Topics Related to This Day in North Carolina History

Hornets Establish NBA in Charlotte, 1988

On November 4, 1988, the original Charlotte Hornets franchise played its first game, a 113-93 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Charles Frazier and the Crafting of Cold Mountain

On November 4, 1950, Charles Frazier was born in Asheville. Growing up, Frazier has admitted, he was “a great reader of junk.” When he was introduced by a friend to some of the better works of American literature he was hooked.

Thad Eure, N.C. Secretary of State for Over a Half-Century

On November 3, 1936, Thad Eure was elected to his first term as North Carolina’s Secretary of State. Eure would go on to hold the post for 13 terms, serving in the job for a total of 53 years.

Palmer Graduate Cast as Lionel Jefferson

On November 3, 1949, television actor and writer Michael Evans was born in Salisbury.

Mount Mitchell Declared Highest Peak in Eastern U.S.

On November 3, 1835, Elisha Mitchell, a professor at the University of North Carolina, announced that a peak in the Black Mountains of North Carolina was the highest in the eastern United States.

Velma Barfield, Serial Killer

On November 2, 1984, Velma Barfield, from Cumberland County, became the first woman in the nation executed by lethal injection. She was convicted of first-degree murder for the arsenic poisoning of her boyfriend, Stuart Taylor, in 1978.

President James K. Polk and Manifest Destiny

On November 2, 1795, James Knox Polk, the 11th president of the United States, was born on a farm just south of what is today Charlotte. Polk moved to Tennessee in 1806 but returned to his home state to att

LaGrange Country Boy to Harlem Gangster

On 

WWII Pilots Recuperated at Lake Lure

On November 1, 1945, the Lake Lure Rest and Rehabilitation Center in Rutherford County closed.

Cherokee Indian Tsali Was Captured

On November 1, 1838, the Cherokee Indian known as Tsali was captured.  Tsali, also known as Charley, was among those who refused to leave North Carolina after a group of Cherokee leaders signed a treat ceding their tribal lands to the United States.