Today in History for April 13, 2016

Gideon Welles

April 13, 1692 – In connection with the Salem witchcraft trials, Ann Putnam Jr. accused Giles Corey of witchcraft and alleged that a man who died at Corey's house also haunts her.

April 13, 1721 – Merchant and Maryland political official John Hanson, who signed the Articles of Confederation, was born near Port Tobacco, Province of Maryland.

April 13, 1742 - George Frideric Handel's oratorio “Messiah” made its world-premiere in Dublin, Ireland.

April 13, 1743 - Thomas Jefferson, who became the third President of the United States in 1801, was born in Albemarle County, Va.

April 13, 1771 – English engineer and explorer Richard Trevithick was born in Tregajorran, Cornwall, United Kingdom.

April 13, 1775 - Lord North extended the New England Restraining Act to South, Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland. The act prohibited trade with any country other than Britain and Ireland.

April 13, 1777 – During the American Revolutionary War, American forces were ambushed and defeated in the Battle of Bound Brook, New Jersey. During the battle, General Lord Charles Cornwallis led a surprise attack on a small garrison of American troops in the village. The British captured several cannons and nearly all of the artillery detachment upon the retreat of Major General Benjamin Lincoln and his troops.

April 13, 1782 - Washington, North Carolina was incorporated as the first town to be named for George Washington.

April 13, 1813 – Amid the War of 1812, an American expedition launched from Fort Stoddert forced the Spanish to surrender Fort Conde in Mobile. Surrounded, with little hope of support from his government, Captain Cayetano Perez, commander of the Spanish forces at Ft. Charlotte (Conde) in Mobile, met with General James Wilkinson of the United States. Two days later, U.S. forces took possession of Ft. Charlotte (Conde) and Spanish Mobile as the Spanish evacuated the fort.

April 13, 1860 - The first mail was delivered via Pony Express when a westbound rider arrived in Sacremento, Calif. from St. Joseph, Mo.

April 13, 1861 - After 34 hours of bombardment, the Union-held Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor surrendered to Confederates as the first engagement of the Civil War ended in a Rebel victory. The fort was commanded by Union Major Robert Anderson and manned by 76 of his men. The Confederates were commanded by General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard.

April 13, 1861 – During the Civil War, Fort Davis, Texas was abandoned by Federal forces.

April 13, 1862 – During the Civil War, Decatur, Ala. was occupied by Federal forces.

April 13, 1862 – Third Sgt. Joseph G. Sanders, aka “The Turncoat of Dale County,” re-enlisted in the 31st Georgia Infantry for “two years, or the war” and was paid a $50 bonus for signing on again.

April 13, 1862 - In the early months of the Civil War, there was an attempt to set up a Confederate state in what is now New Mexico. This had reached its “high-water mark” at the Battle of Glorieta Pass a month before -- which the South had lost. On this day, the pursuit continued as Federal cavalry chased the remains of the Confederate forces into the area of El Paso, Texas.

April 13, 1862 - A Federal operation began on this date in Southern California, making its way through Arizona, New Mexico, and eventually ending up in Northwestern Texas six months later. This operation forced the Confederates to evacuate the New Mexico Territory.

April 13, 1862 – A Federal reconnaissance mission toward Corinth, Miss. and Purdy, Tenn. began. A skirmish was also fought along Pebbly Run, at Gillett’s Farm, N.C.

April 13, 1862 - Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles was high in the confidence of President Lincoln, and it was good ideas like one he came up with on this day that kept it that way. Welles announced on this day an absolute embargo on the export of anthracite coal. Confederate and other blockade-runners were buying exported American anthracite in Caribbean ports. The alternative, bituminous coal, burned with heavy black smoke which could be seen at great distance at sea. Anthracite coal, on the other hand, not only contained much more heat per given volume, but burned very cleanly with just a little white smoke.

April 13, 1863 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Indian Bend, La.; in the vicinity of Chapel Hill, Tenn.; and at Elk Run and Snicker‘s Ferry, Va. An eight-day Federal operation between New Berne and Swift Creek Village, N.C. began.

April 13, 1863 - General Ambrose Burnside was another former commander of the Army of the Potomac. After getting huge numbers of his men killed in futile charges at Fredericksburg and then bogging them down in what became known as the Mud March, the Peter Principle came into play. The result was Burnside found himself shifted to command the Department of the Ohio, a strictly non-combat job. On this day, he announced the death penalty for anyone aiding the Confederacy. Added to this was the deportation of anyone displaying Confederate sympathy.

April 13, 1864 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought near Decatur, Ala.

April 13, 1864 – During the Civil war, skirmishes were fought at Indian Bay, Moscow, Richland Creek, and in the vicinity of Smithville, Ark.; at Columbus and Paintsville, Ky.; near Cleveland, Tenn.; and at Nokesville, Va. A three-day Federal operation between Norfolk to the Isle of Wright County, Va. began. A three-day Federal reconnaissance between Portsmouth to Blackwater, Va. began.

April 13, 1865 – During the Civil War, the USS Ida sank in Mobile Bay, Ala. after striking a Confederate torpedo. A skirmish was also fought at Wetumpka and at Whistler (or Eight Mile Creek Bridge) in Alabama.

April 13, 1865 – During the Civil War, Raleigh, North Carolina was occupied by Union Forces.

April 13, 1865 – During the Civil War, a three-day Federal reconnaissance in the vicinity of Lexington, Ky. began, and a skirmish was fought at Morrisville, N.C.

April 13, 1866 - Butch Cassidy (Robert LeRoy Parker) was born in Beaver, Utah. He is best known for being a train robber, bank robber and leader of the Wild Bunch Gang.

April 13, 1874 – The Alabama Scottish Rite Lodge of Perfection was officially chartered. It was renamed the Montgomery Lodge of Perfection on Oct. 20, 1955.

April 13, 1885 - Author Marie Stanley was born in Mobile, Ala.

April 13, 1900 - Author Elizabeth Bellamy died in Mobile, Ala.

April 13, 1905 – The Monroe Journal reported that the Bear Creek Mill Co. at Manistee, Ala. had repaired its dam, and J.M. Lambert was repairing George Harris’s grist mill dam, which “was torn out by the big freshet some weeks ago.”

April 13, 1906 – Noble Prize-winning novelist and playwright Samuel Beckett was born in Foxrock, Ireland, a Dublin suburb.

April 13, 1909 – Novelist and short story writer Eudora Welty was born in Jackson, Miss.

April 13, 1915 – In Conecuh County, Ala. Circuit Court, the cases against Blackwell, Baggett and Bradley, who were indicted for murder, were continued to the next court term. The crime they allegedly committed happened more than 2-1/2 years before.

April 13, 1916 – The Monroe Journal reported that Miss Alma Kearley was in Birmingham, Ala. taking a course in stenography at a “leading business college.”

April 13, 1916 – The Monroe Journal reported that Prof. J.B. Little was spending a few weeks of his vacation in Monroeville, Ala., having recently closed his school at Old Texas.

April 13, 1916 – The Monroe Journal reported that John Gordon Brassell had returned to his home at Sunny South after spending a week with his friend and school mate, Luke Crapps, at Mexia.

April 13, 1916 – The Monroe Journal reported that Mrs. J.B. Barnett and children were visiting relatives at Dothan and points in Pike County.

April 13, 1918 – During World War I, Army Pvt. Sterling Cunningham of Monroeville, Ala. “died from disease.”

April 13, 1921 - Sheriff Kendall arrested Jesse Armstrong at Brooklyn, Ala. at the request of the Escambia County Sheriff. Armstrong was later taken to Brewton where he was held for the killing of a man named Franklin a day or two before in the lower edge of Escambia County. Armstrong claimed that Franklin came to his home and shot him with a shotgun, and Armstrong then killed Franklin with a pistol. When Kendall arrested Armstrong, one of his eyes was shot out and several small shot penetrated his face and forehead.

April 13, 1928 – In Lovecraftian fiction, antiquarian Charles Dexter Ward of Providence, R.I. vanished from his room at a mental institution and was never heard from again. He first appeared in 1941’s “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward” by H.P. Lovecraft.

April 13, 1933 - The first flight over Mount Everest was completed by Lord Clydesdale.

April 13, 1936 - Mrs. John W. McCormick of Detroit, Mich. was killed almost instantly on this morning and her husband was seriously injured when their automobile crashed into another head-on near Castleberry, Ala. while passing a wagon on the highway.

April 13, 1943 – The Jefferson Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C. on the 200th anniversary of President Thomas Jefferson's birth. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the Jefferson Memorial.

April 13, 1945 – Harold Daw of Conecuh County, Ala. was killed in action in Germany and was buried in U.S. Military Cemetery in Eisenach, Germany.

April 13, 1947 - Alabama author R. T. Smith was born in Washington, D.C.

April 13, 1950 - Ron Perlman, who played the comic book character Hellboy in 2004’s “Hellboy” and 2008’s “Hellboy II: The Golden Army,” was born in New York City.

April 13, 1950 - Approximately 96 of South Alabama’s better golfers teed off in Evergreen, Ala. on this Thursday morning in the fifth annual Evergreen Golf Tournament at the Evergreen golf course, four miles north on U.S. Highway 31. Favored in the championship flight were defending champ “Red” Coats of Montgomery, Abner Powell, winner of the Brewton crown last week and playing out of the Andalusia club, and Evergreen’s Bill McGehee. The golfers were scheduled to pause at noon for lunch and refreshments at the Evergreen Community House with play to be completed that afternoon. Nearly 30 local golfers were entered in the nine-hole match play affair.

April 13, 1950 – The Evergreen Courant reported that it was announced that week by H.G. Pate, Conecuh County Supt. of Education, that E.H. Penny, who was a coach at the Atmore High School, had been selected as principal of the Repton High School, effective July 1, 1950. His selection was approved at a meeting of the County Board of Education on Fri., April 7. Penny succeeded H.D. Weathers as principal at Repton. Weathers was retiring from school work after more than 40 years of service in the schools of Alabama. Penny was formerly coach of the Monroeville High School and had been coaching the Atmore athletic teams for the previous two years.

April 13, 1953 – CIA director Allen Dulles launched the covert mind-control program Project MKUltra. The project ran at least until the late 60's and notoriously tested drugs such as LSD on unwitting subjects.

April 13, 1954 – Henry “Hank” Aaron became the last former Negro League player to make his debut in the major leagues, when he took the field for the first time for the Milwaukee Braves.

April 13, 1954 – Birmingham, Ala. native Alex Grammas made his Major League debut, taking the field for the St. Louis Cardinals.

April 13, 1955 - 20.33 inches of rainfall recorded in Axis, Ala., setting the state record. Axis is located in Mobile County

April 13, 1963 - The New York Mets played their first home game at the Polo Grounds.

April 13, 1963 - Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds got his first hit in the major leagues.

April 13, 1966 - The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) adopted a resolution urging that the United States “desist from aiding the military junta against the Buddhists, Catholics, and students, whose efforts to democratize their government are more in consonance with our traditions than the policy of the military oligarchy.” This resolution, which had little real impact on administration policies, indicated the growing dissatisfaction among many segments of the American population with President Lyndon B. Johnson’s handling of the war in Vietnam.

April 13, 1971 – Butch Adams began working for The Evergreen Courant.

April 13, 1972 - The first strike in the history of Major League Baseball ended. Players had walked off the field 13 days earlier. Major League Baseball owners and players agreed to not make up the games lost to the players strike.

April 13, 1972 – During the Vietnam War, the Battle of An Lộc began when three North Vietnamese divisions attacked An Loc with infantry, tanks, heavy artillery and rockets, taking half the city after a day of close combat. An Loc, the capital of Binh Long Province, was located 65 miles northwest of Saigon.

April 13, 1975 – A formal dedication of Evergreen, Alabama’s new “Avenue of Flags” was held downtown in downtown Evergreen, Ala. at 2 p.m.

April 13, 1976 – The United States Treasury Department reintroduced the two-dollar bill as a Federal Reserve Note on Thomas Jefferson's 233rd birthday as part of the United States Bicentennial celebration.

April 13, 1976 – Actor Jonathan Brandis was born in Danbury, Connecticut.

April 13, 1976 – Actor Glenn Howerton was born in Japan. A graduate of Jeff Davis High School in Montgomery, Ala., he would go on to star in “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.”

April 13, 1988 – Sparta Academy’s Lee Wild pitched a perfect game (and a no-hitter) against Crenshaw Academy at the Murphy Club in Evergreen, Ala. He faced only 15 batters in the five-inning game, which Sparta won, 11-0.

April 13, 1991 – Evergreen Courant publisher and editor Robert Gaston Bozeman Jr. passed away and was buried in Magnolia Cemetery in Evergreen, Ala. He was a former U.S. Marine, World War II veteran and a member of Alabama Press Association Hall of Honor (inducted 1999).

April 13, 1998 - A television version of Alabama author Thomas H. Cook's book “Evidence of Blood” was broadcast.

April 13, 1998 – Bill Ferguson was hired as the new Veterans Affairs Officer for counties including Conecuh and Monroe, replacing Francis McGowin, who transferred.

April 13, 2002 - The first Limestone Dust Poetry Festival was held in Huntsville, Ala.

April 13, 2002 - Barry Bonds hit his 574th career home run, and he moved past Harmon Killebrew and into sixth place.

April 13, 2003 - U.S. President George W. Bush warned Syria not to harbor any fleeing Iraqi leaders.

April 13, 2009 - The New York Mets opened the season at their new stadium, Citi Field.

April 13, 2009 - Former Major League Baseball all-star pitcher Mark “The Bird” Fidrych was found dead at the age of 54 following an accident at his Massachusetts farm involving a Mack truck he was working on. Fidrych, the 1976 American League Rookie of the Year, suffocated when his clothes got tangled in the truck’s power takeoff shaft.