Today in History for Jan. 25, 2018

Jan. 25, 1704 - With 50 Carolina soldiers and 1,000 Creek Indians, Gov. James Moore of South Carolina led a surprise attack on this day on mission Concepción de Ayubale, located north of present day Tallahassee, Fla. While most of the Creeks raided the surrounding villages, Moore took the whites and 15 Creek warriors into Ayubale around 7:00 a.m. The Franciscan missionary Fray Angel de Miranda and 26 men inside the mission church held off the English for nine hours. Reinforcements from Mission San Luis de Talimali soon arrived, and 30 Spanish soldiers and 400 Apalachee braves, under Captain Alonso Días Mejía, twice drive the Carolinians from Ayubale. But by nightfall, the Spanish and the Apalachee had run out of ammunition and had to surrender. More than 200 Apalachee were killed or captured and three Spaniards killed and eight captured.

Jan. 25, 1758 - Rev. John Martin was licensed by the Presbytery of Hanover on Aug. 25, 1756. He was ordained June 9, 1757 as the first Presbyterian minister ordained in Virginia. He was appointed on this day by Rev. Samuel Davies to an Indian Mission to the Overhill Cherokee on the Little Tennessee River, the first Protestant to preach the gospel in the Tennessee Country or in the Southern Trans-Alleghany region. But with the Cherokee joining the French during the ongoing war with the English colonies, the mission was abandoned. Rev. Martin then settled in South Carolina.

Jan. 25, 1759 – Poet and prominent Freemason Robert Burns was born in Alloway, Scotland. He went on to write “Epistle to William Simson,” which was supposedly about Belleville, Ala. school trustee William Simson in May 1785.

Jan. 25, 1776 - The Continental Congress authorized the first national Revolutionary War memorial, in honor of Brigadier General Richard Montgomery who had been killed in an assault on Quebec on Dec. 31, 1775, becoming one of the first generals of the American Revolution to lose his life on the battlefield. The monument to Montgomery is located beneath the portico of St. Paul’s Chapel in New York City.

Jan. 25, 1842 - Joseph Plympton, with102 soldiers of the 2nd Infantry, attacked Halleck Tustenuggee's band at Haw Creek on this day, near Dunn's Lake. The Seminoles headed further into the hammock and escaped the soldiers.

Jan. 25, 1852 – Russian admiral, cartographer and explorer Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen died at the age of 73 in Kronstadt, Russia.

Jan. 25, 1862 – During the Civil War, the Federal expedition at Hatteras Inlet continued to struggle crossing the sand bar at Pamlico Sound, N.C. Large numbers of Union ships had been waiting for weeks off Cape Hatteras, N.C. for the weather to clear to launch an attack. The waiting had become tedious, as Pvt. D.L. Day, 25th Mass. Vol. Inf., wrote in one of his many letters home: “...Mr. Milligan says fair weather has been known here, and taking that as a precedent, we may naturally conclude it perhaps may be again...... I never read of but one [storm] that exceeded this. That was the one Old Noah got caught out in...”

Jan. 25, 1863 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln replaced General Ambrose E. Burnside with General Joseph “Fighting Joe” Hooker as Commander of the Army of the Potomac. During this same time frame, Major General Edwin Vose Sumner and William Buer Franklin were also relieved of duty in the Army of the Potomac.

Jan. 25, 1863 – During the Civil War, a Federal expedition took place between Bolivar, Tenn. and Ripley, Miss. A skirmish was also fought at Mill Creek, Tenn. and Federal reconnaissance was conducted from Murfreesborough to Auburn, Tenn.

Jan. 25, 1864 – During the Civil War, skirmishes occurred at Bainbridge Ferry and another near the Sweet Water in North Alabama. This day also marked the beginning of a 12-day Federal expedition from Scottsborough, Ala. toward Rome, Ga.

Jan. 25, 1864 – During the Civil War, a skirmish occurred at Bayou Grand, Florida, where Federals were preparing to move on Mobile, Ala.

Jan. 25, 1864 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought on the Little Missouri River and at Sulphur Springs in Arkansas; at LaGrange, Tenn. and at Mount Pleasant, Miss. The evacuation of Corinth, Miss. was also ordered by Union authorities to consolidate their forces. Fort Sumter, S.C. was again shelled by Federal batteries.

Jan. 25, 1865 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought near Simpsonville, Ky. and near Powhatan, Va. Federal reconnaissance was also conducted from Pocotaligo to the Salkehatchie River, S.C., and a Federal expedition was conducted from Irish Bottom to Evan’s Island in Tennessee.

Jan. 25, 1865 – During the Civil War, the Confederate Congress proposed yet again that the exchange of prisoners-of-war should be resumed. On this day, quite unexpectedly, General Grant accepted the proposal. It had been his decision originally to discontinue the exchanges, on the grounds that the loss of trained soldiers, even in equal numbers, was much more damaging to the South than it was to his armies, due to the great superiority the North had in manpower availability.

Jan. 25, 1869 – Patrick Floyd “Pat” Garrett, both celebrated and despised as the man who killed Billy the Kid, abandoned a life of luxury in Louisiana and headed west.

Jan. 25, 1874 – W. Somerset Maugham was born in Paris, France.

Jan. 25, 1882 – Novelist Virginia Woolf was born Adeline Virginia Stephen in London.

Jan. 25, 1890 – Nellie Bly completed her round-the-world journey in 72 days.

Jan. 25, 1906 – The Monroe Journal reported that several parties in the Shibboleth community of Monroe County, Ala. had seen a “buzzard with a small bell a few days ago.” They wrote The Journal to see if the editor would put something about it in the paper in order to maybe learn who put the bell around the buzzard’s neck.

Jan. 25, 1906 – The Monroe Journal reported that Editor John S. Hunter of The Camden Progressive Era and Pat M. Dannelly of Camden, the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Wilcox County, had visited Monroeville during the past week.

Jan. 25, 1906 – The Monroe Journal reported that Braxton Hobdy of Manistee, Ala., “who had the misfortune to lose one of his legs some time ago,” would “soon be circulating among his friends on his wooden horse.”

Jan. 25, 1905 - A.F. Howington of Excel visited The Monroe Journal office on this Thursday. Howington was engaged in the mercantile business at Excel which was “rapidly forging to the front as an important business point,” according to The Journal.

Jan. 25, 1915 – For a short while on this Monday, a “light flurry of snow fell” in Evergreen, Ala.

Jan. 25, 1916 – A special train bearing the “Southeastern Kansas Boosters” stopped in Evergreen, Ala. around 2:32 p.m. and were met by a delegation of businessmen. In the Jan. 27, 1916 edition of The Conecuh Record, it was reported that a “large crowd met the booster train.”

Jan. 25, 1919 - In Paris, delegates to the peace conference formally approved the establishment of a commission on the League of Nations.

Jan. 25, 1920 – Grady Gaston was born in Frisco City, Ala. He would go on to serve in the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II and would become famous for surviving the “Little Eva” crash incident in Australia. Many people would learn of his ordeal because it was featured in “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!”

Jan. 25, 1920 - A movie version of Alabama author Amelie Rives's play “The Fear Market” was released.

Jan. 25, 1931 - Evergreen Lions Club was scheduled to present a radio program from Station WSFA in Montgomery on this Sunday from 3 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. The courtesy was extended the club through a letter from Mr. M.L. Black of Black Decorating Co. to Mr. W.W. Kingsbery of Evergreen. Plans were already under way to arrange a program for the occasion. Lion President J.L. Kelly, W.W. Kingsbery and R.G. Bozeman from the committee were to arrange the program.

Jan. 25, 1940 – The home of the Faulk sisters (and Truman Capote), located next door to Mel’s Dairy Dream in Monroeville, Ala., burned.

Jan. 25, 1944 – Evergreen High School’s boys basketball team, led by head coach E.L. McInnis, improved to 7-0 on the season by beating T.R. Miller, 21-17, in Brewton, Ala. Huey led Evergreen with 12 total points. Miller had won nine straight games prior to the Evergreen game.

Jan. 25, 1945 – Dorothy Forstein, who would mysteriously disappear 5-1/2 years later, was attacked in her Philadelphia home by an unknown attacker. Forstein was seriously injured, but the ensuing police investigation never identified her mysterious attacker.

Jan. 25, 1949 – Evergreen High School’s varsity boys basketball team, led by head coach Wendell Hart, beat Frisco City, 51-35, in Frisco City, Ala. John Greel Ralls led Evergreen with 16 points.

Jan. 25, 1950 – Evergreen High School’s boys basketball team, coached by Wendell Hart, won its third game in a row by beating Robertsdale, 39-32, in Evergreen, Ala. Guerry Moorer led Evergreen with 15 points.

Jan. 25, 1951 – The Monroe Journal reported that the Rev. A.C. Lee and Mrs. Lee had as their guests that week, Mrs. Spencer of Greensboro.

Jan. 25, 1959 – Members of the Dyatlov expedition arrived by train at Ivdel, a city at the center of the northern province of Sverdlovsk Oblast. They then took a truck to Vizhai, the last inhabited settlement so far north.

Jan. 25, 1966 - Monroe County voters, by almost a three to one margin, defeated the referendum seeking to legalize the sale of alcoholic beverages in the county during this Tuesday’s election. Unofficial returns showed 3,652 voters sought to keep the county “dry,” or from having the sale of alcoholic beverages legalized, while 1,476 voted to change the law here. The 5,128 persons who voted in this Tuesday’s election were more than voted in the May primaries in 1964 and one of the highest vote counts ever recorded in Monroe County, despite inclement weather which prevailed all day on this Tuesday.

Jan. 25, 1968 – Army Warrant Officer Johnson Marcus Milligan, 23, of East Brewton, Ala. was killed in a helicopter crash in Vietnam. Born on Sept. 16, 1944, Milligan was buried in the Weavers Cemetery in Brewton, Ala. Milligan, who began his tour of duty on Oct. 10, 1967, was a pilot killed in a UH-1C helicopter crash at Camp Enari, Pleiku Province, Republic of Vietnam. Primary cause of the crash was engine failure. On takeoff, the aircraft began a descent, and investigators suspected it was grossly overweight. The tail stinger hit the ground and a wire, and the aircraft slid down into a gully until it struck the other side of the gully and caught fire. Three others were injured in the accident.

Jan. 25-26, 1968 – The Conecuh County Basketball Tournament was held at Evergreen High School’s gym in Evergreen, Ala. Coach Wayne Pope’s Conecuh County High School Blue Devils entered the tourney as the defending champions. On Thurs., Jan. 25, Lyeffion High School played Conecuh County High School at 6 p.m., and Repton High School played Evergreen High School at 8 p.m. The two winners met in the tournament championship game at 8 p.m. on Fri., Jan. 26.

Jan. 25, 1969 - The first fully attended meeting of the formal Paris peace talks was held, and Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge, the chief negotiator for the United States, urged an immediate restoration of a genuine DMZ as the first “practical move toward peace.”

Jan. 25, 1971 – Charles Manson and three female "Family" members were found guilty of the 1969 Tate–LaBianca murders.

Jan. 25, 1972 - President Richard Nixon, in response to criticism that his administration had not made its best efforts to end the war, revealed that his National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger had held 12 secret peace negotiating sessions between Aug. 4, 1969 and Aug. 16, 1971 in Paris with Le Duc Tho, a member of Hanoi’s Politburo, and/or with Xuan Thuy, Hanoi’s chief delegate to the formal Paris peace talks.

Jan. 25, 1977 – The Milner-Speir-Moody Home in Greenville, Ala. was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.

Jan. 25, 1978 – Weather observer Earl Windham reported 3.60 inches of rain on this day in Evergreen, and 4.30 inches the day before, for a two-day total of 7.90 inches.

Jan. 25, 1979 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Joe Patten of Conecuh County, Ala. had been promoted to the rank of commander during a promotion ceremony aboard the aircraft carrier USS Midway, where he was serving as the Air Wing Maintenance Officer. Patten entered the Navy shortly after graduating from Evergreen High School in 1954.

Jan. 25, 1979 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Lyeffion High School’s varsity boys basketball team improved to 9-1 on the season thanks to a 56-55 win over J.U. Blacksher. Adrian Woods led Lyeffion with 25 points and 13 rebounds.

Jan. 25, 1981 - The Oakland Raiders beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 27-10, in Super Bowl XV. The Raiders won the Super Bowl after entering the playoffs as a wildcard team.

Jan. 25, 1987 - The New York Giants defeated the Denver Broncos, 39-20, in Super Bowl XXI on NBC. The game featured TV commercials cost $550,000 for 30 seconds. Neil Diamond sang the U.S. national anthem before the start of the game.

Jan. 25, 1991 - Hillcrest High School’s basketball teams were scheduled to host Calhoun High School on this Friday night. The first of three games was scheduled to start at 5 p.m.

Jan. 25, 1991 - United States Senator Richard Shelby was to be the featured speaker at the Evergreen-Conecuh County Chamber of Commerce’s annual promotion membership banquet on this Friday night at seven o’clock at the Quality Inn.

  

Jan. 25, 1996 – The Monroe Journal reported that a book about Truman Capote’s childhood in Monroeville was being re-released under a new title. “Truman Capote’s Southern Years: Stories from a Monroeville Cousin” was the new title given to Marianne M. Moates’ 1989 book, “A Bridge of Childhood.” Moates, who lived in Monroeville from 1961-69, based her book on material provided by Capote’s first cousin and childhood friend, Jennings Faulk Carter of Monroeville.

Jan. 25, 1998 - The Denver Broncos beat the Green Bay Packers, 31-24, in Super Bowl XXXII. The Broncos had lost three previous Super Bowl appearances with quarterback John Elway. The win also broke the 13-game winning streak of the NFC.

Jan. 25, 2001 – The Evergreen-Conecuh County Chamber of Commerce held its annual banquet at Hillcrest High School in Evergreen, Ala. Dr. David Himelrick was the guest speaker.

Jan. 25, 2001 – The Evergreen Courant reported that while most Conecuh County residents caught glimpses of the events leading up to, and including, the 54^th Presidential Inauguration, one local business had a backstage pass for the whole show. Brent and Gerald Salter of Salter’s Evergreen Supply in Evergreen joined more than 100 florists and industry professionals selected by the Society of American Florists to prepare the inaugural floral decorations. The volunteers worked some 5,000 hours in a warehouse in downtown Washington, D.C., during the inaugural week creating classic, sophisticated works of floral art for eight balls, three dinners and various other receptions.

Jan. 25, 2002 – “The Mothman Prophecies,” starring Richard Gere, debuted in theaters.

Jan. 25, 2003 - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won Super Bowl XXXVIII in San Diego. Coach Jon Gruden, at age 39, was the youngest coach to ever win the title.

Jan. 25, 2003 – During the Invasion of Iraq, a group of people left London, England for Baghdad, Iraq to serve as human shields, intending to prevent the U.S.-led coalition troops from bombing certain locations.

Jan. 25, 2007 – The Monroe Journal reported that it was going to be “business as usual” at VF Intimates, according to Corky Fountain, vice president of manufacturing in Monroeville, after the announcement that VF Corp. had agreed to sell its intimates division, which included the Monroeville operation that employed about 950, to Fruit of the Loom, Inc. for $350 million. “I’m very optimistic and very positive about the planned sale,” Fountain said. “I see a bright future. Vanity Fair is celebrating its 70^th year in Monroeville and I see many more years for us here.”

Jan. 25, 2007 – The Monroe Journal reported that a new book on Monroe County cemeteries was then available. A five-year long project by an Eliska woman had come to fruition in the form of a new book cataloguing cemeteries in Monroe County. Kathryn Weatherford had recently finished the book, “Burial Grounds of Monroe County,” which covered 63 cemeteries north of U.S. Highway 84. The book was dedicated to Alene Brooks and Dorothy Parker, who Weatherford said came up with the idea for the project and helped with the cataloging process.

Jan. 25, 2010 – Iraqi Minister of Defense and general Ali Hassan al-Majid, who was known as “Chemical Ali,” was hanged in Kadhimiya, Baghdad, Iraq. He was 68 years old.