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| Charles Wesley Reid |
Oct. 21, 1496 – Spanish explorer and conquistador Hernando
de Soto was born in Barcarrota, Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain.
Oct. 21, 1512 – Martin Luther joined the faculty of the University
of Wittenberg.
Oct. 21, 1520 – Ferdinand Magellan discovered a strait
now known as the Strait of Magellan.
Oct. 21, 1520 – João Álvares Fagundes discovered the islands
of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, bestowing them their original name of
"Islands of the 11,000 Virgins".
Oct. 21, 1772 – English Romantic poet Samuel Taylor
Coleridge was born in Ottery St. Mary, Devon, England.
Oct. 21, 1774 – The first display of the word
"Liberty" was seen on a flag raised by colonists in Taunton,
Massachusetts in defiance of British rule in Colonial America.
Oct. 21, 1779 – During the American
Revolution, the Continental Congress of the United States elected former
congressman Henry Laurens minister to Holland.
Oct. 21, 1797 – In Boston Harbor,
the 44-gun United States Navy frigate USS Constitution was launched.
Oct. 21, 1858 – Dr. Charles Brooks
Thomas was born. He would later buy a plantation where Thomaston, Ala. is now
located and would be appointed postmaster. Thomaston was named in his honor and
he would become the town’s first mayor and had the land surveyed and laid out
the town.
Oct. 21, 1861 – During the Civil
War, an action took place at Rockcastle Hills (or Camp Wildcat), Ky.
Oct. 21, 1861 – During the Civil
War, an engagement took place at Fredericktown, Mo.
Oct. 21, 1861 – During the Civil
War, a skirmish was fought at Young’s Mill, near Newport News, Va.
Oct. 21, 1861 – During the Civil
War, at the Battle of Ball’s Bluff, Union troops under Col. Edward Baker
suffered a defeat by Confederate troops in the second major battle of the war,
which occurred in Loudoun County, Virginia. Colonel Edward Baker, a close
friend of Abraham Lincoln, was killed in the battle becoming the first martyr
of the war and led to the creation of a Congressional committee to monitor the
conduct of the war. The Union suffered 49 killed, 158 wounded, and 714 missing
and captured, while the Confederates suffered 33 killed, 115 wounded, and one
missing.
Oct. 21, 1862 - Two days before, a
mail boat, the Gladiator, had been steaming peacefully along the Mississippi
River, when suddenly gunfire broke out from the Arkansas shore. Guerilla
activity of this sort was hardly uncommon, whether by actual secessionists or
merely armed bandits, and Admiral David D. Porter was thoroughly sick of it. On
this day, he sent the gunboat USS Louisville, along with the transport steamer
Meteor loaded with troops, to the closest towns to where the attack had taken
place. Under command of Lt. Commander Meade, the villages of Bledsoe’s Landing
and Hamblin’s Landing, Arkansas, were put to the torch. The people were told that
“every outrage by the guerillas upon packets would be similarly dealt with.”
Oct. 21, 1862 – During the Civil
War, skirmishes were fought near Simmons’s Ranch, near Hydesville in California;
at Pitman’s Cross Roads, Ky.; and at Woodville, Tenn.
Oct. 21, 1862 – During the Civil
War, a Federal expedition from Crab Orchard to Big Hill and Richmond in
Kentucky began.
Oct. 21, 1862 – During the Civil
War, Confederate Colonel Joseph Wheeler’s command arrived at and seized London,
Ky.
Oct. 21, 1862 – During the Civil
War, a four-day Federal reconnaissance to Collierville, Shelby Depot, Hickory
and Galloway Switch in Tennessee began.
Oct. 21, 1862 – During the Civil
War, Federal reconnaissance from Loudoun Heights to Lovettsville in Virginia
began.
Oct. 21, 1863 – During the Civil
War, a skirmish was fought at Cherokee Station, Ala. on the Memphis &
Charleston Railroad.
Oct. 21, 1863 – During the Civil
War, skirmishes were fought at Opelousas and Barre’s Landing in Louisiana; in
Greenton Valley, near Hopewell, in Missouri; and at Sulphur Springs, Tenn. A
four-day Federal reconnaissance from Charleston to Boone County Courthouse in
West Virginia also began.
Oct. 21, 1864 – During the Civil
War, a skirmish occurred at Leesburg, Ala.
Oct. 21, 1864 – During the Civil
War, skirmishes were fought at Bryant’s Plantation, Fla.; at Harrodsburg, Ky.;
with Indians at Alkali Station in the Nebraska Territory; and in Clinch Valley,
near Sneedsville, Tenn.
Oct. 21, 1864 - Confederate General
Sterling Price’s position was clearly at a disadvantage. Surrounded on three
sides by closely pursuing Federal forces, and with a river on the fourth, the
logical thing to do would most likely have been to surrender his force and
abandon every hope of taking Missouri out of the Union. This was not, however,
Price’s style, so instead he on this day fought a very forceful fight at small
waterway known as Little Blue. The inevitable was staved off for another day,
and in fact the Federals were not as secure as they wanted Price to believe,
ordering the evacuation of Independence, Mo.
Oct. 21, 1879 – Inventor Thomas
Edison finally struck upon the idea for a workable electric light.
Oct. 21, 1888 - Margaret Fox, one
of the Fox sisters, confessed that the "spirit rappings" she and her
sisters made were a hoax, created by the cracking of their toe joints.
Oct. 21, 1892 – Opening ceremonies for the World's Columbian
Exposition were held in Chicago, though because construction was behind
schedule, the exposition did not open until May 1, 1893.
Oct. 21, 1895 – The Fall term of
the Monroe County Circuit Court was scheduled to convene on this day in
Monroeville, Ala.
Oct. 21, 1904 – Swiss explorer and
journalist Isabelle Eberhardt was killed in a flash flood at the age of 27 in Aïn Séfra, Algeria.
Oct. 21, 1905 - The fall term of
Monroe County (Ala.) Circuit Court adjourned on this Saturday morning.
Oct. 21-22, 1905 – The Rev. J.B. Kilpatrick filled his
regular appointment at Pleasant Hill Church on this Saturday and Sunday. He was
assisted by Rev. Mr. Cohron of Excel, Ala., who preached at the Grimes’ school
house on the night of Sat., Oct. 21.
Oct. 21, 1917 – During World War I,
four months after the first U.S. troops arrived in France, the first Americans
entered combat when units from the U.S. Army's First Division were assigned to
Allied trenches in the Luneville sector near Nancy, France.
Oct. 21, 1917 – Jazz trumpeter and
composer Dizzy Gillespie was born in Cheraw, S.C.
Oct. 21, 1918 - A German U-boat
submarine fired the last torpedo of World War I, as Germany ceased its policy
of unrestricted submarine warfare.
Oct. 21, 1921 – The Troy State
Normal School (present-day Troy University) beat Repton High School, 12-6, in a
football game in Troy, Ala. Troy would finish the season with a 1-7 record.
Oct. 21, 1921 – President Warren G.
Harding delivered in Alabama the first speech by a sitting U.S. President
against lynching in the deep South. Harding was the great-grandson of Conecuh
County’s Henchie Warren, who is said to have hidden a chest of gold in Shipps
Pond during the Civil War.
Oct. 21, 1926 – As The Evergreen
Courant began its 32nd year of publication, it began publishing on Thursday of
each week instead of Wednesdays as it had in the past.
Oct. 21, 1927 - In New York City,
construction began on the George Washington Bridge.
Oct. 21, 1927 – Excel and Conecuh
County High School were scheduled to play in football at Excel, beginning at
3:30 p.m.
Oct. 21, 1927 – Evergreen’s
football team was scheduled to play in Andalusia on this Friday afternoon.
Oct. 21, 1928 – National Baseball
Hall of Fame pitcher Whitey Ford was born in New York, New York. He spent his
entire Major League career with the New York Yankees. He was inducted into the
Hall of Fame in 1974.
Oct. 21, 1929 – Science fiction
writer Ursula K. Le Guin was born in Berkeley, Calif.
Oct. 21-22, 1932 – “Huddle: A
Thrilling Football Picture,” starring Ramon Novarro, Una Merkle and Madge
Evans, was scheduled to be shown at the Evergreen Theatre in Evergreen, Ala.
Oct. 21, 1933 – In a boxing match
at Vredenburgh, welterweight “Borer” Hughes of Bay Minette Camp won by
technical knockout in the fourth round over “Bucky” Harris, “star welter” of
the Vredenburgh Camp. Hughes weighed 148 pounds, and Harris tipped the scales
at 152 pounds.
Oct. 21, 1940 – The first edition
of the Ernest Hemingway novel “For Whom the Bell Tolls” was published.
Oct. 21, 1948 – Major League Baseball shortstop and manager
Bill Russell was born in Pittsburgh, Kansas. He would go on to play for and
manage the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Oct. 21, 1953 – Well known Belleville, Ala. merchant Charles
Wesley Reid, 73, died in a Greenville, Ala. hospital around 7 a.m. from
injuries received in an automobile accident five days before. The accident
occurred on the afternoon of Fri., Oct. 16, about mile east of Belleville. Born
on June 20, 1880 in Conecuh County, he was buried in the Arkadelphia Cemetery
at Loree in Conecuh County.
Oct. 21, 1954 – Monroe County High School beat a
“determined” Excel High School team, 6-0, in Monroeville. Left halfback Jim
McNorton scored on a short, goal line run with just four minutes remaining in
the first half for the game’s only points. Other standout MCHS players in that
game included Harry Ikner, Nicky Manning, Elliott Sawyer, Hick Wiggins and
Robert Wiggins. Standout Excel players included quarterback Sonny Baas and
Willie Ed Cole.
Oct. 21, 1954 - Over 500 persons attended the annual Monroe
County Purebred Cattle and Hog Show at the Regional Livestock Coliseum in
Monroeville.
Oct. 21, 1956 - Billy Howton of the Green Bay Packers caught
seven passes for 257 yards and two touchdowns against the Los Angeles Rams. The
final score was, 42-17.
Oct. 21, 1956 – Carrie Fisher, who is known as Princess Leia
from the original “Star Wars” trilogy, was born in Beverly Hills.
Oct. 21, 1959 – In New York City, the Solomon R. Guggenheim
Museum, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, opened to the public.
Oct. 21, 1959 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed
an executive order transferring Wernher von Braun and other German scientists
from the United States Army to NASA.
Oct. 21, 1960 – A major fire completely destroyed the
Evergreen Heading Co. mill and warehouse on this early Friday morning. The
mill, which manufactured wooden, paper-coated barrelheads, was founded in 1938,
and Ward Alexander was the manager. It was believed that an electrical spark or
spark from a boiler might have ignited shavings in the mill.
Oct. 21, 1960 – On homecoming night in Evergreen, Ala.
Evergreen High School beat Frisco City, 21-14. Mary Hunter was named Miss
Homecoming, and Joy Lure’ Davis was named Miss Football.
Oct. 21, 1962 – On Layman’s Day, J. Herbert Orr,
industrialist, churchman and civic leader of Opelika, was scheduled to be the
guest speaker on this Sunday at the Evergreen Methodist Church in Evergreen,
Ala. Orr was one of America’s pioneers in the field of magnetic recording tape,
and founded Orradio Industries, Inc., one of the first tape manufacturing
plants in the nation.
Oct. 21, 1966 - The U.S. Congress approved the American
Football League–National Football League merger.
Oct. 21, 1966 – On homecoming night at Brooks Stadium in
Evergreen, Ala., Evergreen High School beat Frisco City High School, 39-6. Chan
Fendley was crowned Miss Homecoming at Evergreen High School, and Faye Cook was
named Miss Football.
Oct. 21, 1966 – The Conecuh County Board of Education opened
bids for a major addition to Evergreen High School in Evergreen, Ala. The
addition consisted of five classrooms, a band room, restrooms and some basement
storage area. Construction was to begin immediately.
Oct. 21, 1967 – Future J.U. Blacksher High School head coach
and principal Keith Cardwell scored a 21-yard touchdown and kicked the extra
point to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 win over Excel High School.
Oct. 21, 1967 - At an antiwar rally in Washington, D.C., the
protests included an exorcism of the Pentagon.
Oct. 21, 1967 - Staff Sgt. William G. Johnson, the son of
William C. Johnson of Evergreen, Ala., received the Army Commendation Medal
during ceremonies near Long Binh, Vietnam. Presenting the award was Col. W.H.
Pietsch, civil affairs officer for the II Field Force, Vietnam. Johnson
received the award for meritorious service while serving as a supply sergeant
in the 2nd Civil Affairs Co., II Field Force, Vietnam.
Oct. 21, 1967
– During the Vietnam War, more than 100,000 war protesters gathered in
Washington, D.C. Similar demonstrations occurred simultaneously in Japan and Western
Europe.
Oct. 21, 1967 – During the Vietnam
War, demonstrators including radicals, liberals, black nationalists, hippies,
professors, women’s groups, and war veterans marched on the Pentagon.
Oct. 21, 1973 - Fred Dryer of the Los Angeles Rams became
the first NFL player to record two safeties in a single game. The Rams defeated
the Green Bay Packers, 24-7.
Oct. 21, 1975 - Carlton Fisk of the Boston Red Sox hit a
home run in the 12th inning in a 7-6 win over the Cincinnati Reds in Game Six
of the World Series. The Sox went on to lose the championship, of course.
Still, even 30 years later, the films and photos of Fisk urgently trying to
wave the ball into fair territory provide some of the game’s most enduring and
exciting images. As team president Larry Lucchino pointed out, “the appeal of
baseball at its best was illustrated that night.”
Oct. 21, 1980 - The Philadelphia Phillies won their first
World Series.
Oct. 21, 1984 - Steve Cox of the Cleveland Browns kicked a
60-yard field goal against the Cincinnati Bengals. It was the second longest
field goal in NFL history. The Browns lost to the Cincinnati Bengals, 12-9.
Oct. 21, 1986 – The Monroeville (Ala.) City Council
appointed Bill Dailey as Monroeville Police Chief. He replaced Charles Colbert,
who had been chief for 12 years.
Oct. 21, 1986 – Natalee Ann Holloway was born in Clinton,
Miss. At the age of 18, on May 30, 2005, she would disappear while on a high
school graduation trip to Aruba, six days after her graduation from Mountain
Brook High School in Alabama.
Oct. 21, 1995 – The 15th Annual Conecuh Heritage Day
Festival was scheduled to be held in downtown Evergreen, Ala. Christian Country
Music recording artist Jimmy Whitt and his 15-year-old daughter, Jamie, were
scheduled to headline the entertainment.
Oct. 21, 1998 - The New York Yankees set a Major League
Baseball record of 125 victories for the regular and postseason combined.
Oct. 21, 2000 - The New York Yankees defeated the New York
Mets, 4-3, in 12 innings. It was the longest World Series game at four hours
and 51 minutes.
Oct. 21, 2011 – “The Last Ride,” a film about the death of
Hank Williams Sr., was released in theaters.
Oct. 21, 2015 - Marty McFly and Doc Brown blasted their
DeLorean into the future at the end of the 1985 cult classic "Back to the
Future" and landed in Hill Valley on the date of October 21, 2015, at the
start of "Back to the Future Part II."
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