Today in History for Sept. 22, 2014

The wreck of the Sunset Limited at Big Bayou Canot.

Sept. 22, 1692 – During the Salem witchcraft trials, Martha Corey, Margaret Scott, Mary Easty, Alice Parker, Ann Pudeator, Willmott Redd, Samuel Wardwell and Mary Parker are hanged. Dorcas Hoar escapes execution by confessing.

Sept. 22, 1823 – Joseph Smith stated he found the Golden plates on this date after being directed by God through the Angel Moroni to the place where they were buried.

Sept. 22, 1837 – Thomas S. Roach and James McCall were commissioned as Monroe County’s Circuit Court Clerks, and Edward T. Broughton was commissioned as Monroe County’s Sheriff.

Sept. 22, 1857 – Alexander Autrey, the second white man to settle in Conecuh County and founder of Hampden Ridge, died at his home in Conecuh County, age 77.

Sept. 22, 1888 – The first issue of National Geographic Magazine was published.

Sept. 22, 1862 – During the Civil War, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. It stated that all slaves held within rebel states would be free as of January 1, 1863.

Sept. 22, 1875 – J.M. McNeil was named postmaster at Burnt Corn.

Sept. 22, 1879 – The Monroeville Institute opened with W.Y. Titcomb as principal and Miss B.C. McCorvey as assistant.

Sept. 22, 1889 – On this Sunday night, Monroeville was struck by “the Equinoctial or September gale.”

Sept. 22, 1906 – Late on a payday Saturday night, Ed Dean shot and killed Will Neville at Peterman. Dean later turned himself into the Sheriff in Monroeville and was released on bond.

Sept. 22, 1907 – Claude D. Kelley was born.

Sept. 22, 1914 - A.J. Lee of Burnt Corn sent The Evergreen “the largest boll of cotton” the newspaper staff had ever seen. Lee said the boll was taken from a stalk nine feet and five inches tall.

Sept. 22, 1914 – Charles R. Cook, a well known Monroe County native, was shot and killed in McKinnonville, Fla. Cook ran a commissary there and one of his employees got into a fight with another man at the store. Cook apparently tried to break them up, and he and his employee were both shot. Cook’s remains were brought back to Monroe County and buried at Perdue Hill.

Sept. 22, 1927 – Baseball Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda was born in Norristown, Pa.

Sept. 22, 1952 – Army SFC Rudolph Farmer of Covington County was killed in action in Korea.

Sept. 22, 1963 – In an incident attributed to the “Bermuda Triangle,” a C-132 Cargomaster disappeared between Delaware and its destination in the Azores. The Coast Guard and Navy conducted an intensive search for the plane until Sept. 25, but found nothing that could be identified with the missing plane.

Sept. 22, 1966 – The Conecuh County Board of Directors approved the purchase of 30 voting machines for use in that year’s November general election, which eliminated the need for paper ballots in future county elections, other than for absentee voting.

Sept. 22, 1968 - Cesar Tovar became the second major league baseball player to play all nine positions in one game.

Sept. 22, 1969 - Willie Mays hit his 600th career home run.

Sept. 22, 1979 – The Vela Incident (also known as the South Atlantic Flash) was observed near Bouvet Island, thought to be a nuclear weapons test.

Sept. 22, 1985 - NBC began airing the series "Amazing Stories."

Sept. 22, 1988 – Alabama Governor Guy Hunt signed an official proclamation at the state capitol in Montgomery that formally proclaimed the Town of Castleberry as the “Strawberry Capital of Alabama.”

Sept. 22, 1993 – During foggy conditions, a barge struck a railroad bridge near Mobile, Ala., causing the deadliest train wreck in Amtrak history as 47 people died when Amtrak's Maimi-bound Sunset Limited jumped the rails on the weakened bridge and plunged into Big Bayou Canot.

Sept. 22, 2004 - The pilot episode of "Lost" aired.

Sept. 22, 2006 - Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants tied Hank Aaron's National League home run record when he hit is 733rd.

Sept. 22, 2011 – John Grisham was presented with the inaugural Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction for his novel, “The Confession,” during a special ceremony at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.