Today in History for April 29, 2016

Union General George Stoneman

April 29, 1429 – Joan of Arc led French forces into the English-held city of Orleans.

April 29, 1770 – James Cook arrived at and named Botany Bay, Australia.

April 29, 1776 - General George Washington ordered Brigadier General Nathanael Greene to take command of Long Island and set up defensive positions against a possible British attack on New York City.

April 29, 1776 – English explorer and author Edward Wortley Montagu passed away in Padua, Italy at the age of 62.

April 29, 1781 – During the Revolutionary War, British and French ships clashed in the Battle of Fort Royal, off the coast of Martinique.

April 29–30, 1825 – During his tour of the United States, the Marquis de Lafayette visited St. Louis, Missouri.

April 29, 1852 - The first edition of Peter Roget's Thesaurus was published.

April 29, 1859 – Property in Monroeville, Ala. for a new jail was purchased from John B. Welch and his wife, Rosanne, for $50.

April 29, 1861 – During the Civil War, Maryland's House of Delegates voted not to secede from the Union.

April 29, 1862 – During the Civil War, New Orleans fell to Union forces under Admiral David Farragut. Union troops officially took possession of the city after the surrender of Fort Jackson and Fort. St. Phillip, completing the occupation that had begun four days earlier on April 25. The capture of this vital southern city was a huge blow to the Confederacy.

April 29, 1862 – During the Civil War, Federal forces began their advance from Pittsburg Landing, Tenn. toward Corinth, Miss.

April 29, 1862 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought in the vicinity of Batchelder’s Creek, N.C.; at White Point, S.C.; and at Cumberland Gap, near Bethel Station, Purdy and Monterey Tenn.

April 29, 1863 - Union Colonel Abel Streight's command was attacked by troops under the command of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest. On this day, the Union had set a trap and held the Confederates under fire and wounded Captain William Forrest (Nathan Bedford's brother).

April 29, 1863 – Poet C.P. Cavafy was born in Alexandria, Egypt.

April 29, 1863 - American newspaper magnate and newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst was born in San Francisco, Calif.

April 29, 1863 - Two days of Federal operations in Opelousas, Chicotville and Bayou Boeuf, La. began.

April 29, 1863 – A Federal demonstration took place against Haynes and Drumgould’s Bluff, Miss. to distract Confederates as a portion of Grant’s force relocated itself further south on the Louisiana side of the Mississippi River. The bombardment of the Grand Gulf, Miss. began. A three-day Federal reconnaissance from La Grange, Tenn. into northern Mississippi began. Four days of Federal operations in the Murfreesborough, Tenn. area began.

April 29, 1863 – Union General George Stoneman began his cavalry raid against Lee's and the Confederate's lines of communication (lasted until May 7).

April 29, 1863 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Kellysville, Brandy Station and Stevensburg, Va.; at Brookhaven, Miss., with Grierson’s raiders; at Castor River, Mo.; on the Chapel Hill Pike in Tennessee; at Crook’s Run and Germanna Ford, and White Oak Run, all near Fredericksburg, Va.; and at Fairmont, West Virginia.

April 29, 1864 – Theta Xi fraternity was founded at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the only fraternity to be founded during the Civil War.

April 29, 1864 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought along the Ouachita River and another near Saline Bottom, Ark.; at Grand Ecore, La.; in the Sni Hills of Missouri; and in Berry County, Tenn.

April 29, 1864 – A Federal operation between Ringgold toward Tunnel Hill, Ga. began. A two-day Federal operation between Newport Barracks and Swansborough, N.C. began.

April 29, 1864 - Admiral Porter’s fleet seemed doomed. Trapped on the Red River, they heard on this day that their nemesis, Confederate General Richard Taylor, was proposing to take one of their own disabled boats and refloat it to use it as a fireboat to cause havoc and destruction to the Union fleet. Lt. Col. Joseph Bailey came up with a deranged plan. Among their troops were many Midwestern and Maine men with lumberjack experience. Bailey proposed to have them build a dam across the rapids. This would raise the water level under the ships enough than when the dam was blown, they would all get downstream. For lack of alternative, Porter and Banks, head of the land forces, agreed to let him try it.

April 29, 1865 – Confederate General Richard Taylor negotiated a ceasefire with Union General Edward Canby at Magee Farm in Kushla, near Mobile. These were the preliminary arrangements for the surrender of the last Confederate States Army east of the Mississippi River. Taylor's forces, comprising 47,000 Confederate troops serving in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, were the last remaining Confederate force east of the Mississippi River.

April 29, 1865 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought at Eddyville, Ky.

April 28, 1885 – John Folk, who was about 80 years old, died of “dropsy” at his home about eight miles south of Monroeville, Ala.

April 29, 1895 – Anna Newberry, 79, passed away at the home of A.C. Lambert at Manistee, Ala.

April 29, 1896 - Mrs. C.L. Johnson returned home to the River Ridge community on the steamer Nettie Quill on this Wednesday night after a visit to friends and relatives in Mobile, Ala.

April 29, 1899 – Bandleader, pianist and composer Edward Kennedy, better known as Duke Ellington, was born in Washington, D.C.

April 29, 1903 – The Evergreen Courant reported that H.E. Shaver had picked up in Evergreen, Ala. wire and insulators to be used in the construction of a telephone line from Mt. Union and Herbert to Evergreen, Ala., which was due to be complete that week. Shaver noted that the line would likely be extended to Brooklyn, a distance of about 11 miles.

April 29, 1903 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Charles J. Crawford and William H. Crawford had passed the bar exam.

April 29-30, 1905 – The Rev. E.C. Clayton filled his regular appointment at Pleasant Hill church on this Saturday and Sunday at Manistee, Ala.

April 29, 1906 – The Rev. A.J. Lambert was scheduled to preach at Zion church (at Axle in Monroe County, Ala.) on this fifth Sunday at 11 a.m.

April 29, 1909 – The Conecuh Record reported that “one automobile may now be seen on the streets of Evergreen, Ala., being owned by the Hon. Jas. F. Jones. No doubt many more will be seen here before many weeks.” On May 5, Jones and Henry Hawthorne would travel to Monroeville in Jones’ new automobile.

April 29, 1909 – Before a large crowd, Evergreen beat Andalusia in baseball, 4-3, in 10 innings.

April 29, 1912 – C.A. Thames, 82, of Brooklyn, Ala. passed away at his family home in Brooklyn. He was buried the following day with full Masonic honors.

April 29, 1915 – C. Bennett, who lived on the Greenville Road beyond the convict camp, had his home and its contents destroyed by fire on this Thursday night.

April 29, 1918 – Pro Football Hall of Fame coach George Allen was born in Nelson County, Va. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2002.

April 29, 1928 - A movie version of Alabama author Jack Bethea's book “Honor Bound” was released.

April 29, 1931 – Editor Robert Gottlieb was born in New York City.

April 29, 1933 – Singer and songwrigter Willie Nelson was born in the small farming community of Abbott, Texas.

April 29, 1934 – National Baseball Hall of Fame shortstop Luis Aparicio was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela. He went on to play for the Chicago White Sox, the Baltimore Orioles and the Boston Red Sox. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1934.

April 29, 1941 - The Boston Bees agreed to change their name to the Braves.

April 29, 1945 – During World War II, Adolf Hitler married his longtime partner Eva Braun in a Berlin bunker and designated Admiral Karl Dönitz as his successor. Both Hitler and Braun committed suicide the following day.

April 29, 1945 – German SS officer Matthias Kleinheisterkamp committed suicide at the age of 51 at Halbe, Province of Brandenburg, Free State of Prussia, Nazi Germany.

April 29, 1947 – Former Evergreen, Ala. mayor and state senator Lamar Kelly, 50, of Evergreen was named chairman of the State Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. Kelly, who helped write the legislation that created the ABC board, succeeded Bryce C. Davis of Cullman, who resigned on April 17. Kelly was a state senator from the 17th Senatorial District (Butler, Conecuh and Covington Counties) from 1935 through 1939. Prior to that, he served as mayor of Evergreen for nine years beginning in 1926.

April 29, 1948 – Charles “Bubba” Harris, a native of Sulligent, Ala., made his Major League debut as a pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics.

April 29, 1948 – The Evergreen Courant reported that pitcher James Carpenter and R.E. Ivey, both of Evergreen, Ala., played leading parts in a recent, 8-2 Sunflower Trojan baseball victory over East Mississippi. Carpenter struck out 12, and Ivey hit a crucial double. Grissett and Tolbert also hit doubles in the game.

April 29, 1948 – The Evergreen Courant reported that during a recent meeting, the newly organized Evergreen (Ala.) Chapter of the Order of Demolay elected officers. Those officers included George Hendrix, M.C.; John Ellis, Sr. C.; Joe Andrews, Jr. C.; Curtis Walker, Scribe; Wayne Cook, Treas.; T.Y. Henderson, S.D.; Dudley Bartlett, J.D.; Bert Gaston, Sentinel; Jeff Moorer, S. Steward; P.J. Godwin, Jr. Steward; R.J. Sanford, Jr. Marchal; Willie Cobb, Jr. Alamaner; Junior Ward, Chaplain; Shelton Craig, Standard Bearer; Gwynn Daniels, Orator; Wayne Congleton, 1st Preceptor; Sidney Williamson, 2nd Preceptort; Billie Langham, 3rd Preceptor; Georgie Brown, 4th Preceptor.

April 29, 1952 - Controversial speaker and author David Icke was born in Leicester, Leicestershire, England.

April 29, 1953 - The first experimental 3D-TV broadcast took place in the US with a showing of an episode of “Space Patrol.”

April 29, 1957 - The Boston Red Sox traded Mobile, Alabama’s Milt Bolling along with Russ Kemmerer and Faye Throneberry to the Washington Senators for Bob Chakales and Dean Stone. Milt was immediately put to work with the Senators, starting at shortstop occasionally in May and June before becoming their everyday starter from July through the end of the season.

April 29, 1957 – Conecuh County, Alabama’s annual Fat Calf Show was scheduled to be held with 26 4H Club and FFA members participating.

April 29, 1960 - Hueytown, in Jefferson County, Ala., was officially incorporated. White settlers first came to the area around 1816. The local economy remained largely agricultural until the nearby city of Birmingham began to expand as the iron and steel industry burgeoned. Referred to initially as Huey and by around 1914 as Hueytown, the area remained one of the largest unincorporated communities in Alabama for many years.

April 29, 1963 – A meeting of the Evergreen Junior Baseball League was scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Conecuh County Courthouse in Evergreen, Ala. The league’s officers included Earl Windham, President; Ed Smith, Vice President; Leslie Huggins, Secretary-Treasurer; Ray Owens, Player Manager; Joe Sasser, Chief Scorer; and Henry Allman, Chief Umpire.

April 29, 1967 - Alabama author Mary Elizabeth Vroman died in Brooklyn, N.Y.

April 29, 1968 – The controversial musical, “Hair,” a product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, opened at the Biltmore Theatre on Broadway, with its songs becoming anthems of the anti-Vietnam War movement.

April 29, 1970 – During the Vietnam War, United States and South Vietnamese forces invaded Cambodia to hunt Viet Cong. The campaign included 13 major ground operations to clear North Vietnamese sanctuaries 20 miles inside the Cambodian border. Some 50,000 South Vietnamese soldiers and 30,000 U.S. troops were involved, making it the largest operation of the war since Operation Junction City in 1967.

April 29, 1971 - U.S. casualty figures for April 18 to April 24 were released. The 45 killed during that time brought total U.S. losses for the Vietnam War to 45,019 since 1961. These figures made Southeast Asia fourth in total losses sustained by the U.S. during a war, topped only by the number of losses incurred during the Civil War, World War I, and World War II.

April 29, 1974 – During the Watergate scandal, United States President Richard Nixon announced the release of edited transcripts of White House tape recordings relating to the scandal.

April 29, 1974 – Dr. Cecil E. Price, 51, died from “as the result of massive heart failure” at his office. He practiced medicine in Conecuh County, Ala. for over a quarter of a century and at one time was the only physician in practice in the county.

April 29, 1974 – Birmingham, Ala. native Lee May became the 17th player in Major League Baseball history to hit two home runs in one inning.

April 29, 1975 – During the Vietnam War’s Operation Frequent Wind, the U.S. began to evacuate U.S. citizens from Saigon before an expected North Vietnamese takeover. It was the largest helicopter evacuation on record, and U.S. involvement in the war comes to an end.

April 29, 1975 – During the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese Army completed its capture of all parts of South Vietnamese-held Trường Sa Islands.

April 29, 1976 – Sparta Academy’s baseball team used its only two hits to good advantage in downing Fort Dale, 4-1, on this Thursday. Ronnie Pugh was the winning pitcher while the Peacock Brothers, Jerry and Terry, got Sparta’s hits.

April 29, 1979 - The final episode of "Battlestar Galactica" was aired on ABC.

April 29, 1981 - Steve Carlton, of the Philadelphia Phillies, became the first left-handed pitcher in the major leagues to get 3,000 career strikeouts.

April 29, 1985 - Billy Martin was brought back, for the fourth time, to the position of manager for the New York Yankees.

April 29, 1986 – A fire at the Central library of the City of Los Angeles Public Library damaged or destroyed 400,000 books and other items.

April 29, 1986 - Roger Clemens of the Boston Red Sox set a Major League Baseball record by striking out 20 Seattle Mariner batters.

April 29, 1988 - The Baltimore Orioles set a new Major League Baseball record by losing their first 21 games of the season.

April 29, 1994 – Episode No. 22 of “The X-Files” – entitled “Born Again” – aired for the first time.

April 29, 2002 - Darryl Strawberry was sentenced to 18 months in prison for violating his probation on a 1999 conviction on drug and solicitation of prostitution charges.

April 29, 2004 – Dick Cheney and George W. Bush testified before the 9/11 Commission in a closed, unrecorded hearing in the Oval Office.

April 29, 2014 – Former Beatrice, Ala. mayor Alan Bishop, a native of Haleyville, passed away at his home at the age of 57.

April 29, 2015 – A baseball game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Chicago White Sox set the all-time low attendance mark for Major League Baseball. Zero fans were in attendance for the game, as the stadium was officially closed to the public due to the 2015 Baltimore protests.