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| Katie Couric |
Feb. 28, 1510 – Spanish cartographer and explorer Juan de la
Cosa died in Turbaco, Columbia.
Feb. 28, 1525 – The Aztec king Cuauhtémoc was executed by
Hernán Cortés's forces.
Feb. 28, 1533 – Essayist Michel de Montaigne was born in
Perigord in Bordeaux, France.
Feb. 28, 1692 - In Salem, Massachusetts 10 children identified
the "witches" in their community who afflicted them: Sarah Good,
Sarah Osborne and an old Native American woman named Tituba. Warrants were
obtained, and they were arrested.
Feb. 28, 1766 - Revolutionary War soldier and Georgia
Governor John Clarke was born in Edgecombe County, North Carolina. Clarke
County, Ala. was named in his honor on Dec. 10, 1812.
Feb. 28, 1784 - John Wesley chartered the first Methodist Church
in the United States.
Feb. 28, 1824 - Charles Blondin, the first person to walk
across Niagra Falls on a tightrope, was born in St Omer, Pas-de-Calais, France.
Feb. 28, 1827 - The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad became the
first railroad incorporated for the commercial transportation of people and
freight.
Feb. 28, 1829 – Edgar Allan Poe’s foster mother, Frances
Allan, died.
Feb. 28, 1834 – Charles Pawson Atmore was born on the island
of Guernsey. Atmore, Ala. would later be named in his honor.
Feb. 28, 1836 - The Alamo endured prolonged cannonade fire
from Santa Anna’s artillery batteries.
Feb. 28, 1840 – French explorer Henri Duveyrier was born in
Paris, France.
Feb. 28, 1855 – Hinchey W. Warren passed away at the age of
67 near Sparta, Ala. and was buried in the Warren Family Cemetery. A War of
1812 veteran, he was also the great-grandfather of U.S. President Warren G.
Harding.
Feb. 28, 1858 – The ill-fated Eliza Battle left Demopolis,
Ala. fully loaded with passengers and with more than 1,200 bales of cotton.
During an already cold night, a strong north wind began to blow, with the air
temperature decreasing another 40°F in the two hours after nightfall.
Feb. 28, 1861 - With the region’s population booming because
of the Pike’s Peak gold rush, Congress created the new Territory of Colorado.
Feb. 28, 1861 – Organized early in
February 1861, the men of the Camden Rifles left Wilcox County on this day and
traveled by steamboat to Mobile, where they enlisted for 12 months. Seventy-two
men, with Robert Tait as captain, were joined by others from Wilcox County
before the end of March.
Feb. 28, 1862 – During the Civil
War, a skirmish was fought near Fayetteville, Ark., at Osage Springs. Federal
operations at New Madrid, Mo. and Island No. 10 began. Charleston, Va. was
occupied by Federal forces.
Feb. 28, 1863 – During the Civil
War, the Federal naval attacked Fort McAllister, Ga., and a Naval encounter
occurred on the Ogeechee River, south of Savannah, Ga. A skirmish was also
fought out from Fort Gibson in the Indian Territory.
Feb. 28, 1864 – After getting captured by the Union at
Campbell’s Station, Noah Dallas Peacock (Lewis Lavon Peacock’s older brother)
was transferred from Asylum General Hospital in Nashville to Louisville
Military Prison.
Feb. 28, 1864 - A major Union cavalry raid began when
General Hugh Judson Kilpatrick led 3,500 troopers south from Stevensburg,
Virginia. Aimed at Richmond, the raid sought to free Federal prisoners and
spread word of President Abraham Lincoln's Proclamation of Amnesty and
Reconstruction in hopes of convincing Confederates to lay down their arms.
Kilpatrick took with him Colonel Ulrich Dahlgren to conduct the prisoner
release while Kilpatrick covered him with the main force.
Feb. 28, 1864 – During the Civil
War, skirmishes were fought along the Peal River and at Yazoo City, Miss.; at
Dukedom Tenn.; and at Ely’s Ford, Va. A Federal operation took place in
Gloucester County and Albermarle County, Va.
Feb. 28, 1865 – During the Civil
War, Nathan Bedford Forrest was finally appointed Lieutenant General, and a
skirmish was fought in the vicinity of Cheraw and Rocky Mount, S.C.
Feb. 28, 1872 - John Gassaway Rush passed away at the age of
54 and was buried in McIntosh Cemetery, which is located behind Andrews Chapel
in McIntosh, Ala. In 1860, he and his wife donated the land where the church
was constructed.
Feb. 28, 1887 - Alabama passed its first child labor law,
fixing age limits and restricting work hours for certain types of labor. The
legislation, which also protected women workers, was repealed in the 1890s, but
efforts of reformers like Rev. Edgar Gardner Murphy of Montgomery resulted in
new child labor laws during the first two decades of the 20th century.
Feb. 28, 1887 - Capt. John DeLoach went to Mobile on this
Monday to purchase his plantation supplies.
Feb. 28, 1894 – Novelist, playwright and screenwriter Ben
Hecht was born in New York City.
Feb., 28, 1895 – The Monroe Journal reported that “a little
colored girl was shot and killed by her brother near Perdue Hill last week. The
two children were playing with an old gun which went off with the above
result.”
Feb. 28, 1901 – The Town of Beatrice, Ala. was officially
incorporated as a municipality. While the Selma to Pensacola branch of the
Louisville & Nashville Railroad was being built, the general superintendent
of construction, a Col. Seymour of Nashville, Tenn., asked that the town
growing up around the station in present-day Beatrice be named for his
granddaughter, Beatrice Seymour. The Beatrice post office was established in
1900.
Feb. 28, 1901 – According to the Alabama League of
Municipalities, Opp was officially incorporated as a municipality.
Feb. 28, 1906 – The Evergreen Courant reported that the
Evergreen Bottling Co. had opened a supply depot next door to McNutt’s barber
shop, and was prepared to supply dealers with bottled soda water, ginger ale,
etc. on short notice.
Feb. 28, 1906 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Frank
Simmons of Evergreen, Ala. had brought the newspaper a 9-1/2 pound “monster
turnip” that was bigger than the 7-3/4 pound turnip recently grown by J.J.
Pearce of Bowles.
Feb. 28, 1906 – The Evergreen Courant reported that the
Daughters of the Confederacy planned to make a donation to the Soldiers’ Home
at Mountain Creek and earnestly desired the cooperation of every Confederate
veteran. All contributions were to be left at the McCreary Drug Store. Mrs. M.
McCreary was President of the U.D.C. and Mrs. Edwin C. Page was Corresponding
Secretary.
Feb. 28, 1915 - Asa Goodwin, the oldest man in Alabama, died
at Bessemer, Ala. on the eve of his 108th birthday. He was born in Henry
County, Ga. in 1807 and had lived since 1829 in Alabama and Mississippi. He was
survived by one son, 74 grandchildren, 227 great-grandchildren and 15
great-great-grandchildren.
Feb. 28, 1916 - Riley Kelly and W.R. Manning of Excel, Ala.
transacted business in Monroeville on this Monday.
Feb. 28, 1916 – Around noon on this Monday, a fire broke out
on the roof of M.M. Fountain’s cook room and threatened to destroy his house.
According to The Monroe Journal, “half a hundred citizens and visitors quickly
resolved themselves into a bucket brigade and the fire was soon extinguished
with slight damage.”
Feb. 28, 1916 – The L&N Railroad depot and freight house
at Monroe, together with all office furniture and supplies, were destroyed by
fire on this Monday night. There was only a small quantity of freight in the
warehouse at the time so the loss, aside from the building, was not heavy. The
fire was discovered at a late hour of the night by Mr. W.R. Shirley but was
already beyond control. It was believed that the building caught fire from an
overcharged telegraph wire, as an electric storm prevailed at an earlier hour
of the night.
Feb. 28, 1916 - Allied forces
completed their conquest of the Cameroons, a German protectorate on the coast
of western Africa.
Feb. 28, 1918 – During World War I, Army Pvt. Edward E.
English of Evergreen, Ala. “died in an accident.”
Feb. 28, 1921 – H.P. Lovecraft completed “The Quest of
Iranon,” which was originally published in the July-August 1935 issue of The
Galleon.
Feb. 28, 1925 – In Lovecraftian fiction, the lost island of
R’lyeh rose once again.
Feb. 28, 1929 - Evergreen High School’s varsity boys
basketball left on this Thursday for Foley to enter the district boys
tournament for South Alabama and hoped to win the right to participate in the
state tourney. Players picked to make the trip were Clint Hyde, Billy Kamplain,
Wilbur Kelley, Elmer Kelley, Herbert Sanders, Andrew Jay McCreary, Mabry Murphy
and J.C. Miller. They were accompanied by Coach Robinson and Prof. Fisher and
traveled in automobiles, one of which was donated for the trip by R.G. Carter. Results
of the tournament games were to be wired to Evergreen and posted in some
prominent place downtown. Drawing was scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. on Fri.,
March 1, and the tournament was to begin shortly thereafter and conclude with
the final game on Saturday night, March 2. Approximately $75 was donated by
Evergreen citizens to defray the expenses of the team on the trip and before
leaving, Coach Robinson expressed, in behalf of the team, appreciation for
those who contributed to the fund. The Aggies continued to amass victories
during the previous week, adding four to their string and making it 29 wins to
one loss before leaving for Foley. The scores were: Aggies 19, Fort Deposit 7;
Aggies 36, Georgiana 17; Aggies 32, Pine Apple 8; Aggies 27, Bay Minette 11.
Feb. 28, 1929 – The Evergreen Courant reported, under the
headline “Four Guardsmen Prepare For Trip To Washington,” that four men
selected from Troop C, 55th Machine Gun Squadron, Alabama National
Guard, were making final preparations that week for their trip to Washington,
D.C. to take part in the inaugural ceremonies for President-Elect Herbert
Hoover. The four who planned to make the trip were Frank Brantley, D.C. Brooks,
Willie I. Cook and W. McLean Dreaden. They planned to leave Evergreen on Sat.,
March 2, and return about Wed., March 6.
Feb. 28, 1929 – The Evergreen Courant reported, under the
headline “Confederate Soldiers Will Get Gravestones,” that the Confederate dead
of the Civil War, after sleeping for six decades as rebels, were given official
recognition on Feb. 23 as American soldiers when the senate passed a house bill
conferring governmental honors upon them. The bill authorized the secretary of
war to erect headstones over the “graves of soldiers who served in the
Confederate army and who have been buried in national, city, town or village
cemeteries or in any other places,” the war department also was instructed to
preserve in its record “the name, rank, company, regiment and date of death of
the soldiers and his state.” The bill was headed to the White House for the
president’s signature.
Feb. 28, 1930 – Major League Baseball third baseman Frank
Malzone was born in Bronx, N.Y. He would go on to play for the Boston Red Sox
and the California Angels.
Feb. 28, 1932 – H.P. Lovecraft completed “The Dreams in the
Witch House,” which was originally published in the July 1933 issue of Weird
Tales.
Feb. 28, 1933 – The Reichstag Fire Decree was passed in
Germany, a day after the Reichstag fire.
Feb. 28, 1945 – NFL defensive end Bubba Smith was born in
Orange, Texas. He would go on to play for Michigan State, the Baltimore Colts,
the Oakland Raiders and the Houston Oilers.
Feb. 28, 1946 – Ernie and Dot Lind, aka “The Shooting
Linds,” performed a “spectacular exhibition of fancy shooting” in Evergreen,
Ala.
Feb. 28, 1947 – Major League Baseball shortstop and second
baseman Marty Perez was born in Visalia, Calif. He would go on to play for the
California Angels, the Atlanta Braves, the San Francisco Giants, the New York
Yankees and the Oakland Athletics.
Feb. 28, 1952 – The Evergreen
Courant reported that PFC William Howard Peacock of Route One, Owasssa, Ala.,
was preparing to return to Fort Campbell, Ky. from Camp Drum, N.Y. after
several weeks of extensive cold weather warfare training in Exercise Snow Fall
in northern New York state. Peacock was a member of the 11th Airborne Division
and a gunner with the 188th Airborne Regiment’s Support Command. He attended
Evergreen High School, entered the Army in 1949 and completed Parachutist
School at Fort Benning, Ga.
Feb. 28, 1953 – NFL running back Roland Harper was born in
Seguin, Texas. He would go on to play for Louisiana Tech and the Chicago Bears.
Feb. 28, 1953 - In a Cambridge University laboratory,
scientists James D. Watson and Francis H.C. Crick discovered the double-helix
structure of DNA.
Feb. 28, 1964 - A television version of Alabama author
Ambrose Bierce's story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" was
broadcast as part of the series “The
Twilight Zone.”
Feb. 28, 1965 – National Book Award-winning novelist Colum
McCann was born in Dublin.
Feb. 28, 1968 - General Earle
Wheeler, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, returned from his recent round
of talks with General William Westmoreland in Saigon and immediately delivered
a written report to President Lyndon B. Johnson, stated that despite the heavy
casualties incurred during the Tet Offensive, North Vietnam and Viet Cong
forces had the initiative and were “operating with relative freedom in the
countryside.”
Feb. 28, 1976 – Actress Ali Larter was born in Cherry Hills,
New Jersey.
Feb. 28, 1980 – Evergreen High School’s varsity basketball
team, led by head coach Charles Branum, beat Wilcox County, 81-51, in the
opening round of the area tournament, which was played at W.S. Neal High School
in East Brewton, Ala. Horace Smith and Perona Rankins led Evergreen with 26
points and 22 points, respectively. Others scoring were Joe Mitchell, 12;
Sanford Moye, six; David Floyd, five; Philander Rogers, two; Johnny Allen, two;
Anthony Williams, two; Arturo Scott, two; and Michael Lampley, two.
Feb. 28, 1980 – Evergreen, Ala. radio station WBLO began
broadcasting after being off the air since Feb. 16 so that broadcast equipment
could be repaired and improved and the station’s signal expanded. John Bolton
was the station’s DJ.
Feb. 28, 1986 - Meredith Matthews was named Miss Alpha
1986 at Sparta Academy’s annual Miss Alpha Pageant held on this Friday night in
the school gymnatorium. Abigail Maddox was chosen first alternate and Angelia
Sellers second alternate. (Other finalists included Lynn Williams, Jill
Jeffcoat, Tracy Holmes and Baby Girl Floyd.)
Feb. 28, 1988 - A television version of Alabama author
Borden Deal's book “Bluegrass”
was broadcast.
Feb. 28, 1991 – The first Gulf War ended as U.S. President
George H.W. Bush declared a cease-fire, and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein pledged
to honor future United Nations peace terms.
Feb. 28, 1993 – Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
agents raided the Branch Davidian church in Waco, Texas with a warrant to
arrest the group's leader David Koresh. Four BATF agents and five Davidians
died in the initial raid, starting a 51-day standoff.
Feb. 28, 1995 - The Monroe County Hospital Board on this
Tuesday approved a new chief financial officer (CFO). Nellie Chunn, 24, of
Rocky Hill was recommended by Administrator Floyd Price to replace Chris Johns
as CFO. Chunn had worked as accounting manager at the hospital for the previous
three years. Chunn was a 1992 graduate of Troy State University with a degree
in computer science and accounting and a graduate of J.U. Blacksher High
School. She was selected from six applicants interviewed.
Feb. 28, 2002 - It was announced that John Madden would be
replacing Dennis Miller on "Monday Night Football." Madden signed a
four-year $20 million deal with ABC Sports.
Feb. 28, 2002 - A crew with NBC’s “Today Show” was scheduled
to visit Monroeville on this Thursday to film footage for a segment to air on
national television in March 2002. According to Museums Director Kathy McCoy,
“Today Show” host Katie Couric, a native of Eufaula, and an assistant producer,
Mary Elizabeth Webb, a native of Demopolis, were “big” fans of Harper Lee’s
Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird.” The crew of cameramen
and a producer planned to spend the day in Monroeville but did not plan to
shoot a live show, McCoy said.
Feb. 28, 2002 – The Monroe Journal reported that the new
members of the Monroeville Area Chamber of Commerce board of directors were
Stuart Richeson, Stuart Rich, Bill Lamar, Jane Martin, Jeff Kircharr, Ray
Owens, Kenneth Fairly, Lou Cummins and Tim Tirey. Other members of the board were
president Kathy Johnson, treasurer Randy Nichols, Mike Colquett, Pattie
Crawford, Butch Feaster, Kenny Johnson, John Estes Jr., Tom Lomenick, Jan
Feaster, Patrick Harrigan and Robert Sims.
Feb. 28, 2005 – A suicide bombing at a police recruiting
centre in Al Hillah, Iraq killed 127.
Feb. 28, 2008 – The Barnes Cemetery in Butler County was
added to the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register.
Feb. 28, 2010 - Weather observer Harry Ellis reported that
total rainfall for the month of February 2010 was 3.50 inches and total
snowfall was five inches.
Feb. 28, 2014 – Country music singer-songwriter Hank Locklin
of Brewton, Ala. was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame.
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