Today in History for Nov. 13, 2015

John Hay

Nov. 13, 354 AD – St. Augustine was born in Tagaste, Numidia, a part of North Africa that is now Algeria.

Nov. 13, 1775 – During the American Revolutionary War, Patriot revolutionary forces under General Richard Montgomery took and occupied Montreal without opposition.

Nov. 13, 1789 – American “Founding Father” Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter to a friend in which he said, "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."

Nov. 13, 1813 – The Upper Creek town of Atchinalgi in Randolph County, Ala. was destroyed by General James White and his Tennessee troopers.

Nov. 13, 1813 – General Ferdinand Claiborne broke up his camp at Pine Level (present-day Jackson, Ala.) and took up the line of march across Clarke County towards Weatherford’s Bluff, where he’d been ordered to establish a depot of provisions for General Andrew Jackson.

Nov. 13, 1833 – Actor Edwin Booth, the brother of John Wilkes Booth, was born in Bel Air, Maryland.

Nov. 13, 1841 – James Braid first saw a demonstration of “animal magnetism,” which led to his study of the subject he eventually called “hypnotism.”

Nov. 13, 1850 - Robert Louis Stevenson, the author of “Treasure Island,” was born in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Nov. 13, 1861 – During the Civil War, Federal operations between Greenville and Doniphan, Mo., and through Texas and Wright Counties, Mo. began.

Nov. 13, 1861 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought near Romney, West Virginia.

Nov. 13, 1861 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, Secretary of State William Seward and Presidential Secretary John Hay paid a late night visit to General George B. McClellan, who Lincoln had recently named general in chief of the Union army. McClellan snubbed the President by retiring to his chambers before speaking to the president. This would be the last time Lincoln called on McClellan, afterwards McClellan was to be summoned to the White House. In March 1862, the president removed McClellan as general in chief of the army.

Nov. 13, 1899 - Master archer Howard Hill was born in Wilsonville, Ala. Hill's 1953 memoir, “Hunting the Hard Way,” details his work on Hollywood films and his hunting activities all over the world. Hill was internationally famous for his trick shots and prowess as a hunter. He served as a stuntman, producer, and director for many short and feature films from the 1930s to the 1950s, the most famous of which was “The Adventures of Robin Hood” (1938) starring Errol Flynn.

Nov. 13, 1900 - The Baltimore Orioles entered Major League Baseball's American League.

Nov. 13, 1905 - Miss Callie Faulk left Monroeville, Ala. on this Monday to begin teaching at Tekoa.

Nov. 13, 1906 - Alabama author Sara Henderson Hay was born in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Nov. 13, 1910 - Alabama author William Bradford Huie was born in Hartselle, Ala.

Nov. 13, 1912 – Fire destroyed the frame and sheet iron building owned by Allen Page and Mack T. Johnson in Castleberry, Ala. destroying the building and burning the entire stock of merchandise.

Nov. 13, 1927 – The Holland Tunnel opened to traffic as the first Hudson River vehicle tunnel linking New Jersey to New York City.

Nov. 13, 1928 - Alabama author Alice Fellows was born in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Nov. 13, 1941 – The Evergreen Courant reported that W. Sam Cope had purchased the Rutland Funeral Home and changed the name to Cope Funeral Home. Cope had been in charge of the Rutland Funeral Home for the three previous years.

Nov. 13, 1947 – The Soviet Union completed development of the AK-47, one of the first proper assault rifles.

Nov. 13, 1951 – During the Korean War, Army Cpl. Joel R. Martin of Conecuh County, Ala. and Army Cpl. Eddie Gibby of Clarke County, Ala. were “killed in action.”

Nov. 13, 1956 – The Supreme Court of the United States declared Alabama laws requiring segregated buses illegal, thus ending the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Nov. 13, 1963 – NFL quarterback Vinny Testaverde was born in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Nov. 13, 1964 – Monroe County High School defeated traditional rival Frisco City, 21-12, in Monroeville, Ala. in the season finale for both teams. MCHS finished the season with a 5-5 overall record, and Frisco finished 3-5-1.

Nov. 13, 1971 - The NASA probe Mariner 9 became the first spacecraft to orbit another planet as it swung around Mars.

Nov. 13, 1974 - On this evening, Ronald “Butch” DeFeo Jr. entered an Amityville, N.Y. bar and told people his parents had been shot inside their home. Several bar patrons accompanied DeFeo back to his family’s home, at 112 Ocean Avenue, where a man named Joe Yeswit called Suffolk Country police to report the crime. When officers arrived, they found the bodies of Ronald DeFeo Sr., age 43, his wife Louise, 42, and their children Dawn, 18, Allison, 13, Marc, 11, and John, 9. The victims had been shot dead in their beds. Ronald DeFeo Jr., 22, initially tried to say the murders were a mob hit; however, by the next day he confessed to committing the crimes himself.

Nov. 13, 1974 - A movie version of Alabama author William Bradford Huie's “The Klansman” was released.

Nov. 13, 1981 – Marine Corps Cpl. Christopher Winchester was born. He would be killed on July 14, 2005 during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Later, a memorial marker was placed at the baseball fields in East Brewton.

Nov. 13, 1982 – The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C. after a march to its site by thousands of Vietnam War veterans.

Nov. 13, 1986 – The Evergreen Courant reported that freshman wide receiver Mike Bledsoe, a former Lyeffion High School standout, was playing football at Maryville College.

Nov. 13, 1991 - Roger Clemens won his third Cy Young Award for the American League.

Nov. 13, 1995 - Greg Maddox of the Atlanta Braves became the first Major League pitcher to win four consecutive Cy Young Awards.

Nov. 13, 1996 – Antioch Baptist Church and the Beck-Creswell House, both in Camden, Ala., were placed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.

Nov. 13, 1997 - Iraq expelled six United Nations arms inspectors that were U.S. citizens.

Nov. 13, 2002 – During the Iraq disarmament crisis, Iraq agreed to the terms of the UN Security Council Resolution 1441.

Nov. 13, 2003 - Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy S. Moore was removed from office when the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission determined that he violated his oath of office when he refused to obey a Federal court order to remove a granite display of the Ten Commandments from the rotunda of the Alabama Judicial Building.