Today in History for Aug. 22, 2016

Ned Hanlon

Aug. 22, 565 – On this day, the Irish monk Saint Columba is said to have made the first sighting of the Loch Ness "monster."

Aug. 22, 1138 – The Battle of the Standard was fought between Scotland and England.

Aug. 22, 1607 – English explorer Bartholomew Gosnold passed away at either the age of 35 or 36 in Jamestown, Va. He was instrumental in the founding of the Virginia Company of London and Jamestown in colonial America. He led the first recorded European expedition to Cape Cod and is considered by Preservation Virginia to be the "prime mover of the colonization of Virginia".

Aug. 22, 1654 – Jacob Barsimson arrived in New Amsterdam. He was the first known Jewish immigrant to America.

Aug. 22, 1770 – James Cook named and landed on Possession Island, Queensland and claimed the east coast of Australia as New South Wales in the name of King George III.

Aug. 22, 1773 – French botanist and explorer Aimé Bonpland was born in La Rochelle, France.

Aug. 22, 1775 - The American colonies were proclaimed to be in a state of open rebellion by England's King George III.

Aug. 22, 1776 - British General William Howe's large army arrived on Long Island between Gravesend and New Utrecht with “near twenty four thousand men ready to land in a moment,” according to one observer. General William Howe’s large army came to Long Island hoping to capture New York City and gain control of the Hudson River, a victory that would divide the rebellious colonies in half.

Aug. 22, 1777 – During the American Revolutionary War, British forces abandoned the Siege of Fort Stanwix after hearing rumors of Continental Army reinforcements.

Aug. 22, 1780 – James Cook's ship HMS Resolution returned to England (Cook having been killed on Hawaii during the voyage).

Aug. 22, 1791 – The Haitian Slave Revolution in Saint-Domingue, Haiti began.

Aug. 22, 1831 – Nat Turner's slave rebellion commenceed just after midnight in Southampton County, Virginia, leading to the deaths of more than 50 whites and several hundred African Americans who are killed in retaliation for the uprising.

Aug. 22, 1848 – The United States annexed New Mexico.

Aug. 22, 1857 – Elizabeth Huggins Josey passed away on this day, and her grave is believed to be the oldest marked grave in the Consolation Church Cemetery at Oakey Streak in Butler County, Ala.

Aug. 22, 1857 – National Baseball Hall of Fame centerfielder and manager Ned Hanlon was born in Montville, Conn. During his career, he played for the Cleveland Blues, the Detroit Wolverines, the Pittsburgh Alleghenys, the Pittsburgh Burghers, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Baltimore Orioles, and he managed the Alleghenys, the Burghers, the Pirates, the Orioles, the Brooklyn Superbas and the Cincinnati Reds. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1996.

Aug. 22, 1861 – During the Civil War, the Federal vessel USS Lexington captured the steamers CSS W.B. Terry and the mail steamboat Samuel Orr at Paducah, KY.

Aug. 22, 1862 – During the Civil War, a skirmish occurred at Trinity, near Decatur, Ala.

Aug. 22, 1862 – During the Civil War, Capt. Pinckney D. Bowles of the Conecuh Guards was promoted to major when Major Charles L. Scott resigned. Also, 2nd Lt. John G. Guice was promoted to first. lieutenant.

Aug. 22, 1862 - President Abraham Lincoln wrote a carefully worded letter in response to an abolitionist editorial by Horace Greeley, the editor of the influential New York Tribune, and hinted at a change in his policy concerning slavery. In the letter Lincoln stated "If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that" and "I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free."

Aug. 22, 1862 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought with Sioux Indians near Fort Ridley, Minnesota; and at Catlett Station, Freeman’s Ford, Hazel River and along the Rappahannock River in Virginia.

Aug. 22, 1863 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought with Indians at San Pedro Crossing in the Arizona Territory; on Big Creek, near Pleasant Hill, in Missouri; at Stafford Courthouse, Virginia; and at Huntersville, West Virginia.

Aug. 22, 1863 – During the Civil War, a month-long Federal operation against Snake Indians from Fort Lapwai to the Meadows in the Idaho Territory began.

Aug. 22, 1863 – During the Civil War, the Federal battery named Swamp Angel blew up while firing rounds into Charleston, S.C.

Aug. 22, 1863 – During the Civil War, a three-day Federal operation from Tracy City, Tennessee to the Tennessee River began.

Aug. 22, 1864 – During the Civil War, the Battle of Weldon, Va., ended. The battle began when Union General Ulysses S. Grant attempted to cut Confederate lines into Petersburg, Va.

Aug. 22, 1864 – During the Civil War, the siege of Fort Morgan in Mobile Bay, Ala. continued.

Aug. 22, 1864 – During the Civil War, a four-day Federal expedition aboard the steamers, Dove and Homeyer, up the Saint Francis River to Mount Vernon, Arkansas began.

Aug. 22, 1864 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought in Yell County, Arkansas; at Canton and Roaring Spring, Kentucky; on the Vaughan Road in Virginia; and at Charlestown, West Virginia.

Aug. 22, 1864 – During the Civil War, an eight-day Federal operation in La Fayette County, Missouri began.

Aug. 22, 1893 – Writer Dorothy Parker was born Dorothy Rothschild in Long Branch, N.J.

Aug. 22, 1895 – The Monroe Journal reported that Prof. N.J. Ivey of Monroe County’s Fork community had been elected principal of the Perdue Hill High School.

Aug. 22, 1895 – The Monroe Journal reported that Claiborne farmer W.S. Moore had produced the first bale of the 1895 cotton crop in Monroe County, having already gathered and shipped three bales.

Aug. 22, 1895 – Hungarian pilot and explorer László Almásy was born in Borostyánkő, Austria-Hungary. He was the basis for the protagonist in both Michael Ondaatje's novel “The English Patient” (1992) and the movie adaptation of the same name (1996).

Aug. 22, 1900 - Confederate heroine Emma Sansom passed away at the age of 53 in Upshur County, Texas and she was buried in Little Mound Cemetery. In 1863, the 16-year-old Sansom helped Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest cross Black Creek near Gadsden as he pursued Union forces led by Col. A.D. Streight. Later in 1863, Sansom was awarded a gold medal by the Alabama legislature for her actions. (Some sources say she died on Aug. 9, 1900.)

Aug, 22, 1902 – In Hartford, Conn., Theodore Roosevelt became the first President of the United States to ride in an automobile.

Aug. 22, 1905 – “One of the bloodiest tragedies” in Monroe County, Ala. history occurred near Tunnel Springs on this Tuesday morning, resulting in the deaths of three men. Some time before the incident, Groffery Talley, who operated a saw mill at Tunnel Springs, assumed a debt for Oliver Lett, who agreed to work off the debt at Talley’s sawmill. Lett later quit, saying he’d worked off the debt, but Talley disagreed. On this Tuesday morning, Talley sent his foreman, Harry Helton, and John Helton to see Lett and demand that Lett either return to work or pay the balance of his debt. The Helton’s went to Lett’s house “at an early hour,” and Lett agreed to go with them as soon as he put on his shoes. Lett invited the Heltons inside his house, but when John Helton walked through the door, Lett fired a load of buckshot into his chest, killing him instantly. Lett also fired at Harry Helton, wounding him in the face and head. Helton “gave the alarm” and a posse soon returned to Lett’s house only to find that Lett had taken refuge in a relative’s house a short distance away. When the posse arrived at the relative’s house with Talley in the lead, Lett shot Talley, inflicting a mortal wound. The posse laid siege to the house, and after several hours, Lett “was finally overcome.” Monroe County Sheriff Fountain went to the scene as soon as he heard about what was going on, but when he arrived he “found Lett dead and his body literally riddles with bullets.” Talley died the next day.

Aug. 22, 1909 – Pro Football Hall of Fame center and linebacker Mel Hein was born in Redding, Calif. He went on to play for Washington State and the New York Giants. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1963.

Aug. 22, 1915 - Dr. P.E. Burroughs of Nashville, Tenn., “one of the greatest Bible scholars in the south,” spoke at Monroeville Baptist Church on this Sunday morning.

Aug. 22, 1916 - Through the efforts of local citizens, J.T. Mangum of Selma was scheduled to deliver at stereopticon lecture at the High School auditorium on tis Tuesday evening, “descriptive of his trip to Africa and points of interest in Europe a few years ago in company with Bishop Walter R. Lambuth, superintendent of mission work of the M.E. Church, South, in the Dark Continent.” Mangum’s lecture was to “be illustrated with stereopticon views of scenes in London, Paris and other cities of the Old World as well as of primitive conditions in Africa as they are found in native villages.”

Aug. 22, 1916 - Dr. G.H. Harper of Uriah visited Monroeville, Ala. on business on this Tuesday.

Aug. 22, 1918 – During World War I, Army Pvt. Edward Williams of River Falls “died of disease.”

Aug. 22, 1920 – Science fiction and horror writer Ray Bradbury was born in Waukegan, Illinois.

Aug. 22, 1922 – Michael Collins, Commander-in-chief of the Irish Free State Army, was shot dead during in an ambush by anti-Treaty forces at Béal na Bláth, County Cork during the Irish Civil War.

Aug. 22, 1935 – Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Annie Proulx, author of “The Shipping News,” was born in Norwich, Connecticut.

Aug. 22, 1939 – National Baseball Hall of Fame left fielder and first baseman Carl Yastrzemski was born in Southampton, N.Y. He played his entire career for the Boston Red Sox (1961-1983), and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1989.

Aug. 22, 1941 – Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells was born in Englewood, N.J. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2013.

Aug. 22, 1943 - Alabama author Robert Inman was born in Elba, Ala.

Aug. 22, 1944 - A primary election to name a mayor and members of the town council was to be held in Monroeville on this day, and a second primary election was to be held on Sept. 5, if necessary. Persons desiring to become candidates had to file a declaration before midnight on Aug. 10.

Aug. 22, 1953 – Major League Baseball third baseman Jim Tabor, a native of New Hope, Ala., died of a heart attack at the age of 36 in Sacramento, Calif. During his career, he played for the Boston Red Sox and the Philadelphia Phillies.

Aug. 22, 1956 – National Baseball Hall of Fame designated hitter, infielder and manager Paul Molitor was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota. During his career, he played for the Milwaukee Brewers, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Minnesota Twins. He was inducted int the Hall of Fame in 2004.

Aug. 22, 1957 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Evergreen took the pennant at the end of regular season play in the Conecuh County Amateur Baseball League. The final league standings showed Evergreen in first place, Garland, second; Paul, third; Castleberry, fourth; Red Level, fifth; and Lyeffion, sixth. Bernard Powell was the league’s president.

Aug. 22, 1957 – The Evergreen Courant reported that there were no new developments to report regarding the beating of four blacks in Evergreen, Ala. two weeks before by assailants dressed in what appeared to be Ku Klux Klan regalia. Local Klan leaders denied any knowledge of the beating, and local Klan members reported that they hadn’t taken part in the incident. The beatings received widespread media attention, and “calls from all over the country flooded” the Conecuh County Sheriff’s office seeking information about the incident.

Aug. 22, 1957 – The Evergreen Courant reported that work was scheduled to begin within the next week on the Conecuh County Lake as workers were set to begin the erection of a dam at Tomlinson’s Mill, about seven miles north of Evergreen, Ala. Marion Wilkins was Conecuh County’s County Engineer.

Aug. 22, 1962 - Kennedy administration officials quoted in The New York Times estimated that there are 20,000 guerrilla troops in South Vietnam. Despite hundreds of engagements during the preceding two months and encouraging victories for South Vietnamese forces, the Viet Cong had grown in numbers, and U.S. officials felt that the war had reached a point of stalemate.

Aug. 22, 1964 – Lawrence Earl Vonderau, 20, of Brewton, Ala. pleaded guilty before Judge Daniel H. Thomas of Mobile to holding up the Union Bank in Repton on June 20, 1964 and robbing the bank of $16,386.

Aug. 22, 1967 - Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General John P. McConnell, stated before a Senate Subcommittee that adopting a graduated bombing policy in North Vietnam was a mistake. Three days later, Secretary of Defense McNamara admitted that the bombing of North Vietnam had not materially affected Hanoi’s “warmaking capability.”

Aug. 22, 1968 – Marine Lance Cpl. Dwayne Lamont Salter of Evergreen, Ala. was killed in action in Vietnam.

Aug. 22, 1968 - For the first time in two months, Viet Cong forces launched a rocket attack on Saigon, killing 18 and wounding 59. Administration officials denounced the attack as a direct repudiation of President Johnson’s speech of August 19, in which he appealed to the North Vietnamese to respond favorably to his limitation of the air campaign north of the DMZ.

Aug. 22, 1972 - Delegates entering the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach were harassed by 3,000 antiwar demonstrators, many painted with death masks. The rest of the convention was marked by demonstrations outside the meeting hall; hundreds of protestors are arrested and many are injured when police use riot-control agents.

Aug. 22, 1976 – Major League Basebball pitcher Randy Wolf was born in West Hill, Calif. He went on to play for the Philadelphia Phillies, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the San Diego Padres, the Houston Astros, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Baltimore Orioles, the Miami Marlins and the Detroit Tigers.

Aug. 22, 1981 – A horse show sponsored by the Lyeffion High School FFA and the Lyeffion Saddle Club was scheduled to be held at the Lyeffion Saddle Club Arena, starting at 5 p.m. with proceeds to go to the FFA Chapter.

Aug. 22, 1987 – Warrior Academy beat Sparta Academy, 21-0, in Eutaw, Ala. Standout players for Sparta in that game included Craig Blackburn, Kenny Bledsoe, Robbie Bolton, Jeff Carrier, Jamie Deason, Brad Watts and Lee Wild.

Aug. 22, 1988 – The Fall Term of Circuit Court in Conecuh County, Ala. began with Judge Robert E.L. Key presiding. Key was the 35th Judicial Circuit’s first and only judge at the time, and this was his final regular court term in Conecuh County before his retirement in January 1989.

Aug. 22, 1989 - Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers struck out Rickey Henderson to become the first pitcher in major league history to register 5,000 career strikeouts.

Aug. 22, 1990 - U.S. President George H.W. Bush signed an order for calling reservists to aid in the build up of troops in the Persian Gulf.

Aug. 22, 1990 - The U.S. State Department announced that the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait would not be closed under President Saddam Hussein's demand.

Aug. 22, 1990 - The 1990-91 school year at both Monroe Academy and Monroe County public schools was scheduled to begin.

  

Aug. 22, 1992 – FBI HRT sniper Lon Horiuchi shot and killed Vicki Weaver during an 11-day siege at her home at Ruby Ridge, Idaho.

Aug. 22, 2003 – Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore was suspended after refusing to comply with a federal court order to remove a rock inscribed with the Ten Commandments from the lobby of the Alabama Supreme Court building.

Aug. 22, 2003 - Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals went 0-5 to end a 30-game hitting streak.

Aug. 22, 2007 – The Texas Rangers defeated the Baltimore Orioles 30–3, the most runs scored by a team in modern Major League Baseball history. The combined run total was also Major League record.

Aug. 22, 2014 – Sparta Academy’s varsity football team was scheduled to play Hooper Academy in a pre-season game at Davis Henry Field in Hope Hull, Ala. The game was not to count against either team’s regular season record. Also on this night, Hillcrest High School’s varsity football team was scheduled to play a preseason game against Clarke County High School.