Today in History for Feb. 9, 2017

David Wardlaw Ramsey

Feb. 9, 1739 – William Bartram, one of America’s first professional botanists, was born near Philadelphia, Pa. Between 1773 and 1777, he went on a botanical and anthropological expedition through the Southeast, including Alabama, passing through Butler, Conecuh, Escambia and Monroe counties. He published the famous book, Bartram’s “Travels” in 1791.

Feb. 9, 1752 – Swedish biologist and explorer Fredrik Hasselqvist died at the age of 30 in Smryna, Turkey.

Feb. 9, 1773 - William Henry Harrison, the ninth president of the United States, was born on Berkeley Plantation in Virginia. Harrison served as president for a brief 32 days in 1841, the shortest term ever served. He was also the last president to be born an English subject.

Feb. 9, 1775 – During the American Revolutionary War, the British Parliament declared Massachusetts in rebellion.

Feb. 9, 1776 – Future New Jersey governor Joseph Bloomfield became captain of the third New Jersey Regiment of Foot in the Continental Army.

Feb. 9, 1778 - Rhode Island became the fourth state to ratify the Articles of Confederation.

Feb. 9, 1781 – German biologist and explorer Johann Baptist von Spix was born in Höchstadt an der Aisch, Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg.

Feb. 9, 1798 – Jephtha Vining Perryman was born in Twiggs County, Ga. He would go on to serve as a legislator, judge and education superintendent in Conecuh County, Ala. He died in 1861 and is buried in the Old Evergreen Cemetery.

Feb. 9, 1825 – After no candidate received a majority of electoral votes in the U.S. presidential election of 1824, the United States House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams as President of the United States.

Feb. 9, 1818 – Dallas County, Ala. was created by the Territorial Legislature.

Feb. 9, 1852 – The Conecuh Plank Road Co. was officially incorporated.

Feb. 9, 1861 – This day’s edition of Harper’s Weekly magazine included a sketch of U.S. Representative James Adam Stallworth of Evergreen, Ala.

Feb. 9, 1861 – During the Civil War, Jefferson Davis was elected the Provisional President of the Confederate States of America by the Confederate convention at Montgomery, Ala.

Feb. 9, 1861 - Fort Pickens, Fla. refused to receive the Federal troops that arrived on the steamer, Brooklyn, in order to maintain the status quo of that situation.

Feb. 9, 1861 – David Wardlaw Ramsey, 20, enlisted as a first lieutenant in the Wilcox True Blues. Born on Jan. 14, 1840 in Oak Hill, he went on to serve with Co. B of the First Alabama Artillery. He married Emma Virginia Hawthorne on Jan. 24, 1866 and died at the age of 76 on March 9, 1916 in Pine Apple. He is buried in the Ebenezer Methodist Cemetery in Wilcox County.

Feb. 9, 1862 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought at Marshfield, Mo., and Confederate Brigadier General Gideon Johnson Pillow assumed command of Fort Donelson in Tennessee.

Feb. 9, 1863 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought in the vicinity of Moscow, Tenn. and in the vicinity of Somerville, Va.

Feb. 9, 1864 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Morgan's Mill, Tomahawk Gap, and in White County, Ark.; near Point Washington, Fla.; at Donaldsonville and another at New River, La.; near Senatobia, Miss.; and in Hardin County, Tenn.

Feb. 9, 1864 – A two-day Federal operation began up the Nassau River from Fernandina, Fla., and Yazoo City, Miss. was occupied by Federal forces. Federal reconnaissance began toward Swansborough, Young’s Crossroads and the White River, N.C.

Feb. 9, 1864 – During the Civil War, 109 Federal officers escaped from Libby Prison, Richmond, Va., by digging a tunnel. Two drowned and 48 others were apprehended again.

Feb. 9, 1864 – During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln sat for several photographs, including the one which would eventually be on the modern day $5 bill.

Feb. 9, 1864 - Union General George Armstrong Custer and Elizabeth “Libbie” Bacon were married in the First Presbyterian Church in Monroe, Michigan. Custer was killed on June 25, 1876 by Lakota and Northern Cheyenne Indians at the Battle of the Little Big Horn in Montana.

Feb. 9, 1865 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Binnaker’s Bridge and at Homan’s Bridge on the South Edisto River, S.C. and near Memphis, Tenn. Confederate General Robert E. Lee also proposed a pardon for all deserters who would return to their units within 30 days. President Jefferson Davis approved the pardon.

Feb. 9, 1870 – U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant signed a joint resolution of Congress establishing the U.S. Weather Bureau, which is now known as the National Weather Service.

Feb. 9, 1892 - Commissioners appointed under order of the probate court granting the right of way to the Bear Creek Mill Co. for constructing a ditch through the lands of Messrs. Slaughter & Slaughter met in Monroeville on this Tuesday and assessed the damages against the Bear Creek Mill Co. at $300.

Feb. 9, 1902 - Dr. Eugene-Louis Doyen of Paris surgically separated Radica and Doodica, Siamese twins from the Barnum and Bailey Circus. The operation was initially considered a success, but both girls died within a year of the procedure.

Feb. 9, 1903 - Alabama's last county, Houston County, was created by act of the legislature. Formed from parts of Dale, Geneva, and Henry counties in the extreme southeastern corner of the state, it was named for former Gov. George S. Houston. The city of Dothan was made the county seat.

Feb. 9, 1907 – Trường Chinh, the fourth President of Vietnam, was born in Duc Tan, Mộ Đức District, Quảng Ngãi Province, Indochina.

Feb. 9, 1913 – A group of meteors was visible across much of the eastern seaboard of North and South America, leading astronomers to conclude the source had been a small, short-lived natural satellite of the Earth.

Feb. 9, 1914 – Legendary baseball owner and showman Bill Veeck was born in Chicago.

Feb. 9, 1915 - The third attraction in the Lyceum series was presented at the Monroe County High School auditorium in Monroeville, Ala. Wells Watson Ginn appeared in the “varied and entertaining role of impersonator and reader.”

Feb. 9, 1916 – A student performance of the three-act comedy, “Miss Fearless and Co.,” was performed at the Monroe County High School auditorium on this Wednesday evening with Miss Eppes as preceptress.

Feb. 9, 1917 - Dr. Rayford A. Smith of Wainwright was among Monroeville, Ala. friends on this Friday.

Feb. 9, 1918 - The first peace treaty of World War I was signed when the newly declared independent state of Ukraine officially came to terms with the Central Powers at 2 a.m. in Berlin, Germany.

Feb. 9, 1922 – In the fictional video game, “Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth,” after a FBI raid on the Marsh Gold Refinery in Innsmouth, the U.S. military began a combined land-and-sea assault on Innsmouth. The only part of the town that proved resistant to the attack was the headquarters of the Esoteric Order of Dagon, a religious organization devoted to two undersea demigods and Cthulhu that holds the whole town under its grip. The building proved unbreachable for the Coast Guard and the Marines, but private investigator Jack Walters found a way in through an old smuggling entrance that was guarded by a star-spawn of Cthulhu.

Feb. 9, 1923 – Irish playwright and novelist Brendan Behan was born in Dublin.

Feb. 9, 1930 - A movie version of Alabama author Octavus Roy Cohen's book “The Other Tomorrow” was released.

Feb. 9, 1933 – The Monroe Journal reported that repair work on the damage to the vault of the Beatrice bank, due to the work of robbers the previous week, was almost complete. The robbers had not been apprehended nor the loot of about $500 recovered as of Feb. 9.

Feb. 9, 1939 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Robert Fields, 60, of McKenzie, Ala., was being held in Conecuh County Jail on a charge of murder in connection with the fatal stabbing two weeks before of his 20-year-old wife, Eva Bell. Bell was found on the shoulder of Highway 31, one mile south of the Conecuh-Butler county line, on the night of Jan. 27, stabbed to death near the heart with an ice pick, or similar instrument. Fields, who sometimes went by the name of Mayweather, disappeared from his home on the night the body was found and authorities immediately instituted a search. Using bloodhounds obtained from the sheriff of Butler County and with the aid of two highway patrolmen, Sheriff J.G. Moore and his deputies found Fields on Feb. 7 near Nymph, after receiving reports he had been seen in that vicinity.

Feb. 9, 1942 - Dr. S.J. Hocking delivered an interesting lecture on the war situation at the Monroe County High School auditorium on this Monday night. A large audience coming from all parts of the county enjoyed the lecture, according to The Monroe Journal.

Feb. 9, 1943 – The Battle of Guadalcanal ended.

Feb. 9, 1944 – Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning novelist Alice Walker was born in Eatonton, Ga.

Feb. 9, 1953 - The movie "Superman" premiered.

Feb. 9, 1954 – Evergreen High School’s varsity boys basketball team, led by head coach Wendell Hart, improved to 11-5 on the season by beating Repton, 51-48, in Repton, Ala. on this Tuesday night. Repton, led by head coach Albert Arnold, dropped to 14-2 on the season with the loss. Randy White led Evergreen with 26 points. Other top Evergreen players in that game included Ward Alexander Jr., Wayne Douglas, Jimmy Frazier and Hosea King. Ray Blackwell led Repton with 17 points. Other top Repton players in that game included Paul Brantley, Billy Farrish and Roger Kearly. Repton center Harry Giles led the game at halftime after becoming ill and it was later determined that he had appendicitis.

Feb. 9, 1960 - A verbal agreement was reached between representatives of the American and National Football Leagues. Both agreed not to tamper with player contracts.

Feb. 9, 1961 – Former pro and college football play Lum Snider spoke to the Evergreen, Ala. Rotary Club. Snider, a native of Cleveland, Tenn., was an All-SEC and All-American guard at Georgia Tech. He went on to play for the Philadelphia Eagles and later coached for the British Columbia Lions in Vancouver. At the time of his visit to Evergreen, he was an International Paper Co. salesman and a resident of Birmingham.

Feb. 9, 1963 - The eighth annual Moore Academy Homecoming Celebration was scheduled to be held at Pine Apple, Ala. on this Saturday. The Moore Academy Hawks were also scheduled to play the Camden Tigers in the annual basketball game to get under way at 7 p.m.

Feb. 9, 1964 – The Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show for the first time, as teenage girls screamed hysterically in the audience and 73 million people watched from home – a record for American television at the time. Their appearance on the show is considered the beginning of the "British Invasion" of music in the United States.

Feb. 9, 1965 – The United States Marine Corps sent a MIM-23 Hawk missile battalion to South Vietnam, the first American troops in-country without an official advisory or training mission.

Feb. 9, 1967 – The Monroe Journal reported that Steam Propulsionist Bruce A. Petty, CSN, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Bernard O. Petty of Monroeville, had returned to San Diego, Calif., as a crew member aboard the attack aircraft carrier Constellation, after a seven-month cruise with the U.S. Seventh Fleet of the coast of Vietnam.

Feb. 9, 1967 – The Evergreen Courant reported that only nine more days remained for new subscribers to get a free copy of The Monroe Journal’s Centennial issue. Feb. 18 was definitely the last day the free copies would be given. After that time, all copies of the Centennial issue would be $2 (if mailed, $2.50). The issue contained 200 pages of pictures and historical information about Monroe County and its pioneer citizens. Hundreds of letters had been received from readers praising this publication.

Feb. 9, 1971 – Pitcher Leroy "Satchel" Paige of Mobile, Ala. became the first Negro League veteran to be nominated for the Baseball Hall of Fame. In August of that year, Paige, a pitching legend known for his fastball, showmanship and the longevity of his playing career, which spanned five decades, was inducted.

Feb. 9, 1972 - The aircraft carrier USS Constellation joined aircraft carriers Coral Sea and Hancock off the coast of Vietnam.

Feb. 9, 1976 – Actor Charlie Day was born in New York City. He is best known for playing Charlie Kelly on "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia."

Feb. 9, 1978 – The Monroe Journal reported that the number of people living in Monroeville would increase by 72 percent between 1978 and 1990, and Monroe County’s population was to go up by 62 percent during the same period, a planning consultant predicted that week. Bill Snowden, an Alabama-Tombigbee Regional Commission senior planner, estimated that Monroeville’s population would reach 6,860 in 1978 and 11,830 in 1990. He made the projections as part of a comprehensive plan for Monroeville that the regional commission staff was drafting and expected to present to the city planning commission in two weeks.

Feb. 9, 1985 – Sparta Academy’s boys basketball team beat Wilcox Academy, 71-69, in the consolation game of the District Tournament at Monroe Academy in Monroeville, Ala. Sparta Academy’s Al Etheridge and Jim Wagstaff were named to the All-Tournament Team.

Feb. 9, 1986 – Halley's Comet last appeared in the inner Solar System.

Feb. 9, 1992 - Thomas Scholl of Munich issued the world's fastest yodel-- 22 tones (15 falsetto) within one second.

Feb. 9, 1993 - Fourteen people were arrested when violence erupted at the Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl victory parade.

Feb. 9, 1997 - "The Simpsons" became the longest-running prime-time animated series, breaking the record previously held by "The Flintstones.”

Feb. 9, 2001 - "Hannibal," the sequel to "Silence of the Lambs," opened in theaters.

Feb. 9, 2009 - Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees admitted that he had taken banned substances from 2001 to 2003.

Feb. 9, 2014 – Former Auburn University center and linebacker Hal Herring died at the age of 89 in Cumming, Ga. Herring played at West Point High School in Cullman, Auburn University and for the Buffalo Bills and the Cleveland Browns.