Today in History for Dec. 21, 2014

Abraham Baldwin

Dec. 21, 1620 - William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims land on what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Dec. 21, 1809 – Baldwin County, Ala. was created from land taken from Washington County. The county was named in honor of Senator Abraham Baldwin, though he never lived in what is now Alabama.

Dec. 21, 1848 – James Dellet, who was born in Philadelphia in 1788, died at Claiborne, Ala. and was buried in the garden of his residence. In 1819, he was elected to the first Alabama House of Representatives under state government. He served as its secretary, and he was re-elected in both 1821 and 1825. He was later elected as a Whig to the Twenty-sixth U.S. Congress and was again elected to the Twenty-eighth Congress.

Dec. 21, 1861 - Lord Lyons, the British minister to the United States, met with Secretary of State William Seward concerning the fate of James Mason and John Slidell. The two Confederate envoys were arrested by the U.S. Navy aboard the British steamer Trent. The Lincoln administration released the two men a few days later.

Dec. 21, 1861 – Public Resolution 82, containing a provision for a Navy Medal of Valor, was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln.

Dec. 21, 1864 - General William T. Sherman reached Savannah, Georgia. Sherman telegraphed Lincoln and offered him Savannah as a Christmas present.

Dec. 21, 1864 – During the Civil War, the first of two days of skirmishing began in the Franklin Creek area of Jackson County, Miss. between Pascagoula and the Mississippi-Alabama state line.

Dec. 21, 1914 – The Evergreen Courant reprinted on its front page a letter from 77-year-old Confederate veteran Joseph R. Bass, who’d moved from Evergreen to Texas immediately after the end of the Civil War.

Dec. 21, 1914 – Monroe County native Dr. Leslie Powell Howard, who lived in Durham, N.C. at the time, was killed by a railroad train at Kingston, N.Y.

Dec. 21-23, 1914 - The periodical examination of applicants for license to teach in the Monroe County public schools was held in Monroeville, Ala., under the supervision of Superintendent Barnes and Prof. J.D. Forte. There were 30 applicants.

Dec. 21, 1941 - Ray McLean of the Chicago Bears performed a drop kick for an extra point in the NFL. The next one would not happen until Doug Flutie performed on 61 years later.

Dec. 21, 1947 – NFL cornerback Nate Wright was born in Madison, Fla. He would go on to play for San Diego State, the Atlanta Falcons, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Minnesota Vikings.

Dec. 21, 1947 – Major League Baseball outfielder, third baseman and first baseman Elliott Maddox was born in East Orange, N.J. He would go on to play for the Detroit Tigers, the Washington Senators, the Texas Rangers, the New York Yankees, the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Mets.

Dec. 21, 1951 - Joe DiMaggio announced his retirement from Major League Baseball.

Dec. 21, 1956 - The Supreme Court ruling banning segregated seating on Montgomery’s public transit vehicles went into effect. The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks were among the first people to ride a fully integrated bus, ending the historic year-long Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Dec. 21, 1959 - Tom Landry accepted the position of head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Landry led the team to 22 consecutive winning seasons in his 29 years as coach.

Dec. 21, 1966 - The first television version of Alabama author Truman Capote's book “A Christmas Memory” was broadcast.

Dec. 21, 1967 – Marine Corps PFC Larry Eugene Gonzalez of Atmore was killed in action in Vietnam.

Dec. 21, 1969 - Vince Lombardi coached his last game. His Washington Redskins lost to the Dallas Cowboys 20-10. The Redskins ended that season at 7-5-2, which was the first winning season for the team in 14 years.

Dec. 21, 1975 - John Riggins became the first New York Jets player to gain 1,000 yards.

Dec. 21, 1975 - George Blanda, in his final regular-season game, became the first professional football player to reach 2,000 points. His total was 2,002 points over a 26-year career.

Dec. 21, 1980 - Harold Carmichael ended his NFL streak of 127 consecutive game receptions.

Dec. 21, 1985 – Weather reporter Earl Windham reported a low temperature of 23 degrees in Evergreen, Ala.

Dec. 21, 1997 - The second television version of Alabama author Truman Capote's book “A Christmas Memory” was broadcast.

Dec. 21, 2010 – The Florala Historic District in Covington County, Ala. was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Dec. 21, 2012 – The world was predicted to end on December 21, 2012 according to some calendars.