May 1, 1486 - Christopher Columbus convinced Queen Isabella
to fund an expedition to the West Indies.
May 1, 1707 - The
Acts of Union joined the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of
Great Britain. They had shared a single monarch for a
hundred years since Queen Elizabeth I died childless, and James VI of Scotland
became James I of England. The Acts of Union combined their two parliaments
into one.
May 1, 1776 - Major General John Thomas arrived at Quebec.
He died on June 2 of smallpox.
May 1, 1776 – Jesuit-taught Dr. Adam Weishaupt established
the secret society called the Order of the Illuminati in Ingolstadt (Upper
Bavaria).
May 1, 1778 – During the American Revolution, the Battle of
Crooked Billet began in Hatboro, Pennsylvania.
May 1, 1786 -
Mozart’s first great opera, “The Marriage of Figaro,” premiered in Vienna.
May 1, 1798 – On this day, Benjamin Stoddert began his term
as the first Secretary of the U.S. Navy, and his term would end on March 31,
1801. Fort Stoddert near present-day Mount Vernon, Ala. was named in his honor
in 1799.
May 1, 1805 - The state of Virginia passed a law requiring
all freed slaves to leave the state, or risk either imprisonment or
deportation.
May 1, 1813 – British allied forces, under General Henry
Proctor and Chief Tecumseh, opened a bombardment of Fort Meigs at Perrysburg,
Ohio, which had mustered 1,200 regulars and militia, and laid siege. The siege
ended on May 9.
May 1, 1840 - The
first official adhesive postage stamp was issued in Great Britain.
May 1, 1852 - On this day, the
adventurer and performer Calamity Jane was born near Princeton, Missouri.
May 1, 1861 - Fort Washita in the
Indian Territory was occupied by Texas militia.
May 1, 1861 - In one of his first
orders as commander of the state forces of Virginia, Confederate Major General
Robert E. Lee sent a colonel to take further volunteer troops to Harper’s
Ferry, Va. His instructions were to take all the equipment for gun and cannon
manufacturing, as well as any munitions found, and move them South. The colonel
in question was one Thomas J. Jackson, to whom Lee would give many orders in
the future.
May 1, 1861 - Hampton Roads and the
mouth of the James River was blockaded by Federal forces.
May 1, 1861 - Maryland voted to
remain with the Union.
May 1, 1862 – Pinckney D. Bowles re-enlisted as a captain at
Work Town, Va. in Co. E of the 4th Alabama Infantry.
May 1, 1862 – During the Civil War, the Union Army completed
its capture of New Orleans.
May 1, 1862 – During the Civil War, a two-day Federal
operation began in the vicinity of Athens, Mooresville, Limestone Bridge and
Elk River in Alabama.
May 1, 1862 - William Tecumseh
Sherman, USA, was appointed to the rank of major general.
May 1, 1862 - The official change
of administration occurred today in New Orleans, La. Having been taken by the
fleet of Admiral Farragut, it was turned over today to Major General Benjamin
Butler for military administration. His tenure was noted by great efficiency in
such things as sanitation and engineering and great difficulties in getting
along with the local populace. His dealings with the women of the city would
prove particularly strained. His administration was accused of confiscating
non-military related items for personal gain.
May 1, 1862 – During the Civil War,
skirmishes were fought near Pulaski, Tenn.; at Rapidan Station, Va.; in the
Stone River Valley and another in Clark’s Hollow, West Virginia.
May 1, 1862 - The 2nd Alabama Cavalry Regiment
was organized on May 1, 1862 in Montgomery, Alabama. Companies in the regiment
included units raised in Montgomery, Butler, Monroe and Dallas counties. Dr. John
Augustus Baldwin of Butler Co. was assistant surgeon in the regiment.
May 1, 1863 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought at
Blountsville and on the east bank of the Black Warrior River, Ala. as part of
the Streight raid.
May 1, 1863 – During the Civil War, the Battle of
Chancellorsville began in Virginia. General Robert E. Lee's forces began
fighting with Union troops under General Joseph Hooker. Confederate General
Stonewall Jackson was mortally wounded by his own soldiers in this battle.
May 1, 1863 – During the Civil War,
the Second National, or the “Stainless Banner," became the second
Confederate Flag.
May 1, 1863 – During the Civil War,
skirmishes were fought in the vicinity of La Grange, Ark.; near Greensburg and
at Williams’ Bridge in Louisiana, part of the Grierson raid; near Washington,
La.; at Chalk Bluff, Mo.; at Rapidan Station and at South Quay Bridge in Virginia.
May 1, 1863 – The Battle of Port
Gibson (or Thompson’s Hill) was fought in Mississippi.
May 1, 1863 – A Federal operation
between Murfreesborough and Lizzard in Tennessee began.
May 1, 1864 – During the Civil War,
skirmishes were fought at Lee’s Creek and Pine Bluff in Arkansas; with Indians
at Booth’s Run, Calif.; near Chattanooga, Tenn., at Stone Church, Ga.; at
Ashton, Ashwood Landing, Berwick, Clintona and David’s Ferry in Louisiana.
May 1, 1865 – During the Civil War,
a skirmish was fought with Indians from Ojo De Anaya in the New Mexico
Territory.
May 1, 1866
– The Memphis Race Riots began. In three day’s time, 46 blacks and two whites
were killed. Reports of the atrocities influenced passage of the Fourteenth
Amendment to the United States Constitution.
May 1, 1867 - Reconstruction in the South began with black
voter registration.
May 1, 1870 - A hail storm of “considerable severity” swept
over Monroeville on this Sunday afternoon. “The leaves were beaten from the
trees, and young vegetation generally fared badly. The hail was accompanied by
rain and continued for half an hour,” according to The Monroe Journal.
May 1, 1873 – Scottish-English missionary and explorer David
Livingstone died at the age of 60 from malaria and internal bleeding due to
dysentery in Chief Chitambo’s Village (in modern-day Zambia).
May 1, 1877 - U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes withdrew
all Federal troops from the South, ending Reconstruction.
May 1, 1879 – The Evergreen Star reported that Col. P.D.
Bowles had been selected by the members of the Evergreen Base Ball Club as their
President.
May 1, 1879 – The Evergreen Star reported that the telegraph
and express office at Evergreen “presents a cozy and nice appearance. New
railing has been placed in the office and friend Deming says he is now all
right.”
May 1, 1883 - In Philadelphia, the first National League
game was played since 1876.
May 1, 1884 – Moses Fleetwood Walker became the first black
person to play in a professional baseball game in the United States.
May 1-2, 1886 - The Methodist Quarterly meeting was held at
Perdue Hill on this Saturday and Sunday.
May 1, 1887 - According to old,
archived editions of The Wilcox Progressive Era, the newspaper traces its
official roots to May 1, 1887 when it was organized by editor and president
Solomon Daniel Bloch under the name The Wilcox Progress.
May 1, 1895 – A meeting of Confederate veterans was
scheduled to be held at the Monroe County Courthouse in Monroeville, Ala.
immediately after the noon adjournment of court.
May 1, 1901 - The Detroit Tigers committed 12 errors against
the Chicago White Sox.
May 1, 1901 - Herb McFarland hit the first grand slam in the
American League.
May 1, 1905 – The City of Monroeville, Ala. held an election
for mayor and five city councilmen at the courthouse, and all the old officers
were re-elected. M.R. Sowell and N.T. Stallworth were appointed election
managers. “Very little interest was manifested, not more than half the
qualified voters participating,” The Monroe Journal reported on May 4, 1905.
May 1, 1905 – Rural free mail delivery on Monroeville Route
No. 1 began. A.J. Petty was the mail carrier.
May 1, 1906
– German SS officer and physician Horst Schumann was born in Halle an der
Saale, Kingdom of Prussia.
May 1, 1906 – The Hon. Emmet O’Neal, candidate for
Lieutenant Governor of Alabama, stopped over in Monroeville, Ala. for a few
hours between trains on this Tuesday and met quite a number of the town’s
citizens.
May 1, 1910 - Former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt paid
an unofficial visit to Amsterdam.
May 1-Sept. 1, 1912 – Following a “long established custom,”
the stores in Evergreen, Ala. began closing each day at 6 p.m., except for
Saturdays. This did not apply to drug stores and “soft drink places.”
May 1, 1915 - Author Robert Gibbons was born in Tuscaloosa,
Ala.
May 1, 1915 – A “very interesting game of baseball” was
played at Uriah on this Saturday afternoon between teams from the Local and
Jeddo communities. Jeddo won, 13-2. The pitchers were Lindsey Boon for Jeddo
and Lander Lomax for Local. Gus Hightower was the umpire.
May 1, 1915 – Merchants of the City of Monroeville began
observing the practice of closing at 6 p.m., except on Saturdays, thus
“affording proprietors and employees an opportunity for needed recreation.”
May 1, 1915 - In The Hague,
Netherlands, the International Congress of Women adopted its resolutions on
peace and women’s suffrage.
May 1, 1919 – The Monroe Journal reported that J.L. Marshall
was in receipt of an identification train ticket which would be furnished any
veteran or their families, who wished to attend the upcoming Confederate
reunion in Mobile on all railroads if presented to the ticket agent. A large
attendance was desired at the reunion and these tickets were to be given for
the asking.
May 1, 1919 – The Monroe Journal reported, under the
headline “Lost or Strayed,” that “one iron gray mule, big knee on left hind leg
with scar below it” was missing. Anyone who knew of its whereabouts was asked
to notify H.I. Smith, Atmore, Route B, Ala., Box 97, or phone Howard Booker,
Goodway, Ala. for a reward.
May 1, 1919 - Memorial exercises were scheduled to be held
at Buena Vista on this Thursday afternoon. Dr. H.R. Moseley of Monroeville was
to deliver the memorial address.
May 1, 1919 – The Monroe Journal reported that L.M. Sawyer
had recently connected himself with the Monroeville Cash Store. Sawyer was at
one time one of the leading merchants of Roy.
May 1, 1920 - Babe Ruth hit his first home run as a New York
Yankee. It was his 50th career home run.
May 1, 1920 - The Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Braves
tied after a 26-inning game.
May 1, 1922 - Charlie Robertson of the Chicago White Sox
pitched a perfect no-hit, no-run game against the Detroit Tigers. The Sox won,
3-0. Another perfect game did not come along until 46 years later.
May 1, 1923 – Novelist Joseph
Heller, who is best known for his 1961 novel, “Catch-22,” was born in Brooklyn.
May 1, 1925 – Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker and
center Chuck Bednarik was born in Bethlehem, Pa. He would go on to play for
Penn and the Philadelphia Eagles. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in
1967.
May 1, 1926 - Satchel Page of Mobile, Ala. made his pitching
debut in the Negro Southern League.
May 1, 1927 - Adolf Hitler held his first Nazi meeting in
Berlin.
May 1, 1928 – In H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Dreams in the Witch
House,” Walter Gilman, a student of mathematics from Haverhill, Mass., died in
an apparent rodent attack, though some whisper the name of Brown Jenkin in
relation to this tragedy.
May 1, 1930 – Pro Football Hall of Fame halfback Ollie
Matson was born in Trinity, Texas. He would go on to play for the Chicago
Cardinals, the Los Angeles Rams, the Detroit Lions and the Philadelphia Eagles.
He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1972.
May 1, 1931 - All
102 stories of the Empire State Building opened to the public,
45 days ahead of schedule and $5 million under budget, on the corner of Fifth
Avenue and 34th Street in New York City.
May 1, 1933 – The Spring Term of Conecuh County Circuit
Court was scheduled to begin in Evergreen, Ala.
May 1, 1940 – Novelist and short story writer Bobbie Ann
Mason was born in Mayfield, Ky.
May 1, 1942 – The Senior Class of Evergreen High School in
Evergreen, Ala. was scheduled to present its play “Goodnight Ladies” in the
high school auditorium.
May 1, 1944 - George L. Hall passed away at the King
Memorial Hospital in Selma on this Monday night. Hall had many friends, not
only in Monroeville and Monroe County, but throughout the entire state. For
about 50 years, he was a traveling salesman and covered the state of Alabama
and the southern part of Tennessee. During these years, he represented the
Chattanooga Medicine Co., Chamberlain Medicine Co. and the Dr. LeGear Medicine
Co. In 1934, he came to Monroeville and in a short time opened a store for the
sale of confections and drug sundries. Known as the “Monala,” his place of
business became one of the most popular in the county and flourished under his
able management until his health failed.
May 1, 1945 – During World War II, a German newsreader
officially announced that Adolf Hitler had "fallen at his command post in
the Reich Chancellery fighting to the last breath against Bolshevism and for
Germany." The Soviet flag was raised over the Reich Chancellery by order
of Stalin.
May 1, 1945 – During World War II, Nazi propaganda minister
Joseph Goebbels and his wife Magda committed suicide in the Reich Garden
outside the Führerbunker. Their children were also killed by having cyanide
pills inserted into their mouths by their mother, Magda.
May 1, 1945 - Martin Bormann, private secretary to Adolf
Hitler, escaped from the Fuehrerbunker as the Red Army advanced on Berlin.
May 1, 1945 - Admiral Karl Doenitz succeeded Hitler as
leader of the Third Reich, one day after Hitler committed suicide.
May 1, 1947 – Magnolia Grove, the antebellum home of Admiral
Richard Pearson Hobson, in Greensboro, Ala., was dedicated a “state shrine.”
May 1, 1951 - Mickey Mantle hit his first home run.
May 1, 1951 - Minnie Minoso became the first black player to
play for the Chicago White Sox.
May 1, 1956 – The polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk was
made available to the public.
May 1, 1958 - President Eisenhower proclaimed Law Day to
honor the role of law in the creation of the United States of America. Three
years later Congress passed a joint resolution that established May 1 as Law
Day.
May 1, 1961 - Harper Lee of Monroeville, Ala. won the
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for “To Kill a Mockingbird,” her first novel. The gripping
tale set in 1930s Alabama became an international bestseller and was made into
a major Hollywood motion picture starring Gregory Peck.
May 1, 1961
– The Prime Minister of Cuba, Fidel Castro, proclaimed Cuba a socialist nation
and abolished elections.
May 1, 1962 - Bo Belinsky pitched a no-hitter in only his
fourth start.
May 1, 1964 – Dothan’s Camellia
Garden Club erected a marker in the small triangle-shaped wedge of grass at the
intersection of North College Street and North Appletree Street, marking it as
the “Smallest City Block in the World.” The club erected this monument after
“Ripley’s Believe It or Not!” designated this small triangle of grass as the
world’s smallest city block several years before. This unusual location can
also be found in the Guinness Book of World Records.
May 1, 1968 – Marine Cpl. James Robert Hammonds, 21, of Evergreen,
Ala. was killed in action at Quang Tri, Vietnam. Born at Lenox on July 28,
1946, he was a member of Co. M, 3rd Marine Division at the time of
his death. He graduated from boot camp at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at
Parris Island on Nov. 23, 1966. He was buried in the Magnolia Cemetery in
Evergreen.
May 1, 1969 - Leonard Tose bought the NFL's Philadelphia
Eagles for $16,155,000.
May 1, 1969 - In a speech on the
floor of the Senate, George Aiken (R-Vermont), senior member of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, urged the Nixon administration to begin an
immediate “orderly withdrawal” of U.S. forces from South Vietnam.
May 1, 1969 – The Monroe Journal reported, under the
headline “Centennial Issue Delayed One Week,” that the supplement to the
Journal’s Centennial issue, scheduled for publication that week, had been
delayed one week. Two sections of the issue were being reprinted because of
errors. Subscribers were asked to expect the Centennial to be included with The
Journal the following week, Thurs., May 8.
May 1, 1970
– Protests erupted in Seattle, following the announcement by U.S. President
Richard Nixon that U.S. Forces in Vietnam would pursue enemy troops into
Cambodia, a neutral country.
May 1, 1972 - North Vietnamese
troops captured Quang Tri City, the first provincial capital taken during their
ongoing offensive, effectively giving the communists control of the entire
province of Quang Tri.
May 1, 1973 – Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Curtis
Martin was born in Pittsburgh, Pa. He went on to play for Pitt, the New England
Patriots and the New York Jets. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012.
May 1, 1976 - Fort Dale Academy’s baseball team shut out
Sparta Academy, 10-0, on this Saturday with Joe Andrews being tagged with the
loss. Jerry Peacock and Sam Wiggins had one hit each.
May 1, 1976 - Patsy Watson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Paul
Watson of Bermuda, was crowned Conecuh County’s Bicentennial Belle at the
Festival at Middleton Field Airport on this Saturday. Congressman Bill
Dickinson did the honors and was surprised and pleased when the lovely Patsy
thanked him with a kiss.
May 1, 1978
– Japan's Naomi Uemura, travelling by dog sled, became the first person to
reach the North Pole alone.
May 1, 1986 - Bill Elliott set a stock car speed record with
his Ford Thunderbird in Talladega, Ala. Elliott reached a speed of 212.229 mph.
May 1, 1987
– Pope John Paul II beatified Edith Stein, a Jewish-born Carmelite nun who was
gassed in the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz.
May 1, 1987 – Former University of Alabama running back Glen
Coffee was born in Valparaisio, Fla. He would go on to play for Alabama and the
San Francisco 49ers.
May 1, 1991 – Rickey Henderson of the Oakland Athletics
stole his 939th base, making him the all-time leader in this category. However,
his accomplishment was overshadowed later that evening by Nolan Ryan of the
Texas Rangers, when he pitched his seventh career no-hitter, breaking his own
record.
May 1, 1992 - The Los Angeles Dodgers postponed three games
due to riots due to the Rodney King case.
May 1, 1992 - Rickey Henderson stole his 1,000th base.
May 1, 1994 - The Monroe County Animal Shelter celebrated
its grand opening on this Sunday. About 50 people visited the shelter, two of
them took home new pets and one left a $200 gift. Visitors were given a tour of
the facilities by shelter director Kathryn Taylor and treated to refreshments.
The shelter actually began operation on Dec. 10, 1993. Since that time,
according to Taylor, it had received 245 animals. Of those, 105 were adopted,
95 were euthanized and 10 were reunited with their owners.
May 1, 1998 - The Harper Lee Award for Alabama's Distinguished
Writer was given to Alabama author Albert Murray at the Alabama Writers
Symposium in Monroeville, Ala.
May 1, 1999 – The body of British climber George Mallory was
found on Mount Everest by a group of U.S. mountain climbers, 75 years after his
disappearance in 1924. Mallory had died in June of 1924 while trying to become
the first person to reach the summit of Everest. At the time of the discovery
it was unclear whether or not Mallory had actually reached the summit.
May 1, 2003 – As part of the “Invasion of Iraq,” in what
became known as the "Mission Accomplished" speech, on board the
USS Abraham Lincoln (off the coast of California), U.S. President George
W. Bush declared that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended".
May 1, 2005 - FOX aired the 350th and 351st episodes of
"The Simpsons."
May 1, 2008 - The Alabama Division of the Army of Tennessee,
Sons of Confederate Veterans, announced that a new camp had been founded by
Conecuh sons. Confederate Constitution Camp 2143 was chartered on May 1 and was
domiciled at Montgomery. Eight of 10 charter members of the new camp are either
Conecuh residents or expatriates. Larry E. Darby was the commander, Daniel W.
Joyner was the lieutenant commander and John E. Hooks was the adjutant. All
three were graduates of Sparta Academy.
May 1, 2009 - The Harper Lee Award for Alabama's
Distinguished Writer was given to Alabama author Rick Bragg at the Alabama
Writers Symposium in Monroeville, Ala.
May 1, 2011 – Barack Obama announced that Osama bin Laden,
the suspected mastermind behind the September 11 attacks had been killed by
United States special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Due to the time
difference between the United States and Pakistan, bin Laden was actually
killed on May 2.
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