Today in History for Nov. 3, 2016

Israel Bush Richardson

Nov. 3, 1493 – Christopher Columbus first sighted the island of Dominica in the Caribbean Sea.

Nov. 3, 1679 - There was a great panic in Europe over the close approach of a comet.

Nov. 3, 1777 - General George Washington was informed that a conspiracy was afoot to discredit him with Congress and have him replaced by General Horatio Gates. Thomas Conway, who would be made inspector general of the United States less than two months later on December 14, led the effort.The rumored conspiracy would go down in history as the “Conway cabal.”

Nov. 3, 1783 – The American Continental Army was disbanded.

Nov. 3, 1793 – French playwright, journalist, abolitionist and feminist Olympe de Gouges was guillotined in Paris.

Nov. 3, 1794 – Poet and translator William Cullen Bryant was born in Cummington, Mass.

Nov. 3, 1813 - The Battle of Tallushatchee occurred in what is now Calhoun County. Under the command of General John Coffee, 900 of Andrew Jackson’s Tennessee volunteer cavalrymen, including Davy Crockett, Sam Houston and Cherokee scouts John Ross and Sequoyah, as they attacked the Creek Indian village Tallushatchee near the Coosa River. Coffee surrounded the town and then sent two companies into the center of the town to draw the Creeks out, after which they were caught in a crossfire between the two lines of cavalry. Fighting lasted until the last warrior fell. In all, 186 Red Sticks were killed, including a number of women and children. The remaining women and children were taken prisoner. Coffee's troops casualties were five killed and 41 wounded. This was the first offensive as Andrew Jackson made his way south to Horseshoe Bend.

Nov. 3, 1816 - Confederate General Jubal Early was born in Franklin City, Virginia. Early had a distinguished career in the Confederate army, and in 1864 he waged a campaign in the Shenandoah Valley that kept Confederate hopes alive by relieving the pressure on General Robert E. Lee's army around Richmond.

Nov. 3, 1855 – Isaac Betts Jr. became postmaster at Burnt Corn, Ala.

Nov. 3, 1861 – During the Civil War, a Federal expedition into lower Maryland, led by Brig. Generals Oliver O. Howard, and George Sykes, began.

Nov. 3, 1861 – During the Civil War, Major General Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson, CSA, assumed the command of the Shenandoah Valley District, at Winchester, Va.

Nov. 3, 1862 – During the Civil War, Union Major General Israel Bush Richardson died at the Pry House in Sharpsburg, Md. from wounds received on Sept. 17, 1862 at the Battle of Antietam, Md.

Nov. 3, 1862 – During the Civil War, Federal scouts left from Fort Crook, Calif. and Fort Churchill in the Nevada Territory for Honey Lake Valley, Calif.

Nov. 3, 1862 – During the Civil War, a seven-day Federal expedition began along the coasts of Georgia and East Florida, aboard the steamer, Darlington, between Saint Simon’s Island and Fernandina, to destroy Confederate salt works and coastline picket stations.

Nov. 3, 1862 – During the Civil War, Confederate Captain Edward W. Fuller of the gunboat CSS Cotton had a particularly enjoyable day in Berwick Bay, Louisiana on this day. He seemed to be in a thoroughly dreadful situation, being the only Confederate ship in the bay, and being confronted by no less than four Union vessels, the USS Calhoun, Kinsman, Estella and Diana. The odds were not as uneven as they may have seemed, however: what the U.S. captains did not know was that there were Confederate shore batteries concealed on the banks of the waterway. Between the batteries and the Cotton’s own guns, considerable damage was inflicted on the Federal ships until the Cotton started to run low on ammunition. Captain Fuller ordered his men to cut off their pants legs and tie the ends to make additional powder bags to extend the fight. The Federal ships withdrew.

Nov. 3, 1862 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought near Harrisonville, Cass Count, Mo., as Quantrill’s guerrillas attacked and captured a Federal wagon train. A skirmish was also fought at Ashby’s Gap, Va.; and a Federal Cavalry reconnaissance was conducted to Snicker’s Gap, Va., where a skirmish was fought.

Nov. 3, 1862 – During the Civil War, as Major General James Longstreet’s Army Corps and General Robert E. Lee arrived at Culpepper Courthouse to front McClellan’s advance, currently at Warrenton, Va.

Nov. 3, 1862 – During the Civil War, Captain Raphael Semmes and his ship CSS Alabama had created a reign of terror recently in the North Atlantic. Whaling ship after whaling ship had come under his guns, and one after the other had gone up in flames and headed for the bottom of the sea. This, for whatever happiness it may have engendered in the local whale population, was causing conniption fits in the industries dependent on whale oil and bone, not to mention the insurance companies of New York. Captains began to avoid the seas off Nova Scotia, and Semmes was running out of targets. Like any other hunter Semmes knew the solution: go to where the game is. He shifted to the seas around Bermuda, and the whaling ship Levi Starbuck was his next conquest.

Nov. 3, 1863 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Carrion Crow Bayou and at Bayou Bourbeau, near Grand Coteau, La.; at Quinn and Jackson’s Mill, Coldwater River, Miss., on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad; and at Lawrenceburg, Tenn. A skirmish was also fought at Collierville, Tenn., on the Memphis and Charles Railroad, and Confederate Brigadier General John Ronald Chalmers attacked the Federals with no success, losing 95 men in the process.

Nov. 3, 1863 - To the thousands of mortar, cannon and artillery shells which had already been flung at the battered hulk of Ft. Sumter were added another 661 which were shot off on this day. The problem, from the point of view of the Union attackers, was that as long as the bombproof shelters provided cover for the Confederate defenders, any further damage to the shell of the fort itself was more or less unimportant. The essential point was summed up in a report by Admiral John Dahlgren after inspecting the fort through a telescope from his flagship in Charleston Harbor. He could, he wrote “plainly observe the further effects of the firing; still, this mass of ruin [Sumter] is capable of harboring a number of the enemy, who may retain their hold until expelled by the bayonet.”

Nov. 3, 1863 – During the Civil War, two days of Confederate operations began on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad in Tenn.; and Confederate scouts began conducting operations around Catlett’s Station, Va., led by Confederate Major John S. Mosby.

Nov. 3, 1863 - Since July 4, the small Pennsylvania town of Gettysburg had struggled to cope with the aftermath of the gigantic battle which had taken place for three days on their door steps. The putrifying horses and mules had been buried, occasionally by those caught scavenging for souvenirs on the battlefield. More slowly had proceeded the burial of the soldiers. Those who died on the field had been buried where they fell, by friend or foe. Those who died later in field hospitals, or the immense Camp Letterman compound east of town, had either been shipped home to their families or buried nearby. Finally, the National Cemetery had been designed, and the dead were dug up and moved there. A ceremony of dedication was being planned, with the greatest orators of the North invited to speak. One other invitation was sent, and Abraham Lincoln, taking no offense at being an afterthought, agreed to say a few words at the Gettysburg dedication.

Nov. 3, 1864 – During the Civil War, the 4th US Army Corps arrived at Pulaski, Tenn., to block any move in that direction by Confederate Lieut. Gen. John B. Hood.

Nov. 3, 1865 - U.S. President Andrew Johnson signed the execution order for Henry Wirz. Wirz was executed for the brutality and mistreatment under his command at Andersonville Prison during the Civil War.

Nov. 3, 1885 – Monroe County (Ala.) Sheriff Burns went to Greenville, Ala. on this Tuesday and returned with a prisoner the next day.

Nov. 3, 1886 – A three-day Southern Cotton Picking Contest began and Thomas B. Nettles, 17, of Monroe County won the championship by picking a record 1,560 pounds, an average of 520 pounds per day.

Nov. 3, 1903 – Photographer and author Walker Evans was born in St. Louis, Mo. In the summer of 1936, he went down to Greensboro, Alabama, to photograph tenant farmers struggling through the Great Depression with journalist James Agee. The photographs, with Agee’s text, were published in the book “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men” in 1941, and Evans’ photos are among the most famous images of the Great Depression.

Nov. 3, 1905 – Tom McDonald shot a “fine white squirrel” on this Friday near the “McDonald place” about two miles from Jackson, Ala., according to The South Alabamian newspaper. The squirrel had pink eyes, and some of the oldest citizens said it is the only white squirrel they have ever seen. McDonald had the squirrel mounted and had it on exhibition.

Nov. 3, 1908 - Alabama author Clifford Lanier died in Montgomery, Ala.

Nov. 3, 1908 – Pro Football Hall of Fame fullback Bronko Nagurski was born in Rainy River, Ontario. He went on to play for the University of Minnesota and the Chicago Bears. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1963.

Nov. 3, 1914 – An election was held in Conecuh County, Ala. and the total vote was described as the “lightest in many years.” Democratic candidate for Alabama governor Charles Henderson received 502 votes in Conecuh County. Republican Socialist’s Jno. B. Shields and W.C. Swain got eight votes each, while Progressive candidate E.H. Cross got no votes.

Nov. 3, 1915 – The Evergreen Courant reported that A.H. Mason and C.J. Hines, who’d been recently appointed to the Conecuh County, Ala. board of equalization, had failed to select a third member of the board, so Alabama Gov. Charles Henderson was called on to appoint the third member.

Nov. 3, 1915 – The Evergreen Courant reported that the school at Lenox, Ala. was “progressing nicely” with Sadie Melton as principal and Estelle Petty as assistant.

Nov. 3, 1915 – The Evergreen Courant reported that “Mrs. Legrand” of Atlanta had been placed in charge of the millinery department of the Riley Department Store in Evergreen, Ala.

Nov. 3, 1918 – National Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller was born in Van Meter, Iowa. He went on to play his entire Major League career for the Cleveland Indians. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1962.

Nov. 3, 1929 - Providence became the first National Football League team to host a game at night under floodlights. The game was against the Cardinals.

Nov. 3, 1939 – Monroe County High School’s football team beat Wilcox County, 26-0, in Monroeville, Ala.

Nov. 3, 1942 - Alabama author Tom Weatherly was born in Scottsboro, Ala.

Nov. 3, 1942 – American mystery novelist Martin Cruz Smith was born in Reading, Pa.

Nov. 3, 1943 – Capt. William Norred of Pine Apple, Ala. was the guest speaker at the Evergreen Rotary Club’s meeting on this Wednesday, a guest of Rotary Club president D.T. Stuart. Norred spoke about his “adventures” as a bomber pilot in the Mediterranean Theatre of World War II. He had been overseas for about a year, participated in 40 bombing missions and participated in the invasion of North Africa, Sicily and Italy.

Nov. 3, 1943 – Audrey Wilson, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. M.E. Wilson of Evergreen, Ala., was elected president of the Women’s Student Government Association at Auburn University. Wilson, who defeated Martha Blake of Sheffield in the election, was a junior in the Home Economics Department.

Nov. 3, 1950 – Humorist and cultural critic Joe Queenan was born in Philadelphia.

Nov. 3, 1953 - The Rules Committee of organized baseball restored the sacrifice fly. The rule had not been used since 1939.

Nov. 3, 1954 – The first “Godzilla” film was released and marked the first appearance of the character of the same name.

Nov. 3, 1956 – A fire of an undetermined origin destroyed two-thirds of the Evergreen Garment Co. building on this Saturday night, causing an estimated $300,000 loss. The fire began around 7 p.m. and the building was engulfed in flames when the fire department arrived. A crowd of around 2,000 people “watched the fire in horror as it burned away at the quarters of one of the town’s largest payrolls.”

Nov. 3, 1957 - Controversial psychiatrist and scientist, Wilhelm Reich, passed away at the age of 60 at the United States Penitentiary, Lewisburg, Pa.

Nov. 3, 1958 – Shortly before midnight on this Monday night, Evergreen, Ala. police officers McDonald and Morrison apparently foiled the attempted burglary of the then new Rutland-Price Building in Evergreen, Ala. While making their routine rounds, they found a door to the building open, but they believed that the burglars managed to escape through a rear door. The building’s business tenants, Katherine W. Owens, the owner of Katherine’s, and Dr. Cecil E. Price found nothing missing.

Nov. 3, 1959 – John Bolton was born in Evergreen, Ala.

Nov. 3, 1964 – U.S. District Judge Daniel H. Thomas of Mobile, Ala. sentenced 21-year-old Lawrence Earl Vonderau of Brewton, Ala. to nine years and 10 months in federal prison in connection with the robbery of $16,000 from the Union Bank in Repton in June 1964. Vonderau, a Brewton service station attendant, had pleaded guilty to the crime.

Nov. 3, 1964 – During an election in Monroe County, Ala., Probate Judge David M. Nettles defeated N.S. “Nick” Hare in the race for probate judge.

Nov. 3, 1965 - The movie “Juliet of the Spirits,” with Alabama author Eugene Walter playing the role of a Mother Superior, was released in the United States.

Nov. 3, 1967 – During the Vietnam War, the Battle of Dak To began in some of the heaviest fighting seen in the Central Highlands area, heavy casualties were sustained by both sides in bloody battles around Dak To, about 280 miles north of Saigon near the Cambodian border.

Nov. 3, 1969 – During the Vietnam War, U.S. President Richard M. Nixon addressed the nation on television and radio, asking the "silent majority" to join him in solidarity on the Vietnam War effort and to support his policies.

Nov. 3, 1970 - Fred Gray and Thomas Reed were elected to the state House of Representatives to become the first black Alabama legislators since Reconstruction. Both men won seats from the 31st House District, composed of Macon, Bullock and Barbour counties.

Nov. 3, 1972 – Former University of Alabam quarterback Joe Namath was featured on the cover of LIFE magazine.

Nov. 3, 1976 – “Carrie,” a horror film starring Sissy Spacek and based on Stephen King’s 1974 best-selling first novel, opens in theaters around the United States.

Nov. 3, 1979 – In what’s now known as the “Greensboro Massacre,” five members of the Communist Workers Party were shot dead and seven were wounded by a group of Klansmen and neo-Nazis during a "Death to the Klan" rally in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Nov. 3, 1988 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Erastus “Ras” L. McCreary, 46, a former science teacher at Evergreen High School, had been terminated by the Conecuh County Board of Education, following his conviction and sentencing for growing and possessing marijuana in Federal District Court in Mobile. McCreary had been suspended with pay by the board following his arrest in March 1988. After his conviction on Sept. 30, 1988, the school board asked for and received his resignation.

Nov. 3, 1989 - Lou Piniella was named the manager of the Cincinnati Reds. He replaced the banned Pete Rose.

Nov. 3, 1993 - Greg Maddux of the Atlanta Braves became the first player to win back-to-back Cy Young Awards on different teams.

Nov. 3, 1996 - Jerry Rice of theh San Francisco 49ers became the first NFL player to catch 1,000 career receptions.

Nov. 3, 1998 - Bob Kane, the creator of Batman, died at the age of 83 in Los Angeles, Calif.

Nov. 3, 1998 - A state-run newspaper in Iraq urged the country to prepare for to battle "the U.S. monster."

Nov. 3, 1998 – During an election in Monroe County, voters in Monroe County Commission District 2 gave Commissioner Carlisle McClure four more years on the commission. McClure, a 12-year incumbent, defeated Independent challenger Bill Dailey by a margin of about 200 votes.

Nov. 3, 2006 – Truman Capote’s aunt Marie Rudisill, aka the “Fruitcake Lady,” passed away at the age of 95 in Hudson, Fla.

Nov. 3, 2009 – Grove Hill, Ala. voted to legalize alcohol sales.

No. 3, 2014 – One World Trade Center officially opened.