this is another piece of music authored by blind tom. this piece is called the battle of manassas. is speaks to tom's ability to re-create sounds he heard. of course, the battle of manassas was one of the first battles of the civil war. people who heard this piece performed and had been on the battlefield thought it was almost shocking how accurately tom was able to use the sounds of the piano to mimic sounds that would be heard on a typical battlefield. this document is very typical of the concert programs that you would have received if you attended a blind tom concert. you see here, songs, sketch of the life of blind tom. an image of the adult tom. again, you see him depicted with his eyes closed. inside there are accounts of tom's life. and on the back is a typical concert program. tom wiggins received acclaim across the world. by some accounts he was the highest grossing musical artist of the entire 19th century. unfortunately, because of his race and his disabilities, he never saw a cent of that money. at one point a newspaper article in "the new york times" reported that tom

we will hear about civil war era clothing, a textile loom used in the city's industrial boom, and blind tom, a slave and musical prodigy. rebecca: we are here at the columbus museum in columbus, georgia. currently we're standing in our chattahoochee legacy gallery. this is our permanent gallery that focuses on the history of columbus and its many highlights , from the prehistoric period 10,000 years ago up to the 1970's, even moving forward into the columbus we know today. standing in the portion of the legacy gallery that deals with the civil war. columbus was a significant city during the war for many reasons, not least of which was that it was the second largest manufacturing center for the confederacy, second only to the confederate capital of richmond. however, many residents of columbus also left to fight in the war. bys jacket we are standing was worn by one of those residents. is an iconic red jacket that was worn by the columbus guards. this was one of the city's private militia companies. these sorts of organizations were very common throughout the south and the 19th century. it w

or blind tom, as he was known. he was known as that because he was the sheriff of cook county when al capone -- in fact, he had been in congress, he quit congress to go home to chicago to become sheriff because it was a better job. really a better job in that circumstance. and they came back to congress, by this time known as blind tom, and people thought that it was, you know, a handicap. so he got all these letters that said, it is so brave of you to serve in congress with your disability. it worked for him. but so when he turned 80, my parents had a birthday party for him. and he was known as a great aficionado of the racetrack. and they had a big cake that had a racetrack on it. and one of the long time employees of this committee, walter little, and i picked up a cake to move it to put something on the table. not knowing that it had sort of a box at each end, but nothing in the middle. so we dropped the cake. and then it was disaster. walter said, you stay here and i will fix it. so i said -- i remember exactl

or blind tom, as he was known. he was known as that because he was the sheriff of cook county when al capone -- in fact, he had been in congress, he quit congress to go home to chicago to become sheriff because it was a better job. really a better job in that circumstance. and they came back to congress, by this time known as blind tom and people thought that it was you know, a handicap. so he got all these letters that said it is so brave of you to serve in congress with your disability. it worked for him. but so when he turned 80, my parents had a birthday party for him. and he was known as a great aficionado of the racetrack. and they had a big cake that had a racetrack on it. and one of the long time employees of this committee, walter little, and i picked up a cake to move it to put something on the table. not knowing that it had sort of a box at each end, but nothing in the middle. so we dropped the cake. and then it was disaster. walter said, you stay here and i will fix it. so i said -- i remember exactly w

to learn about the city's past, hear the music for blind and deaf african american slave known as blind tom -- >> ♪ tom received a claim across the world. by some counts, he was the highest grossing musical artist of the entire 19th century. unfortunately because of his race and disability, he never saw a cent of that money. >> later, see how fort benning helped build this nation's army for nearly a century. establisheding was in columbus, georgia, on approximately 85 acres of land in october of 1918. on the 11th day and 11th hour, the working to a close. there was talk of closing fort benning. many officers who served in the american expeditionary forces to france went before congress to testify that have our soldiers had better training, they would not have suffered the casualties they did in just 210 days of actual combat. it was determined by congress we would keep for benning on a smaller scale. luckily for us, it survived. >> but first, go on board the css jackson, one of only four surviving ironclads dating back to the civil war. jeff seymour: we are in the national civil war naval m

tom brady. we will look at it all in "the blinds to go's summer celebration sale's so hot you're gonna need shades. not those shades. these shades! take a cool 20-35% off all sun shades, cascade shades, basswood and more. shades on sale. there's nothing cooler than that. blinds to go. blinds for life. cannonball! blinds to go's summer celebration sale is going on now make a splash with new sun shades, cascade shades, basswood and more, all at 20-35% off! it's the hottest sale of the year. just when you need to cool off most. blinds to go. blinds for life. >>> this morning in "the download" we catch you up on the biggest stories. >> from jimmy carter's cancer announcement and the spill of toxic chemicals in the waters. we begin with the deadly explosions in china. >> deadly explosions ripped through the port city of tianjin, china. a warehouse storing flammable materials exploding not once, but twice. hospitals, emergency services overflowing trying to cope with the hundreds wounded. >> daybreak revealed a post an apocalyptic waste land. >> at 22%, eight points higher than ben carson. still the cla

blind trusts. governor christie's wife marry path retired from her high paying wall street job before chris christie announced his candidacy. >>> on the pennsylvania political front katie mcginty made it official today governor tom wolf, former chief of staff will run for u.s. senate facing off against former delaware county congressman joe sestak in the democratic primary and the winner of that contest is going to face incumbent republican pat toomey, in the fall. >>> well tonight is national night out a night when neighborhoods come together to fight crime this year especially folks are paying attention. "action news" reporter sharrie williams has the the story. >> keep your hat on. >> reporter: from atlantic city to wilmington to philadelphia and around the country, police departments are on the job but wearing a different hat. national night out is all about building police community partnerships, at this night out in west philadelphia, officers spoke with residents one on one. >> we're just so great full that they all come by and our neighbors know and feel fortunate that somebody cares for them. >> reporter: national event comes at a time when community policing has made headlines frequently. >> sometimes

tom, look, we don't need the phones. just give us the records. we give records and commissioner bli bli bli bli blind-sides them.hen the investigation wasn't independent. if it's not independent, it's not worthy of trust or belief. investigations in my experience have to have integrity and they have to have fairness. if they don't have that, they're not dependable for anyone. >> what is the deal with the charge itself? the nfl does not correct the initial thing, 11 out of 12 footballs that was reported initially. they never made a correction on that. they never issued a correction on that. >> we've gone really beyond the facts of the case. unfortunately i don't think the facts in the case are going to be part of any of the hearing today or if it goes to august 19th. i think now what's at stake is the power of the commissioner's office. the nfl players association and tom brady have decided to take this to court and to try to get a penalty overturned and the bottom line is the judge must decide if the commissioner was right to be the final arbiter in this case which under the cba is the commission's right for nea

blinds for life. >>> a live look of the brooklyn bridge and the east river. 9:57 on this monday, august 31st. good morning. i'm michael gargiulo. >>> new england patriots quarterback tom brady back in a manhattan courtroom and new video just in shows brady entering the courthouse about 15 minutes ago. he got there just minutes after nfl commissioner roger goodell arrived. brady trying to fight that four-game suspension that goodell handed down for the quarterback's alleged role in last season's deflategate scandal. a federal judge previously asked both to settle this matter on their own. that hasn't happened. the judge could make a ruling by friday. >>> let's check the weather. hot, humid. chance of an isolated shower later in the day. 92 the high. tonight mug 76. tomorrow another hot day. 91. wednesday 92 and then thursday, 93 possibly. friday, it will cool down to 86. >>> coming up on the "today" show, kathie lee and hoda revisit some of their favorite home improvement segments of the year. back with another local update in 30 minutes. see you then. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza