Monday, March 5, 2018

Today in History for March 5, 2018


March 5, 1046 – Naser Khosrow began the seven-year Middle Eastern journey which he will later describe in his book “Safarnama.”


March 5, 1496 – King Henry VII of England issued letters patent to John Cabot and his sons, authorizing them to explore unknown lands.

March 5, 1512 – Gerardus Mercator, who developed the world mapping technique still used today, was born in Rupelmonde, Flanders (now Belgium).

March 5, 1616 – Nicolaus Copernicus's book “On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres” was added to the Index of Forbidden Books 73 years after it was first published.

March 5, 1658 – French explorer and politician Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, who also served as the third Colonial Governor of Louisiana, was born in Saint-Nicolas-de-la-Grave, France.

March 5, 1750 – The first Shakespearean play was presented in America when “Richard III” was performed by the actors of Walter Murray and William Kean's troupe from Philadelphia.

March 5, 1766 – Brilliant Spanish scientist and explorer Antonio de Ulloa, the first Spanish governor of Louisiana, arrived in New Orleans, trying to take control of the formerly French territory of Louisiana.

March 5, 1770 – In what is now referred to as the “Boston Massacre,” five Americans, including Crispus Attucks, were fatally shot by British troops in an event that would contribute to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War (also known as the American War of Independence) five years later. Two British troops were later convicted of manslaughter.

March 5, 1809 – Confederate soldier Matthew Anderson was born. He served as a private in the Monroe County Militia Home Guard after being recruited for service as a farrier for Co. K of the 7th Alabama Cavalry. Anderson was an example of a man too old for combat duty yet having skills useful to the Confederate army. He died on Dec. 23, 1893 and was buried in Middleton Cemetery in Monroe County, Ala.

March 5, 1829 – Col. Samuel Adams was born in Abbeville County, South Carolina. He graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1850 and moved to Butler County, Ala. in 1851. He worked as a teacher and lawyer in Conecuh and Butler counties and served as a state representative from 1857 to 1861. He became a 2nd Lt. with Co. G in the 9th Alabama on July 19, 1861 and 1st Lt. on Sept. 6, 1861. He was promoted to Colonel in the 33rd Alabama when it was organized on April 23, 1862. He was wounded in action at Perryville while leading a brigade. He was killed in action on July 21, 1864 by a sharpshooter in a fight at Bald Hill near Atlanta. He is buried in Pioneer Cemetery in Greenville.

March 5, 1836 - Santa Anna announced to his officers that he planned to attack the Alamo in the morning and ordered them to prepare their troops for assault. Although evidence is lacking, tradition holds that Travis gathered his command together one final time to offer them the chance to leave. According to one account, Travis drew a line in the sand and asked the garrison to make a decision to stay or leave.  Only one man, Moses Rose, chose to leave.

March 5, 1836 – Samuel Colt patented the first production-model revolver, the .34-caliber.

March 5, 1845 - The U.S. Congress appropriated $30,000 to ship camels to the western United States.

March 5, 1850 – Early on this afternoon, the ill-fated Orline St. John docked at Bridgeport, on the river north of Camden, where it took on “an unusually large quantity of wood – right, light wood.” Then the pilot turned her bow back into the current, and the captain went up to his cabin to take a nap before they reached the next stop. By now “a very strong wind [was] blowing,” and combined with the current, it made progress upriver even more difficult.”

March 5, 1860 – President Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural address was received in Evergreen, Ala. through the Western Union Telegraph Co. A.D. McInis was the telegraph operator.

March 5, 1861 – During the Civil War, all Federal troops in the Department of Texas were instructed to report to the Gulf Coast for departure to New York.

March 5, 1862 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought near Occoquan and at Bunker Hill, which is north of Winchester, Va. The customs of the Shenandoah Valley are not those of most places. For one thing, to go “up” the valley means to go south. That is what Gen. Nathaniel Banks was doing this day, in charge of a Federal force headed from Harpers Ferry, Va., towards Winchester. The intended target: Gen. Thomas Jonathan Jackson. Since the battle of First Manassas last May, he had become known as “Stonewall.” General Banks had achieved his military career by joining the Republican Party at a very early stage of its development and winning the governor’s race in Massachusetts in 1858, while Stonewall had learned his skills at West Point. The differences in talent as well as training would show in this campaign.

March 5, 1863 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Fort Smith, Ark.; at Madison, Ark.; and in the vicinity of Franklin, Tenn. A nine-day Federal operation from Helena, Ark., up the Little and St. Francis Rivers, began. A 10-day Federal operation in Newton and Jasper Counties in Missouri began.

March 5, 1864 – Elijah Byrd Jenkins began serving aboard the CSS Selma and was aboard when it was captured at the Battle of Mobile Bay. Jenkins was born in Wilcox County, Ala. on Dec. 13, 1842 to Thomas Jenkins and wife. At the age of 19, enlisted on Nov. 1, 1862 in Montgomery as a private with Co. K 1st Ala. Artillery. He re-enlisted on Feb. 11, 1863 at Port Hudson, La. with Co. K, 1st Ala. Artillery before joining the Confederate Navy and transferring to serve aboard the CSS Selma on March 5, 1864. He served on that ship until it was captured at the Battle of Mobile Bay. He was then imprisoned at Ship Island, Miss. for the rest of the war. He filed for his Confederate pension in Wilcox County on June 28, 1902. Elijah Jenkins is buried at New Hope Cemetery at Dottelle, Ala.

March 5, 1864 - General John C. Breckinridge took control of Confederate forces in the Appalachian Mountains of western Virginia. The native Kentuckian was a former U.S. senator, U.S. vice president and runner-up to Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 presidential election. Breckinridge took over the obscure Western Department of Virginia, where he managed forces until he was elevated to the Confederacy’s secretary of war in the closing weeks of the Civil War.

March 5, 1864 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought at Leet’s Tannery, Ga.; and at Chapel Hill and Panther Springs in Tennessee. A Confederate attack on Federal forces occupying Yazoo City, Miss. was repelled. Confederates raided Cherrystone Point, Va.

March 5, 1865 – During the Civil War, a seven-day Federal operation between Waynesville and Lebanon in Missouri began, and a skirmish was fought at Cheraw, S.C. A three-day Federal operation between Fortress Monroe and Fredericksburg in Virginia began.

March 5, 1870 – Novelist Frank Norris was born Benjamin Franklin Norris in Chicago. His most popular novel, “McTeague,” was published in 1899 when he was just 29 years old.

March 5, 1871 - Rosa Luxemburg, the leader of a revolutionary faction of the German socialist party during World War I, was born in Zamos, Poland, an area that at the time was under Russian control.

March 5, 1873 – Norwegian skier and explorer Olav Bjaaland was born in Telemark, Norway.

March 5, 1886 – The Monroe Journal reported that Dr. W.A. Patrick, who had recently graduated from the dental department of the Vanderbilt University, had returned home.

March 5, 1886 – The Monroe Journal reprinted an article from the Pineapple Gazette that gave the “particulars of a shocking affair, in which a little girl was burned to death and an old lady probably fatally injured” in the Simpkinsville community of Monroe County, eight miles south of Pineapple. Mrs. Mary Byrd and her 12-year-old granddaughter, Jessie, a daughter of Mr. Allen Byrd, were burning brush, when “by some means the child’s clothing caught fire. Mrs. Byrd attempted to extinguish the flames and her own clothing caught. The little girl broke loose, ran a short distance and crouched down, where her father, who had been attracted by the screams, found her with her clothing burned off and her flesh literally baked. She lingered in untold agony until nine o’clock that night (Friday, Feb. 19) when death released her from her horrible sufferings. Mrs. Byrd is terribly burned about the body and arms and her fingernails scorched off. There is a possibility, however, of her recovering, though she will be permanently crippled.”

March 5, 1891 – The issue of The Monroe Journal on this date was the first issue of the newspaper printed on a power press. Prior to this, the paper was printed on a hand press, a slow and laborious process.

March 5, 1896 – The Monroe Journal reported that Miss Ellen Harrengton had returned from a pleasant visit to friends at Manistee.

March 5, 1896 - The Monroe Journal noted that the health of Capt. John DeLoach continued to improve.

March 5, 1896 – The Monroe Journal reported, in news from Claiborne, that the old town was on a boom now, the streets were full of wagons from morning until night, hauling commercial fertilizer.

March 5, 1896 – The Monroe Journal reported that former Monroe County Sheriff J.S. Harrengton of Monroeville was in Pineville for several days during this week.

March 5, 1902 - W. D. Harrigan Sr. of Rhinelander, Wisc. and Fredrick Herrick of Lac Du Flambeau, Wisc. purchased the Scotch Lumber Company in Fulton, Ala.

March 5, 1915 – Former Confederate soldier John A. McCants died and was buried at Bells Landing Presbyterian Cemetery at Tinela, Ala. Born on June 27, 1842, he served as a private with the Monroe Guards and enlisted on March 26, 1861 at Pineville in Monroe County. He was promoted to corporal and was present at all musters between May 13, 1861 and Dec. 31, 1861. He was wounded at Chancellorsville on May 2, 1863 and furloughed home for 30 days. He was admitted into Selma General Hospital while on furlough and remained on furlough until July 30, 1863. He was listed as a prisoner of war on May 5, 1864.

March 5, 1915 – The Arcade Theatre in Evergreen, Ala. began showing the “best episodes of the interesting series” of the “Million Dollar Mystery.”

March 5, 1915 – A fiddler’s convention was scheduled to be held at 8 p.m. at the Conecuh County, Ala. courthouse for the benefit of the Evergreen City School. Admission was 25 cents and 15 cents, and a prize was offered for the best fiddler.

March 5, 1916 - The first movie version of Alabama author Mary Johnston's book “To Have and To Hold” was released.

March 5, 1916 – The Rev. S.P. Lindsey “occupied the pulpit” at the Brooklyn Church in Conecuh County, Ala. on this Sunday morning and “was met by a good congregation.”

March 5, 1933 – The Nazi Party won 44 percent of the vote in German parliamentary elections, enabling it to join with the Nationalists to gain a slight majority in the Reichstag. Within three weeks, the Nazi-dominated Reichstag passed the Enabling Act, which gave Hitler dictatorial powers and ended the Weimar Republic in Germany.

March 5, 1936 – The Evergreen Courant reported that lodge clerk J.R. Simmons recently announced that the regular meeting dates of Greening Lodge No. 53, A.F.&A.M., had been changed from the second and fourth Thursday nights to the second and fourth Friday nights of each month.

March 5, 1936 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Gaston Durham and Curt DuBose were in the county jail, charged with petty larceny, in connection with the theft of an axe, truck binders and other county property from the bridge being constructed across Bull Slough, near Paul. Other arrests in connection with thefts at the bridge were contemplated.

March 5, 1936 – The Monroe Journal reported that work on the new Methodist parsonage at Uriah continued to progress. The foundation and framing was to be laid within the next few days. The parsonage was of interest to the people of Uriah and neighboring towns not only from a spiritual point of view, but from the stand point of business as well. The building was expected to enhance the beauty of all Uriah, and those owning real estate in and around Uriah expected to realize an increase in the value of such real estate.

March 5, 1938 – NFL defensive back and actor Fred Williamson was born in Gary, Indiana. He would go on to play for Northwestern University, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Oakland Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs.

March 5, 1939 – NFL center Wayne Frazier born in Evergreen, Ala. He would go on to play for Auburn, the San Diego Chargers, the Houston Oilers, the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs. He started for the Chiefs in the first Super Bowl.

March 5, 1943 - Following a lingering illness, Claude Eugene Brantley, age 57, died at a Montgomery hospital on this Friday night. Brantley was born at Burnt Corn on Jan. 1, 1886, the son of the late H.H. Brantley and Mae Salter Brantley. He spent his early life at Burnt Corn, later moving to Evergreen where he was for many years engaged in business. He moved to Montgomery about six years before his death. He was widely known throughout the Evergreen area and had many devoted friends who, with a large number of relatives, were saddened at his passing.

March 5, 1948 – In an incident attributed to the Bermuda Triangle, Al Snyder, a well-known jockey, and several of his friends departed Miami in a cabin cruiser to go fishing at Sandy Key. The yacht was later found, but the occupants had disappeared.

March 5, 1948 – Novelist Leslie Marmon Silko was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is best known for her 1977 novel, “Ceremony.”

March 5, 1956 - The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the ban on segregation in public schools.

March 5, 1956 – Clarence Horn of Garland was killed instantly, and Mrs. A.T. Reid Jr., an “English war bride,” was fatally injured in a head-on collision on state highway 114, five miles west of McKenzie, on this Monday. Reid died of injuries on Tues., March 6. A.T. Reid Jr., K.W. Calloway and Miss Johnnie Middleton, all of Garland, were injured in the accident.

March 5, 1964 - The Joint Chiefs of Staff ordered a U.S. Air Force air commando training advisory team to Thailand to train Lao pilots in counterinsurgency tactics.

March 5, 1966 - Marvin Miller was elected executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association. During his tenure, Miller made baseball the first sport to institute collective bargaining and salary arbitration agreements, and oversaw the advent of free agency after a century-long struggle by players to sell their services on a free market.

March 5, 1966 – Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Michael Irvin was born in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He would go on to play for the University of Miami and the Dallas Cowboys. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007.

March 5, 1971 - The U.S. 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, less its 2nd Squadron, withdrew from Vietnam.

March 5, 1971 - Premier Chou En-lai of the People’s Republic of China visited Hanoi, and after lengthy consultations, Chou and North Vietnamese Premier Pham Van Dong issued a joint communique on March 10, which vowed continued Chinese support for the North Vietnamese struggle against the United States.

March 5, 1975 – The Homebrew Computer Club first met and it turned out to be an enormously influential hobby club: its existence made possible the personal computer.

March 5, 1976 – Major League Baseball first baseman Paul Konerko was born in Providence, R.I. He would go on to play for the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago White Sox.

March 5, 1978 – Weather reporter Earl Windham reported a low of 21 degrees in Evergreen, Ala.

March 5, 1982 – Sparta Academy hosted a seven-team spring football jamboree at Stuart-McGehee Field in Evergreen, Ala.

March 5, 1982 - The Russian space probe, Venera 14, after a four-month journey, plunged its descent vehicle into the Venusian atmosphere, sending back images of the planet's surface.

March 5, 1990 - The television program “A Son's Promise,” teleplay by Bill Stratton and Alabama author Robert Inman, was broadcast.

March 5, 1992 - Kellie Coker, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Stan Coker of Evergreen, Ala., was named Junior Miss Alpha 1992 at the annual Miss Alpha Pageant held at Sparta Academy. Kellie was the granddaughter of Mrs. Sarah Coker of Evergreen and was in the seventh grade.

March 5, 2006 – 78th Academy Awards were held at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. “Capote” was nominated for Best Picture. Philip Seymour Hoffman (Truman Capote) won for Best Actor, and Catherine Keener (Harper Lee) was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.

March 5, 2013 – The first winter ascent of Broad Peak was achieved by Maciej Berbeka, Adam Bielecki, Artur Małek and Tomasz Kowalski.

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