 |
| Dr. Ernest Stanley Crawford |
May 12, 1215 – England’s barons delivered an ultimatum to
King John, which ultimately led to the Magna Carta.
May 12, 1780 – During the Revolutionary War, in the largest
defeat of the Continental Army, Charleston, South Carolina was taken by British
forces. The battle ended when Major General Benjamin Lincoln surrendered to
British Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton.
May 12, 1812 – Poet and artist Edward Lear was born in
London, England.
May 12, 1820 – Nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale was born
in Florence, Italy to a wealthy English family.
May 12, 1825 – French lawyer and explorer Orélie-Antoine de
Tounens was born in Chourgnac, France.
May 12, 1828 – Artist and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti was born in
London.
May 12, 1834 – On this Monday morning, Mobile, Alabama’s newspapers
carried this official notice from Mayor John Stocking Jr.: MURDER – REWARD –
Whereas a most atrocious murder was committed within the city of Mobile upon
the body of Nathaniel Frost; and whereas, suspicion rests on one Charles Boyington
as the perpetrator of the horrid act; therefore, I, John Stocking Jr., Mayor of
the City of Mobile, by virtue of authority in me vested by a special resolution
of the Board of Aldermen, do hereby offer a reward of $250 in the event of the
said Boyington being convicted of said murder. (Boyington Oak)
May 12, 1861 – During the Civil
War, after some fighting with Southern sympathizers, Union troops under
Brigadier General Benjamin Butler gained control of Baltimore.
May 12, 1862 – During the Civil War, U.S. federal troops
occupied Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
May 12, 1862 – During the Civil
War, skirmishes were fought at Lewisburg, West Virginia and near Farmington,
Mississippi.
May 12, 1862 - After the fall of New
Orleans a couple of weeks before, the Union had been working its way to every
town on the Mississippi River. On this day, a Federal flotilla with Admiral
David Farragut in command made its way to the docks of Natchez, Mississippi. As
the city was not in possession of weaponry or military manpower to do anything
else, Farragut was presented with the surrender of the town by its mayor.
May 12, 1863 – During the Civil War
at the Battle of Raymond, two divisions of James B. McPherson's XVII Corps
turned the left wing of Confederate General John C. Pemberton's defensive line
on Fourteen Mile Creek, opening up the interior of Mississippi to the Union
Army during the Vicksburg Campaign. A Confederate brigade under John Gregg
attacked a Union division under Major General John Logan in the town of Raymond,
between Vicksburg and Jackson.
May 12, 1863 – During the Civil
War, skirmishes were fought at Bloomfield, Missouri and near Linden, Tennessee.
May 12, 1863 - In a rally intended
to be a reaction to Federal General Ambrose Burnside's General Order 38,
Clement Vallandigham criticized Abraham Lincoln for not ending the Civil War,
which he characterized as "wicked and cruel."
May 12-16, 1864 – 59TH ALABAMA: The 59th
Alabama fought at the Battle of Proctor’s Creek and Battle of Drewry’s Bluff in
Fort Darling, Va.
May 12, 1864 – During the Civil War, at the Battle of
Spotsylvania Court House, thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers died in
"the Bloody Angle." Troops under Union General Winfield Scott Hancock
overran Rebel trenches at Spotsylvania, taking nearly 3,000 prisoners and more
than a dozen cannons. The action around Spotsylvania shocked even the grizzled
veterans of the two great armies. Said one officer, “I never expect to be fully
believed when I tell what I saw of the horrors of Spotsylvania.”
May 12, 1864 – The Jeff Davis Artillery was captured at
Spottsylvania and both its officers and enlisted men were imprisoned for the
remainder of the war. The Jeff Davis Artillery was organized in Selma in Dallas
County with men from several central Alabama counties composing its ranks. J.T.
Montgomery was captain of the battery, which was ordered to Virginia in July
1861. (Men of Wilcox)
May 12, 1864 – During the Civil War, Confederate Cavalry Major
General James Ewell Brown “J.E.B.” Stuart, 31, died after having been wounded
the previous day at the Battle of Yellow Tavern. He is buried in the Hollywood
Cemetery in Richmond, Va.
May 12, 1864 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought
at Jackson's Ferry, Ala.
May 12, 1864 – During the Civil
War, engagements began at Proctor's Creek and Drewry's Bluff, Va., and
continued until May 16. Combats occurred at Meadow Bridges, Strawberry Hill and
Mechanicsville, Virginia; and an affair took place at Strasburg, Virginia.
May 12, 1865 – During the Civil War, at the Battle of
Palmito Ranch, the first day of the last major land action to take place during
the Civil War occurred, resulting in a Confederate victory.
May 12, 1879 – According to The Evergreen Star, a match game
of baseball was to be played between “two nines at the grounds” in Evergreen on
this Monday evening. The ladies were respectfully invited to attend and witness
the game, the newspaper said.
May 12, 1880 – American explorer Lincoln Ellsworth was born
in Chicago, Ill. He was a polar explorer from the United States and a major
benefactor of the American Museum of Natural History.
May 12, 1888 – The U.S. Army moved Apache prisoners,
including Geronimo, from Fort Pickens near Pensacola, Fla. to Mount Vernon
Barracks near Mobile, Ala.
May 12, 1894 – Wanted outlaw Wyatt Tate, who’d already
killed constable William Ikner on March 24 and Monroe County Sheriff J.D.
Foster on April 3, was tracked to the “Marshall place” near Finchburg, Ala. and
was killed by Murdoch M. Fountain.
May 12, 1896 - Miss Lizzie Stallworth, one of Camden’s “fairest
belles,” who had been visiting her grandmother, Mrs. S.A. Stallworth in
Pineville, returned home on this Tuesday.
May 12, 1903 - President Theodore
Roosevelt’s trip to San Francisco was captured on moving-picture film, making
him the first president to have an official activity recorded in that medium.
May 12, 1906 - Messrs. Clayton and Gantt of Pine Apple
attended the baseball game near Bone Hill on this Saturday.
May 12, 1908 - Self-described "practical farmer, fruit grower and
electrician" Nathan B. Stubblefield of Murray, Kentucky, patented his
Wireless Radio Broadcasting system, which allowed for the use of short-distance, mobile wireless
telephone devices.
May 12, 1909 – Around 1:30 p.m., fire was discovered at the
residence of J.M. Cook in Evergreen, Ala. Cook’s wife was sick and in bed, so
the fire was almost beyond control before any alarm was sounded. The Methodist
parsonage across the street also caught fire during the incident, but was
quickly extinguished.
May 12, 1915 - Author Joe David Brown was born in
Birmingham, Ala.
May 12, 1915 – The Evergreen Courant reported that a road
crew convict had escaped and one of the county’s best tracking dogs had gone
missing while trying to find him. It was not known if the convict killed the
dog or if the dog had gotten lost. Either way, both were still missing as of
press time.
May 12, 1916 - Author Albert Murray was born in Nokomis,
Ala.
May 12, 1916 - The pupils of Monroeville’s High School and
Grammar School music classes were scheduled to give their annual recital in the
High School auditorium on this Friday afternoon at 4 p.m.
May 12, 1916 - The saw mill belonging to Thos. T. Ivey of
Beatrice was destroyed by fire on this Friday afternoon, together with two
tenant houses situated nearby.
May 12, 1917 – Memorial Day exercises at the Monroeville
Methodist Church in honor of the Confederate dead, held under the auspices of
the Monroeville Chapter United Daughters of the Confederacy, at 2 p.m. on this
Saturday “afforded a fitting opportunity not only for paying tribute to the
departed but also for a most delightful reunion of survivors of the Cause that
was Lost.” Some 30 veterans were registered on the occasion and a bountiful
dinner was served to them at the Crook House. In the afternoon an interesting
program was carried out at the Methodist Church, the feature being an eloquent
and able address by Rev. J.G. Dickinson of Evergreen, following which the
graves of Confederate dead in both cemeteries were decorated with a profusion
of flowers. The following veterans were present on the occasion: J.L. Marshall,
E.B. Green, S.M. Roberts, J.W. Morris, W.D. Fountain, D.M. McNeil, J.R.
Chandler, R.L. Stallworth, T.M. Riley, W.B. Jones, A.N. Thompson, J.H. Rachels,
G.W. Rachels, L.R. Riley, G.Q. Crapps, W.L. Rikard, S.R. Kelly, D.J. Hatter,
N.C. Thames, W.J. Biggs, W.H. Richardson, H.E. Courtney, G.W. Salter, Whit B.
Green, N. Waters, Wm. B. Green, Wm. Ivey, Steve Parker, col. Anyone knowing of
a death among the veterans of Monroe County during the previous year was asked
to report it to Mrs. Frank Emmons, County Historian.
May 12, 1917 - Three young men from Conecuh County left
Evergreen on this Saturday for Fort McPherson to enter the training camp of the
officers reserve corps. They were Harry Robinson, Russell Amos and Marion
Hassell of Brooklyn.
May 12, 1918 - The rulers of
Germany and Austria-Hungary, Kaiser Wilhelm II and Emperor Karl I, meet to sign
an agreement pledging their mutual allegiance and determining to share the
economic benefits from their relationship with the newly independent state of
Ukraine, one of the most fertile and prosperous regions of the former Russian
Empire.
May 12, 1921 – Canadian author and conservationist Farley
Mowat was born in Belleville, Ontario.
May 12, 1922 – Dr. Ernest Stanley Crawford, a heart surgeon
pioneer, was born in Evergreen, Ala.
May 12, 1922 - A large meteor struck the Earth near
Blackstone, Virginia.
May 12, 1925 – National Baseball Hall of Fame catcher,
manager and coach Yogi Berra was born in St. Louis, Mo. He went on to play for
and manage the New York Yankees and the New York Mets. He was inducted into the
Hall of Fame in 1972.
May 12, 1926 – The Italian-built airship Norge became the first vessel to fly
over the North Pole.
May 12, 1928 - A half grown collie dog, which later proved
to be rabid, attacked and bit W.T. Chapman and Dewey Parmer of the West Side
community on this Saturday morning. Chapman was bitten in the leg and Parmer in
the hand. They succeeded in capturing it and carried it to Montgomery alive
later on this Saturday afternoon, where examination was made which revealed
that it was suffering from rabies. A dog belonging to Mr. J.F. Salter was also
bitten. Chapman and Parmer and Miss Julia Salter, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J.F.
Salter, began taking treatments soon thereafter. Miss Salter was not bitten,
but it developed that she had handled the dog at his father’s which was
attacked and it was found that she had some broken places in the skin on her
hands.
May 12, 1933 - Fourteen seniors were granted diplomas at
Repton High School on this Friday night at the closing exercises of the
institution. In addition to the graduating exercises, senior class night program
was given. J.C. Merrill, president of the class, presided during the program.
The graduating address was delivered by R.G. Bozeman of Evergreen. Diplomas
were awarded to the following: Mason Brantley, Bartine Boulware, Omega Craig,
Wesley Ellis, Roberta Ellis, Lilly Charles Gaston, Annie Chloe Howington,
Hunter McInnis, Sue Moorer, J.C. Merrill, Everton Odum, Stephen Owens, Edna
Peavy, Zema Pipkins.
May 12, 1935 - American jazz double-bassist Gary Peacock was
born in Burley, Idaho.
May 12, 1935 – Hobson Mason died on this Sunday around 3
p.m., two days after being fatally shot by Mrs. Ely Bradley and her 12-year-old
son, Ely Bradley Jr. after he allegedly tried to force open the door to their
house on the Lawrence farm on the “old Castleberry road” in Conecuh County,
Ala.
May 12, 1937 - The remains of an unidentified man who was
buried in Evergreen, Ala. on New Year’s Day was exhumed on this Wednesday at
the request of relatives of W.I. Bozeman of near Chapman in the hopes that the
body might prove to be that of W.I. Bozeman, who had been missing from home
since Dec. 16, 1936. Relatives, including his wife and several children, viewed
the body, examined the clothing and were convinced that it was not that of the
husband and father of whom they have been searching. The body exhumed was found
on the L&N Railroad track near Wilcox by a train crew. It was brought to
Evergreen and every effort was made to identify the body. Failing in this,
officers ordered it interred in the “old cemetery.” The man apparently had been
killed by a train several hours before he was found. Bozeman’s relatives
hearing about the occurrence and knowing that it happened shortly after he had
disappeared from home, began an investigation. As a result, they secured
permission to exhume the body for examination. The missing man was said to have
left home to hunt work and told his people that he was going to Evergreen to
see if he might not secure a job with the crew engaged in building the overhead
bridge. He had not been heard from since he left home.
May 12, 1938 – The Evergreen Courant reported that the
Evergreen Greenies baseball team beat the Union Springs Red Birds by the
“overwhelming score” of 13-5. Will Walls and Skipper Rice hit a home run each
for Evergreen, and Evergreen’s Lefty Goetz struck out eight.
May 12, 1939 – Novelist and poet Rosellen Brown was born in
Philadelphia, Pa.
May 12, 1942 – During World War II, the U.S. tanker SS Virginia was torpedoed in the mouth
of the Mississippi River by the German submarine U-507.
May 12, 1944 - Author Michael Bradley was born in Talladega,
Ala.
May 12, 1944 – PFC Raymond N. Bradley of Castleberry, Ala.
was wounded in Italy. A member of the 17th Field Artillery, he’d already fought
in North Africa and Sicily before getting wounded. After his release from the
hospital, he would go on to fight in Austria, Germany and France. He would
arrive home safely in October 1945.
May 12, 1944 - The Senior Class of Evergreen High School
was to present their play on this Friday night at eight o’clock. The play was
“You’re Young Only Twice.”
May 12, 1945 - Less than a week
after the war in Europe was declared over, Alabama native Robert Posey arrived
in Alt Aussee, Austria, in search of art work stolen by the Nazis. On May 13,
he found hidden in a salt mine more than 6,500 paintings and many more
drawings, prints, sculptures, and other objets d'art, including Michelangelo's
Bruges Madonna, Vermeer's The Astronomer, and Van Eyck's The Adoration of the
Mystic Lamb. Posey was part of a military unit known as "Monuments Men," who during World War II were charged
with protecting historic buildings, landmarks, and monuments in Europe. He grew
up in Jefferson and earned degrees in engineering and architecture at Alabama
Polytechnic Institute (present-day Auburn University).
May 12, 1952 – The first ever Monroeville Little League
season opened in Monroeville, Ala. The season began with 48 uniforms for four
teams – the Yankees, Indians, White Sox and Dodgers. The boys were divided into
the majors and minors. The boys in minors were given caps but no uniforms.
May 12, 1953 - Alabama author Carolyn Haines was born in
Hattiesburg, Miss.
May 12, 1953 – In their season finale, Evergreen High School
improved to 8-1 on the season as pitcher Hugh Ellington pitched a no-hitter
against Monroe County High School on this Tuesday afternoon in Monroeville,
Ala. Evergreen won, 11-0. This game was Ellington’s second shutout of the
season, and he gave up only one hit in the previous game.
May 12, 1956 - The movie “Good-bye, My Lady,” story by Alabama author James H. Street, was released.
May 12, 1958 - William Harris Williamson, age 74, widely
known and much esteemed citizen of Evergreen, Ala., passed away at the local
hospital on this Monday morning, following an illness of several weeks. He
moved to Evergreen 24 years ago to accept a position with the Evergreen Motor
Car Co., a position he held for 12 years. For the past 12 years, he served on
the City police force until his retirement the first of October. For the past
43 years, he had been a member of the Farrar Masonic Lodge No. 8 in Birmingham
and was a 32nd degree Mason. Interment was in Magnolia Cemetery.
May 12, 1960 – UMS-Wright head
football coach Fred Cone of Pine Apple, who’d already played seven seasons for
the Green Bay Packers, signed with a brand new team called the Dallas Cowboys
as a free agent. Dallas fielded its very first team during the 1960 season, and
Cone was the team’s first starting placekicker as well as a reserve fullback.
The 1960 season was also Cone’s last in the NFL, a professional career that
included appearances in 94 total games.
May 12, 1961 - Vice President
Lyndon B. Johnson met with South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem in Saigon
during his tour of Asian countries and encouraged the South Vietnamese
president to view himself as indispensable to the United States and promised
additional military aid to assist his government in fighting the communists.
May 12, 1962 – The Lyeffion Quarterback Club was scheduled
to give away a 1954 Chevrolet car during a fish supper fundraiser with proceeds
to go toward the construction of a new football stadium at the school in
Lyeffion, Ala.
May 12, 1963 - U.S. President John F. Kennedy sent federal
troops into Birmingham, Ala., following riots.
May 12, 1966 - The St. Louis Cardinals played their first
game at Busch Memorial Stadium. They won the game, 4-3, over the Atlanta
Braves.
May 12, 1966
– Russian-German SS officer Felix Steiner died at the age of 69 in Munich,
Bavaria, West Germany.
May 12, 1967 - Pink Floyd debuted its custom-made
quadraphonic speaker system, amazing concert-goers with surround sound.
May 12, 1968
– During the Vietnam War, North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces attacked
Australian troops defending Fire Support Base Coral, east of Lai Khe in South
Vietnam on the night of May 12-13, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides
and beginning the Battle of Coral–Balmora.
May 12, 1969 – Army Sgt. William Michael Fields, 22, of
Evergreen, Ala. was killed in action in Vietnam. Fields was a member of Co. D,
28th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division at the time of his
death. Born on Nov. 20, 1946, he was buried in Magnolia Cemetery in Evergreen.
May 12, 1970 - Ernie Banks of the Chicago Cubs hit his 500th
home run.
May 12, 1971 – National Baseball Hall of Fame leftfielder
Heinie Manush, who was born in Tuscumbia, Ala., passed away from cancer at the
age of 69 in Sarasota, Fla. During his career, he played for the Detroit
Tigers, the St. Louis Browns, the Washington Senators, the Boston Red Sox, the
Brooklyn Dodgers and the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was inducted into the Hall of
Fame in 1964.
May 12, 1971 - The first major
battle of Operation Lam Son 720 took place as North Vietnamese forces hit the
same South Vietnamese 500-man marine battalion twice in one day.
May 12, 1972 - The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Minnesota
Twins, 4-3, in 22 innings. The game was actually completed on May 13.
May 12, 1973 - Cliff Harper was the speaker at the Sparta
Academy Quarterback Club’s Awards Banquet held on this Saturday night at the
Holiday Inn. Harper was assistant commissioner of the Southeastern Conference
and former executive secretary of the Alabama High School Athletic Association.
He was principal of Evergreen High School for two years right after World War
II.
May 12, 1973 – During Sparta Academy’s athletic awards
banquet, Tal Stuart Jr. presented the D.T. Stuart Jr. Sportsmanship Trophy to
Gary McInvale. Other athletes receiving awards at that the 2nd
annual banquet were Eddie Hooks, Best Baseball Batter Award; Bruce Hutcheson,
Baseball Hustler Award; David Jackson, Basketball Sportsmanship Award and
Baseball Sportsmanship Award; Donald Jackson, Basketball Rebound Award; Tom
Nall, Best Basketball Field Goal Percentage Award, Free Throw Shooting
Percentage Award and Basketball Captain’s Award; Don Owens, Football Captain’s
Award and Baseball Captain’s Award; Walker Scott, Best Baseball Fielder Award;
Sam Skipper, Football Hustler Award; and Walt Lee Ward, Best Defensive Football
Player Award.
May 12, 1973 - Keith Pugh, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Oliver
Pugh of Evergreen, a sophomore at Monroe Academy, won first place in the
440-yard dash at the Southern Regional track meet in Jackson, Miss. on this
Saturday. Keith’s time was 52.2 seconds. He won fourth place in the broad jump.
Earlier, Keith set an Alabama Private School Athletic Association state record
for the 440-yard dash with a time of 50.4 seconds.
May 12, 1973 - Daniel Byrd of Evergreen was scheduled to
meet Mike Rutland of Daleville and Enterprise Junior College in the finals of
the Andalusia Spring Tennis Tournament for boys 18 and under at 9 a.m. on this
Saturday. Byrd entered the meet unseeded but won four matches including upsets
of two seeded players to make his way into the championships. He knocked off
the Andalusia Team’s No. 1 player, Tommy Walker (seeded second) in the
quarterfinals, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2. In the semi-finals, he defeated the No. 3 seed,
Bill Marquez of Fort Rucker, 6-0, 6-1. Byrd was the son of Mr. and Mrs. B.L.
Byrd of Evergreen.
May 12, 1976 – The Old Abrams Place in Greenville, Ala. and
the Bartram Trail near Greenville, Ala. were added to the Alabama Register of
Landmarks and Heritage.
May 12, 1982 - The final episode of "The Incredible
Hulk" aired.
May 12, 1982 - The United States Football League (USFL) was
formed.
May 12, 1983 - Jack Booker Weaver, a student at Jefferson
Davis State Junior College in Brewton, Ala., was formally honored as a
participant in the ‘Most Outstanding Student Competition,” which was sponsored
by the Deans of Students Association and was held during the annual Alabama
Junior/Community College Association Convention.
May 12, 1985 - An honorary Doctor of Music degree was given
to Lionel Richie from his alma mater Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.
May 12, 1986 – NBC debuted the current well-known peacock as
seen in the NBC 60th Anniversary Celebration.
May 12, 1987 - The final episode of "Hill Street
Blues" aired.
May 12, 1989 – Evergreen (Ala.) Mayor Lee F. Smith and
Evergreen City Councilman Larry Fluker cut the ribbon at the street dedication
following an open house at the Evergreen Housing Authority’s Crestview Manor.
The street dedication involved Frazier Circle, which was named after longtime
Conecuh County educator and principal, O.F. Frazier.
May 12, 1998 - The Atlanta Braves tied a National League
record when they hit a home run in their 24th consecutive game.
May 12, 1998 - Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals hit a
527-foot home run at Busch Stadium. It was the longest home run in the history
of the stadium.
May 12, 1998 - St. Louis Cardinal manager Tony LaRussa
recorded his 1,500th victory.
May 12, 2000 - Alabama author Julia Truitt Yenni died in
Cambridge, Mass.
May 12, 2002 - The 200th episode of the "X-Files"
aired on FOX.
May 12, 2002
– Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter arrived in Cuba for a five-day visit with
Fidel Castro, becoming the first President of the United States, in or out of
office, to visit the island since Castro's 1959 revolution.
May 12, 2003 – The Riyadh compound bombings, carried out by
al-Qaeda, killed 26 people.
May 12, 2006 – The Kansas City Royals selected right-handed
pitcher Christopher Scottie Booker of Monroeville, Ala. off waivers.
May 12, 2007 – In connection with the disappearance of
Natalee Holloway of Mountain Brook, Ala., the Kalpoe family home was subject to
an "inspection." The two brothers were detained for about
an hour upon objecting to the entry by police and Dutch investigators, but were
released when the authorities left.
