Today in History for Nov. 30, 2015

Hubert Wilkins

Nov. 30, 1498 – Spanish captain and explorer Andrés de Urdaneta was born in Ordizia, Gipuzkoa, Crown of Castile. As a navigator, he achieved in 1536 the "second" world circumnavigation (after the first one led by Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastián Elcano and their crew in 1522). Urdaneta discovered and plotted a path across the Pacific from the Philippines to Acapulco in the Viceroyalty of New Spain (present day Mexico) used by the Manila galleons, which came to be known as “Urdaneta's route.”

Nov. 30, 1707 – The second Siege of Pensacola came to end with the failure of the British to capture Pensacola, Fla.

Nov. 30, 1765 – Scottish merchant and explorer George Glas was stabbed to death during a mutiny by Spanish and Portuguese members of the crew of the barque “Earl of Sandwich.” Glass was around 40 years old.

Nov. 30, 1776 - Admiral Richard Howe and General William Howe, “the King’s Commissioners for restoring Peace,” issued a proclamation from New York City, promising pardon to those who would within 60 days subscribe to a declaration that they would desist from “Treasonable Actings and Doings.” The Howes’ offer appealed to thousands of residents from downstate New York, who were willing to trade in their weapons for pardons. At the time, Westchester, Manhattan and Long Island were securely in British hands and would remain so until after the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783.

Nov. 30, 1776 - General Charles Lee wrote a letter to General George Washington to report that he was about to cross into New York near Peekskill.

Nov. 30, 1781 – Scottish surgeon, merchant and explorer Alexander Berry was born at Hilltarvit Mains Farmhouse, Cupar, Fife, Scotland. In 1822, Berry was given a land grant of 10,000 acres and 100 convicts to establish the first European settlement on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia. This settlement became known as the Coolangatta Estate and later developed into what is now the town of Berry, named in honor of Alexander and his brother David.

Nov. 30, 1782 – The United States and Britain signed preliminary peace articles in Paris, ending the Revolutionary War, and settling territorial claims of Great Britain and the United States of America. The Treaty of Paris established the southern boundary of the U.S. at the 31st parallel north. Great Britain would retain possession of the Floridas. These preliminary peace articles were later formalized as the 1783 Treaty of Paris.

Nov. 30, 1811 – Capt. Matthew Arbuckle of the 3rd Regiment U.S. Infantry commanded a road construction party from Fort Stoddert that met a construction party working from the east to open the Federal Road to Georgia.

Nov. 30, 1818 – Autauga County was created by the Alabama territorial legislature and was formed from part of Montgomery County on Dec. 13, 1820. The town of Washington became the first county seat. Now bordered on the north by Chilton County, on the east by Elmore County and Montgomery County, on the south by Lowndes County and on the west by Dallas County. Named for Autauga Creek. Its county seats have been Washington, 1820-30; Kingston, 1830-68; and Prattville, the present county seat, chosen in 1868.

Nov. 30, 1835 - Samuel Langhorne Clemens, also known as Mark Twain, was born in Florida, Mo.

Nov. 30, 1861 – During the Civil War, the “Trent Affair”, as it was beginning to be called on both sides of the Atlantic, was rapidly turning from a glorious triumph for the US Navy, particularly Captain Charles Wilkes of the USS San Jacinto, into a hideous embarrassment for the US diplomatic corps. On this day, the British Foreign Secretary, Lord John Russell, composed a letter to be sent to Lord Lyons, the minister (ambassador) to the United States. In it he directed Lyons to inform the American government that if the Confederate ministers Mason and Slidell were not released to British custody, and if an apology for their seizure from a British ship were not forthcoming, Lyon was to close the embassy and return to London with the entire legation.

Nov. 30, 1861 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought at Grand River, or Black Walnut Creek, near Sedalia, Mo.

Nov. 30, 1861 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought near mouth of Little Cacapon River, West Virginia.

Nov. 30, 1864 – During the Civil War’s Battle of Franklin, the once proud Confederate Army of Tennessee, led by General John Bell Hood, suffered a devastating defeat after Hood ordered a dramatically unsuccessful frontal assault on Union positions commanded by John McAllister Schofield around Franklin, Tennessee, with Hood losing six of his finest generals and almost a third of his troops. Of 15,000 Union troops engaged, some 200 were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded. The Confederates had 23,000 men at Franklin; approximately 1,750 died and 5,500 were wounded or captured.

Nov. 30, 1865 - Alabama author A. B. Meek died in Columbus, Miss.

Nov. 30, 1901 – English explorer and politician Edward John Eyre died at the age 86 in Yorkshire, England.

Nov. 30, 1905 – The Monroe Journal reported that Charlie Broughton, The Journal’s “faithful and efficient” composition and typesetting machine operator, was back at his post after having been laid up several days with tonsillitis.

Nov. 30, 1907 - Dr. W.A. Mason and family left Conecuh County, Ala. on this Saturday for their new home at Excel, Ala. “where the doctor (had) been enjoying a successful and lucrative practice for the past four months.”

Nov. 30, 1921 - Alabama author Eugene Walter was born in Mobile, Ala.

Nov. 30, 1931 - Legendary football coach Bill Walsh was born in Los Angeles, California.

Nov. 30, 1950 – Army MSG Tellis W. Donaldson of Covington County, Ala. was listed as “died/missing” in Korea.

Nov. 30, 1953 – Award-winning writer Rheta Grimsley Johnson was born in Colquitt, Ga. She would later live in Monroeville, Ala. and work at The Monroe Journal newspaper.

Nov. 30, 1954 – At 2:46 p.m., a meteorite weighing 8-1/2 pounds crashed into Ann Elizabeth Hodges of Sylacauga as she rested on her living room couch. The meteorite crashed through the roof of her rented house, bounced off a console radio and struck her left hip and hand. The event gave Hodges a severely bruised hip and instant celebrity status. She later became embroiled in a court battle with her landlord over ownership of the rock, which was eventually donated to a university, after being used as a doorstop. The meteorite, the first one known to have caused injury to a human, is housed at the Alabama Museum of Natural History in Tuscaloosa. This is the only documented case in the Western Hemisphere of a human being hit by a rock from space.

Nov. 30, 1958 – Australian pilot, ornithologist, geographer and explorer Hubert Wilkins died at the age of 70 in Framingham, Massachusetts. The US Navy later took his ashes to the North Pole aboard the submarine USS Skate on March 17, 1959. The Navy confirmed on March 27 that, "In a solemn memorial ceremony conducted by Skate shortly after surfacing, the ashes of Sir Hubert Wilkins were scattered at the North Pole in accordance with his last wishes."

Nov. 30, 1960 – “All the Way Home,” a dramatic version of Alabama author James Agee's book “A Death in the Family,” opened on Broadway.

Nov. 30, 1961 – Four Conecuh County, Ala. high school basketball teams were scheduled to square off against each other in a “big doubleheader” at Evergreen High School’s Memorial Gym, beginning at 7 p.m. Evergreen High School, under Coach John Law Robinson, was scheduled to play Conecuh County High School, and that game was to be followed by a game between Lyeffion High School and Repton High School.

Nov. 30, 1962 - Football and baseball star, Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson was born in Bessemer, Ala. Jackson won the Heisman Trophy in 1985 and was the first professional athlete to be named an all star in two major sports.

Nov. 30, 1962 - W.C. Nichols of Excel, Ala. was re-elected president of the Monroe County Board of Education for a ninth year at a meeting in Monroeville, Ala. on this Friday. Tom W. Weatherford of Uriah was re-elected vice-president. Other board members were Dr. John L. Abbott of Monroeville, James C. Brooks of Megargel and S. Miller Fore of Beatrice.

Nov. 30, 1966 – A woman who wished to remain anonymous was changing a tire on a lonely stretch of Route 491 near Brooksville, Fla. when she became aware of an awful stench. She then heard a heavy crashing of brush, and she turned to see a large, hairy creature walking toward her. Moments later, the sound of an approaching vehicle caused the thing to turn and walk back into the woods.

Nov. 30, 1968 – Manager Harmon Gunter announced that an open house would be held at the new Steven Robert Corp. plant on Kendall Avenue in Evergreen, Ala. from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Nov. 30, 1971 - ABC-TV aired "Brian's Song." The movie was about Chicago Bears' Brian Picolo and his friendship with Gale Sayers.

Nov. 30, 1983 – The National League of Cities Congress of Cities meeting began at the New Orleans Hilton Hotel, and Evergreen, Ala. Mayor Lee F. Smith attended as one of 20 voting delegates representing the Alabama League of Municipalities.

Nov. 30, 1983 – Evergreen, Alabama’s annual Christmas Parade was scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.

Nov. 30, 1992 - The video "NFL Country," by various artists, was certified Gold by the RIAA.

Nov. 30, 1993 - The National Football League awarded the league's 30th franchise to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

  

Nov. 30, 1995 – Operation Desert Storm officially ended.

Nov. 30, 1998 - Author and poet Margaret Walker passed away in Chicago, Ill. at the age of 83. Her mother’s relatives lived in Greenville, Ala. and she set a portion of her 1966 novel, “Jubilee,” in Greenville.

Nov. 30, 2005 - The White House released a document titled "Our National Strategy for Victory in Iraq." The document accompanied an address by U.S. President George Bush.