Topics Related to This Day in North Carolina History

“Glory” Hancock, World War I Nurse

On August 13, 1914, Madelon Battle Hancock, the most decorated nurse to serve with the Allied Forces in World War I, left for service in Antwerp, Belgium, with the first British Hospital Unit.

Showman Cecil B. DeMille, Raised in “Little Washington”

On August 12, 1881, movie producer and director Cecil Blount DeMille was born in Massachusetts where his family was vacationing for the summer. The DeMille roots, though, were deeply embedded in eastern North Carolina and Cecil (not yet “C.

Plott Hound Native to Haywood County

On August 12, 1989, the Plott Hound was officially designated as the State Dog.

A Taste for Bacon and the Code Duello

On August 12, 1788, Andrew Jackson challenged Colonel Waightstill Avery to a duel.

William A. Graham, Prominent Whig Politician

On August 11, 1875, prominent politician William A. Graham died. He was born in September 1804 in Lincoln County. Graham’s father was a Revolutionary War soldier and a pioneer in the region’s iron industry.

Robert B. Glenn of Winston-Salem, Prohibition Governor

On August 11, 1854, Governor Robert B. Glenn was born in Rockingham County.

Keith and Malinda Blalock, Couple in Confederate Service

On August 11, 1913, Keith Blalock died while operating a hand car on a mountain railroad. He was the husband of Malinda Blalock, who was North Carolina’s only known female Civil War soldier.

Distress Signal SOS First Heard at Hatteras, 1909

On August 11, 1909, off the coast of Cape Hatteras, telegraph operator Theodore Haubner called for help from the steamship, S. S. Arapahoe.

The Civil Air Patrol and World War II off North Carolina’s Coast

E. W. Gudger, Waynesville Fish Scientist

On August 10, 1866, acclaimed fish biologist Eugene Willis Gudger was born in Waynesville. His ancestors were some of the earliest settlers west of the Blue Ridge Mountains.