Topics Related to This Day in North Carolina History

On September 8, 1712, Governor Edward Hyde died of yellow fever at his home on the Albemarle Sound.Born in 1667 in England, Hyde inherited several properties and had ties to royalty. He attended Oxford University but didn’t complete a degree. Despite his connections and inheritance, Hyde faced financial ruin and sold much of his property.

On September 8, 1663, the first transfer of land under the Lords Proprietors in Carolina took place. The grant was made to Sir John Colleton, himself one of the Lords Proprietors of Carolina.

On September 7, 1846, a violent hurricane hit the Outer Banks and opened Hatteras and Oregon Inlets.  Families that lived on Hatteras Island later said they had no idea that it was possible for an inlet to form near their homes, but the following morning “they saw the sea and sound connected together and the live oaks washing up by the roots and tumbling into the ocean.”

On September 7, 1859, John Merrick was born into slavery in Sampson County. When he was 12-years-old, Merrick and his mother moved to Chapel Hill, where he worked in a brickyard and  she was a house servant.When his mother remarried and moved away, Merrick remained in North Carolina and established himself as a brick mason in Raleigh, working on the construction of Shaw University. Economic fluctuations compelled him to take a second job as a bootblack in a barbershop.

On September 7, 1881, Sidney Lanier, widely-acclaimed poet, author and musician, died at his home in Polk County.

On September 7, 1860, educator and founding president of UNC-Greensboro Charles McIver was born in what’s now Lee County.

On September 5, 1953, a nuclear reactor went online at North Carolina State College (now North Carolina State University) in Raleigh, making it the world’s first nuclear research reactor to be designed, built, and operated by an academic institution.Producing thermal watts instead of electrical, the reactor gave nuclear engineering students a hands-on opportunity to learn about nuclear reactor operation.

On September 5, 1802, political rivals John Stanly and Richard Dobbs Spaight, both armed with smooth-bore flintlock pistols, took deliberate aim at each other and fired. It was 5:30 p.m., and the pair were positioned behind the Masonic Lodge in New Bern. Approximately 300 spectators crowded around.

On September 5, 1917, the Pamlico County Schools inaugurated the first motorized school bus service in North Carolina.Pamlico, among the most rural counties in the state, sought to make transportation for students faster and easier. Before the widespread use of automobiles, horse-drawn wagons were used to transport students to school, and the state didn’t provide that student transportation could come at public expense until 1911.