Sunday, February 8, 2015

Today in History for Feb. 8, 2015

William Tecumseh Sherman
Feb. 8, 1776 - General George Washington received a letter from Cumberland, Nova Scotia. The letter requested that he invade Novia Scotia at his earliest possible convenience.

Feb. 8, 1777 - Major Timothy Bigelow became colonel of the 15th Massachusetts Colonial Line of the Continental Army. He had been a prisoner of war until just six months before.

Feb. 8, 1820 – Union General William Tecumseh Sherman was born in Lancaster, Ohio.

Feb. 8, 1828 - Jules Verne, considered the “Father of Science Fiction,” was born in Nantes, France.

Feb. 8, 1831 – West Point cadet Edgar Allan Poe was tried for gross neglect of duty and disobedience of orders for refusing to attend formations, classes or church. Poe tactically pled not guilty to induce dismissal, knowing he would be found guilty.


Feb. 8, 1852 – The Brooklyn Academy in Conecuh County was incorporated by the Alabama legislature.

Feb. 8-9, 1855 – The “Devil’s Footprints” Incident occurred around the Exe Estuary in East Devon and South Devon, England. After a heavy snowfall, trails of hoof-like marks appeared overnight in the snow covering a total distance of some 40 to 100 miles. The footprints were so called because some people believed that they were the tracks of Satan, as they were allegedly made by a cloven hoof. Many theories have been put forward to explain the incident, and some aspects of its veracity have also been called into question.

Feb. 8, 1861 - The Confederate States of America was formed.

Feb. 8, 1862 - Union General Ambrose Burnside captured Roanoke Island in North Carolina. It was one of the first major Union victories of the Civil War and gave the Yankees control of the mouth of Albemarle Sound, allowing them to threaten the Rebel capital of Richmond, Virginia, from the south.

Feb. 8, 1865 - The Battle of Dabney's Mill (Hatcher's Run) ended after three days. Neither side ended with a significant advantage after producing about 3,000 casualties.

Feb. 8, 1865 – In the United States, Delaware voters rejected the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and voted to continue the practice of slavery. (Delaware finally ratified the amendment on Feb. 12, 1901.)

Feb. 8, 1896 - The Western Conference was formed by representatives of Midwestern universities. The group later changed its name to the Big 10 Conference.

Feb. 8, 1910 - William D. Boyce incorporated the Boy Scouts of America.

Feb. 8, 1912 – Aviation pioneer Robert G. Fowler became the first person to fly west to east aross the United States when he arrived in Jacksonville, Fla. He departed San Francisco on Sept. 11, 1911 and stopped in Evergreen, Ala. on Jan. 15, 1912.

Feb. 8, 1915 – D. W. Griffith's controversial film “The Birth of a Nation” premiered at Clune’s Auditorium in Los Angeles. This silent film was America's first feature-length motion picture and a box-office smash, and during its unprecedented three hours Griffith popularized countless filmmaking techniques that remain central to the art today. Actually titled “The Clansman” for its first month of release, the film provided a highly subjective history of the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan.

Feb. 8, 1918 - "The Stars and Stripes" newspaper was published for the first time.

Feb. 8, 1922 - United States President Warren G. Harding introduced the first radio set in the White House.

Feb. 8, 1922 – In the fictional video game, “Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth,” private investigator Jack Walters helped J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI raid the Marsh Gold Refinery in Innsmouth, where he was attacked by an ancient creature known as a Shoggoth and uncovered a Cthulhu shrine before the building is demolished.

Feb. 8, 1936 - The first National Football League draft was held, and Jay Berwanger was the first to be selected, drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles.

Feb. 8, 1938 – Longtime Monroe Journal publisher Q. Salter died after he was stricken when leaving his office at The Monroe County Bank. He died just minutes later without uttering a word. He’s buried in the old Methodist Cemetery on Sumter Ave. in Monroeville, Ala.

Feb. 8, 1940 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Conecuh County Superintendent of Education H.D. Weathers and Conecuh County Circuit Court Clerk W.S. Dreaden had qualified to seek reelection in the upcoming primary elections.

Feb. 8, 1950 - The Associated Press named Jim Thorpe and Baby Didrikson Zaharias the greatest male and female athletes of the first half of the 20th century.

Feb. 8, 1952 – The Manistee & Repton Railroad in Alabama ceased operations.

Feb. 8, 1955 – Best-selling novelist John Grisham was born in Jonesboro, Ark. His first novel, “A Time to Kill,” was published in 1989.

Feb. 8, 1959 - Alabama author William Miller was born in Anniston, Ala.

Feb. 8, 1963 - Lamar Hunt, owner of the American Football League franchise in Dallas, Texas, moved the operation to Kansas City. The new team was named the Chiefs.

Feb. 8, 1963 – Travel, financial and commercial transactions by United States citizens to Cuba were made illegal by the John F. Kennedy administration.

Feb. 8, 1969 - The last issue of the "Saturday Evening Post" was published. It was revived in 1971 as a quarterly publication and later a six times a year publication.

Feb. 8, 1969 – The “Allende meteorite” fell near Pueblito de Allende, Chihuahua, Mexico.

Feb. 8, 1977 – The Murder Creek Historical Society acquired the title to the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Co. Depot in Evergreen, Ala., title being transferred to the Society’s officers by I.L. Bell, L&N Superintendent at Mobile, in a brief ceremony at the depot.

Feb. 8, 1985 – Monroe Academy beat Sparta, 67-61, in the District Basketball Tournament in Monroeville, Ala. Al Etheridge, who was named to the all-tournament team, led Sparta with 23 points.

Feb. 8, 1985 – Weather reporter Earl Windham reported a low of 23 degrees in Evergreen, Ala.

Feb. 8, 1985 - "The Dukes of Hazzard" ended its 6-1/2 year run on CBS television.

Feb. 8, 1991 - Roger Clemens signed a contract with the Boston Red Sox that paid $5,380,250 per year.

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