Gregory Peck |
April 5, 1588 – Author and
political philosopher Thomas Hobbes was born in Westport, Wilshire, England.
His most famous book is 1651’s “Leviathan.”
April 5, 1614 – Pocahontas, the
daughter of Chief Powhatan, married Englishman John Rolfe in Jamestown, Va.,
bringing about a shaky truce – called the Peace of Pocahontas – between the
English settlers and native Indians.
April 5, 1621 – The Mayflower set sail
from Plymouth, Mass. on a return trip to England.
April 5, 1673 – Belgian-French explorer and politician François
Caron, who served as the eighth Governor of Formosa, died at sea near Portugal.
He was around 73 years old.
April 5, 1722 – The Dutch explorer
Jacob Roggeveen discovered Easter Island.
April 5, 1774 - In London, Benjamin
Franklin wrote an open letter to Great Britain's prime minister, Frederick,
Lord North. Franklin's satirical letter suggested that the British impose
martial law upon the colonies and appoint a "King's Viceroy of all North
America." The letter was published in The Public Advertiser on April 15.
April 5, 1778 - North Carolina
became the tenth state to ratify the Articles of Confederation.
April 5, 1792 – U.S. President George
Washington exercised his authority to veto a bill, the first time this power
was used in the United States. He vetoed a measure for apportioning
representatives among the states.
April 5, 1800 - A luminous flying
ship was spotted over Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
April 5, 1804 – In what is now
known as the “High Possil Meteorite Incident,” the first recorded meteorite in
Scotland fell in Possil.
April 5, 1810 - Alabama author
Philip Henry Gosse was born in Worcester, England.
April 5, 1825 – During his historic tour of the United
States, Lafayette arrived in Selma, Ala.
April 5, 1827 – Dr. Joseph Lister, the father of antiseptic
medicine, was born in Upton, England.
April 5, 1837 – Poet Algernon Charles Swinburne was born in
London.
April 5, 1856 - Booker T. Washington, African-American
educator, author and leader, was born on a farm near Hale's Ford, Franklin
County, Virginia. Born a slave, Washington worked his way through school and in
1881 was selected to head the newly established Normal School for Colored
Teachers at Tuskegee, Alabama. He guided the development of the institution
until his death in 1915. (The date of his birth was unknown even to Washington;
based on evidence submitted after his death, the Board of Trustees of Tuskegee
Institute adopted April 5, 1856, as "the exact date of his birth.")
April 5, 1861 – During the Civil
War, Fort Quitman, Texas was abandoned by Federal forces.
April 5, 1862 – During the Civil War, the Battle of Yorktown
began as Union forces under General George McClellan established siege lines at
Yorktown, instead of directly attacking the Confederate defenders.
April 5, 1862 – During the Civil
War, Edisto Island, S.C. was occupied by Federal forces. Skirmishes were also
fought at San Luis Pass, Texas and near Lee’s Mill and at the junction of the
Warwick and Yorktown Road, Va.
April 5, 1863 – During the Civil
War, skirmishes were fought in the vicinity of New Carthage, La. and at Davis
Mill, Tenn. A two-day Federal reconnaissance between Grand Junction and Saulsbury,
Tenn. began. A three-day Federal reconnaissance originating from La Grange,
Tenn. to Early Grove and Mount Pleasant, Miss. began. Early Grove was later on
known as Eupora, Miss.
April 5, 1864 – During the Civil
War, skirmishes were fought at Mark’s Mill and another at Whiteley‘s Mill,
Ark.; in eastern Kentucky at Quicksand Creek; at Natchitoches, La.; in the
swamps of the Little River, in the vicinity of Osceola, Mo., and another on
Pemiscot Bayou, Mo.; and at Blount’s Creek, N.C. Federal gunboats also had
difficulty with low water in the Red River in Louisiana.
April 5, 1865 - Confederate General Robert E. Lee pulled his
troops from Amelia Court House and retreated.
April 5, 1865 - A federal operation between Huntsville and
New Market, Ala. began.
April 5, 1865 – During the Civil
War, skirmishes were fought at Newport Bridge, Fla.; at Amelia Springs and at
Paine’s Crossroads, Va.; and along the Neuse River, N.C. A 10-day Federal
operation between Charleston and the Santee River in South Carolina began. A
10-day Federal operation between Georgetown and Camden, S.C. began. A 13-day
Federal operation between Camp Bidwell to Antelope Creek, Calif. began.
April 5, 1865 - While Jefferson
Davis attempted to handle the politics from Danville, Robert E. Lee and the
remnants of the proud Army of Northern Virginia still had to see to the
defenses. They had retreated to Amelia Court House in expectation of finding
supplies stored there. They were not, and Lee later wrote “This delay was fatal
and could not be retrieved.” The Danville Railroad was blocked by Sheridan; Lee
ordered materiel from Lynchburg instead.
April 5, 1865 – 59TH ALABAMA: Around 3 a.m., Gen.
A.P. Hill’s corps and Gen. Ewell’s men moved close to Amelia Courthouse. The
Yankees surrounded them, and Johnson’s men headed for the High Bridge.
April 5, 1869 - Daniel Bakeman, the last surviving soldier
of the U.S. Revolutionary War, died at the age of 109 and was buried in
Sandusky Cemetery in Freedom, New York.
April 5, 1871 – Croation explorer Mirko Seljan was born in
Karlovac, Croatia.
April 5, 1886 - Monroe County (Ala.) Court convened on this
Monday.
April 5, 1887 - Anne Sullivan taught Helen Keller the
meaning of the word "water" as spelled out in the manual alphabet.
April 5, 1891 – A.J. Morris passed away at Heflin, Ala. at
nearly 100 years of age. He was said to have been the last survivor of the
settlers at Fort Mims. Morris was said to have been among five survivors who
escaped through the pickets when the fort was attacked. All five went to Mount
Vernon to report the attack.
April 5, 1900 – Archaeologists in Knossos, Crete, discovered
a large cache of clay tablets with hieroglyphic writing in a script they call
Linear B.
April 5, 1901 – Pediatrician and microbiologist Hattie Alexander
was born in Baltimore.
April 5, 1906 – J.D. Deming and his wife, Fannie D. Deming,
sold their bank building to the Peoples Bank of Evergreen, Ala.
April 5, 1909 – On a Sunday night, an unknown number of
burglars entered the residence of Conecuh County (Ala.) Tax Collector W.S.
Oliver and stole his pants, which contained money and other valuables.
April 5, 1911 – During “one of the worst storms” in years,
over six inches of rain fell in Evergreen, Ala. as “rain fell in torrents and
the wind reached a high velocity.”
April 5, 1915 – Conecuh County (Ala.) Circuit Court convened
with Judge Gamble presiding. E.C. Lee of Evergreen was the foreman of the grand
jury, and Solicitor Bricken was also on hand to represent the state.
April 5, 1916 – Gregory Peck, who portrayed Atticus Finch in
“To Kill a Mockingbird,” was born in La Jolla, Calif.
April 5, 1917 – Crime and suspense writer Robert Block was
born in Chicago. He is best known for his 1959 novel, “Psycho.”
April 5, 1917 – The Monroe Journal reported that Mr. and
Mrs. A.C. Lee’s many friends would be gratified to know that Mrs. Lee’s health
had so far improved as to enable her to leave the infirmary where she had been
under treatment for several months.
April 5, 1917 – The Monroe Journal reported that at a recent
meeting of the Monroe County Board of Education, Prof. W.L. Porter was
nominated as principal of the Monroe County High School for the coming year. It
was assumed that the state authorities would ratify the selection. Porter had
had “extended and successful experience as a progressive educator,” having
served as superintendent of the city schools of Tuskegee for several years and
as the head of the Brewton Institute for the previous four years.
April 5, 1917 – The Monroe Journal reported that the
“epidemic of measles which prevailed here for several weeks has practically
subsided and all patients are in normal health.”
April 5, 1918 - General Erich Ludendorff formally ended “Operation Michael,” the first stage of the final major German offensive of World War I.
April 5, 1920 – Novelist Arthur Hailey was born in Luton,
Bedfordshire, England.
April 5, 1923 – Professional baseball player John Ottis
Johnson was born in Conecuh County. In June 1951, he became the last
professional baseball player to die after getting hit in the head by a pitch.
He is buried in Magnolia Cemetery in Evergreen, Ala.
April 5, 1925 – The Women’s Club of Perdue Hill, Ala.
presented Alabama Lodge No. 3 with the desk that LaFayette spoke from during
his visit to Claiborne in 1825. The desk has a sliver plate attached to it to
commemorate his visit.
April 5, 1933
– U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 6101, which
establish the Civilian Conservation Corps.
April 5, 1937 – Evergreen, Ala. received 6.92 inches of rain
during a 36-hour period that resulted in 8.65 inches of rain between Sat.,
April 3, and Mon., April 5.
April 5, 1937 - A movie version of Alabama author Octavus
Roy Cohen's book “Jim Hanvey, Detective”
was released.
April 5, 1938 – Work began on the new athletic stadium at
the Evergreen High School in Evergreen, Ala. It would eventually be named
Brooks Stadium, and later Brooks Memorial Stadium, in honor of J.R. Brooks, who
was mayor of Evergreen, Ala. when the work began.
April 5, 1938 - Actual work began on this Tuesday morning on
the new athletic stadium at the Evergreen High School, according to Mayor J.R.
Brooks. Approximately 25 workmen were engaged in grading the site. A number of
trucks and other pieces of grading machinery were being used to move the dirt
and with favorable weather the project was expected to move forward rapidly.
The stadium was being constructed as a WPA project with the city cooperating.
It involved an expenditure of more than $6,000 and when finished was to be one
of the most modern athletic stadiums to be found in a city the size of
Evergreen. It could be used for baseball, football and other athletic events.
It was hoped that it would be completed in time for the local baseball team to
play a portion of its games there in 1938.
April 5, 1939 - Author Thomas R. Atkins was born in Mobile,
Ala.
April 5, 1941 – On this Saturday night, V.C. Payne
entertained the basketball boys and a group of their friends at the school
building in Repton.
April 5, 1944 – 1st Lt. Laula M. Middleton of Conecuh
County, Ala. was declared dead. He was declared missing in action a year
earlier over North Africa in World War II while serving with the 310 Bomber
Group Allied Air Force. He went 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 in his memory was placed in the Belleville United Methodist
Church Cemetery and Evergreen’s airport was named Middleton Field in his honor.
April 5, 1945 – An early morning fire destroyed the home of
Mr. and Mrs. H.C. Gilmore on Magnolia Street in Evergreen, Ala.
April 5, 1945
– German SS officer Karl-Otto Koch, 47, was executed by firing squad at the
Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany, one week before American allied
troops arrived to liberate the camp.
April 5, 1950 – NFL punter Marv Bateman was born in Salt
Lake City, Utah. He would go on to play for the University of Utah, the Dallas
Cowboys and the Buffalo Bills.
April 5, 1951 – Major League Baseball second baseman Rennie
Stennett was born in Colon, Panama. He would go on to play for the Pittsburgh
Pirates and the San Francisco Giants.
April 5, 1951 – NFL linebacker Brad Van Pelt was born in
Owossa, Mich. He would go on to play for Michigan State, the New York Giants,
the Los Angeles Raiders and the Cleveland Browns.
April 5, 1951 – Army PFC Ralph Sasser of Escambia County,
Ala. was killed in action in Korea. A light weapons infantryman, he was serving
with the 17th Infantry Regiment in the 7th Infantry
Division when he was killed in South Korea. He received the Combat Infantryman
Badge, Korean Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Republic
of Korea Presidential Unit Citation, the Republic of Korea Service Medal and
the United Nations Service Medal.
April 5, 1956 – A B-25, converted to a civilian
cargo-carrying plane, disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle with three aboard in
the vicinity of the Tongue of the Ocean, a mile-deep underwater canyon to the
east of Andros Island in the Bahamas.
April 5, 1965 - The color of National Football League
penalty flags used by officials was changed from white to bright gold.
April 5, 1968 - Monroe County High School’s varsity baseball
team was scheduled to officially open the 1968 season on this Friday afternoon
at Vanity Fair Park against Beatrice High School. The 14 men going to bat for
the Tigers were: senior – Van Pickens, pitcher, catcher and outfield; juniors –
Butch Andress, first base; Rusty Pitts, shortstop; Mitch Bayles, outfielder; Al
Bentley, outfielder; Kenny Stacey, second base; sophomores – Mike Kimbrel,
catcher and outfielder; John Barnett, catcher and outfielder; Jimmy Loftin,
outfielder; Ray Skinner, outfielder; freshmen – Pete Black, infielder and
pitcher; Ronnie Taylor, infielder and pitcher; eighth grader – Sam Andress,
outfielder; seventh grader – K.J. Lazenby, infielder.
April 5, 1969
– During the Vietnam War, approximately 100,000 antiwar demonstrators marched
in New York City to demand that the United States withdraw from Vietnam.
April 5, 1969
– Estonian SS officer Ain-Ervin Mere died at the age of 66 in Leicester,
England.
April 5, 1972 - Moving out of
eastern Cambodia, North Vietnamese troops opened the second front of their
offensive with a drive into Binh Long Province, attacking Loc Ninh, a border
town 75 miles north of Saigon on Highway 13. At the same time, additional North
Vietnamese cut the highway between An Loc, the provincial capital, and Saigon
to the south, effectively isolating An Loc from outside support.
April 5, 1972 - Funeral rites for Boadman Burton “B.B.”
Finklea, a prominent resident of Monroeville, were held on this Wednesday
morning at 10 o’clock from the First Baptist Church in Monroeville. Finklea,
93, died at his residence in Monroeville on Monday afternoon, April 2. A native
of Monroe County, he was born in Buena Vista, the son of Henry Burton Finklea
and Laura Ann Nettles Finklea. He became a civil engineer, served as a tax
assessor of Monroe County for two terms and later became a land agent for
Vredenburgh Saw Mills.
April 5, 1976
– Major League Baseball pitcher Ryan Drese was born in San Francisco, Calif. He
went on to play for the Cleveland Indians, the Texas Rangers and the Washington
Nationals.
Apriil 5, 1976
– Major League Baseball first baseman and outfielder Ross Gload was born in
Brooklyn, N.Y. He would go on to play for the Chicago Cubs, the Colorado
Rockies, the Chicago White Sox, the Kansas City Royals, the Florida Marlins and
the Philadelphia Philles.
April 5, 1983 - The Monroeville (Ala.) Area Chamber of
Commerce was scheduled to hold its annual banquet on this Tuesday night, with
Frank L. Mason, president of Mason Corp. of Birmingham, a small
home-improvement business, as guest speaker. The banquet was to be held at the
Vanity Fair Golf and Tennis Club with a social hour at 6 p.m., followed by a
buffet-style dinner at 7 consisting mainly of hors d’oeurves. New officers and
directors were to be sworn in by Monroe County Probate Judge Otha Lee Biggs.
April 5, 1994 – Modern rock icon Kurt Cobain, 27, of Nirvana
committed suicide with a shotgun on this day in 1994. His body was discovered
inside his home in Seattle, Washington, three days later by Gary Smith, an
electrician, who was installing a security system in the suburban house.
Despite indications that Cobain, the lead singer of Nirvana, killed himself,
several skeptics questioned the circumstances of his death.
April 5, 1997 - Beginning on this Saturday, Rikard’s Mill
was to begin grinding corn again just like it had every year since 1845. Monroe
County Heritage Museums director Kathy McCoy announced the annual reopening of
the Rikard’s Mill living history museum would begin at 11 a.m. on this
Saturday.
April 5, 1999 - Barry Bonds was walked intentionally for the
270th time of his career. He passed Hank Aaron on the all-time list.
April 5, 2016 – A UFO was reported around 4 a.m. on this
Tuesday in Tuscaloosa. The witness in this case was smoking on a balcony when
he spotted an unusual object that at first appeared to be a large aircraft that
“lit up in the darkness, without making a sound.” This strange object then
“instantly propelled itself into the distance, leaving behind a momentary trail
of green and orange light,” the witness said. The object also changed direction
in an unusual fashion and moved “much more quickly than any shooting star.” The
witness noted that the object appeared to be three to four times larger than
any of the other stars in the sky.
April 5, 2016 – Monroe Academy swept Pike Liberal Arts
School 11-1 and 4-2 on this Tuesday. Outstanding MA players in that game
included Drew Black, Logan Caldwell, Noah Goodman, Lake Higdon, Trace Holder,
Andrew Lambert, Dalton McKenzie, Griffin McKenzie and Lane Powell.
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