Topics Related to This Day in North Carolina History

On November 29, 1931, Zachary Smith Reynolds married Broadway actress Libby Holman. The young tobacco heir had just spent the better part of a year following the starlet and torch singer around the world until she finally agreed to marry him.

On November 29, 1906, Samuel Spencer, president of the Southern Railway Company, died in a violent collision on his own railroad. Spencer, a Confederate veteran and influential businessman, accompanied guests to Wake County to hunt quail.

On November 29, 1978, Portsmouth in Carteret County was added to the list of the National Register of Historic Places.

On November 28, 1814, Congress promoted Johnston Blakeley to the rank of Captain for his stellar performance in the ongoing war with Great Britain.

On November 28, 1948, Arthur Talmage Abernethy was appointed Poet Laureate, just before the end of Governor R. Gregg Cherry's term of office.

On November 27, 1981, Mel Tomlinson made his debut as the only African American member of the New York City Ballet.

On November 27, 1962, Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered a speech in Rocky Mount. Before a crowd of nearly 2,000 in the gymnasium at Booker T.

On November 27, 1864, General Braxton Bragg was given command of the Department of North Carolina of the Confederate States Army.