Today in History for Feb. 22, 2015

Sir Charles Lyell

Feb. 22, 1732 - George Washington, the first President of the United States, was born in Westmoreland County, Va.

Feb. 22, 1777 – Revolutionary War leader and Georgia’s first Provisional Governor Archibald Bulloch died under mysterious circumstances just hours after Georgia's Council of Safety grants him the powers of a dictator in expectation of a British invasion. The cause of his death remains unknown but there had been rumors that he had been poisoned. Archibald Bulloch has gone down in history as one of the American Revolution's great leaders, and he is also known as the great-great-grandfather of America's 26th president, Theodore Roosevelt.

Feb. 22, 1819 - Spanish minister Do Luis de Onis and U.S. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams signed the Florida Purchase Treaty, in which Spain agrees to cede the remainder of its old province of Florida to the United States. Formal U.S. occupation began in 1821, and General Andrew Jackson, the hero of the War of 1812, was appointed military governor. Florida was organized as a U.S. territory in 1822 and was admitted into the Union as a slave state in 1845.

Feb. 22, 1836 – The advance of Santa Anna’s Army reached the heights of the Alazan, overlooking the city of San Antonio.

Feb. 22, 1847 – During the Mexican–American War, the Battle of Buena Vista took place at the Angostura Pass in Mexico, and 5,000 American troops defeated 15,000 Mexicans.

Feb. 22, 1851 - Alabama author Kate Upson Clark was born in Camden, Ala.

Feb. 22, 1855 - The U.S. Congress voted to appropriate $200,000 for continuance of the work on the Washington Monument. The next morning the resolution was tabled and it would be 21 years before the Congress would vote on funds again. Work was continued by the Know-Nothing Party in charge of the project.

Feb. 22, 1859 - U.S. President James Buchanan approved the Act of February 22, 1859, which incorporated the Washington National Monument Society "for the purpose of completing the erection now in progress of a great National Monument to the memory of Washington at the seat of the Federal Government."

Feb. 22, 1860 - Organized baseball’s first game was played in San Francisco, Calif.

Feb. 22, 1861 - U.S. President-elect Abraham Lincoln left Harrisburg and covertly traveled to Washington. Allen Pinkerton had uncovered a plot to assassinate Lincoln when he passed through Baltimore. Lincoln arrived unceremoniously in Washington the next morning.

Feb. 22, 1862 – Jefferson Davis was officially inaugurated for a six-year term as the President of the Confederate States of America in Richmond, Va. He was previously inaugurated as a provisional president on February 18, 1861.

Feb. 22, 1863 – During the Civil War, Federal cavalry attacked Tuscumbia, Ala.

Feb. 22, 1864 – At the Battle of West Point, Miss., Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest routed a Union force three times the size of his army, helping to end Union General William T. Sherman's expedition into Alabama. Union General William Sooy Smith retreated back to Memphis due to another Confederate force blocking his way to Meridian. This battle forced Union General Sherman to return to Vicksburg.

Feb. 22, 1864 – After getting captured by the Union at Campbell’s Station, Noah Dallas Peacock (Lewis Lavon Peacock’s older brother) was admitted to Asylum General Hospital in Nashville and was transferred to Louisville Military Prison six days later.

Feb. 22, 1865 – During the Civil War, a skirmish occurred at Tuscumbia, Ala.

Feb. 22, 1865 – During the Civil War, a three-day Federal operation between Pine Bluff and Meto, Ala. began.

Feb. 22, 1865 – During the Civil War, a four-day Federal operation from Barrancas to Milton, Fla. began

Feb. 22, 1869 – The Escambia County (Ala.) Commission held its first ever meeting at Pollard, the county seat at that time.

Feb. 22, 1875 – Sir Charles Lyell, the “Father of Modern Geology,” died in London, England. A close friend of Charles Darwin, Lyell visited Claiborne, Ala. in 1846 to study the Eocene fossil beds there.

Feb. 22, 1885 - The Washington Monument was officially dedicated in Washington, D.C. It opened to the public in 1889.

Feb. 22, 1889 – United States President Grover Cleveland signed a bill admitting North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington as U.S. states.

Feb. 22, 1893 - The first Alabama-Auburn football game was played in Birmingham's Lakeview Park before a crowd of 5,000 spectators. Auburn won this first match-up 32-22. The rivalry continued until 1907 when the games were stopped, with the renewal of the series not coming until 1948.

Feb. 22, 1909 – W. Hicks was jailed for the nighttime murder of John Askew of Andalusia, Ala. near Travis Bridge in eastern Conecuh County, Ala.

Feb. 22, 1912 – Around 3 a.m., Evergreen, Ala. was struck by an “embryo cyclone” that did considerable damage. E.C. Lee was picked up by the wind and thrown into an outbuilding, breaking one of his arms. Large trees in Evergreen were uprooted and fences were blown away. The Agricultural School was also badly damaged.

Feb. 22, 1924 – U.S. President Calvin Coolidge became the first President to deliver a radio broadcast from the White House.

Feb. 22, 1928 – “Rope,” a dramatic version of Alabama author T. S. Stribling's book “Teeftallow,” opened on Broadway.

Feb. 22, 1932 - The U.S. War Department announced the creation of the "Order of the Purple Heart." The announcement was made on George Washington's 200th birthday. On August 7, 1782, George Washington had created the "Purple Heart" with the "Badge of Military Merit."

Feb. 22, 1937 – Bolling “Bo” Herbert, the Route One, Evergreen mail carrier, lost control of his automobile and crashed into the home of Maury Thames on Cary Street in Evergreen, Ala. He suffered minor injuries, mostly bruises, and was “severely shaken up.”

Feb. 22, 1939 – Former Confederate soldier Hugh Ellis Courtney died in Montgomery, Ala. and was buried in Pine Crest Cemetery in Mobile, Ala. He was born on Feb. 13, 1842 in Mississippi and enlisted at Pineville in Monroe County, Ala. on March 15, 1861. He re-enlisted on May 13, 1861 and was listed as sick at Hugunot Springs on July 15, 1861. He was wounded at Chancellorsville on May 2, 1863 and was as admitted to the 2nd Div. Ala. General Hospital at Richmond, Va. on June 6, 1863. He was listed as a POW at the Wilderness on May 5, 1864 before being forwarded to Point Lookout, Md. on May 18, 1864 and to Elmira Prison, N.Y. on Aug. 15, 1864. He took the Oath of Allegiance on April 30, 1865 and stated that he desired to “return to Bell Landing, where his relatives resides.” He was paroled on June 14, 1865. He was almost 5-8 with a fair complexion, auburn hair and blue eyes.

Feb. 22, 1943 – Construction of the USS Eldridge began at the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. in Newark, N.J.

Feb. 22, 1947 - Alabama author Richard North Patterson was born in Berkeley, Calif.

Feb. 22-25, 1961 – The Class A District I Basketball Tournament was held at T.R. Miller High School in Brewton, Ala. Sixteen teams participated in the tourney, including Castleberry, Chatom, Coffeeville, Excel, Fairhope, Lyeffion, Miller, Monroeville, Repton and Silas.

Feb. 22, 1962 – “A Gift of Time,” a dramatic version of Alabama author Lael Tucker Wertenbaker's book “Death of a Man,” opened on Broadway.

Feb. 22, 1967 – The Conecuh County Training School played the Mobile County Training School in Bay Minette, Ala. with the winner to advance to the state basketball tournament.

Feb. 22, 1987 – Vickie Lynn Pittman of East Brewton, Ala. was murdered. Her body was discovered near Brooklyn, Ala. in March 1987 and she is buried in the Elim Cemetery in Escambia County.

Feb. 22, 1995 - The NFL and CBS Radio agreed to a new four-year contract for an annual 53-game package of games.

Feb. 22, 2010 - A copy of "Action Comics #1," which featured the first appearance of Superman, sold at auction for $1 million.