Today in History for Sept. 12, 2014

Jeff Daniels on Sept. 12, 2011

Sept. 12, 1842 – Confederate soldier William George Riley was born. He was the brother of Monroe Guards commander Thomas Mercer Riley. W.G. Riley died on June 22, 1940 and was buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Evergreen, Ala.

Sept. 12, 1853 – George Clothies was commissioned for his first of two terms as Monroe County’s Sheriff.

Sept. 12, 1861 - Confederate General Sterling Price converged on a Union garrison at Lexington, Missouri. The nine-day siege ended with the surrender of the Federals under Colonel James Mulligan.

Sept. 12, 1865 – The New Alabama Constitution was adopted to comply with Presidential Reconstruction dictates to rejoin the Union. The document was later rejected by U.S. Congress.

Sept. 12, 1883 – John Burns was commissioned for the first of his two terms as Monroe County Sheriff.

Sept. 12, 1913 - Jesse Owens was born in Oakville, Alabama. Owens was one of the first U.S. athletes who combined talents as a sprinter, low hurdler, and broad jumper. In 1936, he won four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics: in the100 meter, 200 meter, broad jump, and as a participant on the 400-meter relay team.

Sept. 12, 1918 – During World War I, Army Pvt. Will Frank Williams of Greenville was killed in action.

Sept. 12, 1940 - The prehistoric Lascaux cave paintings were discovered near Montignac, France by four teenagers who stumbled upon the ancient artwork after following their dog down a narrow entrance into a cavern. The cave paintings were 17,000 years old and were some of the best examples of art from the Paleolithic period.

Sept. 12, 1952 – In their “first game on their new lighted field before an overflowing crowd,” Repton High School opened the 1952 football season with a 13-0 loss to Flomaton in Repton.

Sept. 12, 1952 – The strange “Flatwoods Monster” incident took place in the Town of Flatwoods in Braxton County, West Virginia.

Sept. 12, 1963 – Beatrice High School principal Marvin Gwin announced the cancellation of the school’s football season because the school didn’t have enough players to field a team. Out of the 15 players who reported for practice that season, most were in the seventh and eighth grade. Football returned to the school the following year with a six-game schedule against the ‘B’ teams from other schools.

Sept. 12, 1979 – Hurricane Frederic made landfall on this night at Dauphin Island with winds of 125 mph, five people killed and $23 million damage resulted.

Sept. 12, 1979 - Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox became the first American League player to get 3,000 career hits and 400 career home runs.

Sept. 12, 1984 – Mark Childress’ first novel, “A World Made of Fire,” was first released by Knopf.

Sept. 12, 1984 - Dwight Gooden of the New York Mets set a rookie strikeout record with his 251st strikeout of the season.

Sept. 12, 2002 - The house that Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain lived in as a child, from ages 11 to 15, was sold on eBay for $210,000. The house had been valued at $52,660 in 2000.

Sept. 12, 2002 - A judge announced that a jury would have to decide who would get the ball that Barry Bonds hit for his record 73rd home run. The ownership of the ball, with an estimated value of $1 million, was being disputed between two men that had been in the bleachers.

Sept. 12, 2003 – During the Iraq War, U.S. forces mistakenly shot and killed eight Iraqi police officers in Fallujah.

Sept. 12, 2011 – Jeff Daniels of Evergreen completed his 2,181-mile thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail.