Topics Related to This Day in North Carolina History

On May 6, 1818, 11 years after Robert Fulton’s invention of the steamship, Otway Burns launched a similar vessel in North Carolina.

On May 6, 1976, the town of Old Fort in McDowell County rededicated its once nationally-known Andrews Geyser.

On May 5, 1864, the CSS Albemarle crossed Batchelor’s Bay and fought seven Union warships. Upon entering the Albemarle Sound the Confederate ram, under command of Captain J. W.

On May 5, 1972, legendary bluesman Reverend Gary Davis died. Renowned as a finger-style ragtime guitar player, he influenced generations of players.

On May 5, 1864, Flag Officer William F. Lynch decided to take the war to the enemy using the recently completed Richmond-class ironclad CSS Raleigh.

On May 5, 1913, Clarence Steppe, noted landscape nurseryman, was born at Dana in Henderson County.

On May 4, 1932, Bonnie Rowe, legendary wing walker, was killed performing a stunt in Lawrenceville, Georgia. He was 37-years-old. He had almost been killed two years before in Lenoir when, upon opening, his parachute split in two places.

On May 4, 1959, country music star Randy Travis was born in Union County. Raised on a Marshville turkey farm, Travis began playing guitar at age 10, discovering what would become a lifetime love of country music.

On May 4, 1981, Paul Green died.

On May 3, 1918, Stephen Beauregard Weeks died at age 53. A native of Pasquotank County, Weeks became the state’s first professionally-trained historian to earn his living specifically from his skills as a historian.