Today in History for April 14, 2016

George Grey

April 14, 1775 – The first abolition society in North America was established when the Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage was organized in Philadelphia by Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush. In 1784, the society changed its name to the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery and the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage.

April 14, 1812 – Portuguese-New Zealand soldier, explorer and politician George Grey, who served as the 11th Prime Minister of New Zealand, was born in Lisbon, Portugal.

Aprl 14, 1816 – Bussa, a slave in British-ruled Barbados, led a slave rebellion and was killed. For this, he is remembered as the first national hero of Barbados.

April 14, 1828 – Noah Webster’s “American Dictionary of the English Language” was published.

April 14, 1860 – The first Pony Express rider reached San Francisco, Calif. from St. Joseph, Mo. The pony riders carried additionally, along with the mail, a small personal bible.

April 14, 1861 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought with Indians in the vicinity of the Mad River, Calif. and President Abraham Lincoln issued a call for 75,000 troops to suppress the rebellion.

April 14, 1862 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Diamond Grove, Montevallo, near the Sante Fe Road, and Walkersville in Misssouri and at Pollocksville, N.C. Federal reconnaissance of Seabrook Island, S.C. was conducted. The Federal bombardment of Ft. Pillow, Tenn. also occurred. This was done by Federal mortar and gunboats from the Mississippi River.

April 14, 1863 – William Bullock patented the modern printing press in Baltimore, Md. His invention was the first rotary printing press to self-feed the paper, print on both sides, and count its own progress — meaning that newspapers, which had until then relied on an operator manually feeding individual sheets of paper into a press, could suddenly increase their publication exponentially.

April 14, 1863 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought in the vicinity of Centreville, Calif. at Irish Bend; near Jeanerette, La.; and at Rappahannock Bridge, Kelley’s Ford, Beverly Ford, and near Suffolk, Va. The former Federal gunboat, Queen of the West, which was being used as a Confederate ram, was destroyed by Federal forces in Grand Lake, La.

April 14, 1864 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought in the vicinity of Dutch Mills and another at White Oak Creek, Ark.; at Taylor’s Ridge, Ga.; at Half Mountain and another at Paducah, Ky.; and at Bayou Saline, La. A four-day Federal operation against Cheyenne Indians between Camp Sanborn, the Colorado Territory and Beaver Creek, Kansas began.

April 14, 1865 – U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward and his family were attacked in his home by Lewis Powell, a native of Randolph County, Ala.

April 14, 1865 – Just five days after the surrender of the Civil War’s Confederate leader, General Lee, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and his wife Mary attended the play "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theater. At 10:13 p.m., during the third act of the play, John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln in the head. Lincoln never regained consciousness and died the next morning.

April 14, 1865 – Having received orders from Union General Edward Canby to return to Blakeley, Union Brigadier General T.J. Lucas left Claiborne, Ala. with prisoners, wounded and some 350 “contrabands” who came into his lines, and moved back upon the river road by which Lucas came, reaching Stockton on April 17.

April 14, 1865 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought near Tuskegee, Ala. on the Columbus Road.

April 14, 1865 – Union Major General Robert Anderson, who surrendered Fort Sumter, S.C. at the beginning of the Civil War, raised the same Federal flag he lowered four years before to the day over the now Federal-controlled Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, S.C.

April 14, 1865 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought near Morrisville and another in the vicinity of Saunder’s Farm, N.C.; and at Mount Pleasant, Tenn.

April 14, 1866 - Anne Sullivan Macy, tutor and companion to Alabama author Helen Keller, was born in Feeding Hills, Mass.

April 14, 1894 - Thomas Edison demonstrated the kinetoscope, a viewing device that was a precursor to the film projector.

April 14, 1910 - U.S. President William Howard Taft threw out the first ball for the Washington Senators and the Philadelphia Athletics.

April 14, 1911 – National Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Addie Joss passed away at the age of 31 in Toledo, Ohio. He played his entire career for the Cleveland Broncos/Naps. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1978.

April 14, 1912 – The British passenger liner RMS Titanic, on its maiden voyage, hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic at 23:40 and began to sink. In all, 1,517 people lost their lives and more than 700 survived.

April 14, 1914 – A hail and windstorm on this night did considerable damage to the strawberry crop in Conecuh County, Ala.

April 14, 1915 – The Evergreen Courant reported that F.S. Stallworth had purchased the grocery business of R.P. Millsap & Co. The Courant also reported that Mrs. M.D. Wiggins of Monroeville had assumed charge of the Jones House on the corner next to the Methodist Church and planned to run a hotel out of the location.

April 14, 1920 – The Evergreen Courant reported that the Lee-Cooke Stock Co. was giving a week-long engagement under canvass on the vacant lot at the corner of Park Street and Cemetery Avenue in Evergreen, Ala., and were “delighting Evergreen audiences with a splendid repertoire.”

April 14, 1920 – The Evergreen Courant reported that the Hon. L.H. Brassell was scheduled to speak at Castleberry, Ala. on the night of Thurs., April 29, at 7:30 p.m., and at Brooklyn on Fri., April 30, at 11 a.m. “in the interest of his candidacy for Congress.”

April 14, 1925 - WGN became the first radio station to broadcast a regular season Major League Baseball game. The Cubs beat the Pirates, 8-2.

April 14, 1928 – French pilot Capt. Deudonne Coste, a 35-year-old WWI ace, and French navigator Lt. Comdr. Joseph LeBrix, another noted WWI ace, landed in Paris, completing their attempt to break the record for an “around the world flight.” They took off from Paris on Oct. 10, 1927 and passed over Monroeville, Ala. on Feb. 6 1928, traveling north toward Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery.

April 14, 1934 – Major League Baseball outfielder Marty Keough was born in Oakland, Calif. He went on to play for the Boston Red Sox, the Cleveland Indians, the Washington Senators, the Cincinnati Reds, the Atlanta Braves and the Chicago Cubs.

April 14, 1935 - The Central Alabama Baseball League, composed of Andalusia, Opp, Greenville and Evergreen, was scheduled to open its season on this Sunday with Evergreen facing Opp in Opp.

April 14-15, 1935 – “The Mighty Barnum,” starring Wallace Beery, was scheduled to be shown at the Evergreen Theatre in Evergreen, Ala.

April 14, 1939 – “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck was first published by the Viking Press.

April 14, 1941 – Controversial Major League Baseball outfielder, infielder and manager Pete Rose was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He went on to play for the Cincinnati Reds, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Montreal Expos, and he managed the Reds from 1984 to 1989.

April 14, 1942 – Inverness, Ala. native Billy Hitchcock made his Major League debut, taking the field for the first time for the Detroit Tigers.

April 14, 1955 - In a ceremony at Huntsville High School in Huntsville, Ala., Wernher von Braun and 102 other German-born scientists, technicians, and family members based at Redstone Arsenal became American citizens. Recruited to the United States at the end of World War II, the scientists conducted rocket research crucial to the development of the U.S. space program.

April 14, 1960 – Evergreen High School’s baseball team played Escambia County High School in the conference championship game in Atmore, Ala. Evergreen entered the game 4-0 with wins over conference opponents, W.S. Neal and Flomaton. Jeff Moorer was Evergreen’s head coach and players on the team included Billy Bateman, pitcher; Billy Melton, catcher; Leon Stinson, first base; Jacob Coleman, second base; Shannon Griggers, third base; James Reeves, shortstop; Jerry Windham, left field; Johnny Ivey, center field; and Jimmy Eddins, right field.

April 14, 1965 – Richard Hickock and Perry Smith were hanged at the Kansas State Penitentiary in Lansing for the 1959 murder of the Herbert Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas. Their crime became the subject of Truman Capote’s book, “In Cold Blood.”

April 14, 1965 - For the third consecutive year, the ladies of the Brewton (Ala.) Country Club sponsored a ladies golf tournament, scheduled to be held on this Wednesday. A registration deadline of April 7 was set with an entrance fee of $5 required. Fees had to be paid with registration, which was limited to 72 golfers. Fee included luncheon and door prizes, and entries had to be mailed to Mrs. Ben Kelly Strain of Brewton. Eighteen holes of match play were scheduled to begin with a shotgun starting at 8:30 a.m.

April 14, 1965 - The Joint Chiefs of Staff ordered the deployment of the 173rd Airborne Brigade from Okinawa to South Vietnam. The 173rd arrived in Vietnam in May 1965 and was the first major U.S. Army ground combat unit committed to the war. Headquartered at Bien Hoa Air Base near Saigon from May 1965 to October 1967, the brigade conducted combat operations in the region surrounding Saigon.

April 14, 1966 – National Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux was born in San Angelo, Texas. During his career, he played for the Chicago Cubs, the Atlanta Braves, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014.

April 14, 1966 – National Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Don Sutton, who was born in Clio, Ala., made his Major League debut as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

April 14, 1966 – Charles C. Higdon, a 23-year-old, 1960 graduate of Evergreen High School, was commissioned an Army 2nd Lt. after graduating from the Infantry Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Ga.

April 14, 1966 – Burglars cracked the safe at the Conecuh-Monroe Counties Gas District office and got away with over $1,500, but most of the loot (around $900) was in checks that had been marked “for deposit only.”

April 14, 1969 - For the first time, a Major League Baseball game was played in Montreal, Canada.

April 14, 1969 – Major League Baseball catcher and manager Brad Ausmus was born in New Haven, Conn. He went on to play for the San Diego Padres, the Detroit Tigers, the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

April 14, 1975 – German-Swiss mountaineer, geologist, and explorer Günter Dyhrenfurth passed away at the age of 88. He led the International Himalaya Expedition (IHE) 1930 to Kangchenjunga, and another one, IHE 1934, to the Baltoro-region in the Karakorams, especially to explore the Gasherbrum-Group.

April 14, 1975 - The American airlift of Vietnamese orphans to the United States ended after 2,600 children were transported to America. The operation began disastrously on April 4 when an Air Force cargo jet crashed shortly after take-off from Tan Son Nhut airbase in Saigon. More than 138 of the passengers, mostly children, were killed. Operation Baby Lift was initiated to bring South Vietnamese orphans to the United States for adoption by American parents. Baby Lift lasted 10 days and was carried out during the final, desperate phase of the war, as North Vietnamese forces were closing in on Saigon. Although the first flight ended in tragedy, all other flights took place without incident, and Baby Lift aircraft ferried orphans across the Pacific until the mission concluded on April 14, only 16 days before the fall of Saigon and the end of the war.

April 14, 1976 – Major League Baseball relief pitcher Kyle Farnsworth was born in Witchita, Kansas. During his career, he played for the Chicago Cubs, the Detroit Tigers, the Atlanta Braves, the New York Yankees, the Kansas City Royals, the Tampa Bay Rays, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the New York Mets and the Houston Astros.

April 14, 1978 – National Baseball Hall of Fame second baseman Joe Gordon passed away at the age of 63 in Sacramento, Calif. During his career, he played for the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians, and he also managed the Indians, the Detroit Tigers, the Kansas City Athletics and the Kansas City Royals. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009.

April 14, 1986 – The heaviest hailstones ever recorded (2.2 lb) fell on the Gopalganj district of Bangladesh, killing 92.

April 14, 1988 – The Evergreen Courant reported that, during its last meeting, the Conecuh County Board of Education approved the naming of the county’s new consolidated high school, selection of the school’s official colors and the school’s mascot. The board’s options came from recommendations that were given by a committee of students from the Repton High, Conecuh County High, Evergreen and Lyeffion School communities who met on several occasions to compile this information. The unanimous choices and votes were recorded and based on popular votes, were submitted to the Board of Education as recommendations. The Board approved the recommendations that were submitted to it by the student committee. The name for the new high school was to be Hillcrest High School. The school colors are red, silver (gray) and black, and the mascot was to be a Jaguar. The new school colors were to be incorporated into the décor and interior of the school. The school was scheduled open in the fall of 1989.

April 14, 1990 - Cal Ripken of the Baltimore Orioles began a streak of 95 errorless games and 431 total chances by a shortstop.

April 14, 1992 – The Sterrett House in Camden, Ala. was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.

April 14, 1994 – In a U.S. friendly fire incident during Operation Provide Comfort in northern Iraq, two United States Air Force aircraft mistakenly shot down two United States Army helicopters, killing 26 people.

April 14, 1999 – The Sydney Hailstorm turned out to be one of Australia's costliest natural disasters, with 500,000 tons of hailstones, some as large as 3.5 inches in diameter, hitting New South Wales.

April 14, 1999 - Jose Canseco of the Tampa Bay Rays became the 28th player to hit 400 career home runs. He was also the first non-United States born player to hit 400 runs.

April 14, 2003 – U.S. troops in Baghdad captured Abu Abbas, leader of the Palestinian group that killed an American on the hijacked cruise liner the MS Achille Lauro in 1985.

April 14, 2007 - Sparta Academy held its annual Miss Alpha Pageant and the winners in the High School Division were Alex Ross, first place; Tanner King, Miss Alpha; and Morgan Harden, second place.

  

April 14, 2014 – German SS officer Karl-Heinz Eulin died in Munich, Germany at the age of 94.