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April 4, 1581 – Francis Drake was knighted for completing a
circumnavigation of the world.
April 4, 1776 - General George Washington began marching his
unpaid soldiers from their headquarters in Cambridge, Mass. toward New York in
anticipation of a British invasion.
April 4, 1796 – Georges Cuvier delivered his first
paleontological lecture at École Centrale du Pantheon of the National Museum of
Natural History on living and fossil remains of elephants and related species,
founding the science of Paleontology.
April 4, 1812 - The territory of Orleans became the 18th
U.S. state and would become known as Louisiana.
April 4, 1818 – The United States Congress adopted the flag
of the United States with 13 red and white stripes and one star for each state
(then 20). It was agreed that a new star would be added for each new state.
April 4–6, 1825 – During his tour of the United States, the
Marquis de Lafayette's party boarded two boats, the Balize and the Henderson,
and made its way over the Alabama River through Selma, Ala., through the
ill-fated, newly-platted capital city of Cahaba and then met with members of
the French Vine and Olive refugee colony (from near present day Demopolis). The
party made a brief stop in Claiborne on April 6.
April 4, 1826 – Young Madison Rabb was born at Old Town in
Conecuh County, Ala. He would go on to become an Evergreen Baptist Church
deacon, planter, businessman, county commissioner, timber man and author of
“The Early History of What is Known as the Evergreen Beat.” He died on Nov. 28,
1896 at the age of 70 and was buried in the Old Evergreen Cemetery.
April 4, 1832 – Charles Darwin, traveling aboard the HMS
Beagle, landed on the shores of Rio de Janeiro as part of a five-year trip.
April 4, 1840 – The dispensation (organizational) meeting
for Greening Lodge No. 53 was held in Evergreen, Ala. and would lead to the lodge’s
charter being granted on Dec. 9, 1841.
April 4, 1841 – William Henry Harrison, 68, died of
pneumonia becoming the first President of the United States to die in office
and with the shortest term served. Vice President John Tyler became President
upon Harrison's death. Harrison had been sworn in only a month before he died
in Washington, D.C.
April 4, 1843 - William Jackson was born in Keeseville, N.Y.
His powerful photographs of Yellowstone helped make it the first national park.
April 4, 1850 – El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los
Angeles del Río de Porciúncula, better known today as Los Angeles, was
incorporated as a city.
April 4, 1856 – John Quincy Adams Warren, the son of Hinchey
W. Warren, died at the age of 30 in Conecuh County. He supposedly drowned in a
barrel of whiskey. Born on July 18, 1825 in Conecuh County, he is buried in the
Warren Cemetery at Old Sparta.
April 4, 1859 - Daniel Emmett and Bryant’s Minstrels
introduced the song "I Wish I was in Dixie’s Land,” which is also known as
“Dixie,” in the finale of a show in New York City. About two years later the
song became the Civil War song of the Confederacy.
April 4, 1861 – During the Civil
War, President Abraham Lincoln wrote a letter to Union Major Robert Anderson,
encouraging him to hold Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor, S.C.
April 4, 1862 - In the U.S., the Battle of Yorktown began as
Union General George B. McClellan closed in on Richmond, Va.
April 4, 1862 – During the Civil
War, skirmishes were fought with Indians at Table Bluff, Calif.; at
Lawrenceburg and another in the vicinity of Adamsville in Tennessee, at Crump’s
Landing; in the vicinity of Cockletown, in Virginia, at Howard’s Mill; and at
Great Bethel, in Virginia. The USS Carondelet successfully ran the batteries at
Island No. 10, and Albert S. Johnston’s Confederate force continued to march
toward Pittsburg Landing, Tenn. The Federal Army of the Potomac began to
advance toward Yorktown, Va., from the area around Fortress Monroe, Va.
April 4, 1863 – During the Civil
War, skirmishes were fought at Richmond, La.; in the vicinity of Washington,
N.C., at Rodman’s Point; on the Lewisburg Pike, near Memphis on Nonconnah
Creek, and another at Woodbury, in Tennessee.
April 4, 1864 – During the Civil
War, skirmishes were fought at Charlestown and Roseville in Arkansas and at
Campti, La. The U.S. House of Representatives also passed a resolution
denouncing any effort by Napoleon III of France to install a monarchy in Mexico
under Maximilian.
April 4, 1865 - According to the recollection of one of his
friends, Ward Hill Lamon, President Abraham Lincoln dreamed on this night in
1865 of “the subdued sobs of mourners” and a corpse lying on a catafalque in
the White House East Room. In the dream, Lincoln asked a soldier standing guard
“Who is dead in the White House?” to which the soldier replied, “the President.
He was killed by an assassin.” Lincoln woke up at that point. On April 11, he
told Lamon that the dream had “strangely annoyed” him ever since. Ten days
after having the dream, Lincoln was shot dead by an assassin while attending
the theater.
April 4, 1865 – Union troops occupied Tuscaloosa, Ala. and
raided and destroyed the University of Alabama campus.
April 4, 1865 – During the Civil War, a day after Union
forces captured Richmond, Va., U.S. President Abraham Lincoln visited the
Confederate capital. During a stop at the Confederate White House, he sat for a
few moments at the desk of Jefferson Davis.
April 4, 1865 – During the Civil
War, skirmishes were fought at East River Bridge, Fla. and at Amelia Courthouse
and Beaver Pond Creek in Virginia. The Federal Army of the Potomac continued to
maneuver against the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.
April 4, 1865 – 59TH ALABAMA: General Johnson’s
men proceeded four miles on the rear of General Pickett’s division, all going
toward Amelia Courthouse, where the promise of rations awaited the men of
Robert E. Lee’s worn out army. They found no rations but destroyed 95 caissons
of ammunition. Yankee troops eventually came up on the road to the church, and
the Rebels formed a battle line across the road and fired artillery at the
Yankees throughout the night.
April 4-7, 1865 – 59TH ALABAMA: The 59th
Alabama served at Saylers Creek, Va.; Farmville and Highbridge in Virginia.
April 4, 1875 – German explorer and geographer of Africa
Karl Mauch passed away at the age of 37 at Stuttgart in modern-day Germany. He
reported on the archaeological ruins of Great Zimbabwe in 1871 during his
search for the biblical land of Ophir.
April 4, 1884 – Confederate veteran James M. Robertson, who
served as a third corporal in Co. E, 4th Ala. Infantry during the Civil War,
died. He is buried in Robertson Family Cemetery in Conecuh County, Ala. Sources
say he was wounded in three places at Sharpsburg, Md. in September 1862 and was
later wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness on May 6, 1864.
April 4, 1888 – National Baseball Hall of Fame center
fielder and manager Tris Speaker was born in Hubbard, Texas. He would go on to
play for the Boston Americans/Red Sox, the Cleveland Indians, the Washington
Senators and the Philadelphia Athletics and manage the Indians from 1916 to
1926. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1937.
April 4, 1891 – On this Saturday night, the dwelling and
storehouse adjoining Mr. E.B. Horton was burned to the ground, entailing a loss
of not less than $5,000. It was believed to have been the work of an arsonist,
and to make this statement probably seemed irregular to all who knew Horton, as
he was a quiet inoffensive man, who lived at home, attended to his own
business, and was supposed to not have an enemy in the world. When the fire was
discovered, William Horton went out and sounded a horn to make an alarm in
order to secure the assistance of neighbors. As he passed out, someone shot at
him, but fortunately missed him. Besides the houses burned, there were 33 bales
of cotton, a quantity of syrup, corn, meat and a considerable amount of money
destroyed. There was no insurance.
April 4, 1895 – The Monroe Journal reported that W.H.
Louiselle and L.N. Lambert of the Bear Creek Mill Co. were in Monroeville, Ala.
and informed the newspaper that the entire interests of the former stockholders
of the company’s property had been recently purchased by Louiselle and a Mr.
Zimmerman. They told of the company’s plans to begin the construction of a
standard gauge railroad from the mill, connecting with the L&N branch road
at Repton, passing about four miles south of Monroeville.
April 4, 1896 - Col. B.L. Hibbard spoke at the Monroe County
Courthouse on this Saturday at 11 a.m. before a “very good attendance.”
April 4, 1896 - R.F. Lowrey, one of Perdue Hill’s
“enterprising merchants,” visited The Monroe Journal office on this Saturday.
April 4, 1896 – Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert E.
Sherwood was born in New Rochelle, N.Y.
April 4, 1905 – Judge John T. Lackland convened the Spring
Term of the Monroe County (Ala.) Circuit Court shortly after 2 p.m.
April 4, 1906 - The Monroe County Medical Society was
scheduled to hold its annual meeting in Monroeville, Ala. on this Wednesday.
Dr. G.H. Harper of Manistee was among those in attendance.
April 4, 1911 – A big storm, one of the worst in years,
struck Evergreen, Ala. on this night with high winds and over six inches of
rain. No damage of any importance was done, except that many farmers reported
that their land was badly washed and crops damaged to some extent.
April 4, 1914 – “The Perils of Pauline,” the first known
serialized moving picture, opened in New York City.
April 4, 1914 – Writer Marguerite Duras was born in a small
village in French Indochina near what is now Saigon, Vietnam.
April 4, 1915 – Commencement exercises were held at the
Jones Mill High School.
April 4, 1915 – Blues legend Muddy Waters was born in
Rolling Fork, Miss.
April 4, 1915 – Gerald D. Salter, who was born and raised in
Evergreen, Ala., passed away in Montgomery after a brief illness. Born on June
3, 1876, he was a longtime employee of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad
and was a Freemason. He was buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Montgomery.
April 4-6, 1916 - The “Boosters Club Chautauqua” was
scheduled to “give three big entertainments” at the Conecuh County Courthouse
in Evergreen, Ala.
April 4, 1916 – The Monroeville, Ala. chapter of the United
Daughters of the Confederacy was scheduled to meet at the Presbyterian church
on this Tuesday afternoon.
April 4, 1918 - German forces in the throes of a major spring offensive on the Western Front launched a renewed attack on Allied positions between the Somme and Avre Rivers.
April 4, 1918 - German military officials announced that their attacks in the Somme region had claimed a total of 90,000 Allied prisoners since March 21.
April 4, 1924 – Major League Baseball first baseman Gil
Hodges was born in Princeton, Indiana. He would go on to play for the
Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets. He later managed the
Washington Senators and the Mets.
April 4, 1925 – The Schutzstaffel (SS) was founded in
Germany. It grew from a small paramilitary formation to one of the largest and
most powerful organizations in the Third Reich. The SS, along with the Nazi
Party, was declared a criminal organization by the International Military
Tribunal, and was banned in Germany after 1945.
April 4, 1928 – Poet Maya Angelou was born in St. Louis, Mo.
April 4, 1929 – The Monroe Journal reported that Miss
Margaret Fountain, Gladys Watson, Maiben Hixon, Alice Lee, Edna Faulk and
Evelyn Barnett had spent a few days with relatives in Monroeville during the
previous week.
April 4, 1929 – The Monroe Journal reported that probably
the single incident which attracted the most attention during the recent flood
was the birth of a son to Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Tucker in the Elba Hotel about one
hour before all refugees there were forced to evacuate the building because it
had begun to break up. Mother and son were moved to a place of safety. The
father was the son of A.B. Tucker, former editor of The Thomasville Echo and
later state editor of The Montgomery Advertiser, and was a brother of Earl
Tucker, who was editor of The Thomasville Times in April 1929.
April 4, 1929 – The Monroe Journal reported that E.J. Ward
was preparing to move his machine shop from Monroeville to Talladega. Saw mills
having practically exhausted the timber resources in the Monroeville area, the
patronage which formerly sustained the machine shop had been materially
decreased.
April 4, 1929 – The Monroe Journal reported that the
strawberry crop in South Alabama sustained some damage in the recent flood, but
it was estimated that the damage was under 10 percent.
April 4, 1930 – In Conecuh County, Ala., around noon, Mrs.
Will Bolden found the body of her 16-year-old sister-in-law Emma Lizzie Bolden
suspended from a rafter by a short piece of rope at the home of her brother,
Will Bolden. When found, she wasn’t dead, but lived only about 20 minutes after
she was found. Funeral services were held the following day at Mt. Zion and she
was buried in that church’s cemetery.
April 4, 1939
– Faisal II became King of Iraq.
April 4, 1941 - Congressman George Grant, having accepted an
invitation to appear as a speaker on the Good Will Day Program, and failing to
receive notice of the postponement in time, arrived in Evergreen early on this
Friday morning. Learning that the celebration had been called off on account of
quarantine of the local CCC Camp, Grant turned his trip into a “good will”
visit with his many friends here. He left that afternoon for Brewton and Bay
Minette.
April 4, 1942 – Major League Baseball shortstop and manager
Jim Fregosi was born in San Francisco, Calif. He went on to play for the Los
Angeles/California Angels, the New York Mets, the Texas Rangers and the
Pittsburgh Pirates. He would later manage the Angels, the Chicago White Sox,
the Philadelphia Phillies and the Toronto Blue Jays.
April 4, 1943 – Major League Baseball first baseman Mike
Epstein was born in the Bronx, N.Y. He would go on to play for the Baltimore
Orioles, the Washington Senators, the Oakland Athletics, the Texas Rangers and
the California Angels.
April 4, 1943 – During World War II, 1st Lt. Laula M.
Middleton of Evergreen, Ala. was declared missing in action over North Africa
while serving with the 310 Bomber Group Allied Air Force. He was declared MIA
when the bombing plane of which he was crew member was lost in combat over the
Mediterranean Sea between Sicily and Tunisia. A marker was erected in his
memory in the Belleville United Methodist Church Cemetery and Evergreen’s
airport was later named Middleton Field in his honor.
April 4, 1945 - Sgt. Harmon Rabren of Evergreen, Ala.
received a citation for “heroic” actions on this night at Wildergovern, Germany
when a five-man reconnaissance patrol became lost and failed to return. Rabren,
a member of Co. B, 309th Infantry Regiment, volunteered to go out alone and
locate the lost patrol despite extreme darkness and heavy enemy artillery and
mortar fire. He found them after several hours, risking capture by the enemy,
and guided them to safety without any losses and with important information
about enemy defensive positions and possible crossing sites on the Sieg River.
April 4, 1947 – Major League Baseball catcher Ray Fosse was
born in Marion, Ill. He would go on to play for the Cleveland Indians, the
Oakland Athletics, the Seattle Mariners and the Milwaukee Brewers.
April 4, 1947 – NFL guard Ed White was born in La Mesa,
Calif. He would go on to play for UC-Berkeley, the Minnesota Vikings and the
San Diego Chargers.
April 4, 1951 – Pro Football Hall of Fame and College
Football Hall of Fame offensive guard John Hannah was born in Canton, Ga. He
went on to play for Albertville High School, the University of Alabama and the
New England Patriots. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in
1991.
April 4, 1967 – Martin Luther King Jr., head of the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference, delivered his "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to
Break Silence" speech in front of 3,000 people at New York City's
Riverside Church.
April 4, 1968 – At 6:01 p.m., Martin Luther King Jr., 39,
was assassinated by James Earl Ray at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn. King
was standing on the balcony of his room on the second floor.
April 4, 1968 – The Monroe Journal reported that the final
phase of Monroeville’s new sewer system was expected to go into operation the following
week when the new sewage treatment plant at Hudson Branch was put into
operation. A.T. Lewis, city engineer, said that tests would be run on the plant
early the following week and, if they proved satisfactory, the plant would be
put into full operation. Industrial, public and private users began tying on to
the new collection lines which feed into the new outfall systems leading to the
Broughton Street treatment plant about two weeks before, and new customers were
being tied in as fast as private contractors could install lines from
residences and buildings to the collection lines, Lewis said.
April 4, 1968 – The Monroe Journal reported that the three
top winners in the spelling bee held at Monroeville Elementary School the
previous week were Mary Williamson, third place, who received a $2 check; Ruby
Fay Dees, second place, a $3 check; and Sharon McDaniels, first place, a $5
check.
April 4, 1970 – Thomas Charles Littles of Brooklyn, Ala.,
who had suffered a gunshot wound to the head in Vietnam, was transferred to the
Veterans Administration Hospital in Montgomery.
April 4, 1971 - Veterans stadium in Philadelphia, Pa. was
dedicated.
April 4, 1973 – The World Trade Center in New York was
officially dedicated.
April 4, 1973
– A Lockheed C-141 Starlifter, dubbed the Hanoi Taxi, made the last
flight of Operation Homecoming.
April 4, 1974 – Wilcox County, Ala. native Hank
Aaron tied Babe Ruth's Major League Baseball home run record with his 714th
home run.
April 4, 1974 – The Monroe Journal reported that
construction of Monroeville’s new city hall could begin as early as three
months, according to Mayor W.H. (Jack) Hines that week. Hines said the new
structure, to be erected on a 5.8-acre tract the city already owned at Cherry
Street and Pineville Road, would resemble but be “not as elaborate” as
Prattville’s new city hall, which the mayor and several councilmen had toured.
April 4, 1974 – Frisco City High School and Excel High
School were scheduled to open their baseball seasons on this Thursday afternoon
in a game which was to be a historic event for Excel and a renewal of the sport
at Frisco. Excel High School was to field its first baseball team ever, meeting
Frisco City, which was fielding its first team in four years. The two schools
were to meet for the first time ever at 3:30 p.m. on this Thursday afternoon in
Frisco City. Players on Excel’s team that year included Rhett Barnes, Leon
Black, Keith Deville, Johnny House, James Jordan, Randy Manning and Bruce
White. Lee Holladay was Excel’s baseball coach, and Curtis Harris was Frisco
City’s head baseball coach.
April 4, 1975 – Major League Baseball third baseman Scott
Rolen was born in Evansville, Ind. He would go on to play for the Philadelphia
Phillies, the St. Louis Cardinals, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Cincinnati
Reds.
April 4, 1975 – A high school spring football jamboree was
held at Conecuh County High School in Castleberry, Ala. that included CCHS,
Repton High School, Lyeffion High School and McKenzie High School. In the first
quarter, McKenzie beat CCHS, 6-0, and Repton beat Lyeffion, 7-6, in the second
quarter. In the third quarter, Lyeffion beat CCHS, 14-0, and Repton beat
McKenzie, 14-8, in the fourth quarter.
April 4, 1975 – Operation Baby Lift, a major U.S. airlift of
South Vietnamese orphans, began with disaster when an Air Force cargo jet
crashed shortly after departing from Tan Son Nhut airbase in Saigon, resulting
in the deaths of more than 138 passengers, mostly children.
April 4, 1976 – Actor, director and screenwriter James Roday
was born in San Antonio, Texas.
April 4, 1979 – Local weather reporter Earl Windham reported
that Evergreen, Ala. received 4.05 inches of rain on this day.
April 4, 1981
– The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force mounted an attack on H-3 Airbase and
destroyed about 50 Iraqi aircraft.
April 4, 1983 – Space Shuttle Challenger made its maiden
voyage into space.
April 4, 1984 – The fictional character Winston Smith began
his 'Down with Big Brother' diary in George Orwell's famed novel “1984.”
April 4, 1986 - The final episode of "Knight
Rider" aired.
April 4, 1990 – Early on this Wednesday morning, William
James Furger of Wisconsin and Terry Johnson, aka Terry Smith, of Virginia City,
Ala. escaped from the Conecuh County, Ala. Jail. They were captured later that
same day on the Old Sparta Road.
April 4, 1994 - Karl "Tuffy" Rhodes of the Chicago
Cubs became the first player in the National League to hit three home runs on
Opening Day.
April 4, 1996 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Norman
Hall, son of Arnold and Melanie Hall of Evergreen, caught a large-mouth bass,
while fishing with his father, that weighed six pounds, two ounces and was 24
inches long.
April 4, 1996 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Reo
Kirkland III, son of Brewton attorney Reo Kirkland Jr., was at it again. In
December of 1994, at age five, he killed his first buck, a 13-point. In March
of 1996, at age seven, Reo bagged his first wild turkey with one shot from his
.410-gauge shotgun, using No. 6 shot. Reo credited his daddy with calling the
gobbler into gun range and teaching him how to prepare and cook fried wild
turkey breast.
April 4, 1998 - Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals
became the second National League player to hit a home run in the first four
games of a season. Willie Mays of the San Francisco had hit home runs in the
first four games of the 1971 season.
April 4, 1999 - The Colorado Rockies and the San Diego
Padres played the first Major League season opener to be held in Mexico. The
Rockies beat the Padres, 8-2. The game was also the first season opener to be
held in a country other than the United States or Canada.
April 4, 1999 – National Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Early
Wynn, a native of Hartford, Ala., passed away in Venice, Fla. at the age of 79.
During his career, he played for the Washington Senators, the Cleveland Indians
and the Chicago White Sox. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1972.
April 4, 2016 - Sparta Academy scored a season-high 17 runs
in a win over South Montgomery County Academy that snapped a six-game losing
skid for the Warriors. Sparta blasted SMCA, 17-7, on this Monday at Baggett
Field in Evergreen behind four strong innings from senior pitcher Hunter
Bolton. Bolton pitched the first four innings of the game, allowing just four
hits, three walks and two earned runs. Lanse Robbins and Ethan Tyree pitched
one inning of relief each. Tyree also led the Warriors at the plate, going
three for four with three RBI and two stolen bases. Robbins followed with two
hits and three RBI, and Tyler Hanks finished the game with two RBI and two
hits, including an inside-the-park home run.
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