Today in History for May 9, 2016

James Matthew Barrie

May 9, 1502 - Christopher Columbus left Spain for his final trip to the Western Hemisphere.

May 9, 1540 – Hernando de Alarcón set sail on an expedition to the Gulf of California.

May 9, 1671 – Thomas Blood, disguised as a clergyman, attempted to steal England's Crown Jewels from the Tower of London. King Charles was so impressed with Blood’s audacity that he pardoned him, restored his estates in Ireland, and gave him an annual pension of 500 pounds. Blood became a colorful celebrity all across the kingdom, and when he died in 1680, his body had to be exhumed in order to persuade the public that he was actually dead.

May 9, 1692 – In connection with the Salem witchcraft trials, Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne examined George Burroughs and Sarah Churchill. Burroughs was moved to a Boston jail.

May 9, 1754 - The first newspaper cartoon in America showed a divided snake "Join or die" in "The Pennsylvania Gazette."

May 9, 1781 – Spain won possession of West Florida by military conquest when the British surrendered to the Spanish on this day.

May 9, 1791 - Francis Hopkinson died suddenly of a seizure at the age of 53 in Philadelphia, Pa. He was an American author and one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence as a delegate from New Jersey. He later served as a federal judge in Pennsylvania and played a key role in the design of the first American flag.

May 9, 1860 - Journalist, novelist, playwright and “Peter Pan” creator James Matthew Barrie was born in Angus, Scotland.

May 9, 1861 - In the initial wave of martial enthusiasm that swept both North and South, volunteers were enlisted in great numbers, but for very short terms. It was assumed that very few battles would be needed to either quash the rebellion or ensure Confederate independence (depending on your viewpoint and preference). Wiser heads began to prevail, and on this day President Davis quietly signed a measure providing that all future enlistments would be “for the duration of the war” rather than a prescribed period of time.

May 9, 1862 – During the Civil War, Confederates evacuated Pensacola, Fla.

May 9, 1862 – During the Civil War, Confederates evacuated Norfolk, Virginia. Although there was no battle, the loss of the Norfolk yards was a heavy blow to the South. It was not only essential for the defense of southern Virginia and North Carolina, it was the home port of the pioneering ironclad CSS Merrimack. Retreating forces attempted to destroy what they could not carry, but much was left for the invading Federals.

May 9, 1862 – During the Civil War, an engagement occurred at Farmington, Mississippi.

May 9, 1863 – During the Civil War, an affair took place near Caney Fork, Tenn., and Confederates destroyed the oilworks at Oiltown, West Virginia. A skirmish was also fought at Bayou Tensas, Louisiana.

May 9, 1864 – During the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse in Spotsylvania County, Va., a number of the members of the Conecuh Guards were wounded. First Sgt. Andrew J. Mosley was wounded there but survived war and eventually moved to Falls County, Texas. Thomas Perry was wounded there but survived and returned to live in Monroe County after the war. William Morrow, who’d been wounded earlier at Second Manassas, was wounded there but survived and returned to live in Mobile County after war. Pinckney D. Bowles had his cap knocked out of his hand by a missile from a Yankee gun during the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse.

May 9, 1864 - Union troops secured a crucial pass in Georgia – Snake Creek Gap - during the Atlanta campaign. In the spring and summer of 1864, Union General William T. Sherman and Confederate General Joseph Johnston conducted a slow and methodical campaign to seize control of Atlanta. Pushing southeast from Chattanooga, Tennessee, toward Atlanta, Sherman continually tried to flank Johnston, but Johnston countered each move. On May 3, 1864, two of Sherman’s corps moved against Confederate defenses at Dalton, Ga., while another Yankee force under James McPherson swung wide to the south and west of Dalton in an attempt to approach Johnston from the rear. It was along this path that McPherson captured Snake Creek Gap, a crucial opening in a long elevation called Rocky Face Ridge.

May 9, 1864 - Troops under Confederate General John A. McCausland won the Battle of Cloyd's Mountain in Pulaski County, Va. McCausland was promoted to brigadier general for the victory.

May 9, 1864 – During the Civil War, combat occurred at Davenport, and engagements occurred at Cloyd's Mountain and Fort Clifton, Va. Skirmishes were also fought at Benton, Miss. and near Pound Gap, Ky.

May 9, 1864 - Confederates destroyed the U.S. Transport steamer Harriet A. Weed in Florida.

May 9, 1864 – During the Civil War, during Sheridan's Raid on Richmond, Sheridan's army began moving down the Shenandoah Valley, destroying every means the Confederacy could use to support the war.

May 9, 1865 – During the Civil War, Nathan Bedford Forrest surrendered his forces at Gainesville, Alabama.

May 9, 1865 – During the Civil War, President Andrew Johnson issued a proclamation ending belligerent rights of the rebels and enjoining foreign nations to intern or expel Confederate ships.

May 9, 1885 – Major C.L. Scott of Monroeville, Ala. and Col. B.L. Hibbard departed Mobile for Washington, D.C. A short time before this, U.S. President Grover Cleveland appointed Scott as U.S. Minister to Venezuela. Hibbard was to accompany Scott to Venezeula as Scott’s private secretary.

May 9, 1895 – Early on this Thursday morning, the Lower Warehouse at Claiborne, Ala. was destroyed by fire, resulting in a heavy loss to J.H. Moore, the proprietor, and several other merchants.

May 9, 1895 – The Monroe Journal reported that during the recent term of the Monroe County (Ala.) Circuit Court “two prisoners were sentenced to terms in the penitentiary and eight to hard labor for the county. Those sentenced to the penitentiary were: Sam Brown, grand larceny, two years; Tom English, manslaughter, two years. The following were sentenced to hard labor for the county to pay fine and costs: Pos Finklea, 11 months; Chas. Westry, six months; Jack Gibson, 11 months; Mose Horn, 11 months; Anna Stallworth, two months; Ed Young, six months; Frank Finklea, 11 months; Jim Parker, five months, all colored.”

May 9, 1900 – Daily passenger service on the Louisville & Nashville railroad in the Monroeville, Ala. area began.

May 9, 1905 – Habeua corpus proceedings were held in the case of the State v. Harrison Liddell before Judge I.B. Slaughter in Monroeville, Ala. Liddell was charged with the murder of Shug Riley and his bail was set at $1,500.

May 9, 1907 – Atmore, Ala. was officially incorporated as a municipality.

May 9, 1909 - Author Augusta Jane Evans Wilson died in Mobile, Ala.

May 9, 1911 – Conecuh County Sheriff Ely Hines captured Britt Nelson, who allegedly murdered the Manuel Rankin, a preacher who lived a short distance from Evergreen, Ala. in November 1910. Hines arrested Nelson near Ohatchie and brought him back to Evergreen.

May 9, 1911 – The works of Gabriele D'Annunzio were placed in the Index of Forbidden Books by the Vatican.

May 9, 1915 – The Weatherford Bridge, which had recently been built across Little River, was almost entirely destroyed by fire. Ben Boone, who was returning from a trip to Atmore, discovered the fire, which had destroyed a 40-foot section of the bridge. Arson was suspected.

May 9, 1916 – A general primary election was scheduled to be held in Monroe County, Ala. for the purpose of nominating candidates for President of the United States, state and county officers. L.M. Sawyer was Monroe County Sheriff at the time.

May 9, 1919 – During World War I, Army Pvt. Timothy O. Porties of Fulton in Clarke County, Ala. “died from disease.”

May 9, 1920 – Author Richard Adams was born in Newbury, England. He’s best known for his first novel, “Watership Down” (1972), in which he wrote about a band of rabbits and their epic journey to find a new den.

May 9, 1926 – Admiral Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett claimed to have flown over the North Pole, becoming the first men to fly an airplane over the North Pole. Later discovery of Byrd's diary appeared to cast some doubt on the claim.

May 9, 1929 – Darkness ended a 14-inning baseball game between Evergreen High School and East Brewton at Gantt Field in Evergreen, Ala. with the score tied, 4-4. Evergreen pitcher Hub Sanders “proved something of a sensation” in his first start as a pitcher on this Thursday. He struck out 11 and walked one in five innings on the mound.

May 9, 1936 - Alabama author Mary Johnston dies near Warm Springs, Va.

May 9, 1938 – Poet and essayist Charles Simic was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.

May 9, 1938 – The trial against Tom Howard, who was charged with the capital offense of “carnal knowledge,” began in Evergreen, Ala. Through his attorney, R.H. Jones, Howard entered a plea of guilty and received a sentence of 25 years.

May 9, 1938 – On this Monday, the Andalusia Rams baseball team beat the Evergreen Greenies at Gantt Field in Evergreen, Ala. Skipper Rice pitched for Evergreen, and also recorded two hits. Spurlock also had two hits for the Greenies, including a triple. The game’s final score was not reported in The Evergreen Courant.

May 9, 1941 - Author Martha Young died in Greensboro, Ala.

May 9, 1942 – During the Holocaust, the SS executed 588 Jewish residents of the Podolian town of Zinkiv (Khmelnytska oblast, Ukraine). The Zolude Ghetto (in Belarus) was destroyed and all its inhabitants executed or deported.

May 9, 1958 – The film, “Vertigo,” had world premiere in San Francisco.

May 9, 1960 – National Baseball Hall of Fame right fielder Tony Gwynn was born in Los Angeles, Calif. He played his entire career (1982-2001) for the San Diego Padres. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007.

May 9, 1960 – The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug Enovid for use as a birth control pill.

May 9, 1961 - Jim Gentile of the Baltimore Orioles set a Major League Baseball record when he hit a grand slam home run in two consecutive innings. The game was against the Minnesota Twins.

May 9, 1964 – Ngô Đình Cẩn, de facto ruler of central Vietnam under his brother President Ngo Dinh Diem before the family's toppling, was executed.

May 9, 1968 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Evergreen High School’s baseball team beat T.R. Miller, 10-4. Tommy Chapman pitched a complete game for Evergreen, striking out seven, and Jimmy Brown went 2-for-3 at the plate to lead Evergreen’s offense. Other players on Evergreen’s team included Bill Bailey, Jimmy Hart, Leon Hinson, Hollis Tranum, Tommy Weaver and Larry Wright.

May 9, 1968 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Escambia County High School’s baseball team beat Evergreen High School, 1-0. Evergreen pitcher Ralph Deason allowed only four hits, and George Stinson recorded Evergreen’s only hit, a single in the first inning.

May 9, 1968 – The Evergreen Courant reported that T.R Miller High School’s baseball team beat Evergreen High School, 5-0. Tommy Scarbrough pitched for Miller, and Jimmy Hart and Ralph Deason pitched for Evergreen. Other Evergreen players included Tommy Weaver and George Stinston.

May 9, 1968 – The Evergreen Courant announced that the Conecuh County Courthouse would be closed until 8 a.m. on Sat., May 11, “for a period of mourning as a tribute” to Gov. Lurleen Wallace, who passed away on May 7.

May 9, 1968 – The Evergreen Courant announced that the manufacturing headquarters of Vanity Fair Mills in Monroeville, Ala. had named W.E. (Bert) Cook as garment manufacturing foreman at Clarke Mills in Jackson. Cook, a native of Evergreen, had worked for Vanity Fair since January 1962. Cook was formerly in the statistical quality control department at Monroe Mills in Monroeville and had been sewing room foreman at Clarke Mills since March 1967.

May 9, 1969 - William Beecher, military correspondent for the New York Times, published a front page dispatch from Washington, “Raids in Cambodia by U.S. Unprotested,” which accurately described the first of the secret B-52 bombing raids in Cambodia. Within hours, Henry Kissinger, presidential assistant for national security affairs, contacted J. Edgar Hoover, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, asking him to find the governmental sources of Beecher’s article.

May 9, 1970 – During the Vietnam War, in Washington, D.C., 75,000 to 100,000 war protesters demonstrated in front of the White House. They demanded the withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Vietnam and other Southeast Asian nations. Afterwards, a few hundred militants spread through surrounding streets, causing limited damage. Police attacked the most threatening crowds with tear gas.

May 9, 1973 – “Paper Moon,” a movie version of Alabama author Joe David Brown's book “Addie Pray,” was released.

May 9, 1973 - Johnny Bench hit three homeruns in a game off Steve Carlton. It was the second time he had achieved the feat.

May 9, 1974 – Tal Stuart Jr. presented Bruce Hutcheson with the D.T. Stuart Sportsmanship Trophy during Sparta Academy’s athletics awards banquet on this Thursday night at the Holiday Inn in Evergreen, Ala.

May 9, 1974 – During the Watergate scandal, the United States House Committee on the Judiciary opened formal and public impeachment hearings against President Richard Nixon. The impeachment was the result of the scandal involving the bungled burglary of the offices of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate apartment complex in Washington, D.C., on June 23, 1972. Eventually, it was learned that there was a criminal cover-up that went all the way to the White House.

May 9, 1980 – Evergreen, Ala. native Clint Jackson continued unbeaten as a professional boxer by knocking out Priciliano “Zip” Castillo of Corpus Christi, Texas in the third round of a bout fought in Nashville, Tenn. The fight was Jackson’s seventh as a pro, and he’d won all but the first (an unanimous decision) by knock-outs.

May 9, 1983 - Deatrich Wise of Evergreen, Ala. showed both the Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion at the 18th annual Conecuh County FFA and 4-H Market Hog Show held on this Monday morning at the Evergreen Cooperative Stockyard Show Arena.

May 9, 1984 - The Chicago White Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-6, in 25 innings. The game took eight hours and six minutes to complete.

May 9, 1987 - Eddie Murray of the Baltimore Orioles became the first player to switch hit homeruns in two consecutive games.

May 9, 1989 - Rick Cerone of the New York Mets committed his first error in 159 games as catcher.

May 9, 1989 - Kevin Elster of the New York Mets committed his first error in 88 games as shortstop.

May 9, 1992 – A horse show was scheduled to be held at Evergreen Municipal Park, beginning at 4 p.m.

May 9, 1995 - The Cleveland Indians tied a record when they recorded eight runs before making an out. They beat the Minnesota Twins, 10-0.

May 9, 1997 - The San Diego Padres retired pitcher Randy Jones’s No. 35 jersey.

May 9, 1997 - Twenty-two years and 10 days after the fall of Saigon, former Florida Representative Douglas “Pete” Peterson became the first ambassador to Vietnam since Graham Martin was airlifted out of the country by helicopter in late April 1975. Peterson himself served as a U.S. Air Force captain during the Vietnam War and was held as a prisoner of war for six and a half years after his bomber was shot down near Hanoi in 1966. Thirty-one years later, Peterson returned to Hanoi on a different mission, presenting his credentials to Communist authorities in the Vietnamese capital on May 9, 1997.

May 9, 1998 – Marcia “Marcy” Michelle Griffin was named Conecuh County’s 1999 Junior Miss on this Saturday night at Reid State Technical College in Evergreen, Ala. She also won top honors in the best creative and performing arts category and for best judge’s interview. Gina Harper was chosen as first alternate, and won top honors in poise and appearance and in physical fitness.

May 9, 1999 - Marshall McDougall of Florida State hit six consecutive home runs and knocked in 16 runs. Both records were set in the 25-2 victory over Maryland.

May 9, 2009 – Bo Jackson delivered the commencement speech at Auburn University's graduation ceremony. His speech was centered on the benefits of stepping out of one's comfort zone.