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| Apsley Cherry-Garrard |
Jan. 2, 1777 – During the American Revolutionary War, American forces under the command of George Washington repulsed a British attack at the Battle of the Assunpink Creek near Trenton, New Jersey.
Jan. 2, 1788 - Georgia became the
fourth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
Jan. 2, 1805 – The Rev. Thomas Sydenham Witherspoon was born.
He would go on to serve as one of the early pastors at Greensboro Presbyterian
Church. He passed away on Oct. 19, 1845 and was also buried in Stokes Cemetery
in Greensboro, Ala.
Jan. 2, 1832 - Benjamin Faneuil
Porter was commissioned the Judge of the Circuit Court of Monroe County, Ala.
by Gov. John Gayle. A native of South Carolina and also a doctor, he lived in
Claiborne for about six years, before becoming a state legislator, judge and
Mayor of Greenville. In 1832, he was elected to the legislature from Monroe
County, the first of three successive sessions.
Jan. 2, 1860 - The discovery of the
planet Vulcan was announced at a meeting of the Academie des Sciences in Paris.
Mathematician Urbain Le Verrier believed Vulcan orbited between Mercury and the
sun. Doubts about its existence began to surface almost immediately after Le
Verrier's proclamation.
Jan. 2, 1861 – During the Civil War, Fort Johnson, adjacent to Charleston Harbor, S.C., which had been previously evacuated by Federal forces, was occupied by South Carolina state troops.
Jan. 2, 1861 – During the Civil War, the first New Year’s holiday of the War had come and gone, and both sides were frustrated and in states of confusion. In the North, Gen. George McClellan had bullied and backstabbed his way to command of the Army of the Potomac, and indeed was turning it from an undisciplined, untrained mob into something more resembling an army. Unfortunately, he was unwilling to put them to use in anything resembling a battle, and had then come down with typhoid fever, rendering him incapacitated for weeks. In the South, some of the initial patriotic fervor was wearing a little thin. Newspapers such as the Memphis, Tenn., “Argus” were noting that the Confederate armies were taking huge numbers of men out of productive work, and they weren’t doing any fighting either. Plus, taxes were too high.
Jan. 2, 1863 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought at White Springs, Boston Mountains, Ark.
Jan. 2, 1863 – During the Civil Was, after an unsuccessful attack at Chickasaw Bluffs, Miss., Federal forces re-embarked upon naval vessels and proceed to Milliken’ Bend, La.
Jan. 2, 1863 – During the Civil War, New Madrid, Mo. was once again occupied by Federal forces.
Jan. 2, 1863 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought between Fort Donelson and Fort Henry, Tenn.
Jan. 2, 1863 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought at Jonesville, Lee County, Va.
Jan. 2, 1863 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought at Bath Springs, West Va.
Jan. 2, 1863 – During the Civil War, a four-day Federal expedition between Moorefield and Petersburg, West Va. Began.
Jan. 2, 1863 - In Murfeesboro,
Tenn., the Battle of Stones River ended when Union troops under William
Rosecrans defeated Confederates under Braxton Bragg. Confederate General Roger
Weightman Hanson was wounded and died two days later. The battle was a crucial
engagement in the contest for central Tennessee, and provided a Union victory
during a bleak period for the North.
Jan. 2, 1864 – During the Civil War, the Federal occupation of Santa Catalina Island, off Los Angeles, Calif. Began.
Jan. 2, 1864 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought at La Grange, Tenn.
Jan. 2, 1865 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Franklin and Lexington, Miss.
Jan. 2, 1865 – During the Civil War, a six-day Federal operation in Shannon County, Mo. began.
Jan. 2, 1865 – During the Civil War, an eight-day Federal operation began against Indians between Fort Wingate and Sierra del Datil, New Mexico Territory.
Jan. 2, 1865 – During the Civil War, a Federal operation between Benvard’s Mills to South Quay, Va., on the Blackwater River, began.
Jan. 2, 1886 – English explorer Apsley
Cherry-Garrard was born in Lansdowne Road, Bedford, England. He was a member of
the Terra Nova Expedition and is acclaimed for his historical account of this
expedition, “The Worst Journey in the
World.”
Jan. 2, 1892 - Ellis Island opened
as America's first federal immigration center. Annie Moore, at age 15, became
the first person to pass through.
Jan. 2, 1904 - Confederate General James Longstreet passed
away at the age of 82 in Gaineville, Ga.
Jan. 2, 1905 – A dwelling belonging to J.M. Grimes on his
plantation at Manistee burned down and arson was suspected.
Jan. 2, 1913 – Norman A. Staples, owner of the ill-fated
steamboat James T. Staples, committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest
with a shotgun. He was buried in the (supposedly haunted) Bladon Springs
Cemetery in Choctaw County.
Jan. 2, 1913 – Camp Capt. William Lee, United Confederate
Veterans, met at the Conecuh County Courthouse in Evergreen, Ala., and the old
officers were reelected for the ensuing year - G.R. Boulware, commander; J.T.
Fincer, lieutenant commander; J.A. Jones, adjutant; M.B. Salter, sergeant
major; and J.D. Wright, chaplain. Dr. Skinner was elected surgeon of the camp.
Wm. J. Tomlinson, J.T. Fincher and J.W. Cook were elected as delegates to the
national reunion at Chattanooga next June. The Conecuh Record reported that
“there is said to be only about 100 Confederate veterans in this county at the
present time, and the ranks are thinning rapidly.”
Jan. 2, 1916 – A “Sacred Harp” singing convention was
scheduled to be held on this Sunday in Goodway, Ala. All “singing people of
Monroe County” were cordially welcomed.
Jan. 2, 1918 – During World War I, Army Cpl. John D. Chapman
of Grove Hill, Ala. “died from disease.”
Jan. 2, 1920 – Science fiction author Isaac Asimov was born
in Petrovichi, Russian.
Jan. 2, 1929 – The Monroeville
Methodist Church building, located on the southeast corner of the square where
Lee Motor Company is now, burned down.
Jan. 2, 1929 - The United States
and Canada reached an agreement on joint action to preserve Niagara Falls.
Jan. 2, 1941 – Future Conecuh
County (Ala.) Sheriff Edwin L. Booker was born at Booker’s Mill to James Miller
Booker and Ruth Grandeeze McPherson Booker. He would go on to be elected
Conecuh County Sheriff in 1975 and would serve as sheriff for 28 total years.
Jan. 2, 1944 - The State of Alabama
granted Hunt Oil Company a permit to drill the “First Oil Well in Alabama,” the
A.R. Jackson Well No. 1 near Gilbertown in Choctaw County. Drilling commenced
on Jan. 10, 1944 and was completed approximately one month later. The discovery
of this well led to the creation of the State Oil and Gas Board of Alabama in
1945, and to the development and growth of the petroleum industry in the state.
Alabama's major oil- and gas-producing regions are located in the western part
of the state, along with a coalbed methane region underlying substantial
portions of Tuscaloosa and Jefferson counties.
Jan. 2, 1956 - Oklahoma University’s
champion football team, the Sooners, defeated Maryland, 20-6, in the Orange
Bowl in Miami, Fla., winning the national championship and scoring their 30th
straight victory in the middle of a winning streak that went on to stretch to
47 games.
Jan. 2, 1956 – James Richard
Merritt, 23, of Cincinnati, Ohio and three companions allegedly robbed the
London Store near Castleberry, Ala. In all, they got $200 and Merritt would
eventually be arrested. He would escape from the Conecuh County Jail on May 22.
Jan. 2, 1963 – During the Vietnam
War, the Viet Cong won its first major victory in the Battle of Ap Bac, a
village in the Mekong Delta 50 miles southwest of Saigon. The Viet Cong inflicted
heavy casualties on a much larger South Vietnamese force. About 2,500 troops of
South Vietnam’s 7th Infantry Division–equipped with automatic weapons, armored
amphibious personnel carriers, and supported by bombers and helicopters–failed
to defeat a group of 300 guerrillas who escaped after inflicting heavy losses
on the South Vietnamese.
Jan. 2, 1965 – The Southern
Christian Leadership Conference held its first mass meeting in Selma, Ala. at
Brown Chapel, the church that would become the headquarters for the Selma
movement.
Jan. 2, 1965 - "Broadway"
Joe Namath signed the richest rookie contract ($400,000) in the history of pro
football.
Jan. 2, 1967 - During the Vietnam War, in what is described
as the biggest air battle of the war to date, U.S. Air Force F-4 Phantom jets downed
seven communist MiG-21s over North Vietnam. The Phantoms were flying cover for
F-105 Thunderchief fighter-bombers, which were attacking surface-to-air missile
sites in the Red River Delta. During this operation, Col. Robin Olds shot down
one of the MiGs, becoming the first and only U.S. Air Force ace with victories
in both World War II and Vietnam (“ace” was a designation traditionally awarded
for five enemy aircraft shot down)
Jan. 2, 1974 – U.S. President
Richard Nixon signed a law setting the national speed limit at 55 miles per
house as part of the Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act, which was a
response to an oil embargo put in place by the Arab members of OPEC - the
Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries - in protest of the United
States' support of Israel. Gas prices went up 40 percent, block-long lines at
the pumps were an everyday occurrence, and it wasn't uncommon to see signs
reading "Sorry, no gas today" in front of your local filling station.
Jan. 2, 1976 – Legendary baseball
owner and showman Bill Veeck passed away from lung cancer at the age of 71 at
the Illinois Masonic Center in Chicago, Ill.
Jan. 2, 1981 – One of the largest
investigations by a British police force ended when serial killer Peter Sutcliffe,
the "Yorkshire Ripper," was arrested in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
Jan. 2, 1983 - Ken Anderson of the
Cincinnati Bengals completed 20 consecutive passes to set an NFL record for
passing accuracy.
Jan. 2, 2003 - It was announced
that Bill Parcells would be the next head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.
Jan. 2, 2011 – The January 2011
Baghdad shootings took place.
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