play. Rice won the game, 28-6. Incidentally,
Lewis, a fullback, scored Alabama’s only touchdown that day.
Oct. 7, 1933 – W.Y. Fleming, the principal of the Second
District Agricultural School in Evergreen, Ala., announced in Montgomery that
he would not enter the race for State Superintendent of Education as had been
rumored.
Oct. 7, 1948 – Poet and author Diane Ackerman was born Diane
Fink in Waukegan, Ill.
Oct. 7, 1955 - Alabama author Jo S. Kittinger was born in
Miami, Fla.
Oct. 7, 1955 – American poet Allen Ginsberg, age 29,
performed his poem “Howl” for the first time at the Six Gallery in San
Francisco.
Oct. 7, 1956 - Al Carmichael of the Green Bay Packers
returned a kickoff 106 yards to set a National Football League record.
Oct. 7, 1956 – On this Sunday morning, ground was broken for
a new Sunday School Annex to the Education Building at the Evergreen Methodist
Church in Evergreen, Ala. The annex was to contain seven classrooms and two
bathrooms.
Oct. 7, 1965 – The Evergreen Jaycees announced the selection
of Brent Thornley as the Outstanding Player of the Week for his performance in
Evergreen’s football game against W.S. Neal on Oct. 1. This was Thornley’s
second time to receive the honor during the 1965 season, having also been named
as the Outstanding Player after Evergreen’s game against Atmore on Sept. 10.
Oct. 7, 1966 – Monroe County High School beat Excel, 48-14,
in Monroeville, Ala. Roger Brown and Randy McDonald were the big guns for the
Tigers as they scored a total of 24 points between them and ran up 176 yards
total rushing and combined on two pass plays for 46 yards and a touchdown.
Other standout MCHS players in that game included Butch Andress, Danny Ikner,
Kenneth Kilpatrick, Rusty Pitts, Benny Ray Powell, Harvey Tait and Wayne
Turberville. Standout Excel players in that game included Amos Stacey and
Stanley Wilson.
Oct. 7, 1966 – Monroe County High School’s student body
elected Charlotte Tatum, a 17-year-old senior, as MCHS’s homecoming queen.
Other members of the homecoming court included sophomores Kay Adam and Elise
Jones and juniors Kay Tomlinson and Elizabeth Harper.
Oct. 7, 1976 – American Idol winner Taylor Hicks was born in
Birmingham, Ala.
Oct. 7, 1976 – Heisman Trophy-winning free safety Charles
Woodson was born in Fremont, Ohio. He went on to play college ball for Michigan
and in the NFL for the Oakland Raiders and the Green Bay Packers.
Oct. 7, 1977 - Ninety sets of Swedish identical twins
disembarked from a cruise ship to go on a shopping trip in Felixstowe, England.
The twins were taking part in studies by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm
on the links between environment and behavior.
Oct. 7, 1980 – “Beulah
Land,” a television version of Alabama author Lonnie Coleman's
books “Beulah Land” and “Look Away Beulah Land,” was broadcast.
Oct. 7, 1984 - Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton
became the NFL’s all-time rushing leader, breaking the record Cleveland’s Jim
Brown set in 1965. In front of 53,752 people at Soldier Field, Payton carried the
ball 154 yards and finished the game with a new career rushing record -12,400
yards, 88 more than Brown.
Oct. 7, 1986 – The Evergreen City Council voted 3-2 to hire
long-time city employee Laurice A. Harold as the new city clerk to replace
Miller T. Sellers, who retired on Sept. 30, 1986 after 30 years with the city.
Harold had worked for the city for 28 years prior to being hired as city clerk.
Oct. 7, 1991 – National Baseball Hall of Fame shortstop and
manager Leo Durocher passed away at the age of 86 in Palm Springs, Calif.
During his career, he played for the New York Yankees, the Cincinnati Reds, the
St. Louis Cardinals and the Brooklyn Dodgers, and he went on to manage the
Dodgers, the New York Giants, the Chicago Cubs and the Houston Astros. He was
inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1994.
Oct. 7, 1994 - U.S. President Bill Clinton dispatched an
aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf when Iraqi troops were spotted moving
toward Kuwait. The U.S. Army was also put on alert.
Oct. 7, 1998 – Rikard’s Mill, north of Beatrice, Ala., was
added to Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.
Oct. 7, 1998 – The Gafford-Hartley-Mullins House near
Greenville, Ala. was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.
Oct. 7, 2001 - Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hit
his 73rd home run of the season and set a new major league record.
Oct. 7, 2001 – The Global War on Terrorism began as a result
of the September 11 attacks. The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan initiated with an
air assault and covert operations on the ground.
Oct. 7, 2002 - U.S. President George W. Bush gave a national
address to outline his case against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's regime. In
the speech Bush called Hussein a "murderous tyrant" that may be
plotting attacks on the United States.
Oct. 7, 2003 - In California, Arnold Schwarzenegger was
elected governor in the recall election of Governor Gray Davis.
Oct. 7, 2008 – The Major Edward Preston Price House near
Forest Home, Ala. was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.
Oct. 7, 2009 – A bronze statue of Helen Keller was added to
the National Statuary Hall Collection in the Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol
to represent Alabama. The statue, by Edward Hlavka,
depicts Keller in her youth at the water pump at her childhood home in
Tuscumbia, Ala.
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