Today in History for Nov. 14, 2015

Herman Melville

Nov. 14, 1540 – The DeSoto Expedition departed the village of Mabila, marching northeastward toward Mississippi, almost a month after fighting the largest Indian battle in North America against Chief Tuscaloosa’s warriors.

Nov. 14, 1746 – German botanist, zoologist, physician, and explorer George Wilhelm Steller died of fever at the age of 37 in Tyumen, Siberia.

Nov. 14, 1770 – James Bruce discovered what he believed to be the source of the Nile.

Nov. 14, 1775 - Colonel Benedict Arnold arrived with his forces on the Plains of Abraham outside Quebec City.

Nov. 14, 1776 - The St. James Chronicle of London carried an item announcing “The very identical Dr. Franklyn [Benjamin Franklin], whom Lord Chatham [former leading parliamentarian and colonial supporter William Pitt] so much caressed, and used to say he was proud in calling his friend, is now at the head of the rebellion in North America.”

Nov. 14, 1781 - Major James Henry Craig evacuated his troops from Wilmington, NC.

Nov. 14, 1797 – Sir Charles Lyell, who would go on to become the “Father of Modern Geology,” was born in Kinnordy, Angus, Scotland. A close friend of Charles Darwin, Lyell visited Claiborne, Ala. in 1846 to study the Eocene fossil beds there.

Nov. 14, 1805 - A treaty signed with the Creek Nation in Washington on this date allowed for a Post Road to be built which later became the Old Federal Road.

Nov. 14, 1832 – The world’s first streetcar, named the John Mason, began operation in New York City, running between Prince and 14th Streets in Lower Manhattan.

Nov. 14, 1851 - Herman Melville's novel "Moby Dick" was first published in the U.S.

Nov. 14, 1861 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought at the mouth of Mattawoman Creek, Md.

Nov. 14, 1861 – During the Civil War, an eight-day expedition through Accomac and Northampton Counties, Va. began.

Nov. 14, 1861 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought on the road from Fayetteville to Raleigh and near McCoy’s Mill, West Virginia.

Nov. 14, 1862 – During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln approved General Ambrose Burnside's plan to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond, Va. This was an ill-fated move, as it led to the disastrous Battle of Fredericksburg in Virginia in December 1862, in which the Army of the Potomac was dealt one of its worst defeats at the hands of Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia.

Nov. 14, 1863 – During the Civil War, a four-day Federal expedition from Mayesville to Whitesburg and Decatur, Ala. began.

Nov. 14, 1864 – During the Civil War, a Federal campaign in North Alabama and Middle Tennessee that lasted until Jan. 23 began.

Nov. 14, 1881 - Charles J. Guiteau's trial began for the assassination of U.S. President Garfield. Guiteau was convicted and hanged the following year.

Nov. 14, 1889 – Pioneering female journalist and New York World reporter Nellie Bly (aka Elizabeth Cochrane) began a successful attempt to travel around the world in less than 80 days. She completed the trip in 72 days. Her quest was to surpass the fictional journey of Jules Verne's Phileas Fogg, by traveling around the world in less than 80 days.

Nov. 14, 1893 – The Conecuh Record newspaper was established in Evergreen, Ala.

Nov. 14, 1907 – Swedish author Astrid Lindgren was born Astrid Ericsson on a farm near Vimmerby, Sweden. She is best known for being the author of the Pippi Longstocking adventure stories.

Nov. 14, 1914 – As of this date, 19,882 bales of cotton had been ginned in Monroe County, Ala. from the 1914 crop, compared with 18,829 bales ginned prior to Nov. 14, 1913.

Nov. 14, 1915 - Alabama author Booker T. Washington died in Tuskegee, Ala.

Nov. 14, 1918 – During World War I, Army Pvt. George Gibbs of Andalusia, Ala. “died from disease.”

Nov. 14, 1939 – Monroeville, Ala. held its inaugural Hog Festival, which drew an estimated crowd of 12,000 to 15,000 to downtown Monroeville, including a photographer from Life magazine. The event also included “Jolly Jumbo,” a four-year-old big, boned Poland China hog from Nebraska, said to be the largest hog in the world. The hog was four feet high, eight feet long and weighed 1,600 pounds.

Nov. 14, 1939 – As of this date, 10,076 bales of cotton had been ginned in Monroe County, Ala. from the 1939 crop, compared with 18,647 bales up to that date in 1938.

Nov. 14, 1943 - Sid Luckman of the Chicago Bears became the first to throw for more than 400 yards when he threw for 433 yards and seven touchdowns against the New York Giants.

Nov. 14, 1946 – Monroeville Elementary School on South Mount Pleasant Avenue in Monroeville, Ala. burned down in 15 minutes.

Nov. 14, 1947 – On a “slightly muddy field,” Evergreen High School improved to 6-1-1 with a 34-0 win over Wilcox County High School in Evergreen, Ala.

Nov. 14, 1954 - Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice was born in Birmingham, Ala. Rice is an enthusiastic sports fan and avid golfer. She was one of the first two women admitted to the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia. In October 2013, Rice was selected as a member of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee, which will choose the four teams that will participate in the NCAA National Championship Playoffs.

Nov. 14, 1963 - A new volcanic island appeared near Iceland. 

Nov. 14, 1970 – Army Staff Sgt. William Richard Ellis of Brewton, Ala. was killed in action in Vietnam.

Nov. 14, 1970 – Southern Airways Flight 932 crashed in the mountains near Huntington, West Virginia, killing 75, including members of the Marshall University football team.

Nov. 14, 1972 - The Dow Jones closed above 1,000 for the first time.

Nov. 14, 1973 - Alabama author Brad Vice was born in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Nov. 14, 1974 – Dothan, Ala. native Johnny Mack Brown, nicknamed “The Dothan Antelope,” passed away at the age of 70 from heart failure in Woodland Hills, Calif. He starred as a halfback at Alabama and help lead the Crimson Tide to the 1926 national title. He later had a long, successful career as an actor in Hollywood.

Nov. 14, 1990 - Simon and Schuster announced it had dropped plans to publish Bret Easton Ellis novel "American Psycho."

Nov. 14, 1993 - Don Shula of the Miami Dolphins set a new NFL record with his 325th victory.

Nov. 14, 1994 – Angela Michelle Pate was named Conecuh County’s 1993 Young Woman of the Year at Wiley Salter Auditorium at Ed Reid State Technical College in Evergreen, Ala. She succeeded Kimberli Griffin, the 1992 Young Woman of the Year.

Nov. 14, 2008 – Birmingham’s Sloss Furnaces were featured on an episode of “Ghost Adventures” titled “Sloss Furnaces.”