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Topics Related to This Day in North Carolina History
On October 12, 1961, President John F. Kennedy, ten months into his 1,000 days in office, spoke to a crowd of 30,000 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill.The occasion was University Day, the annual observance of the founding of the University of North Carolina in 1795. His remarks echoed his inaugural address:I ask you to give to the service of our country the critical faculties which society has developed in you here, I ask you to decide whether you will be, as Goethe put it, an anvil or a hammer.
On October 11, 1918, Person County native Robert Lester Blackwell was killed when he attempted to deliver a message asking for help for his unit near St. Souflet, France.
On October 11, 1947, as the newly created United Nations debated the partition of Palestine and the creation of the state of Israel, North Carolinian Herschel Johnson was at the center of the deliberations.The plain-spoken career Foreign Service officer understood that no plan could satisfy both Arabs and Jews but “if we are to effect through the United Nations a solution to this problem, it cannot be done without the use of the knife.” The plan, with the support of the Soviet Union, passed the Assembly by a 33-17 vote.
On October 11, 1896, the Pea Island Lifesavers, led by Richard Etheridge, rescued the survivors of the schooner E. S. Newman. The operation would prove to be the most dramatic in their many years of service to North Carolina’s Outer Banks.
On October 10, 1934, Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed R. D. W. Connor as the first Archivist of the United States. Robert Digges Wimberly Connor, born in Wilson in 1878, was also the founding father of the North Carolina Office of Archives and History. In 1903, Connor accepted an appointment to the newly formed North Carolina Historical Commission.
On October 10, 1917, Thelonious Monk was born in Rocky Mount. Though Monk lived most of his life in Manhattan, his North Carolina roots ran deep.
On October 9, 1866, Governor William Walton Kitchin was born near Scotland Neck. Educated in local schools and at Wake Forest, he studied law and in 1888 opened a practice in Roxboro.
On October 9, 1837, the steamship Home ran into a powerful hurricane that became known as the “Racer’s Storm.” The ship was en route from New York to Charleston and was operating with a damaged boiler.Steamships, built for speed and comfort, were not designed for rough ocean travel, so the choppy surf was treacherous for the Home. Hoping to wait out the storm, Captain Carlton White grounded the struggling vessel about 100 yards off shore near Ocracoke Village, but the surf tore the vessel apart.
On October 9, 1993, American Idol winner Scotty McCreery was born in Garner. More than 25,000 fans attended Scotty’s homecoming visit at Lake Benson Park the weekend before the finals show in 2011.
On October 8, 1912, Millie McKoy, one of the conjoined twins known as Millie-Christine died. Christine, who could not be separated from her sister, died the following day.