"Old Sparky" - Today in Southern History
4 May 1990
On this date in 1990…
Jesse Tafero’s execution in Florida is botched after his electric chair malfunctions three times, causing flames to leap from his head. The malfunctions cause several states to cease use of the electric chair and adopt lethal injection as their capital punishment.
In other Years:
1863 – The Battle of Chancellorsville ended when the federal army fled the field.
1863 – Battle of Salem Church, Virginia.
1865 – The Confederate departments of Alabama, Mississippi and East Louisiana were surrendered at Citronelle, Alabama.
1865 - US President Lincoln was buried in Springfield, Illinois
1956 - Rockabilly legend Gene Vincent recorded the classic “Be-Bop-A-Lula,” in Nashville, Tennessee.
1959 - Ella Fitzgerald of Newport News, Virginia became first Black woman to win a Grammy Award
1961 - The first ‘Freedom Ride’ of idealistic northern students departed Washington, DC for Mississippi.
1990 – Latvia renewed its claim of independence from the Soviet Union.
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