Today in History

March 19

1827 -- John Rollin Ridge was born on this day in the Cherokee nation in what is now Georgia. Ridge was part of the family that came to Fayetteville after civil strife between Cherokees led to the killing of his father and grandfather. Educated in Fayetteville and the Northeast, Ridge is generally regarded as the first American Indian to write and publish a novel.
1969 -- Senator Edmund Muskie spoke at the University of Arkansas on this day.
1972 -- Rolling Hills Baptist Church was organized on this day.

March 18

1910 -- The University of Arkansas Board of Trustees approved a regulation on this day limiting whose names could be placed on Senior Walk to students who were to receive degrees.

March 17

We have no historical notes of interest yet for this date. If your business was established on this date, or your school opened or your community event was first held on this date, let us know. Send us a note.

March 16

1908 -- Students in the Geology II class at the University of Arkansas boarded the southbound cannonball on this day to visit the “Folded Regions” of Arkansas. After the train trip, the class climbed to the “highest mountain between the Appalachians and the Rockies,” Mount Magazine.

March 15

1862 -- Harper’s Weekly reported on this day that General Halleck had taken Fayetteville “with numerous prisoners and great quantities of stores, ammunition, baggage, and the like.” The report also indicated that 42 officers and troops of the 5th Missouri Regiment had been poisoned at Mudtown by food left behind by the enemy, suggesting that this report was made before the Battle of Pea Ridge on March 6-7 and meaning that the Union had not occupied Fayetteville long before moving north again.

March 14

1956 -- Duke Ellington and his orchestra performed a concert in the University of Arkansas fieldhouse this day.
1969 -- Edwin Newman, the NBC news commentator, spoke at the University of Arkansas on this day.

March 13

1951 -- The first television show to be filmed in Fayetteville occurred on this day. The nationally shown Horace Heidt show was filmed at the University of Arkansas fieldhouse for later broadcast.
1968 -- John Ciardi, the poetry editor of the Saturday Review and distinguished literary critic, gave a lecture about Dante to University of Arkansas students on this day. Ciardi visited campus as part of the university’s Literary Festival.
1969 -- Muhammad Ali and Floyd McKissick spoke as part of Symposium '69 on this day at the University of Arkansas. Ali advocated segregation and peaceful separation, while McKissick brought a more complex message, explaining the differing beliefs and expectations the races have when dealing with the same semantics.

March 12

1970 -- Buckminster Fuller, the architect who invented the geodesic dome, spoke in Barnhill Fieldhouse at the University of Arkansas on this day. Among his recommendations: there’s no better way to learn than to make mistakes.
2005 -- The world record for the 400-meter dash was broken in Fayetteville on this day. Kerron Clement of the University of Florida set the record running in the NCAA National Indoor Track & Field Championship with a time of 44.57, beating the 10-year-old record set by Michael Johnson. Coach John McDonnell of the University of Arkansas claimed his 40th national title as a coach as well.

March 11

1854 -- On this day, Stirman & Dickson began advertising for payment of debts owed them "to furnish us with the means of purchasing a stock of Coffee and Sugar to supply our friends with during the present year. For money we must have -- and we hope none will consider themselves slighted by this invitation. We take this method of asking payment, as we are modest and dislike to dun our friends very personally as is frequently the case."
1886 -- The Fayetteville Building and Loan Association was incorporated on this day with E.B. Harrison as president.
1959 -- The Kingston Trio first performed in Fayetteville on this day. Dave Guard, Bob Shane and Nick Reynolds performed to a capacity crowd at the King Porker Party at the University of Arkansas.
2005 -- Wallace Spearman of Fayetteville set the American record twice on this day for the 200-meter dash. Spearman set a record of 20.21 seconds in his preliminary race and then broke that in the finals with 20.10 seconds, the second fastest time in the world. The record was set at the NCAA National Indoor Track & Field Championships being held at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville. Omar Brown, an UA runner from Jamaica, set the Jamaican record in the same race at 20.52.

March 10

1952 -- Dr. William G. Pollard, director of the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies, gave a series of lectures at the University of Arkansas starting on this day. The lectures, titled “The Riddle of the Sphinx,” were given as part of Religious Emphasis Week.