15 May 1972
On this date in 1972…
Anti-Southern zealot Arthur Bremer shot and paralyzed Alabama Governor and Democrat presidential front-runner George Wallace as Wallace campaigned in Laurel, Maryland. In the aftermath of the assassination attempt, which ended Wallace’s presidential aspirations, the usual gun-control proponents were strangely silent.
Other Years:
- 1716 – French commander Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville sent three Natchez allies to their village to bring back the head of a Chief Oyelape, the Natchez leader who ordered the killing of five Frenchmen.
- 1802 – Confederate General Isaac Trimble was born in Culpepper County, Virginia..
- 1846 – Texas Governor Pierce Butler, and Colonel M.G. Lewis (brother of Meriwether Lewis), and sixty-three representatives of the Aionai, Anadarko, Caddo, Comanche, Kichai, Lepan Apache, Longwha, Tahwacarro, Tonkawa, Waco, and Wichita tribes signed a peace treaty designed to protect both the Indians and Texas settlers.
- 1862 – Federal General Benjamin Butler issued his infamous General Order #28 stating that any woman of New Orleans who showed disrespect for occupying yankees should be treated as a prostitute plying her trade.
- 1862 – The Confederate cruiser Alabama was launched as the British ship Enrica at Birkenhead, England, where she had been built in secret.
- 1864 – The cadets of Virginia Military Institute fought at the Battle of New Market, Virginia.
- 1968 – A tornado struck Jonesboro, Arkansas at 10:00 PM, causing massive devastation and killing 36 people.
- 1976 – The song “Kentucky Moonrunner” by Cledus Maggard hit #85 on the charts.
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