Today in History for June 3, 2016

New York Yankee Bobby Brown

June 3, 1539 - Hernando de Soto claimed Florida for Spain.

June 3, 1608 – Samuel de Champlain completed his third voyage to New France at Tadoussac, Quebec.

June 3, 1780 - Former royal governor of Massachusetts, Thomas Hutchinson, died in Brompton, England. He had served from 1771 to 1774.

June 3, 1781 – Jack Jouett began his midnight ride to warn Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia legislature of an impending raid by Banastre Tarleton.

June 3, 1784 - The U.S. Congress formally created the United States Army to replace the disbanded Continental Army. On June 14, 1775, the Second Continental Congress had created the Continental Army for purposes of common defense and this event is considered to be the birth of the United States Army.

June 3, 1800 - John Adams moved to Washington, D.C., becoming the first President to live in what later became the capital of the United States.

June 3, 1807 – Confederate President Jefferson Davis was born in Fairview, Ky. (Some sources say he was born in 1808.)

June 3, 1851 - The New York Knickerbockers became the first baseball team to wear uniforms. They wore straw hats, white shirts and blue trousers.

June 3, 1861 - Senator Stephen A. Douglas passed away at the age of 48 from typhoid fever in Chicago, Ill.

June 3, 1861 – During the Civil War, at the Battle of Philippi (also called the Philippi Races), Union forces routed Confederate troops in Barbour County, Virginia, now West Virginia, in the first land battle of the War. Some 3,000 federal troops under the general command of Major General George B. McClellan and the immediate command of Colonels Benjamin F. Kelley and Ebenezar Dumont drove about 800 Confederates under Colonel George A. Porterfield from the town of Grafton. While no one was killed in the battle, the Confederates suffered several severe wounds necessitating the first amputations of the Civil War, one each by Union and Confederate surgeons. The Northern victory stiffened Unionist resolve in western Virginia.

June 3, 1862 – A 3000-strong riot occurred at Wardsend Cemetery in Sheffield, England, against rumors of body-snatching from the grounds.

June 3, 1862 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought on James Island, South Carolina and at Mount Jackson, Virginia.

June 3, 1862 – During the Civil War, Confederates evacuated Fort Pillow in Tennessee.

June 3, 1863 - Confederate General Robert E. Lee launched his second invasion of the North when he let 75,000 troops into Pennsylvania.

June 3, 1863 – During the Civil War, an engagement was fought at Simsport, Louisiana, and a skirmish was fought near Murfreesboro, Tenn.

June 3, 1863 – During the Civil War, the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi entered Day 16.

June 3, 1864 – During the Civil War, at the Battle of Cold Harbor, Union forces attacked Confederate troops in Hanover County, Virginia. Ephraim Powell of the Conecuh Guards was killed in this battle. Roderick Foss and John W. Wilson, who were also members of the Conecuh Guards, were wounded in this battle. Foss returned to Alabama after the war, and Wilson returned to Conecuh County after the war. A mistake by General Ulysses S. Grant in this battle resulted in 7,000 Union casualties in 20 minutes during an offensive against entrenched Rebels. Grant waited to attack until the bulk of the Army of the Potomac had arrived.

June 3, 1864 – During the Civil War, an action occurred at Haw's Shop, and a skirmish was near Via's House, Virginia. A skirmish was also fought near Neosho, Missouri.

June 3, 1871 - Jesse James, then 24, and his gang robbed the Obocock bank in Corydon, Iowa and stole $15,000.

June 3, 1888 - "Casey at the Bat" the poem by Ernest Lawrence Thayer, was first published in The San Francisco Examiner.

June 3, 1898 - Richmond Pearson Hobson of Greensboro, Ala. became a naval hero when he sank his own ship, the Merrimac, during the Spanish-American War. Hobson, aided by a crew of seven, sank the collier in an attempt to block the Spanish fleet in Cuba's Santiago harbor, an event he later described in his book “The Sinking of the Merrimac.” For this act of bravery, Hobson was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1933.

June 3, 1900 – English explorer and author Mary Kinglsey died (likely from typhoid) at the age of 37 at Simon’s Town, South Africa and was buried at sea. Her travels throughout West Africa and resulting work helped shape European perceptions of African cultures and British imperialism.

June 3, 1900 – Alabama Secretary of State Mabel Sanders Amos was born in Brooklyn, Ala. She was the daughter of James J. and Hattie (Bethea) Sanders; and the granddaughter of Isaac Monroe and Mary (Perdue) Sanders and of John Goodman and Viola (Rabun) Bethea, all of Conecuh County.

June 3, 1905 – German SS officer Martin Gottfried Weiss was born in Weiden in der Oberpfalz.

June 3, 1909 – Alabama Gov. B.B. Comer and State Treasurer Walter Dudley Seed delivered speeches during the commencement exercises at the State Agricultural School in Evergreen, Ala.

June 3, 1910 – J.J. “Jack” Finklea ended his second term as Buena Vista, Alabama’s postmaster, turning the job over to his son, Ollie Finklea. Jack Finklea served two terms as Buena Vista’s postmaster, from 1868 to 1875 and from 1905 to 1910.

June 3, 1911 – The Evergreen Courant reported that at least 10 prominent Monroe County, Ala. planters had been indicted by the federal grand jury for either peonage or conspiracy to hold men in involuntary servitude in violation of the federal law. Seven of those indicted had already been released on bond and included Howard Faulk, Paul Hudson, S.C. Freeman, J.R. Bailey, Andrew Petty, G.W. Broughton and J.A. Reynolds.

June 3, 1913 - Jones Mill, Ala. was renamed Roy in the town’s bid to attract the Gulf, Florida & Alabama depot. The town would later change its name to Frisco City.

June 3, 1916 - General C.R. Bricken and party passed through Evergreen, Ala. on this Saturday en route to Monroe County, Ala. They were traveling by automobile, according to The Conecuh Record.

June 3, 1916 – The National Defense Act was signed into law, increasing the size of the United States National Guard by 450,000 men.

June 3, 1924 – Czech author Franz Kafka died at the age of 40 from laryngeal tuberculosis in Klosterneuburg, Lower Austria, Austria.

June 3, 1926 – Poet Allen Ginsberg was born in Newark, N.J.

June 3, 1932 - Lou Gehrig became the first player to homer four times in a single game, a Major League record.

June 3, 1934 - Evergreen’s baseball traveled to Andalusia on this Sunday for a rematch against the Andalusia Senators, but they were again defeated by a score of 3-0. Evergreen pitcher Hyde kept the Senators guessing and with the support of the team, it was impossible for Andalusia to advance the score. A number of fans drove over from Evergreen and watched the game. It seemed evident that Andalusia fans backed their team well and this was of great advantage to them. The standings of the teams in this league were in order, as follows: Florala held the lead with Greenville, Evergreen and Luverne were in second place; Andalusia, fifth; and Chapman at the bottom.

June 3, 1935 – In Lovecraftian fiction, the Peaslee Australian Expedition discovered the first signs of ancient ruins in the Great Sandy Desert.

June 3, 1936 – Novelist Larry McMurtry was born in Archer City, Texas. His 1985 novel “Lonesome Dove” won the Pulitzer Prize.

June 3, 1937 - The Sporting News reported that catcher Josh Gibson of the Negro League’s Homestead Grays hit a ball two feet from the top of the façade of Yankee Stadium, 580 feet from home plate.

June 3, 1938 – Thomas Alvin “Tommy” Morrow, who played three seasons at defensive back for the Oakland Raiders, was born in Georgiana, Ala. He played at Georgiana High School and Southern Miss and holds the NFL record for the most consecutive games with an interception, with eight.

June 3, 1943 – The Monroe Journal reported that Jim Kelly of Monroeville, student leader at Alabama Polytechnic Institute, was ending an outstanding college career that month as he went on active duty with the United States Army. Kelly served as senior representative to the executive cabinet and was chairman of the invitations committee. He held membership of Omicron Delta Kappa, Scabbard and Blade and Pi Kappa Phi social fraternity.

June 3, 1944 – Former Evergreen, Ala. resident Pvt. Willie Shepherd Cook died from wounds received in action while serving with the Fifth Army in Italy in Co. C, 133rd Infantry. Born on Feb. 4, 1924, he’d lived in Evergreen up until he entered the Army in January 1943 and he’d been in Italy since September 1943.

June 3, 1948 - Ed Brown Jr., an ex-Navy pilot, opened the first drive-in, fly-in movie theater, with space for 25 planes, outside Wall Township, New Jersey.

June 3, 1950 – The first successful ascent of an Eight-thousander; the summit of Annapurna was reached by Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal.

June 3, 1956 – Red Level, Alabama’s baseball team won their third straight game when they handed Lyeffion their first loss. George Gaston pitched for Red Level, and Lloyd Rodgers hit a home run for Red Level. Lyeffion’s Chester Martin also hit a home run, and Robert Dees took the pitching loss.

June 3, 1956 – Garland’s baseball team beat previously undefeated Paul, 8-5, on this Sunday afternoon at Garland, Ala. Winston Blackburn pitched for Garland and was relieved by Petty. Godwin pitched for Paul.

June 3, 1956 – The Buck Creek baseball team beat Flat Rock, 8-4.

June 3, 1958 – Dr. Bobby Brown, former third baseman with the New York Yankees, conducted a practice with Monroeville (Ala.) Little Leaguers at Vanity Fair ball park on this Tuesday afternoon. Brown, the one-time major league player, was a graduate of Tulane University Medical School, where he had recently completed residency in cardiology. He was with the Yankees for four years from 1946 until he entered service in the Navy. Brown took time out from a visit with his sister, Mrs. Rayford Smith Jr., and other friends to demonstrate form in catching, fielding, hitting, sliding and other useful tips.

June 3, 1959 - The first class graduated from the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.

June 3, 1963 – During the “Buddhist Crisis,” soldiers of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam attacked protesting Buddhists in Huế, South Vietnam, with liquid chemicals from tear-gas grenades, causing 67 people to be hospitalized for blistering of the skin and respiratory ailments.

June 3, 1965 - Astronaut Edward White became the first American to spacewalk during the flight of Gemini 4.

June 3, 1968 - Le Duc Tho, a member of the North Vietnam Communist Party’s Politburo, joined the North Vietnamese negotiating team as a special counselor. The Paris peace talks had begun in March 1968, but had made little headway in ending the war. In August 1969, Tho and Henry Kissinger would begin meeting secretly in a villa outside Paris in an attempt to reach a peace settlement. It was these private talks that would ultimately result in the January 1973 Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring the Peace in Vietnam. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize with Kissinger in 1973, Tho, aware that the North Vietnamese were still planning to conquer South Vietnam, declined the honor.

June 3, 1969 - The final episode of "Star Trek" aired on NBC.

June 3, 1969 – During the “Melbourne–Evans Collision,” off the coast of South Vietnam, the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne cut the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Frank E. Evans in half.

June 3, 1970 - In a televised speech, President Richard Nixon claimed the Allied drive into Cambodia was the “most successful operation of this long and difficult war,” and that he was now able to resume the withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Vietnam. U.S. and South Vietnamese forces had launched a limited “incursion” into Cambodia on April 29. The campaign included 13 major ground operations to clear North Vietnamese sanctuaries 20 miles inside Cambodia.

June 3, 1971 – Thomas Charles Littles of Evergreen, Ala., who was fatally wounded in Vietnam, died from pneumonia in Montgomery, Ala.

June 3, 1971 – Levon McCreary Jr. killed a 4-1/2 foot long rattlesnake at the home of his parents near the Evergreen Heading Co. in Evergreen, Ala. The snake had 16 rattles and a button.

June 3, 1971 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Ardis Garrett, 16, of Uriah, Ala. had been crowned Miss Alabama Teen-Ager at the end of a recent pageant in Birmingham that involved 38 girls from across the state. Garrett was the daughter of former State Rep. and Mrs. W.E. Garrett.

June 3, 1973 - A portrait of the late Roy M. Davis, who was serving as principal of Monroe County High School until his death in late December 1972, was presented to Mrs. Davis at MCHS’s baccalaureate services on this Sunday night at the coliseum. A gift from students and faculty at the school, the color oil portrait was painted by Mrs. Bob Dulaney, local artist.

June 3, 1977 - Dr. Clark Smeltzer resigned from the staff of the Conecuh County Hospital in Evergreen, Ala. and ended his practice of medicine in Conecuh County. Smeltzer began his practice in Conecuh County in November 1975 and was for many months the only physician in active practice in the county.

June 3, 1977 – Louise Cooper, who was born into slavery at Claiborne, Ala. on June 5, 1863, passed away – just two days shy of her 114th birthday. The subject of several George Singleton articles and columns, she is buried in the Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Cemetery at Claiborne.

June 3, 1980 - ESPN began televising college world series games.

June 3, 1987 - The Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros combined for three grand slams in one game.

June 3, 1989 - The Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-4. The game lasted 22 innings and took over seven hours to play.

June 3, 1999 – In this day’s edition of the London-Sunday Times, Dr. Bill Gibbons, a zoologist who specialized in attempting to track down new species, said that he is certain that mokele-mbembe exists.

June 3, 2003 - Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs broke a bat when he grounded out against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The bat he was using was a corked bat.

June 3, 2010 – Jordan Van der Sloot was charged in the U.S. District Court of Northern Alabama with extortion and wire fraud. U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance obtained an arrest warrant and transmitted it to Interpol. Van der Sloot was indicted on the charges on June 30.

June 3, 2013 – Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end Deacon Jones died at the age of 74 in Anaheim Hills, Calif. During his career, he played for Mississippi Valley State, the Los Angeles Rams, the San Diego Chargers and the Washington Redskins. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1980.

June 3, 2014 – “Forty Times a Killer: A Novel of John Wesley Hardin” by William W. Johnstone published by Pinnacle. Hardin lived for about 18 months in Pollard, Ala.