The Treasure Coast

31 July 1715  

On this date in 1715...

A hurricane sank the Spanish treasure fleet in the Florida Straitsoff Vero Beach, Florida. The loss of the fleet set off a financial crisis in Europe similar to the Great Depression of the 1930’s. The large amounts of Spanish gold, silver, and jewels found along the Florida beach over the years from Sebastian Inlet to Port St. Lucie from this and other wrecks gives the area the name, the “Treasure Coast.”

Other Years:

• 1864 - The Battle of Sunshine Church near Round Oak, Georgia. 
• 1966 - Alabama protesters burned Beatle products due to John Lennon's “Jesus” remark.
• 1969 - Elvis Presley performed a live concert for the first time since 1961 at the International Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. It would be the first of his many performances delivered in Vegas.

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Deliverance

30 July 1972  

On this date in 1972...

The movie Deliverance, based on James Dickey’s best-selling novel filmed on the Chattooga River in Georgia and starring Burt Reynolds, John Voight, and of course, Ned Beatty, reached theaters.

Other Years:

• 1619 - The Virginia House of Burgesses formed as the first elected American governing body in Jamestown.
• 1729 - The city of Baltimore was founded in Maryland.
• 1864 - Confederate troops repulsed the assault of Grant's federal troops after they exploded a mine under Southern fortifications in the Battle of the Crater at Petersburg, Virginia.
• 1864 - Federal cavalry occupied Macon, Georgia.
• 1970 - Hurricane Celia made its first landfall and killed 31 people in Cuba, Florida, and Texas.
• 1990 - The first Saturn automobile rolled off the assembly line in Spring Hill, Tennessee.

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The Alabama

29 July 1862  

On this date in 1862...

The most successful warship in American history, the C.S.S.Alabama, was secretly launched at Birkenhead in Cheshire, England.

Other Years:

• 1847 - Cumberland School of Law was founded in Lebanon, Tennessee, one of only 15 law schools exist in the United States at that time.
• 1932 - In Washington, D.C., federal troops dispersed the last of the "Bonus Army" of World War I veterans.
• 1940 - John Sigmund of St. Louis, MO, completed a 292-mile swim down the Mississippi River.
• 1985 - General Motors announced its new Saturn automobile assembly plant would be located in Spring Hill, Tennessee.

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The Bonus Army

28 July 1932  

On this date in 1932...

The Bonus Army, a protest that had grown to 43,000 marchers and mostly-Southern World War I veterans were attacked and dispersed by 1,800 Federal troops and 6 battle tanks led by Douglass McArthur. Four were killed and more than a thousand injured when the troops opened fire and beat protesters around Washington D.C.

Other Years:

• 1862 - Fort Bowie was established at Apache Pass in southeastern Arizona Territory, by U.S. Brigadier General James Charlatan's California volunteers.
• 1868 - The Fourteenth Amendment, which granted former slaves the rights of citizenship, was declared to be ratified by the U.S. Secretary of State.
• 1896 - The city of Miami, FL, was incorporated. 
• 1957 - Jerry Lee Lewis appeared on the Steve Allen Show to perform his hit "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On." In his usual outrageous style, Lewis slung his piano bench across the stage.
• 1994 - Kenny Rogers of the Texas Rangers pitched the 14th perfect game in major league baseball history.

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The Olympic Park Bombing

27 July 1996  

On this date in 1996...

Eric Robert Rudolph set off a bomb that killed two people at acelebration in Centennial Olympic Park at the Atlanta Olympic Games. In its infinite wisdom, the FBI harassed and investigated Richard Jewell, the security officer who found the bomb and saved countless lives, while Rudolph escaped.

Other Years:

• 1586 - Sir Walter Raleigh brought first tobacco to England from Virginia.
• 1824 - Florida Governor William Duval officially removed Principal Seminole Chief Neamathla from his position because of fears that he planned to lead an uprising of Seminole that have avoided removal from Florida.
• 1861 - Confederate troops occupied Fort Fillmore, New Mexico Territory.
• 1864 - Federal General William Tecumseh Sherman needlessly ordered the destruction of all railroad lines in federal occupied territory south of Atlanta.
• 1958 - Southern Aviator and WWII Flying Tiger commander, Lt. Gen. Claire Lee Chennault died at the age of 64 of lung cancer in New Orleans, Louisiana.
• 1962 - Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested in Albany, Georgia.
• 2007 - News helicopters from Phoenix, Arizona television stations KNXV and KTVK collided over Steele Indian School Park in Phoenix with no survivors while covering a police chase. This was the first known incidence of two news helicopters colliding in mid-air, and the worst civilian aviation accident in Phoenix history.

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Cold War Security

26 July 1947  

On this date in 1947...

U.S. President Harry Truman signed the National Security Act, creating the Department of Defense, the National Security Council, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Other Years:

• 1861 - Confederate forces captured Fort Fillmore at Mesilla, New Mexico Territory.
• 1863 - Tennessee Governor, general, and first Republic of Texas President, Sam Houston died at Huntsville, Texas.
• 1864 - The Battle of Ezra Church, Georgia.
• 1953 - Arizona Governor John Howard Pyle ordered an anti-polygamy law clampdown on fundamentalist Mormon residents of Short Creek, Arizona, which became known as the Short Creek Raid.
• 1971 - Apollo 15 launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
• 1991 - Paul Reubens better known as Pee Wee Herman was arrested in Florida, for “public obscenity” in a theater.

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Hannah’s Tale

25 July 1757  

On this date in 1757...

A war party of more than sixty Shawnee warriors attacked farms along the James River in Virginia. At the Dennis family farm they killed Joseph Dennis and his child, then took his young wife, Hannah as a slave along with several other captive white women to the Shawnee village of Chillicothe. After some time, Hannah Dennis gained the trust of the Shawnee and they began to accept her. She eventually escaped and her tale became well known throughout the American colonies. Since that time, numerous novels and movies have been inspired by Hannah Dennis’s ordeal.

Other Years:

• 1729 - North Carolina became an English royal colony.
• 1805 - Aaron Burr visited New Orleans with plans to establish a new country, with New Orleans as the capital.
• 1861 - The Crittenden Resolution, which called for the War of Northern Aggression to be fought to preserve the Union and not for slavery, was passed by the U.S. Congress.
• 1940 - John Sigmund began an 89 hour 46 minute swim in the Mississippi River.
• 1979 - A Texas state record of 109 cm (43”) of rain fell at Alvin, Texas.

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The Monkey Trial

24 July 1925  

On this date in 1925...

The Scopes “Monkey Trial” ended in Dayton, Tennessee, with John T. Scopes convicted of violating a state law against teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution. Scopes was fined $100 plus court costs. His conviction was later overturned on a technicality.

Other Years:

• 1758 - George Washington was admitted to the Virginia House of Burgesses.
• 1836 - Creek Indians defeated Georgia militia in a brief fight near Wesley Chapel in present-day Stewart County, Georgia.
• 1864 - The second Battle of Kernstown, Virginia.
• 1866 - Tennessee became the first state to be readmitted to the US.
• 1901 - Writer William Sydney Porter, better known by his pen name of O. Henry was released from prison in Austin, Texas after serving three years for bank embezzlement.
• 1937 - The state of Alabama dropped charges against the “Scottsboro Boys,” five young black men accused of raping a white woman in Scottsboro, Alabama.

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The Trial of Major Wirz

23 July 1865  

On this date in 1865...

The war crimes trial of Confederate Major, Swiss citizen, andAndersonville prison commandant Henry Wirz began in a show trial similar to that given Mary Surratt, Dr. Samuel Mudd, and others at the end of the War of Northern Aggression. He was charged with 13 murders. One of those he supposedly committed was said to have occurred in February of 1864, before Wirz even arrived at Andersonville. Of the other 12 charges of murder, each and every one of the victims' names was unknown.

Other Years:

• 1832 - The Eastern Cherokee held a council with special envoy Elisha Chester in Red Clay, Tennessee and reject U.S. President Andrew Jackson's proposals for their removal to Indian Territory. The refuse to hold further negotiations as long as the federal government fails to live up to its previous treaties.
• 1863 - The first 60 midshipmen were assigned to the Confederate Naval Academy on board the Confederate States School Ship C.S.S. Patrick Henry.
• 1864 - The Confederate cruiser C.S.S. Tallahassee was commissioned as a commerce raider.
• 1904 - The ice cream cone was invented by Charles E. Menches during the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri.

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Gold in Them Thar Hills

22 July 1829  

On this date in 1829...

Gold was discovered on Cherokee land in present-day Lumpkin County,Georgia. The strike began the first great gold rush on American soil, spelled the death-knell of the “Five Civilized Tribes,” and led ultimately to the Indian Removal Act.

Other Years:

• 1587 - A second group of English settlers arrived on Roanoke Island off North Carolina to re-establish the deserted colony.
• 1862 - The ironclad ram C.S.S. Arkansas fended off a second attack by Federal rams and ironclads at Vicksburg, Mississippi.
• 1864 - The Battle of Atlanta, Georgia began.
• 1933 - Southern aviator Wiley Post ended his around-the-world flight, having traveled 15,596 miles in 7 days, 18 hours and 45 minutes.
• 1975 - Confederate General Robert E. Lee had his U.S. citizenship restored by the U.S. Congress.
• 2011 - Space Shuttle Atlantis landed successfully at Kennedy Space Center in Florida after completing STS-135, the final flight of NASA's space shuttle program.

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The Stampede at First Manassas

21 July 1861  

On this date in 1861...

Confederate troops routed the invading federal army at the First Battle of Manassas, Virginia. The federal hopes for a quick and decisive defeat of Confederate troops ended in an embarrassing stampede back to Washington D.C. that left a trail of discarded guns and equipment all the way.

Other Years:

• 1865 - Bill Hickok killed Confederate veteran Dave Tutt in the first recorded showdown of the Wild-West era across the public square in Springfield, Missouri.
• 1873 - The James–Younger Gang was blamed for the first successful train robbery at Adair, Iowa.
• 1925 - In Dayton, Tennessee, John T. Scopes was convicted and fined $100 for violating the state prohibition on teaching Darwin's theory of evolution.
• 1957 - Althea Gibson of Clarendon County, South Carolina became the first black woman to win a major U.S. tennis title, the Women’s National clay-court singles competition. 
• 2002 - WorldCom Inc. (MCI) headquartered in Ashburn, Virginia filed for what at the time it was the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.
• 2011 - Space Shuttle Atlantis landed at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, ending NASA's space shuttle program.

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Prince Tetlahuehuetzquititzin

20 July 1528  

On this date in 1528...

Spanish Adventurer Pánfilo de Narváez’s expedition, accompanied by Aztec Prince Tetlahuehuetzquititzin left the Apalachee village of Ivitachuco in Florida to begin their quest for gold. The expedition planned to reach the village of Aute, near present-day St. Marks, Florida. Tetlahuehuetzquititzin, who fought with the Spanish against Montezuma, was later killed in a fight with Apalachee warriors.

Other Years:

• 1861 - The Confederate States Congress began holding sessions in Richmond, Virginia.
• 1864 - The Battle of Peachtree Creek, Georgia.
• 1932 - In Washington, D.C., police fired tear gas on World War I veterans, part of the mostly-Southern “Bonus Army,” who attempted to march to the White House in protest of delayed benefits.
• 1985 - Treasure hunter Mel Fisher began raising $400 million in coins and silver from the Spanish galleon "Nuestra Senora de Atocha." The ship sank in 1622 40 miles of the coast of Key West, Florida.

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The First Elvis Single

19 July 1954  

On this date in 1954...

Sun Records of Memphis, Tennessee released the first single byElvis Presley, "That's All Right Mama" and "Blue Moon of Kentucky." Both tracks are covers of blues and bluegrass tunes. Presley's renditions become instant hits on Memphis radio. Other stations are not as enthusiastic and give the record mixed reviews.

Other Years:

• 1866 - Tennessee’s occupation government becomes the first state government to ratify the 14th Amendment to the U.S. constitution.
• 1879 - Doc Holliday killed for the first time, shooting a man who shot up his New Mexico saloon.
• 1912 - An estimated 85 pound meteorite exploded over Navajo County, Arizona, causing approximately 16,000 pieces of debris to rain down on the town of Holbrook.
• 1942 - German U-boats were withdrawn from positions off the Southern Atlantic and Gulf coasts due to heavy losses.
• 1996 - The XXVI Summer Olympic games opened in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Machine Gun Kelly

18 July 1895  

On this date in 1895 - American gangster and public enemy George “Machine Gun” Kellywas born Georgio Barnes, in Memphis, Tennessee.

Other Years:

• 1759 - British Indian representative Edmund Atkins signed a treaty with the Choctaw to establish trade and mutual aid in war angering the Choctaw’s former French allies.
• heodore Childress Wills
• 1902 - Actor and singer Theodore Childress “Chill “Wills was born in Seagoville, Texas.
• 1927 - Ty Cobb of Narrows, Georgia set a major league baseball record with his 4,000th career hit.
• 1937 – Author and “Gonzo Journalist” Hunter S. Thompson was born in Louisville, Kentucky.
• 1995 - Dreaming of You by Texas artist Selena was released posthumously and became the best-selling Latin album in U.S. history. 

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Morgan’s Raid

17 July 1863  

On this date in 1863...

Confederate General John Hunt Morgan's cavalry raided Cincinnati,Ohio and eastward toward the Ohio River.

Other Years:

• 1673 - Frenchmen Louis Joliet and Father Jacques Marquette, on an expedition to explore the Mississippi River reached the mouth of the Arkansas River. To avoid a confrontation with the Spanish they ended their expedition and returned north.
• 1821 - Spain ceded Florida to the U.S.
• 1979 - Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza fled to exile in Miami, Florida.
• 2012 - Seventeen people were wounded by a shooting in a Tuscaloosa, Alabama bar.

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The First Indian Fight

16 July 1585 

On this date in 1585...

Roanoke colonists led by Governor Ralph Lane burned and destroyed the corn crops of the Algonquin village of Aquascogoc in present-day Hyde County North Carolina when the Indians refused to return a silver cup stolen on the previous days visit.

Other Years:

• 1790 - The U.S. Congress declared the city of Washington in the District of Columbia to be the permanent capital of the United States.
• 1894 - Several black strike-breakers hired by a mining company were killed in a fight with striking white miners in Alabama.
• 1935 - Oklahoma City became the first city in the U.S. to install parking meters. 
• 1945 - The first detonation of an atomic bomb occurred in a test at the Trinity Site outside Alamogordo, New Mexico as part of the Manhattan Project.
• 1967 - A prison riot set fire to a prison barracks in Jay, Florida, killing 37 people.
• 1969 - Apollo 11 blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida and began the first manned mission to land on the moon. 

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The Prison Trainwreck

15 July 1864  

On this date in 1864...

An Erie Railroad train jammed with Confederate prisoners, collided with a freight train in New York. More than 100 injured prisoners were dumped into the Elmira, New York prison compound without treatment. Most died within a few days.

Other Years:

• 1539 - Spanish Conquistador Hernando de Soto’s expedition began its march inland from Tampa Bay on his exploration of the South.
• 1830 - The Sioux, Sauk & Fox tribes signed a fourth Treaty of Prairie du Chien guaranteeing the U.S. government control of most of Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri.
• 1862 - The ironclad ram C.S.S. Arkansas survived a night attack by the federal fleet of U.S. Admiral David Farragut as his ships downriver ran past the batteries at Vicksburg, Mississippi.
• 1870 - Georgia was the first Confederate state to be readmitted to the U.S. during reconstruction.
• 1973 - Nolan Ryan of Refugio, Texas became the first pitcher in two decades to win two no-hitters in a season while playing for the California Angels.

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The Ironclad Arkansas

14 July 1862  

On this date in 1862...

The Confederate ironclad ram C.S.S. Arkansas attacked the federal fleet and severely damaged three ships off Vicksburg, Mississippi. The federal ironclad U.S.S. Carandolet was sunk in the Yazoo River from damage inflicted by the Arkansas, but was soon raised and repaired. Also, a lightly-armored federal ram exploded with a shot through her boiler as the Arkansas ran through the federal fleet of U.S. Admiral David Farragut. Though damage and casualties to her crew were catastrophic, the Arkansas reached the shelter of the Vicksburg batteries and fended off several attacks by the federal fleet over the next fewl days. The Arkansas inspired the federal force to abandon its first attempt to reduce Vicksburg and withdraw down river to the safety of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Other Years:

• 1798 - The U.S. Congress passed the Sedition Act, making it a federal crime to write, publish, or utter malicious statements about the U.S. government. 
• 1822 - Peter Poyas led an unsuccessful slave revolt in South Carolina.
• 1864 - Confederate cavalry commanded by General Nathan Bedford Forrest routed a superior federal force at the Battle of Tupelo, Mississippi.
• 1951 - The George Washington Carver National Monument in Joplin, Missouri became the first national park to honor a black man. 
• 1968 - Hank Aaron while playing for the Atlanta Braves hit his 500th career home run. 
• 1975 - Disney Corporation announced its plan to build the EPCOT Center at Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida.

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Forrest’s Birthday

13 July 1821  

On this date in 1821 - Confederate Lt. General Nathan Bedford Forrest was born at Chapel Hill, Tennessee.

Other Years:

• 1585 - A group of 108 English colonists, led by Sir Richard Grenville, reached Roanoke Island, North Carolina
• .1754 - During the French and Indian War, George Washington surrendered the small stockade of Fort Necessity to the French. 
• 1780 - Georgia troops attacked and defeated a Tory encampment at Gowen's Old Fort, South Carolina.
• 1868 - Oscar J Dunn, a former slave, was installed as Louisiana reconstruction Lt. Governor.
• 1978 - Walter Poenisch completed his 129 mile swim to become the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida.
• 1984 - In the Arkansas Ozarks, Terry Wallis was injured in a car accident and stayed comatose, awakening in  June, 2003. 
• 1998 - "Image of an Assassination," the video documentary on Abraham Zapruder's home movie of U.S. President Kennedy's assassination in Dallas went on sale.

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The Bisbee Deportations

12 July 1917  

On this date in 1917...

Mining company sponsored vigilantes kidnapped and deported more than 1,200 striking miners, their families, and supporters from Bisbee, Arizona. 

Other Years:

• 1775 - South Carolina militia forces captured Fort Charlotte, South Carolina.
• 1780 - Patriots forces commanded by Thomas Sumter defeated a Tory force at Williamson's Plantation in present-day York County, South Carolina.
• 1862 - Federal troops occupied the Mississippi River port of Helena, Arkansas.
• 1931 - A major league baseball record for doubles in a single game was set by the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs combined for a total of 23.

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