On December 9, 1958, Chowan County native Robert Welch founded the John Birch Society in Indianapolis. Named for a Georgia missionary who was killed by Chinese communists just after the close of World War II, Welch got the society started with a 17-hour speech to a group of 11 businessmen from across the country.
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On December 9, 1921, Ferdinand Foch, formerly the commander-in-chief of all allied armies in World War I, gave a speech at the Union County Courthouse praising America’s role in the conflict. He was joined by Gov. Cameron Morrison and former Gov. Thomas Bickett.
On December 9, 1861, the Confederate prison at Salisbury took in its first Yankee prisoners.
Early in the war, the Confederacy purchased an old cotton mill in southeast Salisbury for $15,000 and converted the structure into a place of confinement. Many of the incarcerated spent their time writing, whittling or playing baseball. These constituted some of the first baseball games played in the South. One prisoner noted that early life within the prison was “more endurable than any other part of Rebeldom.”
On December 9, 1868, at a Grand Council held at Cheowa (modern day Robbinsville), the body politic of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) was created.
On December 8, 1840, Sydenham Benoni Alexander, Confederate officer, legislator and agriculturalist, was born in Mecklenburg County.
Though Alexander graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1860, the Civil War intervened before he could begin his professional life. He enlisted in the First North Carolina Volunteers in April 1861, saw action and was promoted through the ranks to captain before he joined the staff of General Robert Hoke as an inspector-general.
On December 7, 1946, Billy and Benny McCrary, the world’s largest twins, were born in Hendersonville.
On December 7, 1970, the groundbreaking for what would become Jordan Lake took place. The lake was full about 12 years later. Its namesake was U.S. Senator B. Everett Jordan.
On December 7, 1941, Japanese planes staged a surprise attack on U.S. military forces at Pearl Harbor. Harley Jolley was enrolled in the Army Air Force and stationed at Hickam Air Field. He was asleep at 7:55 a.m. when the attack commenced.