Topics Related to This Day in North Carolina History

On June 14, 1918, following a 90-day search operation, the U.S. Navy declared the crew and passengers of the USS Cyclops dead. Of the 293 souls on board, six were North Carolinians: Junius L.

On June 14, 1838, a boiler on the steamship Pulaski exploded while the ship was off the North Carolina coast. The vessel was bound for Baltimore from Savannah.

On June 14, 1908, arranger, composer and orchestra leader John Scott Trotter was born in Charlotte.

On June 13, 1940, the USS North Carolina (BB-55) was launched at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, beginning a highly decorated career. Commissioned on April 9, 1941, the ship became the first of ten fast battleships to join the fleet in World War II.

On June 13, 1905, old-time musician Lesley Riddle was born in the Silvers Gap community north of Burnsville. Riddle learned to play blues and gospel songs on the guitar after losing most of a leg in an accident at a cement plant.

On June 13, 1929, Governor Robert W. Scott was born in Alamance County to family active in the state’s political and social life.

On June 13, 1903, Ambrose Jessup Tomlinson spent much time in prayer at the “fields of the wood” in Cherokee County and had a revelation that the local Holiness church was the Church of God as prophesized in the Bible.

On June 12, 1942, the U.S. Army Air Force took over Seymour Johnson Field for use as a training center.