Today in History for Nov. 3, 2015

Stonewall Jackson

Nov. 3, 1493 – Christopher Columbus first sighted the island of Dominica in the Caribbean Sea.

Nov. 3, 1679 - There was a great panic in Europe over the close approach of a comet.

Nov. 3, 1777 - General George Washington was informed that a conspiracy was afoot to discredit him with Congress and have him replaced by General Horatio Gates. Thomas Conway, who would be made inspector general of the United States less than two months later on December 14, led the effort.The rumored conspiracy would go down in history as the “Conway cabal.”

Nov. 3, 1783 – The American Continental Army was disbanded.

Nov. 3, 1793 – French playwright, journalist, abolitionist and feminist Olympe de Gouges was guillotined in Paris.

Nov. 3, 1794 – Poet and translator William Cullen Bryant was born in Cummington, Mass.

Nov. 3, 1813 - The Battle of Tallushatchee occurred in what is now Calhoun County. Under the command of General John Coffee, 900 of Andrew Jackson’s Tennessee volunteer cavalrymen, including Davy Crockett, Sam Houston and Cherokee scouts John Ross and Sequoyah, as they attacked the Creek Indian village Tallushatchee near the Coosa River. Coffee surrounded the town and then sent two companies into the center of the town to draw the Creeks out, after which they were caught in a crossfire between the two lines of cavalry. Fighting lasted until the last warrior fell. In all, 186 Red Sticks were killed, including a number of women and children. The remaining women and children were taken prisoner. Coffee's troops casualties were five killed and 41 wounded. This was the first offensive as Andrew Jackson made his way south to Horseshoe Bend.

Nov. 3, 1816 - Confederate General Jubal Early was born in Franklin City, Virginia. Early had a distinguished career in the Confederate army, and in 1864 he waged a campaign in the Shenandoah Valley that kept Confederate hopes alive by relieving the pressure on General Robert E. Lee's army around Richmond.

Nov. 3, 1855 – Isaac Betts Jr. became postmaster at Burnt Corn, Ala.

Nov. 3, 1861 – During the Civil War, a Federal expedition into lower Maryland, led by Brig. Generals Oliver O. Howard, and George Sykes, began.

Nov. 3, 1861 – During the Civil War, Major General Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson, CSA, assumed the command of the Shenandoah Valley District, at Winchester, Va.

Nov. 3, 1865 - U.S. President Andrew Johnson signed the execution order for Henry Wirz. Wirz was executed for the brutality and mistreatment under his command at Andersonville Prison during the Civil War.

Nov. 3, 1886 – A three-day Southern Cotton Picking Contest began and Thomas B. Nettles, 17, of Monroe County won the championship by picking a record 1,560 pounds, an average of 520 pounds per day.

Nov. 3, 1903 – Photographer and author Walker Evans was born in St. Louis, Mo. In the summer of 1936, he went down to Greensboro, Alabama, to photograph tenant farmers struggling through the Great Depression with journalist James Agee. The photographs, with Agee’s text, were published in the book “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men” in 1941, and Evans’ photos are among the most famous images of the Great Depression.

Nov. 3, 1908 - Alabama author Clifford Lanier died in Montgomery, Ala.

Nov. 3, 1914 – An election was held in Conecuh County, Ala. and the total vote was described as the “lightest in many years.” Democratic candidate for Alabama governor Charles Henderson received 502 votes in Conecuh County. Republican Socialist’s Jno. B. Shields and W.C. Swain got eight votes each, while Progressive candidate E.H. Cross got no votes.

Nov. 3, 1915 – The Evergreen Courant reported that A.H. Mason and C.J. Hines, who’d been recently appointed to the Conecuh County, Ala. board of equalization, had failed to select a third member of the board, so Alabama Gov. Charles Henderson was called on to appoint the third member.

Nov. 3, 1915 – The Evergreen Courant reported that the school at Lenox, Ala. was “progressing nicely” with Sadie Melton as principal and Estelle Petty as assistant.

Nov. 3, 1915 – The Evergreen Courant reported that “Mrs. Legrand” of Atlanta had been placed in charge of the millinery department of the Riley Department Store in Evergreen, Ala.

Nov. 3, 1918 – National Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller was born in Van Meter, Iowa. He went on to play his entire Major League career for the Cleveland Indians. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1962.

Nov. 3, 1929 - Providence became the first National Football League team to host a game at night under floodlights. The game was against the Cardinals.

Nov. 3, 1939 – Monroe County High School’s football team beat Wilcox County, 26-0, in Monroeville, Ala.

Nov. 3, 1942 - Alabama author Tom Weatherly was born in Scottsboro, Ala.

Nov. 3, 1943 – Capt. William Norred of Pine Apple, Ala. was the guest speaker at the Evergreen Rotary Club’s meeting on this Wednesday, a guest of Rotary Club president D.T. Stuart. Norred spoke about his “adventures” as a bomber pilot in the Mediterranean Theatre of World War II. He had been overseas for about a year, participated in 40 bombing missions and participated in the invasion of North Africa, Sicily and Italy.

Nov. 3, 1943 – Audrey Wilson, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. M.E. Wilson of Evergreen, Ala., was elected president of the Women’s Student Government Association at Auburn University. Wilson, who defeated Martha Blake of Sheffield in the election, was a junior in the Home Economics Department.

Nov. 3, 1953 - The Rules Committee of organized baseball restored the sacrifice fly. The rule had not been used since 1939.

Nov. 3, 1954 – The first “Godzilla” film was released and marked the first appearance of the character of the same name.

Nov. 3, 1956 – A fire of an undetermined origin destroyed two-thirds of the Evergreen Garment Co. building on this Saturday night, causing an estimated $300,000 loss. The fire began around 7 p.m. and the building was engulfed in flames when the fire department arrived. A crowd of around 2,000 people “watched the fire in horror as it burned away at the quarters of one of the town’s largest payrolls.”

Nov. 3, 1957 - Controversial psychiatrist and scientist, Wilhelm Reich, passed away at the age of 60 at the United States Penitentiary, Lewisburg, Pa.

Nov. 3, 1958 – Shortly before midnight on this Monday night, Evergreen, Ala. police officers McDonald and Morrison apparently foiled the attempted burglary of the then new Rutland-Price Building in Evergreen, Ala. While making their routine rounds, they found a door to the building open, but they believed that the burglars managed to escape through a rear door. The building’s business tenants, Katherine W. Owens, the owner of Katherine’s, and Dr. Cecil E. Price found nothing missing.

Nov. 3, 1959 – John Bolton was born in Evergreen, Ala.

Nov. 3, 1964 – U.S. District Judge Daniel H. Thomas of Mobile, Ala. sentenced 21-year-old Lawrence Earl Vonderau of Brewton, Ala. to nine years and 10 months in federal prison in connection with the robbery of $16,000 from the Union Bank in Repton in June 1964. Vonderau, a Brewton service station attendant, had pleaded guilty to the crime.

Nov. 3, 1964 – During an election in Monroe County, Ala., Probate Judge David M. Nettles defeated N.S. “Nick” Hare in the race for probate judge.

Nov. 3, 1965 - The movie “Juliet of the Spirits,” with Alabama author Eugene Walter playing the role of a Mother Superior, was released in the United States.

Nov. 3, 1970 - Fred Gray and Thomas Reed were elected to the state House of Representatives to become the first black Alabama legislators since Reconstruction. Both men won seats from the 31st House District, composed of Macon, Bullock and Barbour counties.

Nov. 3, 1972 – Former University of Alabam quarterback Joe Namath was featured on the cover of LIFE magazine.

Nov. 3, 1976 – “Carrie,” a horror film starring Sissy Spacek and based on Stephen King’s 1974 best-selling first novel, opens in theaters around the United States.

Nov. 3, 1989 - Lou Piniella was named the manager of the Cincinnati Reds. He replaced the banned Pete Rose.

Nov. 3, 1993 - Greg Maddux of the Atlanta Braves became the first player to win back-to-back Cy Young Awards on different teams.

Nov. 3, 1996 - Jerry Rice of theh San Francisco 49ers became the first NFL player to catch 1,000 career receptions.

Nov. 3, 1998 - Bob Kane, the creator of Batman, died at the age of 83 in Los Angeles, Calif.

Nov. 3, 1998 - A state-run newspaper in Iraq urged the country to prepare for to battle "the U.S. monster."

Nov. 3, 2006 – Truman Capote’s aunt Marie Rudisill, aka the “Fruitcake Lady,” passed away at the age of 95 in Hudson, Fla.

Nov. 3, 2009 – Grove Hill, Ala. voted to legalize alcohol sales.