Today in History for Sept. 16, 2014

Anderson Stage Stop

Sept. 16, 1620 - The Mayflower departed from Plymouth, England. The ship arrived at Provincetown, Mass. on Nov. 21 and then at Plymouth, Mass. on Dec. 26. There were 102 passengers onboard.

Sept. 16, 1798 – Justus Wyman was born in Woburn, Middlesex, Mass. He lived at Fort Claiborne in Monroe County in 1817 and is considered to be Alabama’s first historian. He wrote a historical sketch of the new state before moving to Montgomery in 1820. He died in September 1855 in Talladega Springs, Ala.

Sept. 16, 1832 - Confederate General George Washington Custis Lee was born to Robert E. and Mary Custis Lee in Fort Monroe, Virginia.

Sept. 16, 1862 - Union General George B. MeClellan arrived in Sharpsburg, Maryland and prepared to attack General Robert E. Lee's forces along Antietam Creek. The next day the Battle of Antietam took place.

Sept. 16, 1864 - Confederate Cavalry General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s nearly month long raid into Alabama and Middle Tennessee begun.

Sept. 16, 1864 – Mathew Anderson, who established the Anderson Stage Stop on the Old Federal Road along the Conecuh-Monroe county line, joined Dailey’s Co. of the Monroe Co. Home Guard Militia.

Sept. 16, 1864 – Richard Francis Burton and John Hanning Speke were scheduled to debate the source of the Nile at a meeting at the British Association for the Advancement of Science.

Sept. 16, 1889 – The home of C.T. Simmons, “one of Monroe’s most substantial citizens,” burned in the Carlisle community. The fire was discovered around 10 a.m. and it was a total loss. Among the losses was Simmons’ “very valuable” library.

Sept. 16, 1889 – The Pineville Academy opened for the 1889-1890 school year with Prof. W.L. Pruett as principal and Miss Hamel of Nashville as assistant.

Sept. 16, 1892 – Former Alabama Gov. Thomas Hill Watts, who was born in Butler County in 1819, passed away at the age of 73 in Montgomery.

Sept. 16, 1907 - Judge Terry Richardson, the son of Judge J.C. Richardson of Conecuh’s judicial circuit, was found dead in his bed at the St. Charles Hotel in Luverne at an early hour on this Monday morning.

Sept. 16, 1912 – During a municipal election in Evergreen, W.B. Ivey was elected mayor and J.G. Lundy, A.H. Mason, F.A. Pritchett, G.W. Salter Jr. and H.A. Shields were elected to the council.

Sept. 16, 1912 – The State High School Commission announced that the Conecuh County High School would be located in Castleberry after the town offered a guarantee of $10,000 and six acres of land.

Sept. 16, 1924 - Jim Bottomley knocked in 12 runs in a single game, setting a major league baseball record.

Sept. 16, 1953 - The St. Louis Browns of the American League were given permission to move to Baltimore, Md., where they became the Baltimore Orioles.

Sept. 16, 1958 – Baseball pitcher Orel Hershiser was born in Buffalo, N.Y.

Sept. 16, 1963 - The science-fiction anthology TV series “The Outer Limits” debuted on ABC. The eerie opening of each episode featured the image of an oscilloscope: "There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission...We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat: there is nothing wrong with your television set. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to... The Outer Limits."

Sept. 16, 1988 – Shields beat R.C. Hatch, 84-0, in Beatrice with Shields quarterback Jeff Montgomery completing six of eight passes for 177 yards and four touchdowns. He also kicked two extra points, completed a pass for a two-point conversion and scored on a two-point conversion run.

Sept. 16, 1988 - Tom Browning pitched the 12th perfect game in major league baseball.

Sept. 16, 2004 – Hurricane Ivan made landfall at Gulf Shores around 2 a.m. with winds between 120 and 130 miles per hour.

Sept. 16, 2009 – The Monroeville Downtown Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places.