Today in History for May 16, 2018

Comedian Jerry Clower

May 16, 1718 – Maria Gaetana Agneis, one of the first well-known female mathematicians of the Western world, was born in Milan.

May 16, 1771 – The Battle of Alamance, a pre-American Revolutionary War battle between local militia and a group of rebels called the "Regulators," occurred in present-day Alamance County, North Carolina.

May 16, 1777 - Georgia Patriot Button Gwinnet was wounded in a duel with Lachlan McIntosh over who should command an expedition to secure Georgia's border with Florida. Gwinnet died three days later from his injury. He had won election to the Second Continental Congress.

May 16, 1801 - William H. Seward was born in Florida, New York. He would go on to serve as governor of New York and as U.S. Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War.

May 16–17, 1825 – During his tour of the United States, the Marquis de Lafayette attended a military parade and spoke at Transylvania University and the Lexington Female Academy in Lexington, Ky.

May 16, 1834 – A sheriff’s posse, men who had chased the steamboat James Monroe with Charles Boyington aboard up river after he fled Mobile, returned the suspect to Mobile on the steamboat Currier, arriving on this day. He was placed immediately in the Mobile city jail on charges related to the murder of Nathaniel Frost. (Boyington Oak)

May 16, 1836 – Edgar Allan Poe had a second wedding ceremony in Richmond, Va. with Virginia Clemm, this time in public.

May 16, 1843 – The first major wagon train heading for the Pacific Northwest set out on the Oregon Trail with 1,000 pioneers from Elm Grove, Missouri.

May 16, 1860 – The Republican Convention was held in Chicago, Ill. William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase and Abraham Lincoln of Illinois were the leading contenders from a field of 12 candidates for president. Lincoln won the nomination on the third ballot. Hannibal Hamlin of Maine, an outspoken, long-time abolitionist, was chosen for vice-president.

May 16, 1861 - The State of Tennessee was officially and ceremoniously admitted to the Confederate States of America on this day. The Confederate Congress took the action at its meeting place in Montgomery, Ala., which was the capital of the secessionist nation at this time. The first capital would not be the capital much longer. To encourage the secession of Virginia it was decided to move the Confederate seat of government to Richmond.

May 16, 1862 - U.S. General Benjamin Butler’s current assignment was as commander of the military occupation of New Orleans. The day before he had issued his infamous “woman order,” directing that ladies who were disrespectful to Union soldiers would be treated as common prostitutes were treated. On this day he merely closed one of the city’s newspapers (the "Bee") and put the other, the "Delta" under new management, his own.

May 16, 1862 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought at Pollocksville, North Carolina, and an action took place at Princeton, West Virginia.

May 16, 1862 – The Cedar Creek Guards Co., which drew men from Wilcox, Dallas and Butler counties, became Co. C of the 44^th Alabama Infantry at the time of the regiment’s organization at Selma on this date. John W. Purifoy was elected captain of the company at its organization. The men of the 44^th reached Richmond, Va. in early July 1862. (Men of Wilcox)

May 16, 1863 - Union General Ulysses S. Grant defeated Confederates under John C. Pemberton at the Battle of Champion's Hill, sealing the fate of Vicksburg. Union General Ulysses S. Grant had successfully run the Confederate gauntlet at Vicksburg and placed the Army of the Tennessee south of the stronghold, the Rebels’ last significant holding on the Mississippi River. But he did not move directly on Vicksburg because he knew Joseph Johnston was assembling a Confederate force in Jackson, Mississippi, 40 miles east of Vicksburg.

May 16, 1863 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Berry's Ferry and Piedmont Station in Virginia and at Charlestown and Elizabeth Court House, West Virginia.

May 16, 1863 - James D. Bullock was on a mission in Europe to commission the building of warships for the Confederate government. His only problem was that he had no immediate means to pay for these vessels. Trying to get the work done completely on credit had got him laughed out of England, so he was trying his luck in France. There too, he wrote to Navy Sec. Mallory on this day, “… the French builders, like the English, wanted money, and were not willing to lay down the ships unless I could give them security in the shape of cotton certificates.” These were essentially bonds payable in bales of cotton instead of money.

May 16, 1864 – 59^TH ALABAMA: Around daybreak, General Ransom advanced. The area was foggy, causing confusion among the men. An hour later, they carried the first line of Federal fortifications, which consisted of rifle pits and log works. The Confederates occupied a fortress they’d built on the bluff of the river called Fort Darling. They charged the Yankees from their own works, and brave men fell by the wayside. This part of the fight lasted over an hour and the bluecoats gave them hell, killed 20 from the regiment. One hundred and 42 were wounded. The men fought all day, and the battle resulted in the trapping of General Butler’s men in the Bermuda Hundred.

May 16, 1864 – During the Civil War, an engagement was fought at Mansura, Louisiana, and an affair occurred at Spirit Lake, Minnesota.

May 16, 1869 - The Cincinnati Reds played their first baseball game.

May 16, 1882 – Reuben Chapman, who served as Alabama’s 13th governor, passed away at the age of 82 in Huntsville, Ala.

May 16, 1886 – W.R. Thompson married Miss S.R. Bell at the residence of the bride’s mother, near Monroeville, on this evening, by G.W. Salter, esq.

May 16, 1888 – Nikola Tesla delivered a lecture describing the equipment which would allow efficient generation and use of alternating currents to transmit electric power over long distances.

May 16, 1895 – The Monroe Journal reported that Lazarus James had been arrested for May 9 burning the Claiborne Lower Warehouse and George Agee was arrested “for complicity” in the crime. James confessed to the crime, The Journal reported, and both men were in jail at press time. The fire resulted in an estimated loss of $2,500, and it was not covered by insurance.

May 16, 1895 – The Monroe Journal reported that W.H. Louiselle and L.N. Lambert of the Bear Creek Mill Co. were ready, within the next two weeks, to begin surveying and locating the route of the company’s railroad, which was to begin at their mill at Manistee and run in the direction of Repton, Ala.

May 16, 1895 – The Monroe Journal reported that R.E. Smith of Mount Pleasant, Ala. owned “a peculiar freak of nature in the shape of a hairless calf. The little animal is entirely nude, but lively as a cricket and seemingly perfect in every respect with a single exception of the usual hirsute adornment. The calf is an object of no little curiosity and interest in the community.”

May 16, 1903 - Alabama author and librarian William Stanley Hoole was born in Darlington, S.C.

May 16, 1912 – Writer, historian and radio man Studs Terkel was born in New York City.

May 16, 1916 – The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the French Third Republic signed the secret wartime Sykes-Picot Agreement partitioning former Ottoman territories such as Iraq and Syria.

May 16-18, 1916 – The annual reunion of the Alabama Division of Confederate Veterans was to be held in Birmingham.

May 16, 1917 – The Evergreen Courant reported that C.J. Davis was attending the annual session of the grand lodge of Knights of Pythias in Montgomery. He was Chancellor Commander of the local lodge.

May 16, 1917 – The Evergreen Courant let readers know that delinquent subscribers to The Courant could settle their dues with bacon, hams, lard, syrup or “anything we can make use of but we want each delinquent to settle in some way. We can even use the money to advantage if that is more convenient.”

May 16, 1918 - The United States Congress passed the Sedition Act, a piece of legislation designed to protect America’s participation in World War I.

May 16, 1918 - The Wilcox County Board of Education was scheduled to meet on this Thursday to nominate principal for the Wilcox County High School and to attend to such other matters as may come before it. O.C. Weaver was Superintendent of Education.

May 16, 1922 - A.L. Slaughter of Lower Peach Tree visited Monroeville on this Tuesday and reported that work was progressing steadily on the oil well at Lower Peach Tree. The well was at that time more than 2,200 feet in depth and promoters of the enterprise had “an abiding confidence in the ultimate development of a producing well.”

May 16, 1922 - The Moulton-Blacksher Orchard company at Uriah shipped on this Tuesday the first car lot of snap beans that had ever gone out of Monroe County. The company had 75 acres in beans and shipments during the season were expected to aggregate 25 cars. “Should this experiment prove satisfactory from a financial standpoint the acreage devoted to this crop will be materially increased next season,” The Monroe Journal reported.

May 16, 1923 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Prof. W.H. Bogard had been elected principal of the Agricultural School in Evergreen, having been transferred from the school at Sylacauga. Prof. Chappell was not an applicant for re-election. He had presided over the school for the previous three years “very successfully and retires with the good wishes of his many friends for his future success. He will probably engage in another department of school work.”

May 16, 1923 – The Evergreen Courant reported that work was scheduled to begin within the next few days on the bridge across Murder Creek. The contract was awarded to the Smith Construction Co., and Benj. B. Smith was in Evergreen during the previous week taking preliminary steps to begin work. It was also reported that Keenan & Kyser, contractors for the Evergreen-Belleville road, were to begin active construction work about June 1. It was said, though not authentically, that the work would be started at the Belleville end.

May 16, 1929 - The first Academy Awards were held in Hollywood.

May 16, 1929 – Evergreen High School’s baseball team was scheduled to depart on a three-day road trip that would take them to games in Beatrice and Camden. The team was scheduled to play Beatrice on this Thursday afternoon, spend the night there and then travel to Camden for a game on Friday and a game on Saturday.

May 16, 1932 – Jackson, Ala. native and Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Stew Bolen appeared in his final major league baseball game.

May 16, 1932 - The New York Yankees got their fourth consecutive shutout. The feat tied the record with Cleveland and Boston.

May 16, 1933 - Cecil Travis became the first player to get five hits in his first game.

May 16, 1933 - Johnny I. Hildreth, age 37, a former citizen of Conecuh County who’d lived at Paul, but for the previous nine years a resident of Opelika, was fatally injured on this Tuesday night when he was run down by an auto in the street near his residence, sustaining injuries from which he died at an early hour the following day. According to reports, Hildreth had parked his car near his home and was responding to call to the telephone in his home when the unfortunate accident happened. He stepped from his car into the street in the path of the fast moving car which snuffed his life away. The remains were brought to Conecuh County on the night of Wed., May 17, and carried to the home of his mother at Paul. Funeral services will be held at Paul on the morning of May 18 with Rev. G.B. Nall of Atmore officiating.

May 16, 1939 – Jones Archaeological Museum opened in Moundville, Ala.

May 16, 1939 - The Philadelphia Athletics and the Cleveland Indians met at Shibe Park in Philadelphia for the first baseball game to be played under the lights in the American League.

May 16, 1952 - Little River State Forest was set to open on this Friday. The state forest, located on Highway 11 between Atmore and Uriah was open to the public year round; however, the bath house, concession and swimming facilities were to be in operation only during May, June, July and August. State Forester J.M. Stauffer said the recreational area on Little River State Forest was being operated primarily for teenagers and that no profits were being realized by the state.

May 16, 1954 - Ted Williams got eight hits in his first game (a double-header) back after breaking his collarbone.

May 16, 1955 - Alabama author James Agee died in New York, N.Y.

May 16, 1963 - Jimmy Weaver, son of Mr. and Mrs. J.W. Weaver, and Sid Lambert, son of Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Lambert, participated in the 1963 East-West High School All-Star Game on this Thursday at Patterson Field in Montgomery. Both were juniors at Evergreen High School. Lambert and Weaver played for the West squad which emerged victorious, 5-2. Weaver pitched for the last three innings, surrendering two runs and three hits. He doubled in his only appearance at the plate. Lambert caught for six innings and batted twice but failed to get a hit.

May 16, 1965 - Krist Novoselic was born in Compton, Calif. He was the bassist and co-founder of the grunge band Nirvana.

May 16, 1965 - Jim Palmer of the Baltimore Orioles made his pitching debut.

May 16, 1965 - The consecration service for the new church on the corner of Rural and Martin Streets in Evergreen, Ala. was held by the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

May 16, 1965 - What is described by the United States government as “an accidental explosion of a bomb on one aircraft which spread to others” at the Bien Hoa air base left 27 U.S. servicemen and four South Vietnamese dead and some 95 Americans injured. More than 40 U.S. and South Vietnamese planes, including 10 B-57s, were destroyed.

May 16, 1966 - The Beach Boys album "Pet Sounds" was released.

May 16, 1966 – Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Thurman Thomas was born in Houston, Texas. He went on to play for Oklahoma State, the Buffalo Bills and the Miami Dolphins. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007.

May 16, 1967 - Monroe County High School dropped the third and final game of the Pine Belt Conference playoffs to Jackson High on this Tuesday for the PBC baseball championship. Monroeville lost the first game on Thurs., May 9, 3-1, at Jackson, came back with a 2-1 verdict in Monroeville Fri., May 10, and then lost the deciding game, 11-2. Players on MCHS’s team that season included Pete Black, Gary Downs, Rusty Pitts and John Williams.

May 16, 1968 - Donald E. Ballard, Corpsman U.S. Navy, was awarded the Medal of Honor for action this date in Quang Tri Province. Ballard, from Kansas City, Missouri, was a corpsman with Company M, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, 3rd Marine Division. He had just finished evacuating two Marines with heatstroke when his unit was surprised by a Viet Cong ambush. Immediately racing to the aid of a casualty, Ballard applied a field dressing and was directing four Marines in the removal of the wounded man when an enemy soldier tossed a grenade into the group. With a warning shout of, “Grenade!” Ballard vaulted over the stretcher and pulled the grenade under his body. The grenade did not go off. Nevertheless, he received the Medal of Honor for his selfless act of courage. Ballard was only the second man whose valor was rewarded despite the fact that the deadly missile did not actually explode.

May 16, 1972 - Greg Luzinski hit a home run in which the ball hit the Liberty Bell monument in Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium.

May 16, 1972 - A series of air strikes over five days destroyed all of North Vietnam’s pumping stations in the southern panhandle, thereby cutting North Vietnam’s main fuel line to South Vietnam.

May 16, 1974 – The Evergreen Courant reported that, during a recent meeting, the Evergreen, Ala. City Council granted Sparta Academy a permit to construct a gym and auditorium.

May 16, 1974 – The Evergreen Courant reported that the 11th Annual Conecuh County FFA/4-H Barrow Show was “a great success” as 80 barrows were shown by FFA and 4-H Club members. Kenny Brown of the Evergreen FFA showed the Grand Champion barrow, a Duroc heavyweight. Steve Windham of the Evergreen FFA showed the Reserve Champion, a Hampshire barrow bred by Robert Ward of Evergreen.

May 16, 1979 - The National League approved the sale of the Astros from Ford Motors to John J. McMullen for $19 million.

May 16, 1980 – Famous Mississippi comedian Jerry Clower ate supper on this Friday night at the Town House (formerly the City Café) in Evergreen, Ala. Johnny Allred was the restaurant’s manager, and Clower was accompanied by Bill Crutchfield, the manager of WMFC in Monroeville. Clower was on his way to a performance in Excel.

May 16, 1980 - Lisa Brock was crowned Miss Rubicon at the Miss Rubicon Pageant at Evergreen High School in Evergreen, Ala.

May 16, 1981 - Craig Reynolds of the Houston Astros hit three triples against the Chicago Cubs.

May 16, 1982 – A “That’s Incredible” camera crew from New Orleans, led by producer Mark Grossen, filmed a segment on Yancey Smith at Haines Island Park on this Sunday. The network television program, which highlighted the unusual, was doing a segment about Smith, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Smith of Frisco City, because Yancey, 13, participated in beauty pageants and was said to be both the youngest drag boat racer in the country and the only female to race drag boats.

May 16, 1992 - Weird Al Yankovic's "Smells Like Nirvana" hit No. 35 in the U.S.

May 16, 1996 - Sammy Sosa became the first Chicago Cub player to hit two home runs in one inning.

May 16, 1997 - Gary Gaetti of the St. Louis Cardinals recorded his 2,000th hit.

May 16, 1998 – Bear Grylls climbed to the summit of Mount Everest, 18 months after breaking three vertebrae in a parachuting accident. At 23, he was at the time among the youngest people to have achieved this feat.

May 16, 1998 – Noted Alabama author Viola Jefferson Goode Liddell died in Camden at the age of 96. Born in Wilcox County’s Gastonburg community on Dec. 18, 1901, she was buried in the Camden Cemetery. Her best known books include “With a Southern Accent,” “A Place of Springs” and “Grass Widow.”

May 16, 1998 – On this Saturday, the Uriah Arts Council was scheduled to host its Fifth Annual Uriah Cotton Patch Festival. That year, the council planned to give away an original handmade quilt and print by Jack Deloney titled “Saturday Morning.” The festivities were to be capped off that night with “An Evening with Uriah’s History,” at 7 p.m. at the Fire Station. Local panelists planned to discuss Uriah’s early history and the J.U. Blacksher Drama Class was to present an original play about Uriah’s history.

May 16, 1999 - The 225th episode of "The Simpsons" was aired. The animated show had been airing since Jan. 14, 1990.

May 16, 2005 – Kuwait permitted women's suffrage in a 35–23 National Assembly vote.

  

May 16, 2008 - The Conecuh County Health Department officially dedicated its new building on Wild Avenue on this Friday morning with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in the building’s lobby. Cutting the ribbon were Clinic Supervisor Debra King, State Health Officer Donald Williamson and Home Health Supervisor Jean Brawner.

May 16, 2008 - Hillcrest High School wrapped up spring football practice by whipping Handley High School, 33-22, in spring football action on this Friday night at Wright Field in Roanoke. On the offensive side of the ball, Hillcrest head coach Maurice Belser tipped his hat to running back Derek Smith, wide receiver Malcolm Rudolph and quarterback Justin Nared. Defensively, the Jags benefited from strong performances by defensive tackle Jeremy Thomas, defensive end Antonio Jordan and inside linebacker Malcolm Jackson. Rising seniors on Hillcrest’s team that spring included Devin Carlis, Dexter Chapman, Ellis Gill, Destin Gross, Eother Holder, Antonio Jordan, Ramel McClean, Quenton Nettles, Alexander Nevlous, Vincent Randleson, Malcolm Rudolph, Price Salter, Shannon Salter, Derek Smith, Malik Steen, Terrence Thomas, Justin Watson and Earnest Williams. Maurice Belser was head coach.

May 16, 2008 - With 4.7 seconds left in this Friday night’s spring football jamboree at Crenshaw Academy, Sparta Academy put together some late game theatrics to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. With less than a minute left in the game, Sparta quarterback Taylor Brown led the Warriors deep into opposition territory, where he connected with receiver Cody Baggett on a 28-yard touchdown pass with 4.7 seconds to go. The touchdown put the finishing touches on a jamboree that the Warriors won, 19-15.