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| B.B. Comer |
Jan. 16, 1362 - A great storm tide in the North Sea
destroyed the German city of Rungholt on the island of Strand.
Jan. 16, 1830 - A charter was granted by the Alabama state
legislature to the Tuscumbia Railroad Company. Tracks were built approximately
two miles to Sheffield, Ala. and were completed in 1832. Though the rail cars
were horse drawn and never powered by steam locomotives, it is still considered
the first railroad in Alabama.
Jan. 16, 1833 – Dr. A.J. Robinson of Brooklyn, Ala. was born
in Fayette County, Ga. He went on to become a teacher, farmer, physician and
state representative.
Jan. 16, 1863 - The CSS Florida, a Confederate privateer
raider, had been in Mobile, Ala. for four months undergoing repairs which were
completed on this day. Her commander, Lt. John N. Maffitt, fired up her boilers
and evaded the USS R.R. Cuyler, which they passed within 300 yards off the
mouth of Mobile Bay. CSS Florida went on to capture a ship, taking the
confiscated cargo to sell in Havana.
Jan. 16, 1906 – Braxton Bragg “B.B.” Comer, who was then the
president of the Alabama Railroad Commission, delivered a two-hour campaign
speech to a crowd at the Monroe County Courthouse, starting at 1 p.m. In
November 1906, he was elected Alabama’s 33rd governor.
Jan. 16, 1908 – The Conecuh Record reported that L.D.
Gardner, the new chancellor of the southeastern court division, held his first
term of the Chancery Court in Conecuh County, Ala. Gardner was the youngest
chancellor in the state at that time.
Jan. 16-23, 1909 - Newspapers of the time published hundreds
of claimed encounters with the “Jersey Devil” from all over the state of New
Jersey. Among alleged encounters publicized that week were claims the creature
"attacked" a trolley car in Haddon Heights and a social club in
Camden. Police in Camden and Bristol, Pennsylvania supposedly fired on the
creature to no effect. Other reports initially concerned unidentified
footprints in the snow, but soon sightings of creatures resembling the Jersey Devil
were being reported throughout South Jersey and as far away as Delaware and
Western Maryland. The widespread newspaper coverage led to a panic throughout
the Delaware Valley prompting a number of schools to close and workers to stay
home.
Jan. 16, 1909 – Ernest Shackleton's expedition finds the
magnetic South Pole.
Jan. 16, 1910 – Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Dizzy Dean was
born in Lucas, Arkansas. He went on to play for the St. Louis Cardinals, the
Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Browns. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in
1953.
Jan. 16, 1914 - Up to this date, the total number of bales of cotton ginned
in Conecuh County, Ala. was 16,228, compared with 14,646 to the same date in 1913.
Jan. 16, 1919 – The United States ratified the Eighteenth
Amendment to the United States Constitution, authorizing Prohibition in the
United States one year after ratification.
Jan. 16, 1920 - Prohibition went into effect in the U.S. and
lasted until 1933.
Jan. 16, 1929 – Evergreen High School’s boys basketball team
beat East Brewton, 41-17, and the Night Hawks of Evergreen, 24-17.
Jan. 16, 1938 – Dr. Walter B. Moorer, who practiced medicine
in Repton, Ala. passed away at his home around 9 p.m. from a “heart ailment.” A
native of Lowndes County, he attended medical school at Birmingham Medical
College. He practiced medicine in McKenzie for a number of years and moved to
Repton about 20 years prior to his death.
Jan. 16, 1948 – Film director John Carpenter was born in
Carthage, N.Y. His most famous movies included “Halloween” (1978), “The Fog”
(1980), “Escape From New York” (1981) and “The Thing” (1982).
Jan. 16, 1951 – Evergreen’s National Guard unit, Battery C
of the 177th Field Artillery Battalion, was called to active, Federal service
at Fort Jackson, S.C. The local unit, which was composed of about 80 officers
and men, was part of the 31st Infantry Division, which earned fame as the Dixie
Division in the South Pacific in World War II. The Dixie Division was made up
of guardsmen from Alabama and Mississippi.
Jan. 16, 1961 - Mickey Mantle signed a contract that made
him the highest paid baseball player in the American League at $75,000 for the
1961 season.
Jan. 16, 1967 – Mabel Amos of Brooklyn, Ala. took the oath of
office as Alabama Secretary of State becoming the first Conecuh citizen to be
elected to a statewide office.
Jan. 16, 1967 – George C. Wallace began his time as the
First Gentleman of Alabama while his wife served as Alabama’s governor. His
time as First Gentleman would end on May 7, 1968.
Jan. 16, 1967 – Lurleen Wallace was inaugurated as Alabama’s
first female govenor – and only the third nationwide – as an estimated 150,000
looked on. On May 7, 1968, she died in office of cancer at the age of 41, amid
her husband George C. Wallace's ongoing second presidential campaign. On her
death, she was succeeded by Lieutenant Governor Albert Brewer, who had run
without Republican opposition in the Wallace-Martin race.
Jan. 16, 1968 – The Evergreen City Council accepted a low
bid of $162,922 submitted by Clark Hardware Co. of Red Level for the
construction of a new city hall in downtown Evergreen. The project was
scheduled to take 240 days and construction was scheduled to get underway 45 to
60 days after the bid opening.
Jan. 16, 1970 - Seven-time Golden Glove-winning center fielder
Curt Flood of the St. Louis Cardinals filed suit in a New York federal court
against Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, the presidents of the American and National
Leagues and all 24 teams in the Major League Baseball organization,
protesting the league’s player reserve clause, which prevented players from
moving to another team unless they were traded.
Jan. 16, 1972 – Lee Roy Jordan of Excel started at middle
linebacker in Super Bowl VI for the Dallas Cowboys. The NFC Champion Cowboys,
under Tom Landry, beat the AFC Champion Miami Dolphins, led by Don Shula, 24-3,
at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans. Other famous starters in that game included
Mike Ditka (Dallas TE), Bob Griese (Miami QB), Roger Staubach (Dallas QB),
Larry Csonka (Miami RB),
Jan. 16, 1991 - The White House announced the start of
Operation Desert Storm. The operation was designed to drive Iraqi forces out of
Kuwait.
Jan. 16, 1998 - The Sundance Film Festival in Park City,
Utah cancelled the premiere of Nick Broomfield's documentary "Kurt and
Courtney" due to unresolved legal issues.
Jan. 16, 2001 – US President Bill Clinton awarded former
President Theodore Roosevelt a posthumous Medal of Honor for his service in the
Spanish–American War.
Jan. 16, 2002 - U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced
that John Walker Lindh would be brought to the United States to face trial. He
was charged in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, VA, with conspiracy to kill
U.S. citizens, providing support to terrorist organizations, and engaging in
prohibited transactions with the Taliban of Afghanistan.
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