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Topics Related to This Day in North Carolina History
On July 14, 1879, Silas McDowell, prolific self-taught scientist and originator of the concept of the thermal belt, died.
On July 13, 1937, Vernon Rudolph began making yeast-raised doughnuts in a rented building in Winston-Salem. He used a secret recipe he had bought from a New Orleans French pastry chef. The name “Krispy Kreme” had come with the recipe, and Rudolph decided to keep it. He initially sold his glazed confections to local groceries, but when people started asking to buy his fresh, hot doughnuts, he cut a hole in the bakery’s wall and began selling them directly to customers.
On July 13, 1974, John Harris became the first person to hang glide from the 1,600-foot high rock pinnacle of Grandfather Mountain. Harris managed to convince Hugh Morton, the mountain’s owner, to let him make the daring attempt during the mountain’s annual Gathering of the Scottish Clans.
On July 13, 1908, the Carolina Power & Light Company (CP&L) was chartered.The corporation, with a customer base primarily in Raleigh, was the result of a merger of the Raleigh Electric Company, the Central Carolina Power Company and the Consumer Light and Power Company. Within a few years, CP&L owned or controlled local power companies in Oxford, Henderson, Asheville and Goldsboro.
On July 12, 1913, the Grove Park Inn opened on Sunset Mountain near Asheville. Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan delivered an opening address officially welcoming guests and indicating that the inn was “built for the ages.”
On July 12, 1813, a British fleet under the command of Admiral George Cockburn continued the invasion of the Outer Banks that had begun the night before. Before the day was over, the British had taken Ocracoke and Portsmouth Islands.
On July 12, 1833, Frankie Silver was hanged in Morganton after being convicted of killing her husband Charlie with an axe and hacking his body into pieces.
On July 11, 1851, construction on the North Carolina Railroad began in Greensboro.