Today in History for Nov. 7, 2015

Sam Thompson

Nov. 7, 1492 – The Ensisheim meteorite, the oldest meteorite with a known date of impact, struck the earth around noon in a wheat field outside the village of Ensisheim, Alsace, France.

Nov. 7, 1665 - "The London Gazette" was first published.

Nov. 7, 1728 – British explorer and navigator Captain James Cook was born in Marton (in present-day Middlesbrough) Yorkshire, England. Cook made detailed maps of Newfoundland prior to making three voyages to the Pacific Ocean, during which he achieved the first recorded European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands, and the first recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand.

Nov. 7, 1775 – John Murray, the Royal Governor of the Colony of Virginia, started the first mass emancipation of slaves in North America by issuing Lord Dunmore's Offer of Emancipation, which offered freedom to slaves who abandoned their colonial masters in order to fight with Murray and the British.

Nov. 7, 1775 - The Continental Congress added a mandate for the death penalty as punishment for acts of espionage to the "article of war."

Nov. 7, 1776 - Congress chose Richard Bache to succeed his father-in-law, Benjamin Franklin, as postmaster general. Franklin had sailed for France on behalf of the Continental Congress the previous month.

Nov. 7, 1805 – Lewis and Clark first saw the Pacific Ocean on their great overland expedition that began at St. Louis the year before. They were near the mouth of the Columbia River, not far from today’s town of Astoria, Oregon. They built Fort Clatsop there, a log stockade 50 feet square, and spent the winter in it, before heading back to St. Louis.

Nov. 7, 1811 – The Battle of Tippecanoe was fought near present-day Battle Ground, Indiana.

Nov. 7, 1814 – General Andrew Jackson, with about 4,000 men, marched across the strip of country lying between the Cut Off of the Alabama and Pensacola and captured Pensacola, Fla.

Nov. 7, 1832 - William Stephen Wiggins was born. He took command Co. F of the 36th Ala. Regiment after the death of Capt. David Kelly and led the 36th until the end of the war. His unit was a part of the first brigade (Clayton's) to break the Federal line at Chickamauga and the defenders of the line at New Hope Church. He was noted for his bravery in the battle of Atlanta at the railroad cut at present day Grant Park. He died on Oct. 27, 1918 and was buried at Hamilton Hill Cemetery in Hixon, Ala.

Nov. 7, 1837 - In Alton, Ill., abolitionist printer Elijah P. Lovejoy was shot to death by a mob while trying to protect his printing shop from a third destruction.

Nov. 7, 1861 – At the Battle of Belmont, Mo., Union General Ulysses S. Grant overran a Confederate camp, but was forced to retreat when Confederate reenforcements arrived. Although Grant claimed victory, the Union gained no ground and left the Confederates in firm control of that section of the Mississippi. Grant lost 120 dead and 487 wounded or captured, while the Confederates lost 105 dead and 536 wounded or captured.

Nov. 7, 1861 – During the Civil War, the bombardment and subsequent capture began of Forts Beauregard (at Big Point) and Walker (at Hilton Head,) at Port Royale, S.C.

Nov. 7, 1862 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln replaced General George B. MeClellan with General Ambrose E. Burnside as the new Commander of the Army of the Potomac.

Nov. 7, 1888 - After a month of silence, “Jack the Ripper” took his fifth and last victim, Irish-born Mary Kelly, an occasional prostitute. Of all his victims' corpses, Kelly's was the most hideously mutilated.

Nov. 7, 1895 - Fire destroyed every business and house located on the east side of the railroad in Evergreen.

Nov. 7, 1908 – Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were reportedly killed in San Vicente, Bolivia.

Nov. 7, 1913 – Algerian-born French writer Albert Camus was born in Mondovi. He won the Noble Prize in Literature in 1957 and is best remembered for his novels “The Stranger” (1942) and “The Plague” (1947).

Nov. 7, 1915 – Charles “Boat Poppa” Johnson of Franklin, Ala., pilot of the steamboat “Nettie Quill,” died and was buried beside his wife “Fannie Bett” in the River Ridge Cemetery at Franklin.

Nov. 7, 1917 – Russia’s Bolshevik Revolution began and ushered in the first Marxist government in the world, eventually leading to the formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics — the USSR. The Bolshevik Revolution was also known as the October Revolution, because Russia was still using the old-style Julian calendar, and the date under that calendar was October 25.

Nov. 7, 1922 – National Baseball Hall of Fame right fielder Sam Thompson died at the age of 62 in Detroit, Mich. During his career, he played for the Detroit Wolverines, the Philadelphia Quakers/Phillies and the Detroit Tigers. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1974.

Nov. 7, 1934 - Joseph Hill, 18, was indicted by a Conecuh County grand jury on this Wednesday on a charge of having placed a cross tie in front of a train two miles south of Evergreen. His trial has been set for Tues., Nov. 13, but it was understood that he planned to enter a plea of guilty. The alleged offense occurred in December 1933, and railroad men said the act probably would have wrecked southbound Passenger Train No. 5 had not the cross tie been of soft wood. It was ground to splinters underneath the wheels of the train and caused no damage.

Nov. 7, 1943 - Canadian songstress and painter Joni Mitchell was born Roberta Joan Anderson in Fort Macleod, Alberta, Canada, to a grocer and a schoolteacher.

Nov. 7, 1952 – On homecoming night in Evergreen, Evergreen High School beat Repton High School, 46-0.

Nov. 7, 1956 – It was on this night that “Mon-Ka of Mars” (via contactee Dick Miller) requested certain radio frequencies be cleared at 10:30 p.m. so a message to the people of Los Angeles could be sent from their craft 10,000 miles above. A tongue-in-cheek AP story publicized the event and two radio stations went off the air as a gimmick. Alas, Mon-Ka was a no-show.

Nov. 7, 1958 – Evergreen High School, under head coach Wendell Hart and assistant coach Jeff Moorer, beat T.R. Miller, 18-13, in Brewton. The probable starting line-up for Evergreen left end, Leon McKenzie; left tackle, Paul Hardin; left guard, Byron Warren; center, Paul Pace; right guard, George Bolton; right tackle, Wayne Peacock; right end, Wayne Stinson; quarterback, Jimmy Bell or Billy Melton; left halfback James Reaves or Ceylon Strong; right halfback, Bobby Smith or Jimmy Eddins; fullback Robbie Boykin. Bob Riley was Miller’s head coach.

Nov. 7, 1963 - Elston Howard, of the New York Yankees, became the first black player to be named the American League's Most Valuable Player.

Nov. 7, 1965 - Bart Starr of the Green Bay Packers was sacked 11 times by the Detroit Lions.

Nov. 7, 1973 - New Jersey became the first U.S. state to permit girls to play on Little League baseball teams.

Nov. 7, 1973 – Gaineswood in Demopolis, Ala. was designated a National Historic Landmark.

Nov. 7, 1983 - Ali Haji-Sheikh of the New York Giants kicked his second 56-yard field goal.

Nov. 7, 1986 – Conecuh County Commission Chairman David Lamar Burt of Fairnelson, Ala. passed away at the age of 61. He was elected chairman in 1976 and was re-elected in 1980 and 1984. He was an active member of the Purnell Methodist Church, a graduate of Lyeffion High School and U.S. Navy veteran of World War II.

Nov. 7, 1986 – In the opening round of the Class 1A state playoffs, Repton High School beat Coffeeville High School, 41-8, in Repton. John Thompson scored three touchdowns, Carl Staton scored one and Allen Nettles caught a touchdown pass.

Nov. 7, 1989 - Richard Ramirez, convicted of California's "Night Stalker" killings, was sentenced to death.

Nov. 7, 1997 – In “V for Vendetta,” Prothero was “interrogated” by V and subsequently driven mad. Without Prothero, the Voice of Fate was irrevocably changed.

Nov. 7, 1998 – In “V for Vendetta,” Creedy subtly inquired if Dominic would join his side in the impending coup. Dominic subtly refused. Dominic discovered that V had access to Fate. Finch traveled to Larkhill and ingested LSD. The experience gave him an ephiphany. Evey asked V what his will was, and V showed her.

Nov. 7, 2004 – During the Iraq War, the interim government of Iraq called for a 60-day "state of emergency" as U.S. forces stormed the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.