Today in History for Feb. 26, 2016

Elisha Hunt Rhodes 

Feb. 26, 1802 – French author Victor Hugo was born in Besançon. His most famous books include “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1831) and “Les Miserables” (1862).

Feb. 26, 1813 - Robert R. Livingston, a prominent Freemason also known as "the Chancellor," passed away at the age of 66 in Clermont, N.Y. and was buried in Tivoli, New York. In 1776, he represented the Provincial Congress of New York at the Continental Congress and helped to draft the Declaration of Independence. He also administered President George Washington's first oath of office, and under President Thomas Jefferson, he negotiated the Louisiana Purchase.

Feb. 26, 1836 – At the Alamo, a “norther” or cold front blew in, dropping the temperature and bringing rain. James W. Fannin returned to Goliad after learning that a column of Centralist Mexican troops under Col. José Urrea was approaching that area, advancing northward from Matamoros.

Feb. 26, 1846 – Frontiersman and showman William "Buffalo Bill" Cody was born in Le Claire, Iowa.

Feb. 26, 1855 – In an incident attributed to the Bermuda Triangle, the James B. Chester, a three-master, was found by the Marathon, sailing aimlessly without her crew but with her sails set within the Sargasso Sea.

Feb. 26, 1861 – During the Civil War, Camp Colorado, Texas was abandoned by Federal forces.

Feb. 26, 1862 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought at Keytesville, Mo., and Confederate reconnaissance was conducted as far as Nashville, Tenn.

Feb. 26, 1862 - Union soldier Elisha Hunt Rhodes visited Washington, D.C., during a typical week in winter quarters. Although combat was the main job of a soldier, most men serving in the Civil War spent very few days each year in actual combat. Rhodes kept a diary during his four years in the Union Army, and his notes reveal the monotony of the winter months for the Army of the Potomac. A member of the 2nd Rhode Island, Rhodes fought in every campaign from First Bull Run to Appomattox, and rose from private to colonel in four years. On Feb. 26, 1862, Rhodes went to hear Senator Henry Wilson from Massachusetts speak on expelling disloyal members of Congress. After listening to the speech, Rhodes and his friend Isaac Cooper attended a fair at a Methodist church and met two young women, who the soldiers escorted home.

Feb. 26, 1863 - The National Currency Act was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln, creating a national banking system, a Currency Bureau and the office of Comptroller of the Currency. The act's goal was to establish a single currency.

Feb. 26, 1863 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Woodbury, Tenn. and at Germantown, Va.

Feb. 26, 1864 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought in the vicinity of Canton, Miss.; near Poplar Bluff, Mo.; and at Sulphur Springs and Washington, Tenn.

Feb. 26, 1865 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at McMilley’s Farm, near Pine Bluff, Ark. and at Lynch Creek and Stroud’s Mill, S.C.

Feb. 26, 1887 – National Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander was born in Elba, Nebraska. He would go on to play for the Philadelphia Phillies, the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1838.

Feb. 26, 1896 - Alabama author William Russell Smith died in Washington, D.C.

Feb. 26, 1909 – The Town of Frisco City, Ala. was officially incorporated as a municipality. (Ala. Leag. Of Mun.)

Feb. 26, 1917 – The Original Dixieland Jass Band recorded the first jazz record, for the Victor Talking Machine Company in New York.

Feb. 26, 1919 – President Woodrow Wilson signed an act of the U.S. Congress establishing most of the Grand Canyon as a United States National Park, the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.

Feb. 26, 1929 - Alabama author Idora McClellan Moore died in Talladega, Ala.

Feb. 26, 1929 – President Calvin Coolidge signed an Executive Order establishing the 96,000-acre Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

Feb. 26, 1932 – Musician Johnny Cash was born in Kingsland, Ark.

Feb. 26, 1935 - The New York Yankees released Babe Ruth, who went on to sign with the Boston Braves for $20,000 and a share in the team's profits.

Feb. 26, 1935 – Adolf Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe to be re-formed, violating the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles.

Feb. 26, 1936 - Actual work began on this Monday on the Standard Oil Co. service station at the intersection of West Front and Cooper streets, following completion of negotiations and survey of the site, in Evergreen, Ala.

Feb. 26, 1946 – Finnish observers reported the first of many thousands of sightings of “ghost rockets.”

Feb. 26, 1952 – Evergreen High School’s boys basketball team, led by Head Coach Wendell Hart, beat Greenville, 51-43, at Memorial Gym in Evergreen. Shirley Frazier led Evergreen with 21 points.

Feb. 26, 1952 – State Geologist Dr. Walter B. Jones was the guest speaker at the Evergreen (Ala.) Kiwanis Club meeting held in the Evergreen City School lunchroom.

Feb. 26, 1959 – Searchers found the Dyatlov Expedition’s abandoned and badly damaged tent on Kholat Syakhl.

Feb. 26, 1965 - The first contingent of South Korean troops arrived in Saigon. Although assigned to non-combat duties, they came under fire on April 3. The South Korean contingent was part of the Free World Military Forces, an effort by President Lyndon B. Johnson to enlist allies for the United States and South Vietnam. By securing support from other nations, Johnson hoped to build an international consensus behind his policies in Vietnam. The effort was also known as the “many flags” program. By the close of 1969, there were over 47,800 Korean soldiers actively involved in combat operations in South Vietnam. Seoul began to withdraw its troops in February 1972.

Feb. 26, 1966 – During the Vietnam War, the ROK Capital Division of the South Korean Army massacred 380 unarmed civilians in South Vietnam.

Feb. 26, 1968 - Allied troops who had recaptured the imperial capital of Hue from the North Vietnamese during the Tet Offensive discovered the first mass graves in Hue. It was discovered that communist troops who had held the city for 25 days had massacred about 2,800 civilians whom they had identified as sympathizers with the government in Saigon. One authority estimated that communists might have killed as many as 5,700 people in Hue.

Feb. 26, 1973 – Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk was born in New Orleans, La. He would go on to play for San Diego State, the Indianapolis Colts and the St. Louis Rams. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2011.

Feb. 26, 1973 – The Sparta Academy Key Club received its charter from the Evergreen Kiwanis Club.

Feb. 26, 1975 – Major League Baseball utility player Mark DeRosa was born in Passaic, N.J. He would go on to play for the Atlanta Braves, the Texas Rangers, the Chicago Cubs, the Cleveland Indians, the St. Louis Cardinals, the San Francisco Giants, the Washington Nationals and the Toronto Blue Jays.

Feb. 26, 1975 - On the Today Show, the first televised kidney transplant took place.

Feb. 26, 1981 - Edgar F. Kaiser Jr. purchased the Denver Broncos from Gerald and Allan Phillips.

Feb. 26, 1985 – The 11th Annual Miss Alpha Pageant at Sparta Academy was held at 7:30 p.m. in the school’s gymnatorium in Evergreen, Ala.

Feb. 26, 1989 - The New York Yankees announced that Tom Seaver would be their new TV sportscaster.

Feb. 26, 1991 – During the Gulf War, United States Army forces captured the town of Al Busayyah.

Feb. 26, 1991 - Iraqi President Saddam Hussein announced on Baghdad Radio that Iraqi troops were being withdrawn from Kuwait.

Feb. 26, 1999 – Two locations in Wilcox County were added to the National Register of Historic Places. Those locations included the Dry Fork Plantation at Coy and the Pine Apple Historic District in Pine Apple. The historic district’s boundaries are roughly Wilcox County Roads 59, 7 and 61, Broad Street, Banana Street, AL 10 and Adams Drive. It contains 3,350 acres, 54 buildings, and one structure.

Feb. 26, 2004 – The Alabama Senate received House Joint Resolution No. 100, which proposed making Conecuh Ridge Alabama Fine Whiskey the Alabama State Spirit. The Senate voted to approve it by two to one (14-6) on March 9.

Feb. 26, 2006 - The U.S. Census Bureau's World Population Clock ticked up to 6.5 billion people.

Feb. 26, 2010 - Sparta Academy’s Erica Palmer and Nick Andrews were selected as members of the AISA All-Star Boys and Girls Basketball Teams and played in the annual all-star games on this Friday at Huntingdon College in Montgomery.

Feb. 26, 2010 - Hillcrest High School’s varsity softball team opened the 2010 season with a 10-8 win over Monroe County High School on this Friday in Monroeville. The Lady Jags put the game away in the top of the seventh inning when junior second baseman Leslie Wiggins hit a clutch single that drove in runners from second and third and gave Hillcrest the two-run win. Hillcrest head coach Terry Gandy said Monday that he was more than a little happy to start the season off with a win. Other standout players on Hillcrest’s team that season included Amerisha Mixon, Victoria Walden, Sasha Rankins, Trishana Lee, Shanika Taylor, Lakarress Riley, Kabrina Peters, Khadedra Nettles, Crystal Meeks, Haley Drakeford and T’kiya Pittman.