Today in History for Feb. 21, 2018

Frisco City's Alfred Malone (98) closes in for a tackle.

Feb. 21, 1676 - Warriors led by the Nashaway chief One-eyed John (Monoco) entered the village of Medfield during the night and waited until daybreak on this day to attack. They set fire to most of the houses, killed 18 colonists and made others prisoners. About 50 houses were burned.


Feb. 21, 1676 - The Massachusetts council decided to raise an additional army of 100 foot soldiers and 72 horsemen to be placed under the command of Major Thomas Savage.

Feb. 21, 1756 - Treaty negotiations with the Catawba were held at Catawba town on this day and the next. Though disgraced by some of Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie deceitful actions, a treaty was made by which the tribe was to fight against the French.

Feb. 21, 1777 - George Weedon was promoted to brigadier general of the Virginia Regiment of the Continental Army.

Feb. 21, 1810 – Future Conecuh County Circuit Clerk Nicholas Stallworth Jr. was born in Edgefield District, S.C.

Feb. 21, 1827 – William A. Stewart became the postmaster at Burnt Corn, Ala.

Feb. 21, 1828 - The first printing press designed to use the newly invented Cherokee alphabet arrived at New Echota, Ga. after the General Council of the Cherokee Nation purchased the press with the goal of producing a Cherokee-language newspaper, The Cherokee Phoenix.

Feb. 21, 1848 - The Communist Manifesto, the most influential and best-selling political pamphlet of all time, was first published by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

Feb. 21, 1858 - Edwin T. Holmes installed the first electric burglar alarm in Boston, Mass.

Feb. 21, 1862 – During the Civil War, the Battle of Valverde was fought near Fort Craig in the New Mexico Territory. During the battle, Confederate troops under General Henry Hopkins Sibley attacked Union troops under Colonel Edward R. S. Canby. It was the first major battle in the far West, but ended with no decisive result. The Federals suffered 68 killed, 160 wounded, and 35 missing out of 3,100 engaged. The Confederates suffered 31 killed, 154 wounded, and one missing out of 2,600 troops. In the waning stage of the war, Canby negotiated the surrender of Confederate forces at Magee Farm in Kushla, Ala.

Feb. 21, 1863 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought at Prairie Station, Miss., and Federal reconnaissance was conducted from Franklin to Carter Creek Roads in Tennessee.

Feb. 21, 1864 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Ellis' Bridge, Prairie Station, Okolona, West Point and Union in Mississippi, and near Circleville and Dranesville in Virginia. A two-day Federal operation between New Creek to Moorefield in West Virginia began.

Feb. 21, 1864 - Confederate troops under General Nathan Bedford Forrest defeated Union General William Sooy Smith at West Point, Miss.

Feb. 21, 1865 – During the Civil War, a two-day Federal operation between Pine Bluff and Douglass Plantation in Arkansas began. Sixteen days of sustained Federal operations moving against the remaining Confederates in the District of Key West and Tortugas, in the Vicinity of Saint Mark’s, Fla. began. Confederates raided Cumberland, Md. A skirmish was fought at Eagle Island, Fort Strong, N.C. Braxton Bragg evacuated Wilmington, N.C.

Feb. 21, 1870 – William Fowler was named the postmaster at Burnt Corn, Ala.

Feb. 21, 1874 - The Oakland Daily Tribune began publication.

Feb. 21, 1885 – The newly completed Washington Monument, built in honor of America’s revolutionary hero and first president, was dedicated.

Feb. 21, 1885 – U.S. Representative Frank William Boykin Sr. was born in Bladon Springs, Ala. The Boykin community in Wilcox County was named after him when the community’s post office was established in 1949. Boykin represented Alabama’s 1^st Congressional District from July 30, 1935 to Jan. 3, 1963.

Feb. 21, 1895 – The Monroe Journal reported that “Monroeville (Ala.) was snowbound for several days last week, all communication with the outside world by mail and otherwise being cut off by the snow.”

Feb. 21, 1903 – Diarist Anais Nin was born in Neuilly, France.

Feb. 21, 1903 - J.E. Brame, the great traveler, was scheduled to deliver a free lecture at the Peterman school house on this Saturday night at 7 p.m. “on what he saw in making a trip around the world, via Europe, the Suez Canal, China, Japan and Egypt,” according to The Monroe Journal.

Feb. 21, 1907 – Pulitzer Prize-winning British poet, author and playwright W.H. Auden was born Wystan Hugh Auden in York, England.

Feb. 21, 1908 – The historic church bell at the Elba United Methodist Church in Coffee County, Ala. was cast on this day in Hillsboro, Ohio.

Feb. 21, 1911 – The temperature reached 26 degrees in Evergreen, Ala. during a cold snap that caused much damage to fruits and vegetables.

Feb. 21, 1913 - Alabama author Julia Truitt Yenni was born in Birmingham, Ala.

Feb. 21, 1915 – Jennie Faulk returned to Monroeville, Ala. “from the markets where she spent some time in the selection of her new spring stock. She will have something to say next week of peculiar interest to her numerous lady customers.”

Feb. 21, 1916 - At 7:12 a.m. on this morning, a shot from a German Krupp 38-centimeter long-barreled gun - one of over 1,200 such weapons set to bombard French forces along a 20-kilometer front stretching across the Meuse River - strikes a cathedral in the fortress city of Verdun, France, beginning the Battle of Verdun, which would stretch on for 10 months and become the longest conflict of World War I.

Feb. 21, 1918 - On this morning, combined Allied forces of British troops and the Australian mounted cavalry captured the city of Jericho in Palestine after a three-day battle with Turkish troops.

Feb. 21, 1918 - The last captive Carolina parakeet, the last breed of parrot native to the eastern U.S., died in the Cincinnati Zoo.

Feb. 21, 1918 – The Wilcox Progressive Era reported that Lt. J. Paul Jones had cabled his parents to let them know that he had arrived safely in England and was at the Officers School of Instruction in Blackpool, England.

Feb. 21, 1918 – The Wilcox Progressive Era reported that Mrs. D.E. Dunn had received a letter from her son, W.E. Dunn. He was “somewhere in France” and wrote that he was well. Dunn was a member of Co. K, 167^th U.S. Infantry, of the Rainbow Division.

Feb. 21, 1918 – The Wilcox Progressive Era reported that Bosin Linam, an elderly black man from Camden who moved to Mobile with Mr. and Mrs. J.P. Benson Jr. some years before, had died in Mobile during the previous week. Bosin regularly attended the Confederate veterans reunions.

Feb. 21, 1918 - Mr. and Mrs. J.R. Liddell left on this Thursday morning for San Antonio, Texas after receiving a telegram stating that there son, Will, who was attending the officers training camp at Ft. Sam Houston, was very ill from pneumonia. Later reports stated his condition was improved. His many Camden friends were grieved to know of his illness.

Feb. 21, 1918 – The Wilcox Progressive Era reported that D.J. Wilkinson of Gastonburg had been selected Road Supervisor to fill the vacancy caused by resignation of Mr. Smith. Wilkinson entered on his duties, purposing to enforce the road law relative to the repair and upkeep of roads.

Feb. 21, 1918 – The Wilcox Progressive Era reported that Judge B.M. Miller was confined to his bed with pneumonia.

Feb. 21, 1918 - Mrs. W.P. Roberts, accompanied her husband, Dr. W.P. Roberts, to Camden on this Thursday where he attended the meeting of the Board of Education.

Feb. 21, 1924 – The Monroe Journal reported that “unusual building activity” was noticeable at Megargel, Ala., a town site laid out when the Deep Water Railroad was constructed. With the exception of one or two small structures, the town site had lain unoccupied for several years. Several months before February 1924, J.T. Murphy had erected a store and steam ginnery at Megargel and since that time there had been remarkable activity in clearing and laying out farms and location of settlements. Two stores were doing a thriving business and a third was in the course of construction, besides two or three new dwellings.

Feb. 21, 1925 - The first issue of "The New Yorker" was published. The magazine was founded by Harold Ross and his wife, Jane Grant, who was a reporter for the New York Times; Ross remained editor in chief until his death in 1951.

Feb. 21, 1931 - The Chicago White Sox and the New York Giants became the first Major League Baseball teams to play in a night game.

Feb. 21, 1938 – NFL offensive tackle Ernie McMillan was born in Chicago Heights, Ill. He would go on to play for the University of Illinois, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Green Bay Packers.

Feb. 21, 1943 – Major League Baseball pitcher Jack Billingham was born in Orlando, Fla. He would go on to play for the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Houston Astros, the Cincinnati Reds, the Detroit Tigers and the Boston Red Sox.

Feb. 21, 1946 – The Evergreen Courant reported that sailor William K. Wiggins of Evergreen, Ala. was the 50,000th service member to be discharged from the discharge center in Shelton, Va.

Feb. 21, 1951 – NFL running back Bill Olds was born in Kansas City, Kansas. He would go on to play for Nebraska, the Baltimore Colts, the Seattle Seahawks and the Philadelphia Eagles.

Feb. 21, 1952 – Evergreen High School’s boys basketball team beat Lyeffion, 62-22, in Evergreen, Ala. Shirley Frazier and Gwyn Daniels led Evergreen with 19 points each. David Eddins led Lyeffion with 10 points.

Feb. 21, 1953 – NFL guard Ken Huff was born in Hutchinson, Kansas. He would go on to play for North Carolina, the Baltimore Colts and the Washington Redskins.

Feb. 21, 1953 – NFL center and tackle Jim Pietrzak was born in Detroit, Mich. He would go on to play for Eastern Michigan, the New York Giants, the New Orleans Saints and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Feb. 21, 1953 - Francis Crick and James Watson discovered the double helical structure of the DNA molecule.

Feb. 21, 1956 – Writer Ha Jin was born in Liaoning Province, China.

Feb. 21, 1962 – Novelist and essayist David Foster Wallace was born in Ithaca, N.Y.

Feb. 21, 1964 - The U.K. flies 24,000 rolls of Beatle wallpaper to U.S.

Feb. 21, 1965 – Malcolm X was assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City.

Feb. 21, 1967 – The top-seeded Conecuh County High School Blue Devils advanced to the semifinal round of the Area I tournament by beating Frisco City, 62-44, at the Coliseum in Monroeville, Ala. Also in the other tournament game that night, Excel upset third-seeded Repton, 51-45.

Feb. 21, 1967 - Writer and historian Bernard B. Fall was killed by a Viet Cong mine while accompanying a U.S. Marine patrol along the seacoast about 14 miles northwest of Hue, on a road known as the “Street Without Joy” (which Fall had used for the title of one of his books about the war).

Feb. 21, 1968 - An agreement between baseball players and club owners increased the minimum salary for major league players to $10,000 a year.

Feb. 21, 1968 – Fire almost totally destroyed the Flxible Southern Co. plant in Evergreen, Ala.

Feb. 21, 1970- National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger began secret peace talks with North Vietnamese representative Le Duc Tho, the fifth-ranking member of the Hanoi Politburo, at a villa outside Paris.

Feb. 21, 1972 - President Richard Nixon visited the People’s Republic of China.

Feb. 21, 1974 - Tom Seaver signed a contract with the New York Mets worth $172,000 a year.

Feb. 21, 1975 – During the Watergate scandal, former United States Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman were sentenced to prison.

Feb. 21, 1982 – NFL defensive tackle Alfred Malone was born in Monroeville, Ala. He would go on to play for Frisco City High School, Georgia Tech, Troy University, the Houston Texans and the Green Bay Packers.

Feb. 21, 1983 - Donald Davis ran one mile backwards in six minutes and 7.1 seconds.

Feb. 21, 1986 - Rollie Fingers refused to shave off his mustache to comply with the policy of the Cincinnati Reds.

Feb. 21, 1991 – Sparta Academy’s varsity boys and varsity girls basketball teams played in the state tournament at Hooper Academy. Sparta’s boys played Springwood Academy at 7 p.m., and Sparta’s girls played Springwood at 2 p.m.

Feb. 21, 1991 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Ralph Stacy had been appointed manager of W&J Propane in Evergreen, Ala. and would continue to serve as area manager and manager of marketing and advertising.

Feb. 21, 1995 – J.F. Shields High School’s girls basketball team beat Florala, 45-29, in Bay Minette during the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s 2A girls Southwest Region basketball tournament at Faulkner State Community College. Renee Fountain, a 5-foot-9 sophomore guard, led Shields with 31 points.

Feb. 21, 1995 – Monroe Academy headmaster David Walker, 47, of Monroeville submitted his resignation to Wayne Thames, president of the school’s board of directors on this day. Walker had served as the school’s headmaster for 11 years.

Feb. 21, 1999 - Alabama author Cora Cheney died in Takoma Park, Md.

Feb. 21, 1999 – Former Major League Baseball pitcher Wilmer Mizell, a native of Vinegar Bend, Ala. (Washington County), died at the age of 68 in Kerrville, Texas. During his career, he played for the St. Louis Cardinals, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Mets.

  

Feb. 21, 2002 – The Monroe Journal reported that Tracy Wicker, a junior at Frisco City High School, had recently represented her school in a statewide essay contest sponsored by the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and the Alabama Department of Education. The essay contest, on Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” was open to students from 38 school districts in Alabama, and each winning essay was eligible to win in the statewide contest.

Feb. 21, 2003 – In the Final Four round of the AISA Class A state basketball tournament, Sparta’s varsity boys were scheduled to play Ashford Academy on this Friday at 12:30 p.m. Sparta’s girls were scheduled to play Coosa Valley at 2 p.m.