Today in History for Jan. 25, 2016

General Edwin Vose Sumner

Jan. 25, 1759 – Poet and prominent Freemason Robert Burns was born in Alloway, Scotland. He went on to write “Epistle to William Simson,” which was supposedly about Belleville, Ala. school trustee William Simson in May 1785.

Jan. 25, 1776 - The Continental Congress authorized the first national Revolutionary War memorial. It was in honor of Brigadier General Richard Montgomery who had been killed in an assault on Quebec on Dec. 31, 1775, becoming one of the first generals of the American Revolution to lose his life on the battlefield. The monument to Montgomery is located beneath the portico of St. Paul’s Chapel in New York City.

Jan. 25, 1852 – Russian admiral, cartographer and explorer Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen died at the age of 73 in Kronstadt, Russia.

Jan. 25, 1862 – During the Civil War, the Federal expedition at Hatteras Inlet continued to struggle crossing the sand bar at Pamlico Sound, N.C. Large numbers of Union ships had been waiting for weeks off Cape Hatteras, N.C. for the weather to clear to launch an attack. The waiting had become tedious, as Pvt. D.L. Day, 25th Mass. Vol. Inf., wrote in one of his many letters home: “...Mr. Milligan says fair weather has been known here, and taking that as a precedent, we may naturally conclude it perhaps may be again......I.never read of but one [storm] that exceeded this. That was the one Old Noah got caught out in...”

Jan. 25, 1863 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln replaced General Ambrose E. Burnside with General Joseph “Fighting Joe” Hooker as Commander of the Army of the Potomac. During this same time frame, Major General Edwin Vose Sumner and William Buer Franklin were also relieved of duty in the Army of the Potomac.

Jan. 25, 1863 – During the Civil War, a Federal expedition took place between Bolivar, Tenn. and Ripley, Miss. A skirmish was also fought at Mill Creek, Tenn. and Federal reconnaissance was conducted from Murfreesborough to Auburn, Tenn.

Jan. 25, 1864 – During the Civil War, skirmishes occurred at Bainbridge Ferry and another near the Sweet Water in North Alabama. This day also marked the beginning of a 12-day Federal expedition from Scottsborough, Ala. toward Rome, Ga.

Jan. 25, 1864 – During the Civil War, a skirmish occurred at Bayou Grand, Florida, where Federals were preparing to move on Mobile, Ala.

Jan. 25, 1864 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought on the Little Missouri River and at Sulphur Springs, Ark.; at LaGrange, Tenn. and at Mount Pleasant, Miss. The evacuation of Corinth, Miss. was also ordered by Union authorities to consolidate their forces. Fort Sumter, S.C. was again shelled by Federal batteries.

Jan. 25, 1865 – During the Civil War, skirmish were fought near Simpsonville, Ky. and near Powhatan, Va. Federal reconnaissance was also conducted from Pocotaligo to the Salkehatchie River, S.C., and a Federal expedition was conducted from Irish Bottom to Evan’s Island, Tenn.

Jan. 25, 1865 – During the Civil War, the Confederate Congress proposed yet again that the exchange of prisoners-of-war should be resumed. On this day, quite unexpectedly, General Grant accepted the proposal. It had been his decision originally to discontinue the exchanges, on the grounds that the loss of trained soldiers, even in equal numbers, was much more damaging to the South than it was to his armies, due to the great superiority the North had in manpower availability.

Jan. 25, 1882 – Novelist Virginia Woolf was born Adeline Virginia Stephen in London.

Jan. 25, 1890 – Nellie Bly completed her round-the-world journey in 72 days.

Jan. 25, 1906 – The Monroe Journal reported that several parties in the Shibboleth community of Monroe County, Ala. had seen a “buzzard with a small bell a few days ago.” They wrote The Journal to see if the editor would put something about it in the paper in order to maybe learn who put the bell around the buzzard’s neck.

Jan. 25, 1906 – The Monroe Journal reported that Editor John S. Hunter of The Camden Progressive Era and Pat M. Dannelly of Camden, the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Wilcox County, had visited Monroeville during the past week.

Jan. 25, 1906 – The Monroe Journal reported that Braxton Hobdy of Manistee, Ala., “who had the misfortune to lose one of his legs some time ago,” would “soon be circulating among his friends on his wooden horse.”

Jan. 25, 1915 – For a short while on this Monday, a “light flurry of snow fell” in Evergreen, Ala.

Jan. 25, 1916 – A special train bearing the “Southeastern Kansas Boosters” stopped in Evergreen, Ala. around 2:32 p.m. and were met by a delegation of businessmen. In the Jan. 27, 1916 edition of The Conecuh Record, it was reported that a “large crowd met the booster train.”

Jan. 25, 1920 – Grady Gaston was born in Frisco City, Ala. He would go on to serve in the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II and would become famous for surviving the “Little Eva” crash incident in Australia. Many people would learn of his ordeal because it was featured in “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!”

Jan. 25, 1920 - A movie version of Alabama author Amelie Rives's play “The Fear Market” was released.

Jan. 25, 1940 – The home of the Faulk sisters (and Truman Capote), located nextdoor to Mel’s Dairy Dream in Monroeville, Ala., burned.

Jan. 25, 1944 – Evergreen High School’s boys basketball team, led by head coach E.L. McInnis, improved to 7-0 on the season by beating T.R. Miller, 21-17, in Brewton, Ala. Huey led Evergreen with 12 total points. Miller had won nine straight games prior to the Evergreen game.

Jan. 25, 1945 – Dorothy Forstein, who would mysteriously disappear 5-1/2 years later, was attacked in her Philadelphia home by an unknown attacker. Forstein was seriously injured, but the ensuing police investigation never identified her mysterious attacker.

Jan. 25, 1949 – Evergreen High School’s varsity boys basketball team, led by head coach Wendell Hart, beat Frisco City, 51-35, in Frisco City, Ala. John Greel Ralls led Evergreen with 16 points.

Jan. 25, 1950 – Evergreen High School’s boys basketball team, coached by Wendell Hart, won its third game in a row by beating Robertsdale, 39-32, in Evergreen, Ala. Guerry Moorer led Evergreen with 15 points.

Jan. 25, 1959 – Members of the Dyatlov expedition arrived by train at Ivdel, a city at the center of the northern province of Sverdlovsk Oblast. They then took a truck to Vizhai, the last inhabited settlement so far north.

Jan. 25, 1968 – Army Warrant Officer Johnson Marcus Milligan of East Brewton, Ala. was killed in action in Vietnam.

Jan. 25-26, 1968 – The Conecuh County Basketball Tournament was held at Evergreen High School’s gym in Evergreen, Ala. Coach Wayne Pope’s Conecuh County High School Blue Devils entered the tourney as the defending champions. On Thurs., Jan. 25, Lyeffion High School played Conecuh County High School at 6 p.m., and Repton High School played Evergreen High School at 8 p.m. The two winners met in the tournament championship game at 8 p.m. on Fri., Jan. 26.

Jan. 25, 1969 - The first fully attended meeting of the formal Paris peace talks was held. Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge, the chief negotiator for the United States, urged an immediate restoration of a genuine DMZ as the first “practical move toward peace.” Lodge also suggested a mutual withdrawal of “external” military forces and an early release of prisoners of war. Tran Buu Kiem and Xuan Thuy, heads of the National Liberation Front and North Vietnamese delegations respectively, refused Lodge’s proposals and condemned American “aggression.

Jan. 25, 1971 – Charles Manson and three female "Family" members were found guilty of the 1969 Tate–LaBianca murders.

Jan. 25, 1972 - President Richard Nixon, in response to criticism that his administration has not made its best efforts to end the war, revealed that his National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger had held 12 secret peace negotiating sessions between Aug. 4, 1969 and Aug. 16, 1971. The negotiations took place in Paris with Le Duc Tho, a member of Hanoi’s Politburo, and/or with Xuan Thuy, Hanoi’s chief delegate to the formal Paris peace talks. 

Jan. 25, 1977 – The Milner-Speir-Moody Home in Greenville, Ala. was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.

Jan. 25, 1979 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Joe Patten of Conecuh County, Ala. had been promoted to the rank of commander during a promotion ceremony aboard the aircraft carrier USS Midway, where he was serving as the Air Wing Maintenance Officer. Patten entered the Navy shortly after graduating from Evergreen High School in 1954.

Jan. 25, 1979 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Lyeffion High School’s varsity boys basketball team improved to 9-1 on the season thanks to a 56-55 win over J.U. Blacksher. Adrian Woods led Lyeffion with 25 points and 13 rebounds.

Jan. 25, 1981 - The Oakland Raiders beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 27-10, in Super Bowl XV. The Raiders won the Super Bowl after entering the playoffs as a wildcard team.

Jan. 25, 1987 - The New York Giants defeated the Denver Broncos, 39-20, in Super Bowl XXI on NBC. The game featured TV commercials cost $550,000 for 30 seconds. Neil Diamond sang the U.S. national anthem before the start of the game.

  

Jan. 25, 1998 - The Denver Broncos beat the Green Bay Packers, 31-24, in Super Bowl XXXII. The Broncos had lost three previous Super Bowl appearances with quarterback John Elway. The win also broke the 13-game winning streak of the NFC.

Jan. 25, 2001 – The Evergreen-Conecuh County Chamber of Commerce held its annual banquet at Hillcrest High School in Evergreen, Ala. Dr. David Himelrick was the guest speaker.

Jan. 25, 2001 – The Evergreen Courant reported that while most Conecuh County residents caught glimpses of the events leading up to, and including, the 54^th Presidential Inauguration, one local business had a backstage pass for the whole show. Brent and Gerald Salter of Salter’s Evergreen Supply in Evergreen joined more than 100 florists and industry professionals selected by the Society of American Florists to prepare the inaugural floral decorations. The volunteers worked some 5,000 hours in a warehouse in downtown Washington, D.C., during the inaugural week creating classic, sophisticated works of floral art for eight balls, three dinners and various other receptions.

Jan. 25, 2002 – “The Mothman Prophecies,” starring Richard Gere, debuted in theaters.

Jan. 25, 2003 - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won Super Bowl XXXVIII in San Diego. Coach Jon Gruden, at age 39, was the youngest coach to ever win the title.

Jan. 25, 2003 – During the Invasion of Iraq, a group of people left London, England for Baghdad, Iraq to serve as human shields, intending to prevent the U.S.-led coalition troops from bombing certain locations.

Jan. 25, 2010 – Iraqi Minister of Defense and general Ali Hassan al-Majid, who was known as “Chemical Ali,” was hanged in Kadhimiya, Baghdad, Iraq. He was 68 years old.