Today in History for June 11, 2017

Butler County, Ala. native Hank Williams

June 11, 1572 – Playwright Ben Jonson was born in London.

June 11, 1741 – Dr. Joseph Warren, an early leader in the American Revolution, was born in Roxbury, Province of Massachusetts Bay. He was an early leader in the American Revolution.

June 11, 1769 - Alabama author Anne Newport Royall was born near Baltimore, Md.

June 11, 1770 – British explorer Captain James Cook discovered the Great Barrier Reef off of Australia when he ran aground.

June 11, 1775 – The American Revolutionary War's first naval engagement, the Battle of Machias, resulted in the capture of a small British naval vessel.

June 11, 1776 – The Continental Congress appointed Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston to the Committee of Five to draft a declaration of independence from Britain.

June 11, 1788 – Russian explorer Gerasim Izmailov reached Alaska.

June 11, 1825 – The first cornerstone was laid for Fort Hamilton in New York City.

June 11, 1847 - Sir John Franklin, an English naval officer and Arctic explorer, died in Canada while attempting to discover the Northwest Passage.

June 11, 1860 - Southern delegates held a National Democratic convention in Richmond. Party leaders urged a "wait and see" approach.

June 11, 1861 – During the Civil War, Union Colonel William Loring abandoned New Mexico.

June 11, 1861 – During the Civil War, Union forces under General George B. McClellan repulsed a Confederate force at Rich Mountain in western Virginia.

June 11, 1862 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought near Pink Hill, Deep Water and Cauville in Missouri and near Monterey, Kentucky.

June 11, 1863 – During the Civil War, the siege at Vicksburg, Miss. entered Day 24.

June 11, 1863 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Diascund Bridge, Va.; at Seneca Mills, Md.; and at Burnsville and Smith's Bridge, Miss. An affair also occurred at Scottsville, Kentucky, and an action took place at Triune, Tennessee.

June 11, 1864 – The Confederate warship CSS Alabama arrived at the harbor of Cherbourg, France.

June 11, 1864 - The Battle of Brice's Crossroads concluded. Confederate Nathan Bedford Forrest was able to capture 1,600 troops, 16 cannons and 176 supply wagons from Union General Samual D. Sturgis's cavalry.

June 11, 1864 - Union General George Custer's men attacked General Wade Hampton's supply train near Trevilian Station. General Phillip Sheridan's Union cavalry came to Custer's rescue in the late afternoon. The battle ended the next day.

June 11, 1864 – German composer Richard Strauss was born in Munich.

June 11, 1864 – During the Civil War, skirmishing took place at Noonday Creek and McAfee's Cross Roads, Ga.; and at Lexington and near Midway, Va. An action also occurred at Ripley, Miss.

June 11, 1865 – During the Civil War, Major General Henry W. Halleck found documents and archives of the Confederate government in Richmond, Virginia. This discovery lead to the publication of the official war records.

June 11, 1879 – National Baseball Hall of Fame catcher and manager Roger Bresnahan was born in Toldeo, Ohio. He went on to play for the Washington Senators, the Chicago Orphans, the Baltimore Orioles, the New York Giants, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs. He also managed the Cardinals and the Cubs and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1945.

June 11, 1886 – The Monroe Journal reported that the “little son” of Mr. S.F. Daniel, living near Monroeville, was bitten by a “rattlesnake’s pilot” one day during the previous week. “We are glad to learn that the little fellow sustained no serious injury from the bite,” The Monroe Journal reported. “Children should be more careful where they put their hands when picking berries.”

June 11, 1886 – The Monroe Journal reported, under the headline, “Jailed,” the following news item from The Clarke County Democrat – “We learn that the perpetrators of the mysterious murder near Gosport, this county, in January 1885, have been ascertained and three of the four implicated in the deed have been arrested and imprisoned in the jail of Escambia County, Fla. in Pensacola. It seems that four men, one of them white, were participants in the murder, that they were all timber men of Escambia County, Fla. and that they followed their victim to this county, awaiting a favorable opportunity to kill him, knowing that he had about $800 on his person. In the division of the money, one of the negroes received a very small share, and, from the dissatisfaction therefrom, made revelations which led to the arrest of the others. So, this very diabolical and mysterious matter is at last cleared up, and we are glad to learn that none of our people are connected with it.”

June 11, 1886 – The Monroe Journal reported that a “report was circulated on the streets one day last week that Mary Kelly, a colored woman, and several of her children had been poisoned. Dr. Packer was hastily summoned to ascertain the truthfulness of the report. He at first suspected the statement to be true, by the fact of their having been taken violently sick so suddenly and all so nearly at the same time, but upon investigation he found that it was only cholera morbus produced by the immoderate eating of some rice pudding, which was bad and unfit for use.”

June 11, 1896 – The Monroe Journal reported, in news from the Perdue Hill community, that Mr. Walse Rives, who had just graduated from the Marion Military Institute, had returned home.

June 11, 1896 – The Monroe Journal reported, in news from the Mexia community, that the people of Mexia were contemplating building a new Baptist church at Mexia in the near future.

June 11, 1896 – The Monroe Journal reported, in news from the Tinela community, that the Rev. T.Y. Abernathy had come down from Tuskegee to bury Rufus Gautier, his little two-year-old son.

June 11, 1896 – The Monroe Journal reported, in news from the Axle community, that a party of young people composed of Misses Mamie and Julie Farrar, Misses Doeb and Pearl Busey, attended by their “Paters,” enjoyed a recent pleasant trip to Claiborne. “After taking in the town, they took passage on steamer Carrier, intending to make return trip by Str. Tincie, which they did much to the delight of the young folks who were enjoying for the first time a steamboat ride.”

June 11, 1896 – The Monroe Journal reported, in news from the Mount Pleasant community, that Elder A.J. Lambert left for the Pleasant Hill church a few days before to fill his regular appointment at that church.

June 11, 1901 – Alabama Gov. William J. Samford died while in office and was succeeded by the president of the Alabama Senate, William D. Jelks. The Constitutional Convention, then in session, would recreate the office of Lieutenant Governor in the 1901 Constitution. Originally created in the 1868 constitution, the office of Lieutenant Governor had been dropped from the 1875 version.

June 11, 1902 – The Evergreen Courant reported that “L.L. Peacock of Gregville” was in Evergreen on this morning.

June 11, 1902 – The Evergreen Courant reported that “Lenox is the name of a new post office recently established in this county, with Joseph Ryals postmaster.”

June 11, 1902 – The Evergreen Courant reported that W.B. James had taken the oath of office to serve as a Conecuh County Sheriff’s Deputy.

June 11, 1902 – The Evergreen Courant reported that on June 7 Conecuh County Sheriff W.W. Pridgen arrested 64-year-old Albert Brown in Stockton, Ala. on 31-year-old murder charges and transported him to the Conecuh County Jail in Evergreen. Brown was arrested for the stabbing of Levi Brown on the night of Aug. 10, 1871 on the railroad tracks in downtown Evergreen. Levi Brown died three days later, but Albert Brown claimed he stabbed the man in self-defense.

June 11, 1903 – Pro Football Hall of Fame fullback Ernie Nevers was born in Willow River, Minn. He went on to play for Stanford, the Duluth Eskimos, the St. Louis Browns and the Chicago Cardinals. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1963.

June 11, 1904 - The members of Camp George W. Foster of the United Confederate Veterans were scheduled to assemble at the Monroe County courthouse in Monroeville on this Saturday for the annual election of officers and to elect delegates to the reunion at Nashville, Tenn. Thos. J. Emmons was Camp Commander, and F.M. Jones was Adjutant.

June 11, 1909 – The Conecuh Record reported that on this day J.P. Yates, W.P. Yates, A.F. Daw, Andrew Philyaw, John Philyaw and two others were struck by lightning at Owassa, Ala. on this afternoon while packing tomatoes. They all recovered.

June 11, 1910 – French underwater explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau was born in Saint-André-de-Cubzac, Gironde, France. He also invented the Aqua-Lung diving apparatus and was known around the world as an ecologist and filmmaker.

June 11, 1913 – Pro Football Hall of Fame football coach Vince Lombardi was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1971.

June 11, 1915 – The first cotton bloom of the season in Conecuh County, Ala. came from the farm of W.T. Chapman near West Side.

June 11, 1915 – On this Friday afternoon, an illegal distillery inside a smoke house was destroyed near Burnt Corn by Sheriff Williams, Deputy Davis and Revenue Officer Nabors of Mobile. Several barrels of beer were also destroyed, and the operator of the still, Joe Holder, was arrested and taken to jail.

June 11, 1917 – Confederate veteran Gus Riley died at his home six miles west of Evergreen, Ala. About 70 years of age, he was a devoted member of the Arkadelphia Baptist Church, near where his family lived.

June 11, 1925 – Novelist William Styron was born in Newport News, Va.

June 11, 1935 – Inventor Edwin Howard Armstrong gave the first public demonstration of FM broadcasting in the United States at Alpine, New Jersey. Armstrong demonstrated the clarity of FM compared to AM radio by playing classical music and the sound of water being poured.

June 11, 1936 – In South Alabama Baseball League action, the Evergreen Merchants beat Century in Century, Fla. Lefty Adams pitched for Century, and Ripper Williams pitched for Evergreen. Century scored in the fifth inning on a hit and two sacrifices and in the seventh on an error and a triple. An attempted rally by Century was cut short in the ninth when, with runners on first and second, Harper backed up against the fence to pull down a long fly and throw out the runner going to third who attempted to advance after the catch. Evergreen scored three runs in the sixth on three base hits. In this inning, Bear Hall drove a single past second and scored on Ripper Williams liner into left for two bases. This set the stage for Sam Jones, who, with the count three and two, drove on of Adams’ shots over the center field wall for four bases.

June 11, 1938 - Johnny Vander Meer of the Cincinnati Reds threw the first of two consecutive no-hitters.

June 11, 1939 – The Inter-State Baseball League was scheduled to play its All-Star Game in Brewton, Ala. on this Sunday. The league was divided into two parts to be known as the North and the South. The North consisted of the following clubs: Evergreen, Brewton, Frisco City and Monroeville. The South consisted of Flomaton, Atmore, Jay and Milton. The following players were set to participate in the game: North, George, Price, Stokes, Hawkins, Digman, Newell, Duscall, Cardwell, Lomax, Pullen, Moore, Brown, Lane, Murphy, Nichols and Hanna. For the South, Dooley, Perry, Thomas, Crane, Polk, Hawsey, Campbell, McKenzie, Lowery, Cickory, McNeill, Fisher, Ash, Van Merkynstein, Turberville and Dobbs.

June 11, 1947 – R.F. Hyde brought the first cotton bloom of the 1947 season by The Courant office around noon on this Wednesday.

June 11, 1949 – Country music legend Hank Williams debuted on Grand Ole Opry. He performed "Lovesick Blues" and "Mind Your Own Business."

June 11, 1951 – Army PFC Edward W. Rigdon, 29, of Escambia County, Ala. was killed in action in Korea. Born on Dec. 25, 1921, he was buried in the Range Cemetery at Range in Conecuh County. He was a member of the 17^th Infantry, 7^th Infantry Division.

June 11, 1956 – Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana was born in New Eagle, Pa. He went on to play for Notre Dame, the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2000.

June 11, 1959 - The Hovercraft, a new form of transport described as a cross between an aircraft, boat, and land vehicle, was officially launched.

June 11, 1962 – In Evergreen Senior League play, the Braves beat the Pirates, 13-6, to remain in first place. Claude Aaron recorded three hits and four RBI for the Braves, and Grady Hobbs and Ronnie Jackson pitched for the Braves.

June 11, 1962 – Six people were injured in a two-car accident on this Monday afternoon at the intersection of Rural Street and West Front Street, at the foot of the overhead bridge, in Evergreen, Ala. The accident involved a 1959 Oldsmobile, driven by Patrick T. Casey of Montgomery, and a 1954 Chevrolet, driven by Willard Harrington of Evergreen.

June 11, 1963 - Dr. James Hardy, a native of Shelby County, Ala. and chief of surgery at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, performed the world's first human lung transplant. The patient lived for three weeks before dying of chronic kidney disease. The next year Hardy transplanted a chimpanzee's heart into another patient, marking the first transplant of a heart into a human.

June 11, 1963 - In a vain attempt to halt the enrollment of black students Vivian Malone and James Hood, Governor George C. Wallace stood in front of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama. This became known as the "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door". Later in the day, accompanied by federalized National Guard troops, Malone and Hood both registered for classes quietly away from the spotlight to become the first two black students to successfully enroll at the university.

June 11, 1963 - Robert Muckel, a 29-year-old white high school teacher from Nebraska, unintentionally became the first student to successfully integrate a public educational institution in Alabama. Shortly before Gov. George Wallace made his "stand in the schoolhouse door" at the University of Alabama, Muckel sat down for his first class at Alabama A&M College, an all-black institution. Attending a summer science institute, Muckel did not realize when he applied that A&M was a segregated school.

June 11, 1963 - Buddhist monk Quang Duc publicly burned himself to death in a plea for President Ngo Dinh Diem to show “charity and compassion” to all religions.

June 11, 1964 – The Monroe Journal reported that Monroeville had entered a “Town Team” in the Conecuh Amateur Baseball League, which was made up of six teams from Conecuh, Escambia and Monroe counties. That summer, through Aug. 30, Monroeville was to have its first city team since the old “Town Team” dissolved many years before. This latest version of the city baseball team was to be managed by Glenn Bayles of Monroeville. The 15-member team was comprised of men from all parts of the county. Teams in the league were from Red Level, McKenzie, Evergreen, Damascus, Paul and Monroeville, which played its home games at Vanity Fair Ball Park.

June 11, 1970 - A force of 4,000 South Vietnamese and 2,000 Cambodian soldiers battled 1,400 communist troops for control of the provincial capital of Kompong Speu, 30 miles southwest of Phnom Penh.

June 11, 1972 - Hank Aaron tied the National League record for 14 grand-slam home runs in a career.

June 11, 1979 – American actor, director, and producer John Wayne passed away from stomach cancer at the age of 72 in Los Angeles, Calif.

June 11, 1981 - The first Major League Baseball player's strike began. It would last for two months.

June 11, 1981 – The Monroe Journal announced that Mike Qualls, then age 25, would begin covering sports for The Journal. In that same edition of The Journal, his first sports story, “Crispy Chick suffers first loss; Wiggins Hardware defeats D&S,” appeared.

June 11, 1981 - Weather observer Earl Windham reported 1.12 inches of rain in Evergreen, Ala. on this day.

June 11, 1982 - Steven Spielberg's movie "E.T." opened.

June 11, 1988 - Rick Rhoden of the New York Yankees became the first pitcher to start as a designated hitter.

June 11, 1990 - Nolan Ryan became the oldest player to throw a no-hitter. It was the sixth of his career.

June 11, 1993 - Steven Spielberg's movie "Jurassic Park" opened.

June 11, 1994 - A popcorn container was filled with approximately 6,619 cubic feet of popped corn. The box was over 39 feet long, 20 feet wide and 8 feet tall.

June 11, 1995 - Mark McGwire tied a major league record when he hit home runs in five consecutive games.

June 11, 1995 - Lee Smith set a major league record when he got his 16th consecutive save in 16 appearances.

June 11, 1998 – In “V for Vendetta,” Gordon was murdered by Alistair Harper. Evey went to the Kit Kat Keller to murder Harper, but was arrested by Norsefire. That same night, Rosemary began working at the Keller.

June 11, 2001 – Timothy McVeigh was executed by the U.S. federal government for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.

June 11, 2005 - As the investigation into the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, 18, of Mountain Brook continued, David Cruz, spokesman for the Aruban Minister of Justice, indicated that Holloway was dead and authorities knew the location of her body. Cruz later retracted the statement, saying he was a victim of a "misinformation campaign."

June 11, 2005 - During an interleague game with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, New York Met Marlon Anderson of Montgomery, Ala. tied the score in the ninth inning with an inside-the-park home run off Angels closer Francisco Rodríguez. The ball caromed away from center fielder Steve Finley, who ran it down in right-center field as Anderson circled the bases. Anderson barely beat the play at the plate, colliding face-first into catcher José Molina's mask.

June 11, 2008 - Strong thunderstorms rolled through parts of Monroe County on this Wednesday afternoon, wreaking havoc. One storm passed over Excel and produced strong lightning, rupturing a water line on Alabama Highway 136 West and leaving nearly 600 households without water for several hours.

June 11, 2010 - ESPN launched ESPN 3D.

June 11, 2011 – San Diego Padre Anthony Rizzo impressed Washington Nationals starter John Lannan by belting his first home run – a 388-foot solo shot to right field in a 2-1 home loss to Washington. Lannan was trying to miss the zone inside – which he did – but the rookie turned on the pitch and deposited it on top of the out-of-town scoreboard to account for the only Padres run.