Today in History for Oct. 10, 2017

Hank Aaron in 1957

Oct. 10, 1540 – Hernando DeSoto’s expedition had its first audience with Chief Tuscaloosa on this day at the village of Athahatchee in Perry County.

Oct. 10, 1659 – Dutch merchant and explorer Abel Tasman died, around age 56, in Batavia, Dutch East Indies.

Oct. 10, 1775 - General William Howe was named the interim commander in chief of the British army in America, replacing Lieutenant General Thomas Gage. He was permanently appointed to the post in April 1776.

Oct. 10, 1813 – Musical composer Giuseppe Verdi was born in the village of Parma, Italy.

Oct. 10, 1832 - Joseph Stillwell “Joe” Cain was born along Dauphin Street in Mobile, Ala. Cain is credited with reviving the city's Mardi Gras tradition. In 1866, soon after the end of the Civil War, he and a group of friends led a parade through the city's downtown. He is honored by Mardi Gras revelers every year in a ceremony held at his grave in the historic Church Street Graveyard.

Oct. 10, 1845 – In Annapolis, Maryland, the Naval School (later renamed the United States Naval Academy) opened with 50 midshipman students and seven professors.

Oct. 10, 1855 – New Hope Baptist Church at Natchez, Ala. was established with the purchase of two acres of land for $10 per acre.

Oct. 10, 1861 – John Buckner Little, the author of “The History of Butler County, Alabama” was born in Greenville, Ala.

Oct. 10, 1861 – Norwegian explorer and scientist Fridtjof Nansen was born in Store Frøen, Christiania (now called Oslo), Norway.

Oct. 10, 1862 - Confederate General John Bankhead Magruder was given command of the Trans-Mississippi Department and was sent to Texas. Magruder enjoyed some success in Texas and captured Galveston in 1863. He spent the rest of the war in the West before fleeing to Mexico after the collapse of the Confederacy.

Oct. 10, 1862 - Confederate cavalry leader General J.E.B. Stuart entered Chambersburg, Pa. The next day his men looted the town.

Oct. 10, 1862 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at the Danville Crossroads, near Harrodsburg, in Kentucky; near Green Spring Furnace, Fairview Heights and at McCoy's Ferry in Maryland; and at Medon Station, Tenn. A 12-day pursuit of Confederate forces from Perryville to London, Ky. also began.

Oct. 10, 1863 - Confederate General Robert E. Lee moved his troops from their defenses along the Rapidan River and attempted to turn the Army of the Potomac's right flank.

Oct. 10, 1863 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Tipton and La Mine Bridge in Missouri; at Blue Springs and Sweet Water in Tennessee; and at Russell's Ford, James City, Germana Ford, Racoon's Ford and Morton's Ford in Virginia. A second day of skirmishing occurred at Vermillion Bayou, La.

Oct. 10, 1863 – During the Civil War, a four-day Federal expedition from Gallatin to Carthage in Tennessee began, and a two-day Federal expedition from Memphis, Tenn. to Hernando, Miss. began.

Oct. 10, 1864 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought near Valley Station, Colo.; near Rome, Ga.; at Eastport, Miss.; near Caruthersville, Mo.; at South Tunnel (near Gallatin) and at Thorn Hill, near Bean’s Station, in Tennessee; and near Rectortown, Va. A second day of skirmishing also began at Van Wert, Ga.

Oct. 10, 1867 – Early Monroe County, Ala. attorney, state senator and Claiborne businessman William Perry Leslie died at Pascagoula, Miss.

Oct. 10, 1881 – Charles Darwin published “The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms,” his last scientific book.

Oct. 10, 1895 – The Monroe Journal reported that under the new schedule adopted by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, trains were to begin arriving at Repton on Wednesday night instead of Friday, as before, and leave on Thursday morning.

Oct. 10, 1903 – Composer Vernon Duke was born Vladimir Dukelsky, in Parafianovo, Belarus.

Oct. 10, 1905 - Olivia L. Moore Stabler Locklin, the 64-year-old widow of the late Capt. Charles W. Locklin, died at her home at Perdue Hill on this Tuesday night, “at an advanced age, surviving her husband only a few weeks.” Born in Monroe County on Jan. 11, 1841, she was buried in the McConnico Cemetery at Perdue Hill, Ala.

Oct. 10, 1906 - At the Opera House in Evergreen, for one night only, on this Wednesday night, the grand opening of the season, Brandon Courtney was scheduled to present the “new, bright, breezy, snappy musical comedy, ‘Violette,’ featuring Corinne Frances, America’s youngest and most talented comedienne, surrounded by a bevy of clever comedians and a chorus of pretty girls. Fifteen big song hits. Carrying a carload special scenery; beautiful electrical effects. Most gorgeous organization ever witnessed. Prices 35, 50 and 75 cents.”

Oct. 10, 1906 - The Monroe County Medical Society held its annual session in Monroeville, Ala. on this Wednesday “with a very good attendance of members.”

Oct. 10, 1913 – United States President Woodrow Wilson triggered the explosion of the Gamboa Dike thus ending construction on the Panama Canal. One of the most ambitious engineering feats of all time, the project connected the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Oct. 10, 1914 – Early on this morning, L&N Railroad employee Richard White of Peterman, Ala. was “crushed to death by heavy timbers while at work with the bridge crew at Berlin.”

Oct. 10, 1916 - Italian forces during World War I initiated the Eighth Battle of the Isonzo, essentially continuing a previous assault on Austrian positions near the Isonzo River and attempting to increase gains made during previous battles in the same region.

Oct. 10, 1918 – During World War I, Army Pvt. Wly(?) Marshall of Burnt Corn, Ala. “died from disease.”

Oct. 10, 1918 – During World War I, Army Pvt. Archie Hawkins of Greenville, Ala. “died from disease.”

Oct. 10, 1918 – During World War I, Army Pvt. Benjamin Henry Brunson, 32, of Greenville, Ala. “died from disease.” Born on Aug. 7, 1886, he was buried in the St. Paul Cemetery at Mashville in Butler County, Ala.

Oct. 10, 1926 – Anne Crook Hines Farish was born on this day. She would go on to become Monroeville, Alabama’s first female city council member (elected in 1985 and served eight years), and she serve 16 years as Mayor of Monroeville, after being first elected in 1992. She was also the first female president of the Monroeville Area Chamber of Commerce, which was founded in 1928.

Oct. 10, 1927 – French pilot Capt. Deudonne Coste, a 35-year-old WWI ace, and French navigator Lt. Comdr. Joseph LeBrix, another noted WWI ace, took off from Paris on their attempt to break the record for an “around the world flight.” They would pass over Monroeville, Ala. on Feb. 6 1928, traveling north toward Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery. They would eventually complete their trip on April 14, 1928 when they landed in Paris.

Oct. 10, 1930 – Playwright, screenwriter and director Harold Pinter was born in East London.

Oct. 10, 1938 – The Munich Agreement ceded the Sudetenland to Nazi Germany.

Oct. 10, 1956 – English businessman and adventurer David Hempleman-Adams was born in Swindon, Wiltshire.

Oct. 10, 1957 - The Milwaukee Braves, including Wilcox County, Ala. native Hank Aaron, defeated the New York Yankees to win their first World Series since 1914.

Oct. 10, 1957 - Two prisoners broke out of the Conecuh County Jail on this Thursday night. The fleeing prisoners were identified by the sheriff’s office as Andrew Cliff Harvey and Sam Brown Jr. and they had not been recaptured as of Oct. 17. Deputy Sheriffs Mancil Pearce and William Kent said that the prisoners filed through one of the bars in the window. They tied blankets together and slid down them to freedom. They tore loose a piece of pipe from the top of one of the cells and used it to pry the window bars.

Oct. 10, 1963 – Conecuh County (Ala.) Board of Education attorneys filed an appeal with the Alabama Supreme Court that asked the Supreme Court to set aside an order issued by the Butler County Circuit Court on Sept. 12 that ordered the Butler County Board of Education to bus children from the Beat 8 community in Conecuh County to McKenzie School in Butler County.

Oct. 10, 1965 - In the first major operation since arriving the previous month, the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) joined with South Vietnamese Marines to strike at 2,000 North Vietnamese troops 25 miles from An Khe in the Central Highlands.

Oct. 10, 1967 - The Outer Space Treaty was put in force banning space-based nuclear weapons.

Oct. 10, 1969 – An “overflow crowd” watched undefeated Baldwin County High School beat Evergreen, 14-0, in Bay Minette, Ala. Jimmy Bell led Evergreen’s rushing attack with 14 carries for 70 yards. Ernest Shipp led Evergreen’s defense with eight individual tackles and a number of assists.

Oct. 10, 1969 – Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre was born in Gulfport, Miss. He went on to play for Southern Miss, the Atlanta Falcons, the Green Bay Packers, the New York Jets and the Minnesota Vikings. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016.

Oct. 10, 1969 - The U.S. Navy transferred 80 river-patrol boats to the South Vietnamese Navy in the largest single transfer of naval equipment since the war began.

Oct. 10, 1969 - South Vietnamese armed forces assumed responsibility for the defense of Saigon as the last U.S. combat contingent in the city was moved to an area 20 miles away.

Oct. 10, 1971 – Sold, dismantled and moved to the United States, London Bridge reopened in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

Oct. 10, 1976 - Part 1 of “The Biscuit Eater,” a movie version of the story by Alabama author James H. Street, was broadcast as part of the “Wonderful World of Disney” television series.

Oct. 10, 1976 – Major League Baseball left fielder Pat Burrell was born in Eureka Springs, Ark. During his career, he played for the Philadelphia Phillies, the Tampa Bay Rays and the San Francisco Giants.

Oct. 10, 1977 - Joe Namath played the last game of his NFL career.

Oct. 10, 1977 – In Lovecraftian fiction, Viennese occult scholar Dr. Stanislaus Hinterstoisser passed away at the age of 81. He is most famous for his discovery of Lovecraft’s father’s ties to the freemasons, but he died shortly after he made this public and was unable to attain the prestige that he deserved. He first appeared in 1978’s “The Necronomicon: The Book of Dead Names” by George Hay.

Oct. 10, 1978 – A Bigfoot sighting in Covington County, Ala. was reported by a woman who said she saw a Bigfoot steal a baby pig from a pen near the intersection of Hwy 55 and Hwy 84 at River Falls.

Oct. 10, 1985 - The Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro was seized by hijackers.

Oct. 10, 1986 – Alabama Lt. Gov. Bill Baxley was scheduled to visit Evergreen, Ala. during his gubernatorial campaign. He planned to visit local plants, businesses and the Conecuh County Courthouse in Evergreen.

Oct. 10, 1987 - An estimated crowd of 3,500 was on hand to witness Excel High School clinch the 1A Area 2 championship on this Saturday night with a convincing 28-6 victory over Frisco City in Excel. Senior Randy Brown was Excel’s big play man Saturday. The 5-foot-10, 165-pound halfback put the Panthers ahead 14-0 in the first half with a 58-yard touchdown run and recorded a 51-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to give Excel at 28-6 advantage. Bo Bishop was Excel’s head coach, and other outstanding Excel players in that game included Chad Bell, Ture Berghaldt, Miller Helton, Ricky Johnson, Marcus Jordan, Demetrius Kimbrough, Danny Malone, Gerald Millender, Heath Nall and Brian Thomas. Jim Gibbs was Frisco’s head coach, and outstanding Frisco players in that game included Robert Byrd, Chris Ikner, Allen Jordan, Lorenzo Lawson, Michael Lee, Scottie Lee, Ralph Lilley, Pat McCrory, Darren Smith, Eric Stafford and Keith Wesley.

  

Oct. 10, 1994 - Iraq announced it was withdrawing its forces from the Kuwaiti border. No signs of a pullback were observed.

Oct. 10, 2002 - The U.S. Congress passed a resolution that gave U.S. President George W. Bush the authority to use military force, if necessary, against Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.

Oct. 10, 2004 - Actor Christopher Reeve, who became famous for his starring role in four “Superman” films, died from heart failure at the age of 52 at a hospital near his home in Westchester County, New York. Reeve, who was paralyzed in a 1995 horse-riding accident, was a leading advocate for spinal cord research.

Oct. 10, 2011 – “The Thing,” a prequel to the 1982 film “John Carpenter’s The Thing,” premiered at Universal Studios. It was released in U.S. theaters four days later.

Oct. 10, 2011 - Nelson Cruz of the Texas Rangers hit the first-ever postseason walk-off grand slam to give the Rangers a 7-3 win. The win gave the Rangers a 2-0 lead in the ALCS over the Detroit Tigers.