Today in History for Nov. 29, 2016

General John Palmer

Nov. 29, 1729 – Natchez Indians massacred 138 Frenchmen, 35 French women, and 56 children at Fort Rosalie, near the site of modern-day Natchez, Mississippi.

Nov. 29, 1775 - The Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, established a Committee of Secret Correspondence. The committee’s goal was to provide European nations with a Patriot interpretation of events in Britain’s North American colonies, in the hope of soliciting aid for the American war effort.

Nov. 29, 1776 – During the American Revolutionary War, the Battle of Fort Cumberland, Nova Scotia came to an end with the arrival of British reinforcements.

Nov. 29, 1781 – The crew of the British slave ship Zong murdered 133 Africans by dumping them into the sea to claim insurance.

Nov. 29, 1813 – During the War of 1812, the Battle of Autosse took place at the Indian village of Autosse, on the southern bank of the Tallapoosa River, 20 miles above its junction with the Coosa River in Alabama. The battle lasted about two hours and was won by an American force of about 950 Georgia militia led by American Brigadier General John Floyd and 400 friendly Creeks led by William McIntosh and the son of Mad Dog. During the rad, over 200 hostile Creeks were killed and 400 dwellings were destroyed at the cost to Floyd of 11 killed and 54 wounded.

Nov. 29, 1832 – Novelist Louisa May Alcott was born in Germantown, Pa. She is best remembered for her 1868 book, “Little Women.”

Nov. 29, 1861 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought at Warner’s Ranch, southwest of Los Angeles, Calif.

Nov. 29, 1861 – During the Civil War, the Confederate Legislature “accepted” the admission of Missouri into the Confederacy and ordered a star added to the flag in her honor, but in fact Missouri’s major cities and Mississippi River banks were firmly in control of the Union.

Nov. 29, 1862 - John Palmer and John Scholfield were promoted to major general for the Union army.

Nov. 29, 1864 – In what is now known as the “Sand Creek Massacre,” Colorado volunteers led by Colonel John Chivington massacred at least 150 Cheyenne and Arapaho noncombatants at Sand Creek inside the Colorado Territory. Nine of Chivington’s men were killed; 148 of Black Kettle’s followers were slaughtered, more than half of them women and children.

Nov. 29, 1864 – During the Battle of Spring Hill, a Confederate advance into Tennessee missed an opportunity to crush the Union Army. General John Bell Hood, who approached Franklin, Tenn. on this day, was angered, which led to the Battle of Franklin the following day when Hood attacked troops under John Scholfield.

Nov. 29, 1877 – Thomas Edison demonstrated his phonograph for the first time.

Nov. 29, 1890 - Navy defeated Army by a score of 24-0 in the first Army-Navy football game. The game was played at West Point, NY.

Nov. 29, 1898 – Novelist and Christian apologist Clive Staples “C.S.” Lewis was born in Belfast, Ireland. A World War I veteran, he was also good friends with fantasy author J.R.R. Tolkein. Lewis is best known for his books, “The Chronicles of Narnia.”

Nov. 29, 1902 - The New York Medical Record published an account of Dr. Luther Leonidas Hill performing the first open heart surgery in the western hemisphere when he sutured a knife wound in a young boy’s heart. Dr. Hill was the father of Alabama politician and U.S. senator Lister Hill.

Nov. 29, 1902 – The Pittsburgh Stars defeated the Philadelphia Athletics, 11–0, at the Pittsburgh Coliseum, to win the first championship associated with an American national professional football league.

Nov. 29, 1914 - Mr. H.L. Dodson of Perdue Hill reported “the somewhat unusual incident of seeing a ‘belled buzzard’ flying over his place.”

Nov. 29, 1915 - The principal (Prof. Harris) and faculty of Monroe County High School hosted on this Monday Miss Sarah Luther, Conecuh County High School principal, and faculty, composed of Misses Skinner and Vaughn and Prof. Williams; and on Dec. 1, Prof. Claude Hardy, principal of the Wilcox County High School and Miss Palmer of the Alabama Girls’ School, Montevallo, visited MCHS.

Nov. 29, 1918 – During World War I, Army Pvt. Lee Montgomery of Beatrice, Ala. “died from disease.”

Nov. 29, 1918 – Newberry Award-winning novelist Madeleine L’Engle was born in New York City. She is best known for her 1963 book, “A Wrinkle in Time.”

Nov. 29, 1929 – U.S. Admiral Richard E. Byrd led the first expedition to fly over the South Pole.

Nov. 29, 1946 – Thomas Charles Littles was born in Brewton, Ala. He would be fatally wounded during the Vietnam War.

Nov. 29, 1961 – During Project Mercury’s Mercury-Atlas V Mission, Enos, a chimpanzee, was launched into space aboard the Mercury-Atlantis V. The spacecraft orbited the Earth twice and splashed down off the coast of Puerto Rico.

Nov. 29, 1961 – Conecuh County’s annual Christmas Carnival, which was sponsored by the Evergreen Chamber of Commerce, was scheduled to be held on this Wednesday. The parade, which was to feature Santa Claus, was scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m.

Nov. 29, 1962 - Major League Baseball decided to return to only one All-Star Game a year beginning in 1963.

Nov. 29, 1963 - U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson established the Warren Commission, headed by Earl Warren, to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Nov. 29, 1967 – Evergreen’s annual Christmas parade was held as part of Conecuh County’s annual Christmas Carnival.

Nov. 29, 1971 – Birmingham, Ala. native Lee May was traded from the Cincinnati Reds to the Houston Astros.

Nov. 29, 1974 - Alabama author Ruby Pickens Tartt died in York, Ala.

Nov. 29, 1974 – A public ribbon-cutting ceremony was scheduled to be held at the new Southtown Plaza Shopping Center in Monroeville, Ala. on this day after Thanksgiving. The ceremony was scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. in the parking lot of the shopping center, which was located on the Highway 21 Bypass at Mayfield Street. The shopping center included a new TG&Y store.

Nov. 29, 1976 – Actress Anna Faris was born in Baltimore, Md.

Nov. 29, 1980 - "Monday Night Football" was on the cover of TV Guide.

Nov. 29, 1987 - Joe Montana of the San Francisco 49ers completed a record 22 consecutive passes.

Nov. 29, 1987 - Venice Glenn of the San Diego Chargers ran back an interception for 103 yards, setting a NFL record.

Nov. 29, 1990 - The United Nations Security Council authorized the use of "all means necessary" to remove Saddam Hussein's forces from Kuwait, giving Iraq the deadline of midnight on January 16, 1991, to leave or risk forcible removal.

Nov. 29, 1991 - The worst U.S. highway mishap took place in which a zero visibility dust storm caused 33 accidents, involving 164 vehicles near Kern Coubty, Calif.

Nov. 29, 1992 - Dennis Byrd of the New York Jets was paralyzed after a neck injury in a game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Nov. 29, 1992 - Jerry Rice caught his 100th NFL touchdown pass.

Nov. 29, 1995 - Hurricane Opal hit the Florida panhandle and Alabama. Nine people died.

Nov. 29, 1997 - Grambling State University football coach Eddie Robinson coached his last college football game as Grambling’s Tigers played the Southern University Jaguars at the Superdome in New Orleans. Southern won, 30-7. Robinson had been coaching at Grambling, a historically black college near Shreveport, for 55 seasons.

Nov. 29, 2011 - Sparta Academy’s varsity boys basketball team beat Wilcox Academy, 59-47, on this Tuesday in Evergreen. Dylan Middleton led Sparta with a double double. He scored 17 points, grabbed 19 rebounds and stole the ball twice.