Today in History for Jan. 12, 2017

James Thomas "J.T." Fincher

Jan. 12, 1588 – John Winthrop, who is best known as the Puritan governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the leader of The Winthrop Fleet of 1630, the largest fleet of Englishmen ever to depart for the New World, was born in Suffolk, England.

Jan. 12, 1729 – Famous British Parliament member Edmund Burke was born in Dublin, Ireland.

Jan. 12, 1777 - American Brigadier General Hugh Mercer died from the seven bayonet wounds he received during the Battle of Princeton, passing away in the Thomas Clarke House on the eastern end of the battlefield, nine days after the battle ended in victory for the Patriots.

Jan. 12, 1856 – James W. Roper, the original owner and builder of Oakleigh Mansion in Mobile, passed away on this day at the age of 55 (or possibly 54).

Jan. 12, 1861 - Barrancas Barracks, Fort Barrancas, Fort McRee and the Navy yard located at Pensacola, Fla. were seized by Florida state troops. The surrender of Fort Pickens was demanded by Florida state troops after the above facilities are occupied, but was refused.

Jan. 12, 1861 – During the Civil War, the Mississippi delegation to the House of Representatives got up and walked out the United States Congress.

Jan. 12, 1862 – During the Civil War, an 11-day Federal operation between Logan Courthouse and Guyandotte, West Va. began.

Jan. 12, 1863 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought near Helena on Lick Creek, Ark.

Jan. 12, 1864 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Marshall, Ky.; Mossy Creek, Tenn.; and near Accotink, near Ellis’ Ford, and Northern Neck, Va. An affair also occurred at Matamoras, Mexico, where Union troops crossed the Rio Grande and moved the U.S. Consul to Mexico, Mr. L Pierce, Jr., who was holding over $1,000,000, to Brownsville, Texas.

Jan. 12, 1865 - Union General Hugh Judson Kilpatrick was promoted to major general in the Union Army. Kilpatrick served in both the eastern and western theaters of war and earned a reputation as a fearless-and, many would say, reckless, leader.

Jan. 12, 1865 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought near Sugar Loaf Prairie, Ark. and at Morganza, La. A four-day Federal operation between Camp Grover and Texas Prairie, Mo. began, and a six-day Federal operation between Warrensburg to Miami, Mo. also began.

Jan. 12, 1865 – During the Civil War, the largest American fleet ever assembled up to this point began to assemble from Beaufort, S.C., up the Atlantic towards the detested Fort Fisher, at Wilmington, N.C. Major Gen. Alfred H. Terry, commanding the Federal Army forces, watched as a large number of troop transports got underway. They steamed under the protection of Admiral Porter’s fleet of some 60 gunboats. The plan, when they reached Wilmington, was for the Navy to launch a bombardment, followed by the landing of 10,000 soldiers and marines for the actual seizure. In defense, the ironclad CSS Columbia was hurriedly released from the dock in Charleston where she had been built. Unfortunately, the boat’s first act was to run aground, where she was stuck fast. Attempts to refloat her continued until mid-February.

Jan. 12, 1876 – Journalist and novelist Jack London was born in San Francisco, Calif. His most famous book, “The Call of the Wild,” was published in 1903.

Jan. 12, 1885 – The Monroe Journal reported that the Monroe County Commission had awarded the contract for repairing the Monroe County Jail to low bidder Hillary Hudson. Hudson bid $1,189 to repair the jail, which had recently burned in Monroeville, Ala.

Jan. 12, 1901 – German SS officer Karl Künstler was born inn Zella, Anrode.

Jan. 12, 1906 - The forward pass was legalized by the football rules committee.

Jan. 12, 1919 – During World War I, the day after British Prime Minister David Lloyd George’s arrival in Paris, he met with representatives from the other Big Four nations—Prime Ministers Georges Clemenceau of France and Vittorio Orlando of Italy and President Woodrow Wilson of the United States—at the French Foreign Ministry on the Quai d’Orsay, for the first of what would be more than 100 meetings.

Jan. 12, 1921 – Acting to restore confidence in baseball after the Black Sox Scandal, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis was elected as Major League Baseball's first commissioner.

Jan. 12, 1921 - Alabama author Aubrey Carney was born in Dayton, Ohio.

Jan. 12, 1921 – The Evergreen Courant reported that during a recent meeting of Camp Capt. William Lee, United Confederate Veterans, the following officers were elected: J.T. Fincher, commander; Jas. Alexander, Lt. Com.; Geo. W. Northcutt, adjutant; and W.J. Tomlinson, ensign. W.L. Stallworth was elected chaplain to fill vacancy caused by the death of Rev. D.J. Wright.

Jan. 12, 1921 – The Evergreen Courant reported that “an airplane was with us again last week for several days, but airplanes are coming to be so common about Evergreen that folk have ceased to suspend business as they formerly did and run out to see them.”

Jan. 12, 1922 - Mrs. Oscar Green was fatally burned at her home at McCullough on this Thursday and died from her injuries the next day, Jan. 13. Mrs. Green was a daughter of Mr. Wiley Sawyer of Jones Mill and a sister of Mr. L.M. Sawyer of Monroeville. The funeral took place at Shiloh cemetery on Sat., Jan. 14.

Jan. 12, 1932 – Ida Virginia Wright, 71, of Evergreen, a “widely known and greatly beloved lady,” passed away from influenza.

Jan. 12, 1932 – Despite stormy weather, a good crowd was on hand to see members of Future Farmers of America from the State Secondary Agricultural School in Evergreen, Ala. present, in court form, the “Trial of the Soil Robber” at the school at Mt. Union.

Jan. 12, 1938 – In Conecuh County, Ala., Brooklyn’s boys basketball team beat Evergreen High School, 17-14.

Jan. 12, 1939 - William Lee Golden was born in Brewton, Ala. He would go on to sing baritone in the country music group The Oak Ridge Boys. Golden is widely known for his waist-length beard and hair, and has become one of the most recognizable faces in the entertainment industry.

Jan. 12, 1946 - The Cleveland Rams were granted permission to move to Los Angeles.

Jan. 12, 1949 – Writer Haruki Murakami was born in Kyoto, Japan.

Jan. 12, 1951 - Annie Lola Price of Cullman became the first woman to serve on the Alabama Court of Appeals when she was appointed to the court by Gov. Jim Folsom. The appointment was especially significant because state law at the time prevented women from serving on juries. In 1952, Price was elected to the three-person court and served the state as an appeals judge until her death in 1972.

Jan. 12, 1951 - Harper’s Furniture Co. was scheduled to hold its grand opening on this Friday morning at nine o’clock, according to an announcement made by Coy L. Harper, owner of the new home furnishing establishment. The store succeeded Travis Furniture Co. and was to be located at the same location in the Moorer Building. It was also announced that J.O. (Joe) Brooks would be with this new firm as manager and outside contact man.

Jan. 12, 1958 - Major League Baseball players Stan Musial and Johnny Padres were guests on the "Ed Sullivan Show."

Jan. 12, 1960 – Lyeffion High School’s boys basketball team, under head coach Dale Brown, beat Repton High School, 51-37, at Lyeffion, Ala. Willard Walls scored 15 points, and Larry Pate 12 to lead Lyeffion. Also scoring for Lyeffion were Joe Morrison, nine; Harley Hamrac, six; Jimmy Jones and Mac McInnis, four each; and William Carter, one. Raybon Nall scored nine to lead Repton. Benny Bell had eight; George Dees, seven; Wayne Baggett, four; and McCoy Baggett, one.

Jan. 12, 1961 – The Monroe Journal reported that Frisco City High School’s football team had elected permanent captains for the coming football season. Jimmy Weatherford was selected as captain. W.D. Vice and James Evans were elected to serve as co-captains.

Jan. 12, 1962 – The Evergreen City School held an open house from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. to give the public the chance to tour the school’s new addition, which was to be used for first, second and third grade classrooms, according to Principal Marcus O’Gwynn.

Jan. 12-13, 1962 - The Conecuh County (Ala.) Basketball Tournament was scheduled to be played.

Jan. 12, 1962 – During the Vietnam War, Operation Chopper, the first American combat mission in the war, took place.

Jan. 12, 1962 – During the Vietnam War, the United States Air Force launched Operation Ranch Hand, a “modern technological area-denial technique” designed to expose the roads and trails used by the Viet Cong.

Jan. 12, 1966 - The television series "Batman" debuted on ABC.

Jan. 12, 1966 – Lyndon B. Johnson stated that the United States should stay in South Vietnam until Communist aggression there was ended.

Jan. 12, 1967 - Dr. James Bedford became the first person cryonically frozen following his death.

Jan. 12, 1969 – The New York Jets of the American Football League defeated the Baltimore Colts of the National Football League to win Super Bowl III in what is considered to be one of the greatest upsets in sports history.

Jan. 12, 1971 – During the Vietnam War, the Reverend Philip F. Berrigan, serving a six-year prison term on charges of destroying draft records, and five others were indicted by a grand jury on charges of conspiring to kidnap presidential adviser Henry Kissinger and of plotting to blow up the heating tunnels of federal buildings in Washington.

Jan. 12-13, 1980 – Edgar Tatum and his championship white and liver pointer, “Bob,” won first place in the Northwest Florida Pointer and Setter Club’s Field Trials held in Munson, Fla. “Bob” was braced against 45 other dogs and had four perfect finds in winning first place.

Jan. 12, 1991 - "The Superfans," the #1 fans of the Chicago Bears, sketch debuted on "Saturday Night Live."

Jan. 12, 1991 – During the Gulf War, an act of the U.S. Congress authorized the use of military force to drive Iraq out of Kuwait.

Jan. 12, 1992 – HAL, the devious computer in “2001: A Space Odyssey” revealed "I am a HAL 9000 Computer...I became operational at the H-A-L plant in Urbana, Illinois on the 12th of January, 1992," as astronaut Dave tried to pull the plug on him.

Jan. 12, 1999 - Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball was sold at auction in New York for $3 million to an anonymous bidder.

Jan. 12, 2005 - The White House announced the official end for the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Jan. 12, 2012 - An Alabama judge declared Natalee Holloway of Mountain Brook legally dead in absentia. She disappeared during a high school graduation trip to Aruba on May 30, 2005.

Jan. 12, 2013 – Former Major League Baseball pitcher Charles “Bubba” Harris, a native of Sulligent, Ala., passed away at the age of 86 in Nobleton, Fla. He played for the Philadelphia Athletics and the Cleveland Indians.