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Topics Related to This Day in North Carolina History
On November 1, 1859, the Cape Lookout Lighthouse was lit for the first time. Begun in 1857, the lighthouse took two years to construct, replacing a previous light built around 1812. The present tower, rising 208 feet, became the model for all subsequent lighthouse construction along the Outer Banks, especially the Cape Hatteras, Bodie Island and Currituck lighthouses.
On November 1, 1947, Durham police raided the Zion Tabernacle Church on Peabody Street and confiscated a copperhead snake being handled in a church service.
On October 31, 1765, angry Wilmingtonians held a mock funeral for Liberty the day before the Stamp Act was to go into effect. The Stamp Act placed taxes on most forms of paper in the colonies, including newspapers, letters, pamphlets and wills.While Parliament intended to defray costs incurred from stationing British troops in the colonies at critical sites such as Boston, the imposition of the tax drove many colonies to the brink of rebellion.
On October 31, 1886, Commodore Council, inventor of the famous BC headache powder, was born in Chatham County. He and his family moved to Durham, where he later made his living as a pharmacist after being educated at Duke and UNC.
On October 31, 1754, Arthur Dobbs, the newly minted governor of North Carolina, arrived in the colony. He had previously been a very successful politician in Ireland. For the first few years of his tenure Dobbs was a successful governor. By 1764, with factionalism rampant, Dobbs asked for and received a leave of absence.
On October 30, 1629, England’s King Charles I granted much of what is North and South Carolina to his attorney general, Sir Robert Heath. The land was referred to as Carolana, meaning the “land of Charles.”
On October 30, 1918, James Walker Hood died. Hood, as a missionary in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, was sent in 1863 to North Carolina where he served black congregations in New Bern and Beaufort. He established a North Carolina Conference of the AME Zion Church in 1864.
On October 30, 1855, Edward Dudley, North Carolina’s first governor elected by a vote of the people, died.
On October 29, 1929, the stock market crashed earning the day the epithet “Black Tuesday.” It was the beginning of the Great Depression.
On October 29, 1618, Sir Walter Ralegh was beheaded on a charge of treason in London. The former court favorite of Elizabeth I of England had fallen far from his once-respected status.Born sometime around 1554, Ralegh was a true Renaissance man before leading efforts to colonize the New World, serving as a courtier, soldier, poet, historian and member of Parliament.