1995

1995 was the 124th year after the founding of the City of Birmingham.

Events

• March 4: The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum opened to the public on 5th Avenue South in Lakeview.
• March 25: Birmingham Police officer Randall Smith was accidently shot by a fellow officer during a domestic disturbance call.
• April 4: The Grateful Dead performed at the BJCC Colisuem.
• May 12: The 1995 Pepsi Hot Air Affair ballooning event began.
• March 22: Birmingham police officer Randy Smith was severely injured when accidentally shot by another officer.
• June 27: A revised Birmingham Citizen Participation Plan was adopted.
• October 10: Richard Arrington, Jr won a 5th consecutive term as Mayor of Birmingham in the 1995 Birmingham mayoral election.
• October 28: Viaduct Spook-a-delic
• December 28: The Roma Country Club in Homewood was dissolved.
• Area code 205 was reduced from covering the whole state to covering the top half.
• The City Action Partnership was founded.
• Obligation, Inc. was founded.
• Vestavia Hills annexed Liberty Park.
• A state law was passed enabling the creation of the Storm Water Management Authority.
• The Birmingham City Center Business Improvement District was created.

Business

• November: Developers Diversified Realty (DDR) of Beechwood, Ohio purchased the Eastwood Festival Centre for $21.5 million.
• Southland Tube was purchased by the Montgomery family.
• Walter Industries returned to public ownership.
• Van and Tippi Sykes sold Tippi's Deli and Bakery.
• Brownell Travel merged with Destinations Travel.
• Reynolds Ready Mix was acquired by Paul Bryant Jr's Green Group, Inc. and re-named Ready Mix USA.
• Bair's Ski Shop diversified as Bair's Ski & Patio.

Openings

• March 10: The Magic City Brewery opened for business.
• November: BioHorizons was founded.
• Alfredo's Pizza Cafe opened at the Eastwood Festival Centre.
• Big Communications was founded by John Montgomery.
• Carraway & Associates Inc., Architects was founded by John Carraway.
• The Coalition of Independent Music Stores was formed.
• Chez Lulu opened in English Village.
• CookingLight.com was launched.
• Hula Funk records was founded.
• Kinetic Communications was founded by Jay Brandrup.
• Pyro Productions was founded.
• Southern Cal Transport was founded.
• V. Richard's opened.
• Vamp & Tramp bookseller was founded.
• Beavers Christmas Tree Farm opened in Trafford.
• Dick Pigford founded ArchitectureWorks.
• Edward Wall Jr founded MegaMet Industries.

Closings

• January 26: Newberry's department store closed to make way for McWane Science Center's IMAX Dome Theater.
• April 1: Amtrak's Gulf Breeze route made its final run from Birmingham to Mobile.
• Club Jaguar closed amidst Birmingham City Council hearings aimed at shutting it down.
• Stream of Consciousness Koffiehuis closed.

Sports

• March 9: The Olympic soccer countdown clock was dedicated.
• April 25: Hank Manning set a Birmingham Barons record with 3 sacrifice flies in a game against Chattanooga.
• October 18: The UAB Blazers' dragon head logo was unveiled.
• The Birmingham Barracudas played their only season.
• Watson Brown became head football coach of the UAB Blazers.
• The artificial turf at Legion Field was replaced with Bermuda grass in preparation for 1996 Olympic soccer.
• Bob Newton succeeded Gerald Gann as head coach of the Homewood football team.

Individuals

• Leah Rawls Atkins retired from Auburn University.
• Dyer Carlisle III became assistant principal of Homewood Middle School.
• Artist Joe DeCamillis moved to Birmingham.
• Paul Harris retired as president of Davenport & Harris Funeral Home.
• Senator Howell Heflin announced he would not seek re-election.
• Band director Arthur Means retired from Carver High School.
• Tim Ritchie was hired as Director of Programs for the James Rushton Foundation.
• State Superintendent of Education Wayne Teague retired.
• Annetta Verin rejoined the legal staff of the City of Birmingham.
• Richard Vigneulle stepped down from Shades Mountain Independent Church.

Births

• January 16: Derrick "Brazi" Marks, rapper
• January 19: Eric Mobley, engineer and composer
• March 14: Brandon Aubrey, Birmingham Stallions and NFL placekicker
• Errol Milliard, US army combat engineer killed in action in Afghanistan
• A. C. Carter, artist, designer and musician

Graduations

• Painter Ahmad Austin from Huffman High School
• Editor Glenny Brock from John Carroll Catholic High School
• Museum curator Graham Boettcher, bachelor of arts in German Studies from Yale University
• Actor Michael Emerson from the University of Alabama master's program at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival
• Attorney Vanessa Leonard, juris doctorate from the University of Alabama School of Law
• Real estate agent James F. Sulzby IV from Auburn University
• CEO D. Riley Stuart retired from Brice Building Company.

Awards

• Eric Wieschaus was a co-winner of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.
• UAB Distinguished Alumnus Award : James H. Woodward
• Alabama Business Hall of Fame: Red Dove; George LeMaistre; John Miller, Jr; William Spencer III; Louis Willie
• Miss Shelby County: Melody Arledge Byrne

Deaths

• January 30: Milo Carlton, founder of Milo's Hamburgers
• February 27: Amasa Smith Sr, engineer
• March 31: John M. Harbert, businessman
• May 13: Ulysses Mason Jr, physician
• June 13: Glenn Messer, aviation pioneer
• June 18: Izzy Jannazzo, boxer
• July 25: Robert F. Gibbons, writer and English teacher
• September 9: Robert Waldrop, former Homewood mayor
• November 7: Ian Sturrock, World War II fighter pilot and bagpiper
• December 8: Sidney McDyles, printer
• Morris Benson, community activist

See also List of Birmingham homicides in 1995

Works

• A headstone for Baylis Grace was erected at Forest Hill Cemetery.
• Mary Buckelew Parkway was opened in Mount Olive.
• The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963 novel by Christopher Paul Curtis
• "The Foot Soldier" sculpture by Ronald McDowell was dedicated in Kelly Ingram Park.
• A Stroll Down Cobb Lane, cookbook by Mikki Bond, owner of Cobb Lane Restaurant
• The Schoolhouse Door: Segregation's Last Stand at the University of Alabama by E. Culpepper Clark

Buildings

• The Awtrey Office Building on Stadium Trace Parkway in Hoover was constructed.
• A new 24th Street Viaduct was completed, replacing the original.
• The Baptist Church of the Covenant sanctuary was built.
• The original Center Point Fire Station No. 5 in Chalkville was constructed.
• Green Pond Library was built.
• The former Guaranty Federal Savings and Loan building was renovated for New City Church.
• The Jefferson Rehabilitation Health Center was constructed in Ketona.
• The North Jefferson Veterans Memorial Park was constructed in Fultondale.
• The Medstone Professional Building was built in Hoover.

Films

• Soul of the Game
• Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story, TV movie starring Sela Ward

Music

• Brother Cane released the album Seeds.
• Emmylou Harris released the album Wrecking Ball.

See also

• 1995 City Stages
• 1995 Birmingham Barons
• 1995 UAB Blazers
• 1995 Iron Bowl

Context

In 1997 Republicans took control of both U.S. houses for the first time since 1953. The WB and UPN television networks began operation. The San Francisco 49ers won Super Bowl XXIX, their fifth Super Bowl win. Terrorists released sarin gas aboard Tokyo trains. The bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City became America's worst domestic terrorist indicent. Christopher Reeve was paralyzed. The Houston Rockets won their second NBA championship in a row. The New Jersey Devils won the Stanley Cup. Netscape went public. The DVD format was announced. O. J. Simpson was found not guilty of double murder for the deaths of former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. The Million Man March took place in Washington, D.C. The Atlanta Braves won the World Series. Bill Watterson retired from Calvin and Hobbes.

Notable films included Toy Story, Apollo 13, Se7en, Braveheart, and Crimson Tide. Notable popular songs included "Gangsta's Paradise" by Coolio, "Waterfalls" by TLC, and "One Sweet Day" by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men. Carol Shields won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Stone Diaries.

Notable deaths included entertainer Burl Ives, sportscaster Howard Cosell, television host Art Fleming, entertainer Ginger Rogers, medical researcher Jonas Salk, actress Lana Turner, disc jockey Wolfman Jack, actress Eva Gabor, musician Jerry Garcia, baseball player Mickey Mantle, and entertainer Dean Martin.

1990s

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