Jefferson Davis's Birthday – Today In Southern History

Jun 03, 2026

Other Years:

1539 – After being in Florida for only a few days, Spanish Conquistador Hernando de Soto became one of many to claim Florida for the King of Spain.
1784 - The US Army was officially established by Congress under the Articles of Confederation
1833 – U.S. Secretary of War Lewis Cass directly ordered the United States Marshal’s office to remove white settlers from Creek land in Alabama.
1861 – The C.S.S. Sumter was officially designated.
1864 – Confederate defenders mowed down a doomed frontal assault by 12,000 of General Ulysses S. Grant’s invading federal troops at the Battle of Cold Harbor, Virginia.
1871 - Jesse James & his gang were blamed for robbing the Obocock Bank in Corydon Iowa of $15,000
1946 - In Morgan v. Virginia, the US Supreme Court rules that segregating riders by race on interstate buses violates the Interstate Commerce Clause of the Constitution
1955 - KLFY TV channel 10 in Lafayette, LA began broadcasting
1965 – Astronaut Ed White of Texas became the first Southerner and the first American to walk in space during the Gemini 4 mission.
1979 - Ixtoc I rig in the Gulf of Mexico blew out, and spilled 3 million barrels of oil.
1980 - Jimmy Carter won enough Democrat delegates for re-nomination as US President
1989 Nolan Ryan pitched his 11th overall no-hitter for the Texas Rangers.

Today In Southern History