Murfreesboro – Today In Southern History

31 December 1862 

On this date in 1862…

The Battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee began.

 

Other Years:

  • 1794 – After agreeing to a peace with the United States on November 7th, the Cherokee, the Chickamauga band, and the U.S. exchanged prisoners, effectively ending the Chickamauga War.
  • 1841 – Alabama became the first state to license dental surgeons.
  • 1862 – Skirmish at Parker Cross Roads, Tennessee
  • 1862 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signed the unconstitutional act admitting West Virginia to the Union.
  • 1953 – Willie Shoemaker of Fabens, Texas broke his own record as he won his 485th race of the year.
  • 1974 – Private citizens in the U.S. were allowed to buy and own gold for the first time simce the 1930’s.
 
 

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Charleston Arsenal – Today In Southern History

 30 December 1860

On this date in 1860…

South Carolina state troops seized the federal arsenal at Charleston.

 

Other Years:

  • 1853 – The United States bought about 45,000 square miles of land from Mexico in a deal known as the Gadsden Purchase.
  • 1863 – Twenty Confederate States Marines froze to death after a federal warship swamped their boat and then fired on the survivors at Matagorda Peninsula, Texas.
  • 1961 – Jack Nicklaus lost his first pro golf match to Gary Player in an exhibition at Miami, Florida.
  • 1978 – Following Public outrage after Hayes punched Clemson University player Charlie Bauman during the Gator Bowl,Ohio State University fired its football coach, Woody Hayes. .
 
 

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Chickasaw Bluffs – Today In Southern History

29 December 1862 

On this date in 1862…

Confederate troops under General Joseph E. Johnston repulsed federal General W.T. Sherman’s first attempt on Vicksburg at the Battle of Chickasaw Bluffs, Mississippi.

 

Other Years:

  • 1776 – Members of the Mingo tribe under Chief Pluggy attacked the stockade at John McClelland’s station, a settlement near modern-day Lexington, Kentucky. After many men on both sides were killed, the Mingo gave up the attack.
  • 1778 – British troops occupied Savannah, Georgia.
  • 1809 – Sovereign Grand Master of the Southern Jurisdiction of Scottish Rite Freemasonry, Confederate General, and Confederate Indian Commissioner, Albert Pike was born.
  • 1830 – Nine missionaries issued a proclamation defending the Cherokee against the actions of Georgia for the state’s attempts to remove the tribe from their lands.
  • 1835 – The Treaty of New Echota was signed, ceding all the lands of the Cherokee east of the Mississippi River to the United States.
  • 1845 – Texas became the 28th U.S. state.
  • 1862 – General Robert E. Lee executed a deed of manumission for (freed) all the slaves of the Custis estate.
  • 1930 – Fred P. Newton of Clinton, Oklahoma completed longest swim ever (1826 miles), when he swam the Mississippi River from Ford Dam, Minn, to New Orleans.
  • 1982 – Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant coached his final game as Alabama won the Liberty Bowl. Coach Bryant retired with the record for wins by a college football coach at 323.
 
 

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Calhoun Resigns as VP – Today In Southern History

28 December 1832 

On this date in 1832…

John C. Calhoun became the first vice-president in U.S. history to resign from office when a still higher tariff replaced the Tariff of Abominations of 1828.  He returned to South Carolina, had a state convention called, and directed the passage of the famous South Carolina Ordinance of Nullification.

 

Other Years:

  • 1791 – A Cherokee delegation including Chief Bloody Fellow arrived in Philadelphia to meet with President George Washington. The meeting was delayed by Secretary of War Knox until the Cherokee had been outfitted in “more proper” clothing.
  • 1835 – Seminoles ambushed the Dade Party, 110 men under the command of Major Francis L. Dade who were sent from Fort Brooke to reinforce Fort King, Florida. Only two soldiers made it back to Fort Brooke, and one of those died of his wounds a few days later.  The Dade Massacre began the Second Seminole War.
  • 1948 – DC-3 airliner NC16002 disappearsed 50 miles south of Miami, Florida.
  • 1981 – Elizabeth Jordan Carr, the first American test-tube baby, was born in Norfolk, Virginia.
  • 1987 – In Arkansas, R Gene Simmons killed 2, later the bodies of 14 of his relatives were found at his home near Dover.
 
 

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Stephen F. Austin Dies – Today In Southern History

27 December 1836 

On this date in 1836…

Texas pioneer and impresario Stephen F. Austin died at West Columbia, Texas after a lengthy illness resulting from his imprisonment in Mexico.

 

Other Years:

  • 1761 – Creek Indians led by a chief known as “The Mortar” attacked several English in the “Long Canes” area of South Carolina killing 14 settlers.
  • 1845 – Dr. Crawford Williamson Long used anesthesia for childbirth for the first time, the delivery of his own child in Jefferson, Georgia
  • 1860 – South Carolina troops seized Castle Pinckney and Fort Moultrie in Charleston Harbor.  The U.S. Revenue Cutter William Aiken surrendered to South Carolina authorities.
  • 1900 – Kentucky native and prohibitionist, Carrie Nation staged her first raid on a saloon at the Carey Hotel in Wichita, Kansas breaking every liquor bottle she could find.
  • 1965 – The International Swimming Hall of Fame was dedicated in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. 
 
 

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