Today in History for Feb. 21, 2016

Edward R.S. Canby

Feb. 21, 1777 - George Weedon was promoted to brigadier general Virginia Regiment of the Continental Army.

Feb. 21, 1810 – Future Conecuh County Circuit Clerk Nicholas Stallworth Jr. was born in Edgefield District, S.C.

Feb. 21, 1827 – William A. Stewart became the postmaster at Burnt Corn, Ala.

Feb. 21, 1848 - The Communist Manifesto, the most influential and best-selling political pamphlet of all time, was first published by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

Feb. 21, 1858 - Edwin T. Holmes installed the first electric burglar alarm in Boston, Mass.

Feb. 21, 1862 – During the Civil War, the Battle of Valverde was fought near Fort Craig in the New Mexico Territory. During the battle, Confederate troops under General Henry Hopkins Sibley attacked Union troops under Colonel Edward R. S. Canby. It was the first major battle in the far West, but ended with no decisive result. The Federals suffered 68 killed, 160 wounded, and 35 missing out of 3,100 engaged. The Confederates suffered 31 killed, 154 wounded, and 1 missing out of 2,600 troops. In the waning stage of the war, Canby negotiated the surrender of Confederate forces at Magee Farm in Kushla, Ala.

Feb. 21, 1863 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought at Prairie Station, Miss., and Federal reconnaissance was conducted from Franklin to Carter Creek Roads, Tenn.

Feb. 21, 1864 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Ellis' Bridge, Prairie Station, Okolona, West Point and Union, Miss. and near Circleville and Dranesville, Va. A two-day Federal operation between New Creek to Moorefield, West Virginia began.

Feb. 21, 1864 - Confederate troops under General Nathan Bedford Forrest defeated Union General William Sooy Smith at West Point, Miss.

Feb. 21, 1865 – During the Civil War, a two-day Federal operation between Pone Bluff and Douglass Plantation, Ark. began. Sixteen days of sustained Federal operations moving aginst the remaining Confederates in the District of Key West and Tortugas, in the Vicinity of Saint Mark’s, Fla. began.  Confederates raided Cumberland, Maryland. A skirmish was fought at Eagle Island, Fort Strong, N.C. Braxton Bragg evacuated Wilmington, N.C.

Feb. 21, 1870 – William Fowler was named the postmaster at Burnt Corn, Ala.

Feb. 21, 1874 - The Oakland Daily Tribune began publication.

Feb. 21, 1885 – The newly completed Washington Monument, built in honor of America’s revolutionary hero and first president, was dedicated.

Feb. 21, 1895 – The Monroe Journal reported that “Monroeville (Ala.) was snowbound for several days last week, all communication with the outside world by mail and otherwise being cut off by the snow.”

Feb. 21, 1903 – Diarist Anais Nin was born in Neuilly, France.

Feb. 21, 1907 – Pulitzer Prize-winning British poet, author and playwright W.H. Auden was born Wystan Hugh Auden in York, England.

Feb. 21, 1908 – The historic church bell at the Elba United Methodist Church in Coffee County, Ala. was cast on this day in Hillsboro, Ohio.

Feb. 21, 1911 – The temperature reached 26 degrees in Evergreen, Ala. during a cold snap that caused much damage to fruits and vegetables.

Feb. 21, 1913 - Alabama author Julia Truitt Yenni was born in Birmingham, Ala.

Feb. 21, 1915 – Jennie Faulk returned to Monroeville, Ala. “from the markets where she spent some time in the selection of her new spring stock. She will have something to say next week of peculiar interest to her numerous lady customers.”

Feb. 21, 1924 – The Monroe Journal reported that “unusual building activity” was noticeable at Megargel, Ala., a town site laid out when the Deep Water Railroad was constructed. With the exception of one or two small structures, the town site had lain unoccupied for several years. Several months before February 1924, J.T. Murphy had erected a store and steam ginnery at Megargel and since that time there had been remarkable activity in clearing and laying out farms and location of settlements. Two stores were doing a thriving business and a third was in the course of construction, besides two or three new dwellings.

Feb. 21, 1925 - The first issue of "The New Yorker" was published. The magazine was founded by Harold Ross and his wife, Jane Grant, who was a reporter for the New York Times; Ross remained editor in chief until his death in 1951.

Feb. 21, 1931 - The Chicago White Sox and the New York Giants became the first Major League Baseball teams to play in a night game.

Feb. 21, 1938 – NFL offensive tackle Ernie McMillan was born in Chicago Heights, Ill. He would go on to play for the University of Illinois, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Green Bay Packers.

Feb. 21, 1943 – Major League Baseball pitcher Jack Billingham was born in Orlando, Fla. He would go on to play for the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Houston Astros, the Cinncinnati Reds, the Detroit Tigers and the Boston Red Sox.

Feb. 21, 1946 – The Evergreen Courant reported that sailor William K. Wiggins of Evergreen, Ala. was the 50,000th service member to be discharged from the discharge center in Shelton, Va.

Feb. 21, 1951 – NFL running back Bill Olds was born in Kansas City, Kansas. He would go on to play for Nebraska, the Baltimore Colts, the Seattle Seahawks and the Philadelphia Eagles.

Feb. 21, 1952 – Evergreen High School’s boys basketball team beat Lyeffion, 62-22, in Evergreen, Ala. Shirley Frazier and Gwyn Daniels led Evergreen with 19 points each. David Eddins led Lyeffion with 10 points.

Feb. 21, 1953 – NFL guard Ken Huff was born in Hutchinson, Kansas. He would go on to play for North Carolina, the Baltimore Colts and the Washington Redskins.

Feb. 21, 1953 – NFL center and tackle Jim Pietrzak was born in Detroit, Mich. He would go on to play for Eastern Michigan, the New York Giants, the New Orleans Saints and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Feb. 21, 1953 - Francis Crick and James Watson discovered the double helical structure of the DNA molecule.

Feb. 21, 1956 – Writer Ha Jin was born in Liaoning Province, China.

Feb. 21, 1962 – Novelist and essayist David Foster Wallace was born in Ithaca, N.Y.

Feb. 21, 1964 - The U.K. flies 24,000 rolls of Beatle wallpaper to U.S.

Feb. 21, 1965 – Malcolm X was assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City.

Feb. 21, 1967 – The top-seeded Conecuh County High School Blue Devils advanced to the semifinal round of the Area I tournament by beating Frisco City, 62-44, at the Coliseum in Monroeville, Ala. Also in the other tournament game that night, Excel upset third-seeded Repton, 51-45.

Feb. 21, 1967 - Writer and historian Bernard B. Fall was killed by a Viet Cong mine while accompanying a U.S. Marine patrol along the seacoast about 14 miles northwest of Hue, on a road known as the “Street Without Joy” (which Fall had used for the title of one of his books about the war). A professor of international relations at Howard University in Washington, D.C., Fall was a French citizen and noted expert on the war in Vietnam. He was killed while gathering material for his eighth book. A U.S. Marine photographer was also killed.

Feb. 21, 1968 - An agreement between baseball players and club owners increased the minimum salary for major league players to $10,000 a year.

Feb. 21, 1968 – Fire almost totally destroyed the Flxible Southern Co. plant in Evergreen, Ala.

Feb. 21, 1970- National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger began secret peace talks with North Vietnamese representative Le Duc Tho, the fifth-ranking member of the Hanoi Politburo, at a villa outside Paris. Le Duc Tho stated that the North Vietnamese position continued to require an unconditional U.S. withdrawal on a fixed date and the abandonment of the Thieu government as a precondition for further progress, which stalled the negotiations. The North Vietnamese rejected Kissinger’s proposals for a mutual withdrawal of military forces, the neutralization of Cambodia, and a mixed electoral commission to supervise elections in South Vietnam. 

Feb. 21, 1972 - President Richard Nixon visited the People’s Republic of China. After arriving in Beijing, the president announced that his breakthrough visit to China is “The week that changed the world.” In meeting with Nixon, Prime Minister Zhou Enlai urged early peace in Vietnam, but did not endorse North Vietnam’s political demands. 

Feb. 21, 1974 - Tom Seaver signed a contract with the New York Mets worth $172,000 a year.

Feb. 21, 1975 – During the Watergate scandal, former United States Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman were sentenced to prison.

Feb. 21, 1982 – NFL defensive tackle Alfred Malone was born in Monroeville, Ala. He would go on to play for Georgia Tech, Troy University, the Houston Texans and the Green Bay Packers.

Feb. 21, 1983 - Donald Davis ran one mile backwards in six minutes and 7.1 seconds.

Feb. 21, 1986 - Rollie Fingers refused to shave off his mustache to comply with the policy of the Cincinnati Reds.

Feb. 21, 1991 – Sparta Academy’s varsity boys and varsity girls basketball teams played in the state tournament at Hooper Academy. Sparta’s boys played Springwood Academy at 7 p.m., and Sparta’s girls played Springwood at 2 p.m.

Feb. 21, 1991 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Ralph Stacy had been appointed manager of W&J Propane in Evergreen, Ala. and would continue to serve as area manager and manager of marketing and advertising.

Feb. 21, 1999 - Alabama author Cora Cheney died in Takoma Park, Md.

Feb. 21, 1999 – Former Major League Baseball pitcher Wilmer Mizell, a native of Vinegar Bend, Ala. (Washington County), died at the age of 68 in Kerrville, Texas. During his career, he played for the St. Louis Cardinals, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Mets.