Today in History for Aug. 25, 2015

Allan Pinkerton

Aug. 25, 1718 - Hundreds of colonists from France arrived in Louisiana and founded the present-day city of New Orleans. Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville named the new settlement for Philippe II, the Duke of Orléans. The duke was the regent of France, ruling in place of King Louis XV, who was only a boy.

Aug. 25, 1768 – James Cook begins his first voyage.

Aug. 25, 1776 - Political philosopher David Hume died in Edinburgh, Scotland at the age of 65. His essay "Idea of a Perfect Commonwealth" affected the ideas of the drafters of the federal Constitution in 1787.

Aug. 25, 1814 - The U.S. Library of Congress was destroyed by British forces.

Aug. 25, 1814 – The British were permitted by the Spanish authorities to land some 300 men in Pensacola, and the British officers were permitted by these same authorities to equip and discipline fugitive Creek warriors that they might aid the British in an aggressive movement which they played against Mobile and New Orleans.

Aug. 25, 1819 – Scottish-American detective Allan Pinkerton was born in Glasgow, Scotland.

Aug. 25, 1823 – Samuel McColl was commissioned for his first of three consecutive terms as Monroe County, Alabama’s Circuit Court Clerk. He would be commissioned twice more – in September 1831 and August 1835.

Aug. 25, 1824 – During his extended tour of the United States, the Marquis de Lafayette arrived in Cambridge, Mass. During the following days he visited former President John Adams at the latter's estate, Peacefield, in Quincy, Mass.

Aug. 25, 1835 - The Great Moon Hoax was perpetrated by The New York Sun newspaper. They launched a series of articles about the supposed discovery of life on the moon, which they  falsely attributed to the well-known astronomer Sir John Herschel. Life forms were said to include such fantastical creatures as unicorns, and  bat-like winged humanoids.

Aug. 25, 1861 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought with Apache Indians near Ft Bliss, Texas by Lieutenant Colonel John R. Baylor, CSA. Baylor has the distinction of being dismissed from the Confederate army by none other than Jefferson Davis himself because of his harshness toward Native Americans. Later on, he was back in a gray uniform as a Colonel. He is a little known, but intriguing, character.

Aug. 25, 1864 – During the Civil War, at the Second Battle of Ream’s Station, Va., Confederate troops secured a vital supply line into Petersburg, Va., when they halted the destruction of the Weldon and Petersburg Railroad by Union troops. The railroad, which ran from Weldon, North Carolina, was a major supply line for General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia.

Aug. 25, 1879 – The Evergreen News reported that P. McGlinn & Co. applied for a new post office, to be called “Ireland,” at a store near Burnt Corn, Ala.

Aug. 25, 1884 – John Burns was commissioned for his second term as Monroe County, Alabama’s Sheriff.

Aug. 25, 1890 – Army Private Charles Frances McDonald Jr. of Monroeville, Ala. was born to Charles Frances McDonald Sr. and Annie Strock. He “died from disease” during World War I on July 14, 1919 at General Hospital No. in Spartanburg, S.C. He enlisted on June 4, 1917 in Mobile and was sent to France on May 7, 1918, serving with HQ Detachment, 1st Field Artillery Brigade, 1st Division, AEF and with the Army of Occupation-Germany. He reported sick to the hospital, was shipped to Fort Gordon, Ga. on April 28, 1918 and was buried in Old Salem Cemetery near Mexia.

Aug. 25, 1914 – John P. Anderson, “one of the best known and most highly esteemed citizens” of Conecuh County, Ala. passed away at his home at Hampden Ridge after a “lingering illness” at the age of about 70 years old. A Mason and charter member of the local Confederate veterans camp, he was buried at Hampden Ridge the following day. During the Civil War, he enlisted in Co. E of the 38th Alabama Regiment in 1861 and surrendered in Charlotte, N.C. with General Johnston.

Aug. 25, 1915 – The Evergreen Courant reported that George and Robert Jones had just completed the construction of a new home on Salter Street in Evergreen, Ala, and that work was in progress on a home on Bruner Avenue. The former Orrie Hotel building was also being torn down to make room for another building being constructed for Miss Barfield.

Aug. 25, 1918 – Conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein was born in Lawrence, Mass.

Aug. 25, 1919 – Four-time Alabama governor and three-time candidate for U.S. president, George C. Wallace, was born in Clio in Barbour County, Ala. Wallace early in his career epitomized white resistance to Civil Rights demands in the 1960s. Almost killed by a would-be assassin in 1972, Wallace later recanted his segregationist views and was re-elected governor largely due to votes of African Americans.

Aug. 25, 1935 – Poet Charles Wright was born in Pickwick Dam, Tenn.

Aug. 25, 1936 - When he was still only 17, Bob Feller made his first Major League pitching start, striking out 15 St. Louis Browns with a blazing fastball and knee-buckling curveball that would be the hallmarks of his long and storied career.

Aug. 25, 1938 – Russian explorer Aleksandr Kuprin passed away at the age of 68 in Leningrad, Soviet Union. In addition to being an explorer, he was also a writer, pilot and adventurer, who is perhaps best known for his 1905 story, “The Duel.”

Aug. 25, 1939 - The movie "Wizard of Oz" opened around the United States.

Aug. 25, 1946 - Alabama author Charles Ghigna was born in Bayside, N.Y.

Aug. 25, 1946 – National Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Rollie Fingers was born in Steubenville, Ohio. During his career, he played for the Oakland A’s, the San Diego Padres and the Milwaukee Brewers. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1992.

Aug. 25, 1948 - A movie version of Alabama author James H. Street's book “Tap Roots” was released.

Aug. 25, 1949 – Novelist Martin Amis was born in Oxford, England.

Aug. 25, 1952 - Alabama baseball great Virgil Trucks pitched his second of two no-hitters during the 1952 season, leading the Detroit Tigers to a 1-0 win over the New York Yankees. He pitched his first no-hitter in May, and became one of just five major league pitchers to throw two no-hitters in a single season.

Aug. 25, 1955 – The Conecuh County Board of Education abolished high school tuition fees in all of the county’s high school.

Aug. 25, 1956 - Author Han Nolan was born in Birmingham, Ala.

Aug. 25, 1956 - During the ninth month of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the home of Montgomery, Ala. minister and boycott activist Robert Graetz was bombed. A white West Virginian, Graetz pastored Trinity Lutheran Church, a black congregation. Graetz and his family were away from home when the dynamite blast occurred.

Aug. 25, 1957 - The Conecuh County Amateur Baseball League was scheduled to end its season on this Sunday with the finals of the Shaughnessy playoffs in Brewton, Ala. starting at 1:30 p.m. This round robin series featured finalists Lyeffion and Castleberry. Robert Dees was scheduled to pitch for Lyeffion, and Red Green was scheduled to pitch for Castleberry.

Aug. 25, 1968 – U.S. Army Sgt. William Wayne Seay, a native of Brewton, Ala., would receive the Medal of Honor for his actions on this day near Ap Nhi, Vietnam.

Aug. 25, 1978 - The “Turin Shroud,” believed to be the burial cloth of Jesus Christ, went on display for the first time in 45 years.

Aug. 25, 1978 – Excel opened the 1978 football season with a 28-0 win over Southern Normal in Excel, Ala.

Aug. 25, 1984 – Truman Capote died from liver disease at the age of 59 in Los Angeles at the home of Joanna Carson, the fourth wife of talk-show host Johnny Carson.

Aug. 25, 1984 – National Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Waite Hoyt passed away at the age of 84 in Cincinnati, Ohio. During his career, he played for the New York Giants, the Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees, the Detroit Tigers, the Philadelphia Athletics, the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1969.

Aug. 25, 1985 - Dwight “Doc” Gooden led the New York Mets to a 9-3 win over the San Diego Padres at Shea Stadium to become the youngest pitcher to win 20 major league baseball games in a season.

Aug. 25, 1987 – State Fire Marshal Ken Smith was called in to investigate a house fire at an unoccupied house at 408 Bruner Ave. in Evergreen, Ala. The fire occurred around 9:10 p.m. on this Tuesday night, and this was the second fire to have occurred at this house within the course of a few months. Smith said the fire was of a “suspicious nature,” The Evergreen Courant reported.

Aug. 25, 1989 – Hillcrest High School played its first football game ever and defeated W.S. Neal, 14-0, at Brooks Memorial Stadium in Evergreen, Ala.

Aug. 25, 1989 – Excel opened the 1989 football season with a 32-0 win over A.L. Johnson in Excel, Ala.

Aug. 25, 1989 – “Heart of Dixie,” a movie version of Alabama author Anne Rivers Siddons' book “Heartbreak Hotel,” was released.

Aug. 25, 1990 - Military action was authorized by the United Nations to enforce the trade embargo that had been placed on Iraq after their invasion of Kuwait.

Aug. 25, 1994 – The Evergreen Courant announced that Livingston University student Christopher “Chris” Evans had been awarded the 1994 Wendell Hart Scholarship.

Aug. 25, 1994 - Jimmy Buffett's plane flipped after taking off in Nantucket, Mass. He swam to safety.

Aug. 25, 2001 – Springdale in Andalusia was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.

Aug. 25, 2005 – Excel opened the 2005 season with a 7-6 win over Frisco City at Panther Stadium in Excel, Ala.

Aug. 25, 2011 – Bessie Munden Park in Camden, Ala. was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.

Aug. 25, 2011 – The Alabama Textile Products Corporation and the Church Street School, both in Andalusia, was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.

Aug. 25, 2011 – Excel opened the 2011 season with a 55-20 win over J.U. Blacksher at Panther Stadium in Excel, Ala.