On March 25, 1524, an expedition under Giovanni da Verrazzano anchored off the coast of North Carolina.
The voyage marked the first European exploration of the North Carolina coast. Verrazzano sought a northward sea route to Asia’s lucrative markets on behalf of Francis I of France.
On March 25, 1758, Richard Dobbs Spaight, the first North Carolina-born governor, was born in New Bern. Orphaned at a young age, Spaight received his preparatory education in Ireland and is thought to have graduated from the University of Glasgow. Returning to North Carolina during the early stages of the Revolution, Spaight served as a military aide to Governor Richard Caswell, though his energies and ambitions were directed more toward politics than they were to warfare.
On March 25, 1918, television sportscaster Howard Cosell was born Howard William Cohen in Winston-Salem. Before Cosell turned three, his family moved to Brooklyn, N.Y., where he later changed his surname from Cohen to Cossell to reflect his Polish roots. Cosell studied law at New York University, passed the state bar in 1941 and served in the U.S. Army in World War II.
On March 24, 1853, William R. D. King was elected vice president of the United States.
Born in Sampson County, King distinguished himself early on as an excellent student, graduating from UNC in 1804 at age 18. He moved to Fayetteville to study law and established his own practice in nearby Clinton a year later. He entered politics in 1808 as a member of the North Carolina House of Commons at age 22, and was elected to United States Congress in 1810. There he allied himself with prominent politicians of the time including Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun.
On March 24, 1862, African American educational leader George E. Davis was born in Wilmington. Davis was the primary organizer and fundraiser for the Rosenwald schools movement in North Carolina.
After graduating from the forerunner of Johnson C. Smith University, Davis became that school’s first black professor. He earned his doctorate over time while teaching science and sociology and was named dean of the faculty in 1905. He stepped down in 1921 to take on the task of implementing the Rosenwald program in North Carolina.
On March 24, 1663, King Charles II granted a charter for land in America to the Lords Proprietors, who were eight of his closest supporters during the Restoration of 1660. Since a permanent English settlement in the new world was important, the king gave broad powers to the proprietors.
On March 23, 1713, the Tuscarora Indian stronghold known as Neoheroka fell to colonial militiamen. As a result of the action, 950 Indians were killed or captured.
The conflict was years in the making. As European settlers encroached on Indian land to meet the needs of the growing colony of North Carolina, tensions escalated between the two groups. In 1711, the Tuscaroras, who controlled most of the land between the Neuse and Roanoke Rivers, began a war with the colonists.
On March 23, 1896, Southern Railway Company broke ground on a new repair facility in Spencer. The Rowan County community was chosen as the location of the new shop complex because it was halfway between Atlanta and Washington, D.C. The shops were named in honor of Southern’s first president, Samuel Spencer.
On March 22, 1882, Governor Oliver Max Gardner, whose political organization known as the “Shelby Dynasty” dominated state politics for a generation, was born in Cleveland County.
Gardner took office as governor only months before the stock market crash of 1929, and the Great Depression that followed presented Gov. Gardner with many unforeseen challenges. One of his many initiatives was to promote his “Live-at-Home” program to encourage the planting of crops for subsistence.