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| Dean Masonic Lodge in Brooklyn, Ala. |
Dec. 8, 65 BCE – Lyric poet Quintus Horatius Flaccus, better
known to English speakers as Horace, was born in Apulia, Italy.
Dec. 8, 1620 - The Pilgrims were hungry and weak from scurvy
after two months at sea by the time the Mayflower anchored in the icy waters on
the bay side of Cape Cod. Miles Standish led a small group of explorers on
desperate scouting missions that predated the landing at Plymouth Rock. At dawn
on this day, the Nauset attack this group. No one was hurt, though one of the
Natives gave an “extraordinary cry” after a musket was discharged in his
direction and before he disappeared with the rest of the Natives into the
brambly forest that covered the dunes. The relieved Pilgrims christened the
spot where the skirmish took place, “The First Encounter.” A small monument was
placed there in 2001 by the Society of Colonial Wars. The inscription reads:
“Near this site the Nauset tribe of the Wampanoag nation, seeking to protect
themselves and their culture, had their first encounter, 8 December 1620, with
Myles Standish, John Carver, William Bradford, Edward Winslow, John Tilley,
Edward Tilley, John Howland, Richard Warren, Stephen Hopkins, Edward Dotey,
John Allerton, Thomas English, Master Mate Clark, Master Gunner Copin and three
sailors of the Mayflower company.”
Dec. 8, 1765 - Eli Whitney was born in Westborough, Mass.
Whitney invented the cotton gin and developed the concept of mass-production of
interchangeable parts.
Dec. 8, 1775 - Beginning on this
day, Colonel Benedict Arnold and General Richard Montgomery led an American
force in the siege of Quebec. The Americans hoped to capture the
British-occupied city and with it win support for the American cause in Canada.
Dec. 8, 1776 - George Washington's retreating army in the
American Revolution crossed the Delaware River from New Jersey to Pennsylvania.
Dec. 8, 1777 - General William Howe decided to return to the
city of Philidelphia after two days of skirmishes north of the city. He made no
further attacks on George Washington that winter.
Dec. 8, 1780 - Dragging Canoe led the Chickamauga in a
strike at the Cumberland settlements in middle Tennessee and destroyed
Mansker’s Station in 1779. In April 1780, he attacked Fort Nashborough but lost
the “Battle of the Bluffs”. At Boyd’s Creek, Tenn., near the Little Tennessee
River, Dragging Canoe lost 80 men on this day to John Sevier and volunteers
from North Carolina.
Dec. 8, 1818 – Patrick W. Hayes became the second postmaster
at Burnt Corn Spring, Ala., replacing the first postmaster, William James, who
took the job on Oct. 27, 1817.
Dec. 8, 1821 – Sparta Academy in Conecuh County, Ala. was
incorporated by state legislature, making it the second chartered private
academy in the state.
Dec. 8-9, 1824 – During his tour of the United States, the
Marquis de Lafayette made official visits to the Senate and addressed the U.S.
Congress at the House of Representatives.
Dec. 8, 1829 – On this day, in his first “State of the Union Address,” President Andrew Jackson stated his goal to remove all Indians in the southeastern part of the United States to lands west of the Mississippi. A law to that effect would pass Congress on May 28, 1830. “…..Our ancestors found them the uncontrolled possessors of these vast regions. By persuasion and force they have been made to retire from river to river and from mountain to mountain, until some of the tribes have become extinct and others have left but remnants to preserve for a while their once terrible names. Surrounded by the whites with their arts of civilization, which by destroying the resources of the savage doom him to weakness and decay, the fate of the Mohegan, the Narragansett, and the Delaware is fast overtaking the Choctaw, the Cherokee, and the Creek. That this fate surely awaits them if they remain within the limits of the states does not admit of a doubt. …..” “…..I suggest for your consideration the propriety of setting apart an ample district west of the Mississippi, and without the limits of any state or territory now formed, to be guaranteed to the Indian tribes as long as they shall occupy it, each tribe having a distinct control over the portion designated for its use..…”
Dec. 8, 1850 – The organizational charter was issued to Dean Masonic Lodge No. 112 at Brooklyn, Ala.
Dec. 8, 1850 - The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, in Mobile, Ala., was dedicated. The cornerstone for the cathedral was laid and blessed in November 1835. The foundations were in place by 1837, but the economic crisis known as the Panic of 1837 and a yellow fever epidemic in 1839 delayed progress. By the mid-1840s, the economy had improved and construction resumed, supported in part by generous contributions from the people of Mobile.
Dec. 8, 1861 – During the Civil
War, the CSS Sumter captured the whaling vessel, the Eden Dodge, in the
Atlantic Ocean.
Dec. 8, 1861 – During the Civil
War, a skirmish was fought at Fishing Creek, near Somerset, Ky.
Dec. 8, 1861 – During the Civil
War, a skirmish was fought in the vicinity of Dam No. 5 on the Chesapeake and
Ohio Canal, on the Potomac River, Va.
Dec. 8, 1861 – During the Civil
War, a skirmish was fought close to Romney, West Va.
Dec. 8, 1861 - The American Bible
Society, supported entirely by private donations from individuals and churches,
released a remarkable report on this day. Less than a year from the time the
War began, they were already to the point where they were printing, shipping
and distributing more than 7,000 copies per day of the New Testament to
soldiers in the field. A soldier was likely to carry two items of about the
same size: his Testament and a pack of playing cards. One, however, was often
found dropped on the field when fighting started. There was a common belief
that going to meet one’s Maker with gambling paraphernalia on one’s person did
not enhance the chances of the gates of Heaven opening. The counter-part of the
American Bible Society, the Confederate States Bible Society, printed and
shipped New Testaments from Augusta, Ga.
Dec. 8, 1861 - Since the skirmish
at Round Mountain in November, Unionist Creeks led by Chief Opothleyahola had
withdrawn northeast to Chusto-Talasah (Bird Creek or Caving Banks), in the
Cherokee Nation near Tulsey Town (present-day Tulsa, Oklahoma). Following them was
the pro-Confederate force of about 1,100 Creeks, Chickasaws, Choctaws, and the
9th Texas led by Colonel Douglas Cooper. It was reported to Cooper that 500 of
his Cherokees had deserted the ranks due to a “misconception of the character
of the conflict between the Creeks, and from an indisposition to engage in
strife with their immediate neighbors.” Some Cherokees went home, while others
joined the Unionists.
Dec. 8, 1862 – During the Civil
War, a four-day Federal reconnaissance from Suffolk to the Blackwater River in Virginia
began, and a skirmish was fought at Zuni, Va.
Dec. 8, 1863 – Noah Dallas Peacock (Lewis Lavon Peacock’s
older brother) was captured by the Union at Campbell’s Station, where he’d
apparently been sent to recuperate after getting shot in the left leg during an
engagement at Knoxville on Nov. 24. Noah was captured when the post was overrun
by a detachment of Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas’ Union forces.
Dec. 8, 1863 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln offered his
conciliatory plan for reunification of the United States with his Proclamation
of Amnesty and Reconstruction. By this point in the Civil War, it was clear
that Lincoln needed to make some preliminary plans for postwar reconstruction.
Dec. 8, 1863 – During the Civil
War, a skirmish was fought near Scottsville, Ky.
Dec. 8, 1864 – The organizational charter was issued to
Norris Masonic Lodge No. 301 in Brewton, Ala.
Dec. 8, 1864 - Being unable to
muster anything near the manpower to directly give battle to Gen. William T.
Sherman’s army as they marched from Atlanta to the Sea, desperation forced a
resort to weapons both sides really considered illegal: buried “land torpedoes”
which exploded when stepped on. What would today be called land mines were
considered lawful to use around forts, but not in open roadways. After Sherman
came across a young soldier who had had his foot blown off by such a mine, he
confirmed an order by Maj. Gen. Frank Blair Jr. that Confederate prisoners
should march in the lead to dig up these bombs. These men protested that they had
not buried the bombs and had no idea where they might be. Sherman, blunt as
ever, told them that if someone had to be blown up, he would rather it be them
than his own men.
Dec. 8, 1864 – During the Civil
War, skirmishes were fought at Tuscumbia, Mo.; at Hatcher’s Run, south of
Petersburg, Va.; and near Bryan Courthouse and Ebenezer Creek in Georgia.
Dec. 8, 1881 – Major Jeremiah Austill, a hero of the Canoe
Fight of 1813, died in Clarke County, Ala. at the age of 86 and was buried in
the Austill Cemetery at Rockville in Clarke County. Born on Aug. 10, 1794 in
Pendleton, Anderson County, S.C., to Evan and Lethee/Lethea (Files) Austill.
When but 19 years of age, he was one of a party of three men headed by Capt.
Samuel Dale, known as the "Daniel Boone of Alabama," in the famous
"Canoe Fight" upon the Alabama River near Claiborne on Nov. 12, 1813.
In this struggle, three white men, rowed by a negro named Caesar, boldly
assailed a war canoe of the Creeks, manned by seven warriors in full trappings
in mid-stream, and killed all of them without loss
or injury to themselves, except Austill, who was struck on the head with a war
club and received a scalp wound. At this time also, he was the bearer of night
dispatches of warning between the forts and stockades along the hostile Creek
country, often making 40 miles through the trackless forests by night. He once
rode from Fort Madison to Fort Carney and thence to Mount Vernon in a single
night, through impenetrable darkness and blinding storm. He was married in 1838
to Margaret, daughter of Capt. John Eades, who came to Alabama with his family
from Georgia in 1812. They (Jeremiah and Margaret) had four children. (Some
sources say he died in 1879.)
Dec. 8, 1886 – Mexican artist Diego Rivera was born in
Guanajuato.
Dec. 8, 1894 – Cartoonist and writer James Thurber was born
in Columbus, Ohio.
Dec. 8, 1897 – The organizational charter was issued to
Carney Masonic Lodge No. 549 in Atmore, Ala.
Dec. 8, 1897 – English physician Doris Bell Collier was born
in Manchester, England. Collier, who, in addition to carving out a successful
private practice, also managed to write more than 40 mystery novels, short
stories, and radio plays under the pseudonym of Josephine Bell. She was a
founder of the Crime Writers’ Association, the British equivalent of the
Mystery Writers of America organization.
Dec. 8, 1906 – Welsh novelist Richard Llewellyn was born in
a suburb of London, England.
Dec. 8, 1908 - W.R. Blackwell visited The Monroe Journal on
this Tuesday. Blackwell had just returned from attending the meeting of the
Masonic Grand Lodge in Montgomery.
Dec. 8, 1909 – The organizational charter was issued to
McKenzie Lodge No. 701 in McKenzie, in Butler County, Ala.
Dec. 8, 1909 – The organizational charter was issued to K.A.
Mayer Lodge No. 703 in Pine Hill, in Wilcox County, Ala.
Dec. 8, 1914 – During World War I, a squadron of Britain's
Royal Navy defeated the Imperial German East Asia Squadron in the Battle of the
Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic.
Dec. 8, 1914 - Amonth after German naval forces led by
Admiral Maximilian von Spee inflicted the Royal Navy’s first defeat in a
century by sinking two British cruisers with all hands off the southern coast
of Chile, Spee’s squadron attempted to raid the Falkland Islands, located in
the southern Atlantic Ocean, only to be thwarted by the British navy.
Dec. 8, 1915 – The Evergreen Courant reported that J.T. Vann
and his family had moved to Evergreen during the previous week from Monroeville
and were occupying the E.C. Page home on Park Street.
Dec. 8, 1915 – The Evergreen Courant reported that two more
men had announced their candidacies for office in the upcoming election. They
were W.C. Relfe and W.S. Oliver, and each was seeking the office of Conecuh
County Tax Assessor.
Dec. 8, 1920 – Walter Solomon of Excel, Ala. allegedly
killed Sherman L. English of Repton, Ala. Both men were taxis operators, and
the killing appeared to have resulted during an argument over transporting a
passenger. Born in 1888, English was buried in the Repton Methodist Church
Cemetery in Conecuh County, Ala.
Dec. 8, 1920 – The Rev. David James Wright passed away at
the age of 88. He was born in the Sepulga community in Conecuh County, Ala. on
March 22, 1832. During the Civil War, he enlisted as a first lieutenant in the
Third Georgia Regiment and was “shot down four times on battlefields and from
these wounds was maimed for life.” At the time of his death, he had been a
Masonic lodge member for 50 years. He was buried in the Old Evergreen Cemetery
in Conecuh County, Ala. (Some sources say he was born in 1834.)
Dec. 8, 1921 – The first issue of The Thomasville Times in
Thomasville, Ala. was published.
Dec. 8, 1938 - Alabama author Zora Neale Hurston appeared on
the radio program “The American School of
the Air” to read folk stories from her book “Mules and Men.”
Dec. 8, 1939 – The Montgomery Advertiser released its sixth
annual all-state high school football team. Sam Yarbrough of Monroeville, Ala.
was named to the third team, and Calvin “Hop” Stevens of Monroeville was named
as an honorable mention.
Dec. 8, 1940 - The Chicago Bears trounced the Washington
Redskins in the National Football League (NFL) Championship by a score of 73-0,
the largest margin of defeat in NFL history.
Dec. 8, 1941 - The United States entered World War II when
it declared war against Japan. The act came one day after the Japanese attacked
Pearl Harbor. Britain and Canada also declared war on Japan.
Dec. 8, 1941 – Pro Football Hall of Fame offensive tackle
Bob Brown was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He went on to play for Nebraska, the
Philadelphia Eagles, the Los Angeles Rams and the Oakland Raiders. He was
inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004.
Dec. 8, 1943 - Jim Morrison of The Doors was born in
Melbourne, Fla.
Dec. 8, 1943 – Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and National Book
Award winner James Tate was born in Kansas City, Mo.
Dec. 8, 1949 – Novelist Mary Gordon was born in Far
Rockaway, N.Y.
Dec. 8, 1951 – The Evergreen Junior Chamber of Commerce’s
second annual Conecuh County Christmas Carnival held in Evergreen, Ala. on this
Saturday “was a smashing success with an estimated 10,000 people coming to town
for the festivities.” The day’s events climaxed with the big Carnival Parade,
which featured the arrival of Santa Claus. Miss June Weaver of Castleberry was
crowned Queen Joy by the previous year’s Queen, Miss Alice Fay (Petie) Sullivan
also of Castleberry. Miss Patricia Hardin of Castleberry and Miss Glenda Potts
of Evergreen were crowned Princess Gaity. “Creating considerable excitement” during
the event “was the releasing of 20 guineas. Each of these guineas, except for
one named “Foul Ball,” had certificates for a number of valuable prizes
attached to it. The prizes went to the lucky ones catching the guineas.”
Dec. 8, 1951 – Nonfiction writer Bill Bryson was born in Des
Moines, Iowa.
Dec. 8, 1953 - Nelle Harper Lee left Monroeville on this
Tuesday for her home in New York City after spending 10 days with her father,
A.C. Lee, and Miss Alice Lee.
Dec. 8, 1953 – J.U. Blacksher’s basketball team won their
second game of the season on this Tuesday night when they beat Excel, 52-42, in
Excel. Frank Hadley, guard, led Blacksher wit 17 points. Sonny Baas and Jack
Matchett, forwards, led Excel with 14 points each.
Dec. 8, 1954 - A dramatic version of Alabama author William
March's book “The Bad Seed” opened
on Broadway.
Dec. 8, 1958 – National Baseball Hall of Fame centerfielder
and manager Tris Speaker died at the age of 70 in Lake Whitney, Texas. During
his career, he played for the Boston Americans/Red Sox, the Cleveland Indians,
the Washington Senators and the Philadelphia Athletics, and he also managed the
Indians for seven seasons. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1937.
Dec. 8, 1959 – Orville Mack brought a mystifying item by The
Evergreen Courant office described as a “chunk of black stuff” that was
unearthed by a construction crew working on the new interstate highway between
Chapman Road and Owassa, about three miles from Evergreen, Ala. A grader making
a cut turned up the chunk 45 to 50 below the surface of the earth. It was
black, shiny and “very brittle.” When heat was applied to it, it gave off “an
odor smelling strongly of oil.” Examiners said it wasn’t coal, but others said
that it might have been oil which seeped into a pocket and solidified. The
chunk was put on display at The Courant for public viewing.
Dec. 8, 1962 - Workers of the International Typographical
Union began striking and closed nine New York City newspapers. The strike
lasted 114 days and ended April 1, 1963.
Dec. 8, 1965 - In some of the
heaviest raids of the Vietnam War, 150 U.S. Air Force and Navy planes launched
Operation Tiger Hound to interdict the Ho Chi Minh Trail in the lower portion
of the Laotian panhandle, from Route 9 west of the Demilitarized Zone, south to
the Cambodian border.
Dec. 8, 1966 – The Evergreen Courant reported that the
Evergreen District of the Alabama Troopers had posted the best traffic safety
record in the entire state during November and were presented with a trophy to
mark the occasion. Troopers accepting the trophy included Troy Smith, Cpl.
Charles Cargile, Sgt. Tom Melton, Tom Hall and Horace Parker. The post reported
85 accidents for the month with 40 persons suffering injuries in 28 of them.
There were two fatalities, both in Conecuh County. Capt. A.G. Mitchell
commanded the division.
Dec. 8, 1966 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Homer
Faulkner, star Evergreen High School quarterback, had announced that he would
sign a grant-in-aid with the University of Mississippi. Representatives of the
University were to be in Evergreen on Dec. 11 to sign him. Faulkner, six feet
five inches and 190 pounds, was “sought by a number of schools as his exploits
on the field drew rave notices from college scouts.” Faulkner was the first
Aggie to win a football scholarship since Wayne Frazier signed with Auburn.
Faulkner was an outstanding punter, place-kicker and kickoff man in addition to
handling the quarterback chores at Evergreen.
Dec. 8, 1966 - The International
Red Cross announced in Geneva that North Vietnam had rejected a proposal by
President Johnson for a resolution of the prisoner of war situation.
Dec. 8, 1969 - At a news conference,
President Richard Nixon said that the Vietnam War was coming to a “conclusion
as a result of the plan that we have instituted.” Nixon had announced at a
conference in Midway in June that the United States would be following a new
program he termed “Vietnamization.”
Dec. 8, 1971 – Russian geographer and explorer Ernst Krenkel
died at the age of 67.
Dec. 8, 1976 – Major League Baseball outfielder Reed Johnson
was born in Riverside, Calif. During his career, he played for the Toronto Blue
Jayes, the Chicago Cubs, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Atlanta Braves, the Miami
Marlins and the Washington Nationals.
Dec. 8, 1976 – Actor Dominic Monaghan was born in Berlin,
West Germany to British parents. He has received international attention from
playing Meriadoc Brandybuck in Peter Jackson's epic film trilogy “The Lord of
the Rings” (2001–2003), and for his role as Charlie Pace on the television show
“Lost” (2004–2010).
Dec. 8, 1978 - Gov. George C. Wallace announced the
appointment of Alice Presley of Evergreen to serve as chairman of the Conecuh
County Board of Registrars. The appointment represented, perhaps, one of the
Governor’s last major appointments in Conecuh County prior to his leaving
office in January 1979. Presley’s late husband, James Presley, was the founder
of Presley Funeral Home, located on Knoxville Road in Evergreen, Ala.
Dec. 8, 1980 - In New York City, Mark David Chapman shot
John Lennon to death in front of The Dakota. Earlier in the day, Lennon had
autographed an album for Chapman.
Dec. 8, 1981 – NFL quarterback Philip Rivers was born in
Decatur, Ala. He went on to play for Athens High School, North Carolina State
and the San Diego Chargers.
Dec. 8, 1981 - Emmie Mildred Pitts Cardwell, a “beloved
lady” of Evergreen, Ala. died on this Tuesday in North Florida Regional
Hospital in Gainesville, Fla. Cardwell was a member of a prominent, pioneer
family and lived all of her life in Conecuh County. She attended Troy State
Normal and taught in the public schools of Conecuh County for a number of
years. Born on Aug. 13, 1899, she was buried in the Magnolia Cemetery in
Evergreen, Ala.
Dec. 8, 1982 - Norman D. Mayer held the Washington Monument
hostage, demanding an end to nuclear war. He threatened to blow it up with
explosives he claimed were in his van. After a 10-hour stand-off, he was shot
to death by police; no explosives were found in the van.
Dec. 8, 1985 – Major League Baseball third baseman Josh
Donaldson was born in Pensacola, Fla. Donaldson graduated from Faith Academy in
Mobile and went on to play baseball at Auburn University. As a Major Leaguer,
he has played for the Oakland Athletics and the Toronto Blue Jays.
Dec. 8, 1993 - U.S. President Bill Clinton signed into law
the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Dec. 8, 1995 - Courtney Love was interviewed by Barbara
Walters for ABC's "10 Most Fascinating People of 1995." During the
interview Love told Walters that she wished she had done "eight thousand
million things" differently to prevent husband Kurt Cobain's death.
Dec. 8, 1999 - In Memphis, Tenn., a jury found that Rev.
Martin Luther King Jr. had been the victim of a vast murder conspiracy, not a
lone assassin.
Dec. 8, 2009 – Bombings in Baghdad, Iraq killed 127 and
injure 448.
Dec. 8, 2009- The Obama administration announced on this day that the United States Government would pay Native Americans $3.4 billion to settle a class-action lawsuit that claimed “the federal government cheated them for more than a century of royalties for oil, mineral and other leases.” This settlement was to end a 13-year legal battle that led to 3,600 filings, millions of pages of discovery documents and 11 separate appellate decisions. It was the largest settlement Native Americans had ever received from the federal government, and eclipsed the sum of all previous settlements. The dispute stemmed from a 19th century decision to grant parcels of land to individual Indians and place the properties in trust accounts.
Dec. 8, 2015 -A UFO was reported around midnight on this
Tuesday near the Mercedes manufacturing plant outside Tuscaloosa. The witnes
and his wife were traveling west on Interstate Highway 20-59 when they saw a
bright, white light just over the western horizon. This unusual light moved
from south to north and eventually broke into a “smaller, ascending diamond,
with the larger piece staying near level.” In all, this sighting lasted one to
two seconds, the witness said.
Dec. 8, 2015 - The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on this day in the case of Dolgencorp, Inc. v. Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians on the issue of whether Choctaw Tribal Courts could hear and decide a civil lawsuit brought by Choctaw Tribal members against the Dollar General store located on Choctaw Reservation lands.
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