Know Southern History

Yorktown Siege Begins – Today In Southern History

cptpeewee64Leave a comment

28 September 1781 

On this date in 1781…

The Continental Army under General George Washington began the siege of Lord Cornwallis’s British troops at Yorktown, Virginia.


Other Years:

1528 – A Spanish fleet sank in a Florida hurricane drowning about 380 victims.
1787 – The U.S. Congress voted to send the new Constitution of the United States to the state legislatures for their approval. 
1789 – In the U.S., the first Federal Congress passed a resolution that asked President George Washington to recommend to the nation a day of thanksgiving. Several days later Washington issued a proclamation that named Thursday, November 26, 1789 as a “Day of Publick Thanksgiving.”
1912 – W.C. Handy’s “Memphis Blues” was published.
1967 – The first mayor of Washington, DC, Walter Washington, took office.
1968 – The Atlanta Chiefs won the first North American Soccer League Championship/
2000 – The U.S. Federal Drug Administration approved the use of RU-486 in the United States to induce abortion.

    Read: Why Know Southern History?

    © 2022 Grey Hand Media
    All Rights Reserved

    Ponce De Leon – Today In Southern History

    cptpeewee64Leave a comment

    27 September 1514 

    On this date in 1514…

    Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon was granted the title Military Governor of Bimini and Florida.


    Other Years:

    1862 – Federal General W.T. Sherman ordered that for every instance of firing onto a supply boat, ten families should be expelled from Memphis, Tennessee. Sherman then began placing Confederate prisoners on boats as human shields.
    1864 – The Centralia Massacre occurred in Missouri when twenty-four Federal soldiers were captured and executed by troops under “Bloody Bill” Anderson as retaliation for similar atrocities commited against Confederates.
    1964 – The Warren Commission issued a report concluding that Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone in assassinating President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas.
    1864 – The Battle of Fort Davidson at Pilot Knob, Missourri was the opening engagement of General Sterling Price’s Missourri Raid. Federal troops fled the fort under cover of darkness, ending the battle with forces suffering 1,700 combined casualties.
    1903 – Wreck of the Old 97, a train crash made famous by the song of the same name occurred en route from Monroe, Virginia, to Spencer, North Carolina.
    1930 – Bobby Jones of Atlanta, Georgia won the U.S. Amateur Championship to complete what was then the Grand Slam of golf: the U.S. Open, British Open, U.S. Amateur, and British Amateur.
    1998 – Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals set a major league baseball record when he hit his 70th home run of the season.

    Read: Why Know Southern History?

    © 2022 Grey Hand Media
    All Rights Reserved

    Daniel Boone – Today In Southern History

    cptpeewee64Leave a comment

    26 September 1820 

    On this date in 1820…

    Daniel Boone died at the age of 85 in Osage Creek Missouri. His remains were later re-interred in Frankfort, Kentucky.


    Other Years:

    1789 – Thomas Jefferson was appointed America’s first Secretary of State and Edmund Jennings Randolph (both from Virginia) was appointed the first Attorney General under the U.S. Constitution.
    1888 – Poet, dramatist, and Nobel Prize winner, T. S. Eliot was born in  St Louis Missouri.

    1933 – Gangster Machine Gun Kelly surrendered to the FBI outside Memphis, Tennessee. Kelly shouted out, “Don’t shoot, G-Men!”, which became a nickname for FBI agents. 
    1962 – “The Beverly Hillbillies” premiered on CBS-TV.
    1980 – The Cuban government abruptly closed Mariel Harbor to end the boatlift of Cuban “refugees” that began the previous April. 
    1981 – Nolan Ryan of Texas set a Major League record by throwing his fifth no-hitter.

    1985 – Shamu, the first killer whale to survive being born in captivity, was born at Sea World in Orlando, Florida.
    1991 – The two-year Biosphere 2 experiment began in Oracle Arizona.
    1993 – The eight people who had stayed in “Biosphere II” emerged to end the experiment,

    Read: Why Know Southern History?

    © 2022 Grey Hand Media
    All Rights Reserved

    Little Rock Central High – Today In Southern History

    cptpeewee64Leave a comment

    25 September 1957 

    On this date in 1957 …

    With 300 paratroopers of the 101st Airborne standing guard, U.S. Marshalls escorted nine black children into class during the manufactured crisis at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. 


    Other Years:

    1789 – The first U.S. Congress adopted the first 12 amendments to the Constitution and sent them to the states for ratification. The first ten were ratified and became known as the Bill of Rights.
    1845 – Future Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest married Presbyterian minister’s daughter, Mary Ann Montgomery in Hernando, Mississippi.

    1847 – During the Mexican-American War, U.S. forces led by Virginia General Zachary Taylor captured Monterrey Mexico. 
    1897 – Southern literary genius and Nobel Prize winner, William Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi.
    1965 – Willie Mays of Westfield, Alabama became the oldest man to hit 50 home runs in a single season at the age of 34, after also setting the record for the youngest to hit 50 ten years earlier.
    1992 – In Orlando, Florida a judge ruled in favor of 12-year-old Gregory Kingsley, who had sought a divorce from his biological parents
    1995 – Ross Perot of Texas announced that he would form the Independence Party. 

      Read: Why Know Southern History?

      © 2022 Grey Hand Media
      All Rights Reserved

      Shenandoah Valley Torched – Today In Southern History

      cptpeewee64Leave a comment

      24 September 1864 

      On this date in 1864…

      Federal armies began a campaign to burn all crops and civilian property in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.


      Other Years:

      1862 – Federal General W.T. Sherman ordered his subordinates to destroy every house in Randolph, Tennessee in retaliation for Confederate fire upon supply boats.
      1883– The first National Black Convention met in Louisville, Kentucky.
      1935 – Earl Bascom and Weldon Bascom produced the first rodeo ever held outdoors under electric lights at Columbia, Mississippi.
      1957 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower violated his day-old agreement with Governor Orville Faubus and sent federal troops to Little Rock, AR, to enforce school integration.
      1960 – The first nuclear powered aircraft carrier was launched from Newport News, Virginia. 
      2001 – U.S. President George W. Bush froze the assets of 27 suspected terrorists and terrorist groups after the 9-11 attack.

      2005 – Hurricane Rita made landfall on the Gulf Coast, devastating Beaumont, Texas and portions of southwestern Louisiana, while causing severe damage as far north as Arkansas.

      Read: Why Know Southern History?

      © 2022 Grey Hand Media
      All Rights Reserved