Today in History for Feb. 28, 2016

Hugh Judson Kilpatrick

Feb. 28, 1510 – Spanish cartographer and explorer Juan de la Cosa died in Turbaco, Columbia.

Feb. 28, 1525 – The Aztec king Cuauhtémoc was executed by Hernán Cortés's forces.

Feb. 28, 1533 – Essayist Michel de Montaigne was born in Perigord in Bordeaux, France.

Feb. 28, 1692 - In Salem, Massachusetts 10 children identify the "witches" in their community who afflicted them: Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne and an old Native American woman named Tituba. Warrants were obtained, and they were arrested.

Feb. 28, 1766 - Revolutionary War soldier and Georgia Governor John Clarke was born in Edgecombe County, North Carolina. Clarke County, Ala. was named in his honor on Dec. 10, 1812.

Feb. 28, 1784 - John Wesley chartered the first Methodist Church in the United States. Despite the fact that he was an Anglican, Wesley saw the need to provide church structure for his followers after the Anglican Church abandoned its American believers during the American Revolution.

Feb. 28, 1824 - Charles Blondin, the first person to walk across Niagra Falls on a tightrope, was born in St Omer, Pas-de-Calais, France.

Feb. 28, 1827 - The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad became the first railroad incorporated for the commercial transportation of people and freight.

Feb. 28, 1829 – Edgar Allan Poe’s foster mother, Frances Allan, died.

Feb. 28, 1834 – Charles Pawson Atmore was born on the island of Guernsey. Atmore, Ala. would later be named in his honor.

Feb. 28, 1836 - The Alamo endured prolonged cannonade fire from Santa Anna’s artillery batteries.

Feb. 28, 1840 – French explorer Henri Duveyrier was born in Paris, France.

Feb. 28, 1855 – Hinchey W. Warren passed away at the age of 67 near Sparta, Ala. and was buried in the Warren Family Cemetery. A War of 1812 veteran, he was also the great-grandfather of U.S. President Warren G. Harding.

Feb. 28, 1858 – The ill-fated Eliza Battle left Demopolis, Ala. fully loaded with passengers and with more than 1,200 bales of cotton. During an already cold night, a strong north wind began to blow, with the air temperature decreasing another 40°F in the two hours after nightfall. (13 Alabama Ghosts)

Feb. 28, 1861 - The U.S. territory of Colorado was organized.

Feb. 28, 1862 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought near Fayetteville, Ark., at Osage Springs. Federal operations at New Madrid, Mo. and Island Number 10 began. Charleston, Va. was occupied by Federal forces.

Feb. 28, 1863 – During the Civil War, the Federal naval attacked Fort McAllister, Ga., and a Naval encounter occurred on the Ogeechee River, south of Savannah, Ga. A skirmish was also fought out from Ft Gibson in the Indian Territory.

Feb. 28, 1864 – After getting captured by the Union at Campbell’s Station, Noah Dallas Peacock (Lewis Lavon Peacock’s older brother) was transferred from Asylum General Hospital in Nashville to Louisville Military Prison.

Feb. 28, 1864 - A major Union cavalry raid began when General Hugh Judson Kilpatrick led 3,500 troopers south from Stevensburg, Virginia. Aimed at Richmond, the raid sought to free Federal prisoners and spread word of President Abraham Lincoln's Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction in hopes of convincing Confederates to lay down their arms. Kilpatrick took with him Colonel Ulrich Dahlgren to conduct the prisoner release while Kilpatrick covered him with the main force

Feb. 28, 1864 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought along the Peal River and at Yazoo City, Miss.; at Dukedom Tenn.; and at Ely’s Ford, Va. A Federal operation took place in Gloucester County and Albermarle County, Va.

Feb. 28, 1865 – During the Civil War, Nathan Bedford Forrest was finally appointed Lieutenant General, and a skirmish was fought in the vicinity of Cheraw and Rocky Mount, S.C.

Feb. 28, 1872 - John Gassaway Rush passed away at the age of 54 and was buried in McIntosh Cemetery, which is located behind Andrews Chapel in McIntosh, Ala. In 1860, he and his wife donated the land where the church was constructed.

Feb. 28, 1887 - Alabama passed its first child labor law, fixing age limits and restricting work hours for certain types of labor. The legislation, which also protected women workers, was repealed in the 1890s, but efforts of reformers like Rev. Edgar Gardner Murphy of Montgomery resulted in new child labor laws during the first two decades of the 20th century.

Feb. 28, 1894 – Novelist, playwright and screenwriter Ben Hecht was born in New York City.

Feb., 28, 1895 – The Monroe Journal reported that “a little colored girl was shot and killed by her brother near Perdue Hill last week. The two children were playing with an old gun which went off with the above result.”

Feb. 28, 1901 – The Town of Beatrice, Ala. was officially incorporated as a municipality. While the Selma to Pensacola branch of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad was being built, the general superintendent of construction, a Col. Seymour of Nashville, Tenn., asked that the town growing up around the station in present-day Beatrice be named for his granddaughter, Beatrice Seymour. The Beatrice post office was established in 1900. (Places Names in Alabama)

Feb. 28, 1901 – Opp, Ala. was officially incorporated as a municipality. (Ala. League of Mun.)

Feb. 28, 1906 – The Evergreen Courant reported that the Evergreen Bottling Co. had opened a supply depot next door to McNutt’s barber shop, and was prepared to supply dealers with bottled soda water, ginger ale, etc. on short notice.

Feb. 28, 1906 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Frank Simmons of Evergreen, Ala. had brought the newspaper a 9-1/2 pound “monster turnip” that was bigger than the 7-3/4 pound turnip recently grown by J.J. Pearce of Bowles.

Feb. 28, 1906 – The Evergreen Courant reported that the Daughters of the Confederacy planned to make a donation to the Soldiers’ Home at Mountain Creek and earnestly desired the cooperation of every Confederate veteran. All contributions were to be left at the McCreary Drug Store. Mrs. M. McCreary was President of the U.D.C. and Mrs. Edwin C. Page was Corresponding Secretary.

Feb. 28, 1915 - Asa Goodwin, the oldest man in Alabama, died at Bessemer, Ala. on the eve of his 108th birthday. He was born in Henry County, Ga. in 1807 and had lived since 1829 in Alabama and Mississippi. He was survived by one son, 74 grandchildren, 227 great-grandchildren and 15 great-great-grandchildren.

Feb. 28, 1918 – During World War I, Army Pvt. Edward E. English of Evergreen, Ala. “died in an accident.”

Feb. 28, 1921 – H.P. Lovecraft completed “The Quest of Iranon,” which was originally published in the July-August 1935 issue of The Galleon.

Feb. 28, 1925 – In Lovecraftian fiction, the lost island of R’lyeh rose once again.

Feb. 28, 1930 – Major League Baseball third baseman Frank Malzone was born in Bronx, N.Y. He would go on to play for the Boston Red Sox and the California Angels.

Feb. 28, 1932 – H.P. Lovecraft completed “The Dreams in the Witch House,” which was originally published in the July 1933 issue of Weird Tales.

Feb. 28, 1933 – The Reichstag Fire Decree was passed in Germany, a day after the Reichstag fire.

Feb. 28, 1945 – NFL defensive end Bubba Smith was born in Orange, Texas. He would go on to play for Michigan State, the Baltimore Colts, the Oakland Raiders and the Houston Oilers.

Feb. 28, 1946 – Ernie and Dot Lind, aka “The Shooting Linds,” performed a “spectacular exhibition of fancy shooting” in Evergreen, Ala.

Feb. 28, 1947 – Major League Baseball shortstop and second baseman Marty Perez was born in Visalia, Calif. He would go on to play for the California Angels, the Atlanta Braves, the San Francisco Giants, the New York Yankees and the Oakland Athletics.

Feb. 28, 1952 – The Evergreen Courant reported that PFC William Howard Peacock of Route One, Owasssa, Ala., was preparing to return to Fort Campbell, Ky. from Camp Drum, N.Y. after several weeks of extensive cold weather warfare training in Exercise Snow Fall in northern New York state. Peacock was a member of the 11th Airborne Division and a gunner with the 188th Airborne Regiment’s Support Command. He attended Evergreen High School, entered the Army in 1949 and completed Parachutist School at Fort Benning, Ga.

Feb. 28, 1953 – NFL running back Roland Harper was born in Seguin, Texas. He would go on to play for Louisiana Tech and the Chicago Bears.

Feb. 28, 1953 - In a Cambridge University laboratory, scientists James D. Watson and Francis H.C. Crick discovered the double-helix structure of DNA.

Feb. 28, 1964 - A television version of Alabama author Ambrose Bierce's story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" was broadcast as part of the series “The Twilight Zone.”

Feb. 28, 1965 – National Book Award-winning novelist Colum McCann was born in Dublin.

Feb. 28, 1968 - General Earle Wheeler, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, returned from his recent round of talks with General William Westmoreland in Saigon and immediately delivered a written report to President Lyndon B. Johnson. Wheeler stated that despite the heavy casualties incurred during the Tet Offensive, North Vietnam and Viet Cong forces had the initiative and were “operating with relative freedom in the countryside.” The communists had pushed South Vietnamese forces back into a “defensive posture around towns and cities,” seriously undermined the pacification program in many areas, and forced General Westmoreland to place half of his battalions in the still imperiled northernmost provinces, thus “stripping the rest of the country of adequate reserves” and depriving the U.S. command of “an offensive capability.”

Feb. 28, 1976 – Actress Ali Larter was born in Cherry Hills, New Jersey.

Feb. 28, 1980 – Evergreen High School’s varsity basketball team, led by head coach Charles Branum, beat Wilcox County, 81-51, in the opening round of the area tournament, which was played at W.S. Neal High School in East Brewton, Ala. Horace Smith and Perona Rankins led Evergreen with 26 points and 22 points, respectively. Others scoring were Joe Mitchell, 12; Sanford Moye, six; David Floyd, five; Philander Rogers, two; Johnny Allen, two; Anthony Williams, two; Arturo Scott, two; and Michael Lampley, two.

Feb. 28, 1980 – Evergreen, Ala. radio station WBLO began broadcasting after being off the air since Feb. 16 so that broadcast equipment could be repaired and improved and the station’s signal expanded. John Bolton was the station’s DJ.

Feb. 28, 1988 - A television version of Alabama author Borden Deal's book “Bluegrass” was broadcast.

Feb. 28, 1991 – The first Gulf War ended as U.S. President George H.W. Bush declared a cease-fire, and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein pledged to honor future United Nations peace terms.

Feb. 28, 1993 – Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents raided the Branch Davidian church in Waco, Texas with a warrant to arrest the group's leader David Koresh. Four BATF agents and five Davidians died in the initial raid, starting a 51-day standoff.

Feb. 28, 2002 - It was announced that John Madden would be replacing Dennis Miller on "Monday Night Football." Madden signed a four-year $20 million deal with ABC Sports.

Feb. 28, 2005 – A suicide bombing at a police recruiting centre in Al Hillah, Iraq killed 127.

Feb. 28, 2008 – The Barnes Cemetery in Butler County was added to the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register.

Feb. 28, 2010 - Weather observer Harry Ellis reported that total rainfall for the month of February 2010 was 3.50 inches and total snowfall was five inches.