Today in History for July 14, 2017

July 14, 1540 – The DeSoto Expedition reached the ancient Indian town of Tasqui on the Choccolocco Creek, about nine miles from its junction with the Coosa River, in present-day Talladega County, Alabama.

July 14, 1769 – An expedition led by Gaspar de Portolá established a base in California and set out to find the Port of Monterey (now Monterey, Calif.).

July 14, 1789 – Alexander Mackenzie finally completed his journey to the mouth of the great river he hoped would take him to the Pacific, but which turned out to flow into the Arctic Ocean. Later named after him, the Mackenzie is the second-longest river system in North America.

July 14, 1789 – Thousands of Parisian revolutionaries and mutinous troops stormed the Bastille Prison in Paris, an event that began the decade-long French Revolution. Frustrated by a severe food shortage, high taxation, and the frivolous spending of Queen Marie Antoinette, a crowd that grew to 10,000 stormed the prison in search of gunpowder. Bastille Day became an official holiday in France in 1880.

July 14, 1798 – The Sedition Act became law in the United States making it a federal crime to write, publish or utter false or malicious statements about the United States government. The act allowed the prosecution of people who voiced or printed malicious remarks about the president or government of the United States.

July 14, 1825 – During his tour of the United States, the Marquis de Lafayette attended a banquet held in his honor at Sansay House in Morristown, N.J.

July 14, 1860 – Owen Wister, the man who wrote “The Virginian,” the first big cowboy novel, was born in Germantown, Pa.

July 14, 1861 – During the Civil War, the blockade at Wilmington, N.C., was set by the USS Daylight. Federal reconnaissance was also conducted from Alexandria to Fairfax Courthouse, Va.

July 14, 1862 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Cotton Plant, Batesville and Helena, Ark.; with Indians at Angel’s Ranch on the Mad River, Calif.; at Cynthia, Kentucky; near Corinth, Miss., along the Memphis and Charleston Railroad; at Fayetteville, Tenn.; and at Gaines’ Crossroad, Va.

July 14, 1862 – During the Civil War, Federal reconnaissance was conducted from Grand River to Fort Gibson, Tahlequak and Park Hill in the Indian Territory. A Federal raid was also conducted on the Mobile & Ohio Railroad in Tennessee.

July 14, 1863 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Falling Waters, Md. and another near Williamsport, Md.; near Iuka, Miss.; at Camp Dennison, near Cincinnati, Ohio; on Morris Island, S.C.; at Elk River Bridge, Tenn.; and near Harper’s Ferry, W.Va.

July 14, 1863 – During the Civil War, draft riots continued in New York, N.Y.

July 14, 1864 - Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest suffered his biggest defeat when Union General Andrew J. Smith routed his force at the Battle of Tupelo, Miss. Union losses stood at 674, while Forrest and Confederate General Stephen Lee lost over 1,300 soldiers.

July 14, 1864 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Bayou des Arc, or Farr’s Mill, Ark.; at Pollesville, Md., as Jubal Early’s force crossed the Potomac back into Virginia; near Bloomfield and another near Fredericksburg, Mo.; near Carmargo Crossroads, near Tupelo, Miss.; at Versailles, Mo.; and at Malvern Hill, Va.

July 14, 1864 – During the Civil War, a four-day Federal operation in Webster and Union Counties, Ky. began.

July 14, 1865 – The first ascent of the Matterhorn was accomplished by Edward Whymper and party, four of whom died on the descent.

July 14, 1879 - The Evergreen Baseball Club was scheduled to play the Greenville Club on this Monday, according to The Evergreen Star newspaper.

July 14, 1881 - Sheriff Pat Garrett shot 21-year-old Henry McCarty, popularly known as Billy the Kid, to death at the Maxwell Ranch, outside Fort Sumner, in New Mexico.

July 14, 1882 - John Ringo, the famous gun-fighting gentleman, was found dead in Turkey Creek Canyon, outside of Tombstone, Arizona. It looked as if Ringo had shot himself in the head and the official ruling was that he had committed suicide. Some believed, however, that he had been murdered either by his drinking friend Frank “Buckskin” Leslie or a young gambler named “Johnny-Behind-the-Deuce.” To complicate matters further, Wyatt Earp later claimed that he had killed Ringo, so the truth remains obscure to this day.

July 14, 1903 – Playwright and novelist Irving Stone was born in San Francisco, Calif.

July 14, 1905 - Dr. Samuel W. Yarbrough, a dental surgeon, died at his home in Monroeville, Ala. on this Thursday evening after an illness of several weeks. He was buried at the Baptist cemetery in Monroeville the following day with Masonic honors.

July 14, 1912 – Folk singer Woody Guthrie was born in Okemah, Okla.

July 14, 1913 – Future U.S. President Gerald Rudolph Ford was born Leslie Lynch King Jr. in Omaha, Nebraska.

July 14, 1915 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Sheriff Williams was making preparations to execute John Satler and Robert Watkins on Aug. 6.

July 14, 1915 - A movie version of Alabama author Octavus Roy Cohen's book “The Honeymoon Baby” was released.

July 14, 1917 – Playwright Arthur Laurents was born in Brooklyn.

July 14, 1918 – Swedish director and writer Ingmar Bergman was born in Uppsala.

July 18, 1918 - Quentin Roosevelt, a pilot in the United States Air Service and the fourth son of former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, was shot down and killed by a German Fokker plane over the Marne River in France.

July 14, 1919 – Army Pvt. Charles Frances McDonald Jr. of Monroeville, Ala. “died from disease” during World War I at General Hospital No. in Spartanburg, S.C. Born on Aug. 25, 1890 to Charles Frances McDonald Sr. and Annie Strock, McDonald enlisted June 4, 1917 in Mobile. He was sent to France on May 7, 1918, served with HQ Detachment, 1st Field Artillery Brigade, 1st Division, AEF and with the Army of Occupation-Germany. He later reported sick to hospital and was shipped to Fort Gordon, Ga. on April 28, 1918. He is buried in Old Salem Cemetery near Mexia, Ala.

July 14, 1922 – German SS officer Elfriede Rinkel was born in Leipzig, Germany.

July 14, 1927 – The Monroe Journal reported that Messrs. Mims and Hudson, who had recently sold the plant of the Monroeville Ice & Power Co. to the Gulf Utilities Co., had purchased the gin plant at Megargel and planned to operate it in connection with their plant at Uriah. It was assumed that both plants would be operated by electricity generated at Uriah.

July 14, 1927 – The Monroe Journal reported that regular meetings of Alabama Lodge No. 3 were held on Friday evenings before the first and third Sundays in each month at 7:30 p.m. Regular convocations of Monroe Chapter No. 122 were held on the first Monday evening in each month.

July 14, 1927 – The Monroe Journal reported that Miss Edna Faulk had returned home after a visit to friend in Montgomery, and that Mr. L.N. Faulkenberry of Tunnel Springs was a visitor to Monroeville during the first of the week.

July 14, 1927 – The Evergreen Courant reported that a few weeks before, the Boy Scouts of Evergreen secured permission from W.H. Wild to build a swimming pool on his lot below and adjoining the one on which the Evergreen Ice & Fuel Company’s ice plant was located, using the stream of pure water which flowed from the pump of the plant. The boys went to work and within short time had a dam constructed across the ravine, doing all the work by hand. Wild had a doubt when he granted the boys his permission whether or not they would ever complete the job they had undertaken. In this, doubt he was mistaken, for he was soon convinced that the boys meant business and had built a pool that would afford them quite a bit of swimming. He became interested in the project and got permission from the boys to enlarge on their very excellent beginning and the result was that a splendid pool was accessible to those who desired to swim. As compensation to the boys who began the project, Wild gave each boy a free pass to the pool. The pool was filled with the purest of water, fresh from the deep well of the Evergreen Ice & Fuel Co. Provision was made to keep out the surface water resulting from rains and other sources. Gravel and sand covered the entire bottom and a drain made it possible to empty the pool at intervals when deemed necessary. From the start, it proved to be a popular place for children.

July 14, 1927 – The Evergreen Courant reported that some of the interesting events occurring in China at that time were likely to be witnessed by Lewis A. Barfield of Evergreen, who was one of the latest men to leave San Diego for service with the expeditionary force of U.S. Marines at Shanghai. He was with a detachment of Marines who embarked on the transport Thomas with Shanghai as their destination. Due to the rapid shifting of troops, however, the local Marine was to possibly eventually go to Tientsin or some other point in China, where the Marines were guarding American lives and interests. Three or four thousand U.S. Marines had been ordered to China since February 1927, and from time to time small detachments were likely to be ordered there, remaining for an indefinite period. Lewis was 22 years old and was born in Evergreen. He lived at the home of his father, Arthur M. Barfield of Evergreen, before he joined the Marine Corps in April 1927.

July 14, 1927 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Troop C, 55^th Machine Gun Squadron of the Alabama National Guard in Evergreen was to leave the latter part of the week for Ft. Oglethorpe, Ga., where the annual encampment was to take place that year. The boys were scheduled to be there for a period of 15 days. The local company was under the command of Capt. William D. (Dave) Lewis.

July 14, 1928 – The New Vietnam Revolutionary Party was founded in Huế and provided some of the communist party's most important leaders in its early years.

July 14, 1933 – In Germany, all political parties are outlawed except the Nazi Party.

July 14, 1933 – The Nazi eugenics program began with the proclamation of the Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring that called for the compulsory sterilization of any citizen who suffered from alleged genetic disorders.

July 14, 1935 - Author C. Terry Cline was born in Birmingham, Ala.

July 14, 1942 – “The Pride of the Yankees” was released in theaters for the first time.

July 14, 1948 – Funeral services for Lt. Winton D. McIntyre, who graduated from Evergreen High School in 1940, were held at Memorial Cemetery in Mobile, Ala. with full military honors. He was killed in New Guinea on April 9, 1944. McIntyre, son of Mr. and Mrs. O.R. McIntyre, were former residents of Conecuh County, but later of Prichard. McIntyre was well known in Evergreen, where he finished high school in 1940.

July 14, 1948 - At the National Democratic Convention in Philadelphia, half of the Alabama delegation walked out in protest of the party's stand for civil rights. Three days later, those delegates and other southerners formed the States' Rights party, or "Dixiecrats," at a convention in Birmingham, nominating Strom Thurmond of South Carolina for president.

July 14, 1948 – Judge E.T. Millsap announced on this Wednesday that Edwin C. Rodgers had resigned his position as Monroe County engineer effective July 22 to accept a similar position in Madison County, Tenn. Rodgers had served as county engineer since August 1946, when he was discharged from the Army. He and his family planned to move to Jackson, Tenn. the latter part of July to make their home.

July 14, 1952 – NFL linebacker Ken Hutcherson was born in Anniston, Ala. He went on to play for Anniston High School, Livingston University, the Dallas Cowboys, the San Diego Chargers, the Green Bay Packers and the Seattle Seahawks.

July 14, 1958 – During the Iraqi Revolution, the monarchy was overthrown by popular forces led by Abd al-Karim Qasim, who becomes the nation's new leader.

July 14, 1960 – The Evergreen Courant reported that John W. Crutchfield, son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Crutchfield of Lenox, had enlisted in the Regular Army recently under the Graduate Specialist Program. Master Sergeant Gerald Horne was the US Army Recruiter for the Evergreen area.

July 14, 1964 - U.S. military intelligence publicly charged that North Vietnamese regular army officers command and fight in so-called Viet Cong forces in the northern provinces, where Viet Cong strength had doubled in the past six months.

July 14, 1967 - Eddie Mathews of the Houston Astros hit his 500th career home run.

July 14, 1968 – Atlanta Braves slugger Henry "Hank" Aaron of Wilcox County, Ala. hit the 500th home run of his career in a 4-2 win over the San Francisco Giants. With 499 career home runs under his belt, Aaron hit a three-run shot in the third inning off Giants’ pitcher Mike McCormick. Aaron was mobbed at home plate by his teammates and presented with an award by Braves President Bill Bartholomay honoring him as the seventh man in baseball history to hit 500 home runs.

July 14, 1968 - Defense Secretary Clark Clifford visited South Vietnam to confer with U.S. and South Vietnamese leaders.

July 14, 1969 - U.S. President Nixon signed a baseball from the baseball Hall of Fame that had the signatures of nine other U.S. Presidents.

July 14, 1969 - Though technically still legal tender, the United States withdrew the large denomination bills of $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 from circulation on this day.

July 14, 1970 - U.S. President Nixon threw out the first ball at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

July 14, 1977 – Evergreen, Ala. weather observer Earl Windham reported a high temperature of 100 degrees on this day.

July 14, 1977 – The Evergreen Courant reported that the Evergreen Chamber of Commerce was offering a prize of a $25 U.S. savings bond to the person who submitted the best “slogan” to be used to promote Evergreen. The slogan would be one like those used by other cities over the country such as “Birmingham, The Magic City,” “Opp, the City of Opportunity,” “Monroeville, the Hub City of Southwest Alabama,” etc.

July 14, 1981 - The Major League Baseball All-Star Game was postponed because of a 33-day-old baseball players strike. The game was held on August 9.

July 14, 1981 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan met with Willie Stargell of the Pittsburgh Pirates to discuss sickle cell anemia and funding for the National Institute of Health.

July 14, 1981 – Snow Hill Institute at Snow Hill in Wilcox County, Ala. was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.

July 14, 1990 - The Evergreen Saddle Club was scheduled to hold a free horse show on this Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Horse Arena at the Evergreen Municipal Park in Evergreen, Ala.

July 14, 1998 – Weather observer Harry Ellis reported 1.15 inches of rain in Evergreen, Ala.

July 14, 2003 – In an effort to discredit U.S. Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, who had written an article critical of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Washington Post columnist Robert Novak revealed that Wilson's wife Valerie Plame was a CIA "operative".

July 14, 2003 - The U.S. government finally admitted the existence of Area 51.

July 14, 2005 – Marine Corps Cpl. Christopher David Winchester, 23, of Escambia County, Ala. was killed by a roadside bomb explosion near Tikrit during Operation Iraqi Freedom. A 2000 graduate of Flomaton High School, he was assigned to the 2^nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Regimental Combat Team-2, 2^nd Marine Division. A memorial marker placed in his honor at baseball fields in East Brewton. Winchester was born on Nov. 13, 1981 and was buried in Weavers Cemetery in Brewton.

July 14, 2006 – Right-handed pitcher Christopher Scottie Booker of Monroeville, Ala. was returned to the Washington Nationals by the Kansas City Royals.

July 14, 2007 - The family of Third Sergeant, Dr. Henry Smith Skinner, descended on the Belleville community on this Saturday to remember him and his service to his country during a ceremony at the Belleville UMC Cemetery. Dr. Skinner, born in 1839 in Missouri, moved from Virginia to Conecuh County about 1860 with his family. He and his brother, John, answered the summons to war and joined the 3^rd Florida Cavalry at Milton, Fla. This company, along with four others from Florida and five more from Alabama, were consolidated, being designated as the 15^th Confederate Cavalry, better known as the Simpson Mounted Rangers. Living in Belleville, Dr. Skinner practiced dentistry for 55 years, was a member of the Methodist Church, the Masonic Order, and the United Confederate Veterans. He died in 1922 and is buried in the Belleville United Methodist Church Cemetery located on U.S. Highway 84.

  

July 14, 2014 - Olympic gold medal winner Alice Coachman passed away. At age 16, Coachman enrolled in the high school program at Tuskegee Institute. She was a mainstay on Tuskegee's powerful track squad, which won 11 of 12 AAU championships between 1937 and 1948 under legendary coach Cleve Abbott. Coachman won 10 straight championships in the high jump between 1939 and 1948, as well as 25 indoor and outdoor 50- and 100-meter championships. In 1948, she finally had her chance at the Olympics (the 1940 and 1944 Olympic Games were cancelled because of World War II). Despite being past her prime at age 25 and suffering from back troubles, Coachman set an Olympic record in the high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 6-1/8 inches—a feat that stood for eight years. Coachman was the first black female athlete of any nation to win an Olympic gold medal and also was the first American female to win an Olympic medal in track and field. Image shows Coachman during the medal ceremony for the high jump at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London.