Texas Timeline Index
1863 January 01
The Confederates win the Battle of Galveston.1871 January 02
Boxing promoter 'Tex' Rickard is born in Kansas City.1882 January 02
Jay Gould predicts the 'end of Jefferson' after the town refuses to give his railroad right-of-way.1834 January 03
Austin is arrested for trying to start a revolution against Mexico.1911 January 03
The Slanton water well comes in, helping to transform semiarid west Texas into a breadbasket for the nation.1948 January 04
The Alford No. I comes in: oil is found in the Permian Basin.1931 January 05
Dancer and choreographer Alvin Ailey is born in Rogers.1882 January 06
Longtime Congressman and Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn is born in Tennessee.1899 January 07
Legendary Texas Ranger Bigfoot Wallace dies in Frio County.1905 January 07
The Humble Oil Field is discovered.1865 January 08
Indians win a battle at Dove Creek.1870 January 08
Edmund Davis becomes the first Republican governor of Texas.1858 January 09
Anson Jones, last president of the Republic of Texas, shoots himself.1901 January 10
The Lucas Gusher hits at Spindletop; America enters the Oil Age.1854 January 11
Fort Bliss is established to protect El Paso from the Indians.1874 January 11
Gail Borden dies. He had published newspapers during the Texas Revolution, surveyed the wilderness, and invented condensed milk.1905 January 12
Singer and film actor Tex Ritter is born in Panola County.1920 January 12
Civil rights leader James Farmer is born in Marshall.1891 January 13
Chemist Louis Weisberg, who helps develop the atomic bomb, is born in Waco.1901 January 14
Clara Driscoll writes the San Antonio Express in a plea to save the Alamo.1963 January 14
The border dispute between Mexico and Texas is finally settled with the Treaty of El Chamizal.1998 January 14
Researchers in Dallas, Texas present findings about an enzyme that slows aging and cell death (apoptosis).1897 January 15
John Duval, the last survivor of Fannin's army, dies in Fort Worth.1839 January 16
The Texas senate votes to buy captured Mexican ships from the French to start a new navy.1934 January 16
Clyde Barrow breaks into a prison to rescue his friend Raymond Hamilton.1821 January 17
The Mexican government gives Austin permission to settle 300 families in Texas.1874 January 17
Carpetbagger rule in Texas ends with the election of a Democratic government.1971 January 18
The Sharpstown Bank stock scandal breaks.1847 January 19
Nuns of the Ursuline order arrive in Texas.1943 January 19
Singer Janis Joplin is born in Port Arthur.1891 January 20
James Stephen Hogg becomes the first native-born governor of Texas.1925 January 20
Miriam Amanda 'Ma' Ferguson becomes the first woman governor in Texas history.1861 January 21
Gov. Sam Houston submits the secession resolution to the legislature.1913 January 21
Thomas Munson, who helps the French save their wine industry, dies in Denison.1906 January 22
Author Robert E. Howard is born in Peaster, Texas. His works include, 'Conan the Cimmerian,' for which he is internationally famous, and a number of Texas-based characters and stories, such as the larger-than-life Breckenridge Elkins.1973 January 22
Texas native George Foreman knocks out Joe Frazier to win the world heavyweight title1875 January 23
Molly Armstrong, the first woman optometrist in Texas, is born in Bell County.1822 January 24
Jared E. Groce arrives on the banks of the Brazos to set up a home. Among his belongings is a supply of cottonseed - the first in Texas.1819 January 25
Anna Raguet is born in Pennsylvania. She becomes Sam Houston's first great love in Texas.1839 January 25
The Republic of Texas adopts its new flag.1837 January 26
The steamship Laura successfully navigates the Buffalo Bayou but misses the new city of Houston, due to dense vegetation.1945 January 26
Audie Murphy wins the Medal of Honor for his courageous fighting on this day.1829 January 27
The Matagorda Colony is founded.1960 January 28
Two Dallas millionaires, Clint Murchison and Bedford Wynne, receive a franchise for an NFL team they name the 'Cowboys.'1981 January 28
Olympic Glory tanker at Galveston Bay, Texas, spills 1 million gallons of oil in a ship collision1890 January 30
Louis Jordan is born in Fredericksburg. He becomes an All-American football player and the first officer killed in World War I.1915 January 30
Rice and Baylor play basketball in the first competition of the fledgling Southwest Conference.1927 January 31
The mockingbird is named the official state bird1859 February 01
The Menger Hotel opens in San Antonio.1861 February 01
The ordinance of secession passes.2003 February 01
Space Shuttle Columbia breaks up over Texas during re entry costing the lives of the seven crew members.1848 February 02
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed, ending the Mexican-American War.1992 February 02
IRS & Willie Nelson settle on $9M tax bill (of $16.7M)1959 February 03
West Texas's Buddy Holly dies with other rock music performers in an Iowa plane crash1998 February 03
Karla Faye Tucker is executed in Texas becoming the first woman executed in the United States since 1984 and the first in Texas since 1863.1890 February 04
Fletcher Stockdale, acting governor for 34 days in the aftermath of the Civil War, dies in Cuero.1848 February 05
Belle Starr, the Texas bandit queen, is born in Missouri.1855 February 07
Charles Siringo, cowboy writer, is born near Matagorda.1908 February 07
Fred Gipson, who writes Old Yeller and other children's books, is born in Mason.1836 February 08
David Crockett and some of his 'Tennessee boys' arrive at the Alamo.1895 February 08
Hollywood film director King Vidor is born in Galveston.1914 February 09
Country and Western singer Ernest Tubb is born Ellis County in1850 February 10
Texas's first railroad, the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado, is chartered.1910 February 10
D.L. McDonald, the father of irrigation on the Texas High Plains, finds water near Hereford.1952 February 10
Texas Bob was born in Odessa, Texas.1995 February 10
Chelsi Smith, 21, (Texas), crowned 44th Miss USA1836 February 11
Col. James Neill leaves the Alamo; Travis takes command.1842 February 11
The crew of the San Antonio stages the republic's first, and only, mutiny1845 February 11
Baylor University is founded.1899 February 12
The temperature drops to -23?F in Tulia, the coldest day on record for Texas.1861 February 13
Robert E. Lee leaves Fort Mason on his way back to Virginia, to lead the South in the Civil War.1895 February 14
A rare Gulf Coast snowstorm dumps up to 20 inches of snow on the Houston-Galveston area.1913 February 14
The legislature passes a resolution recognizing Johanna Troutman as the Betsy Ross of Texas.1978 February 14
1st 'micro on a chip' patented by Texas Instruments1876 February 15
The Texas Constitution is adopted.1861 February 16
Local secessionists in San Antonio force Gen. David Twiggs to surrender all U.S. equipment.1877 February 16
The first train to San Antonio arrives.1987 February 17
Michelle Renee Royer, 21, (Texas), crowned 36th Miss USA1846 February 19
The Republic of Texas is officially declared at an end.1807 February 20
James Butler Bonham is born in South Carolina.1896 February 21
Judge Roy Bean stages the Fitzsimmons-Maher heavy weight title fight on a Rio Grande island.1979 February 24
Highest price ever paid for a pig, $42,500, Stamford, Texas1918 February 28
Texas ratifies the Prohibition Amendment.1989 February 28
Gretchen Polhemus, 23, (Texas), crowned 38th Miss USA1993 February 28
Gun battle erupts at Waco Texas between FBI & Branch Davidians1836 February 29
William Oury is sent out of the Alamo with a plea for help from General Houston. (Oury dies in bed 50 years later.)1872 February 29
Henry Lindsley is born. He becomes mayor of Dallas and the first national commander of the American Legion.1836 March 01
Thirty-two men from Gonzales fight their way into the Alamo. No other volunteers come.1993 March 01
Authorities in Waco, Texas negotiate with Branch Davidians1793 March 02
Sam Houston is born in Virginia.1842 March 02
Robert Potter, signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, is murdered in the Regulator-Moderator War.1836 March 03
Moses Rose chooses to leave the Alamo rather than stay and fight.1857 March 03
Congress authorizes the Butterfield Mail and Stage Line1836 March 04
Sam Houston is elected commander-in-chief of the Texas army.1868 March 04
Jesse Chisholm, famous trailblazer, dies of food poisoning in Oklahoma.1731 March 05
The Mission San Francisco de Ia Espada is established at San Antonio.1836 March 05
Charles Goodnight, trail driver, is born in Illinois.1836 March 06
The Alamo falls. 1862 March 07
John Bell Hood assumes command of the 'Texas Brigade.'1901 March 07
The bluebonnet is named the state flower.1912 March 08
Gov. Preston Smith is born in Corn Hill. March 15 Lightnin' Hopkins, of blues music fame, is born in Centerville.1731 March 09
Canary Islanders arrive in San Antonio to start a new life, and leave a grand imprint on Texas.1836 March 10
Sam Carson arrives late to sign the Declaration of Independence. A week later he loses by six votes becoming the president of Texas.1836 March 11
Sam Houston assumes command of the army at Gonzales.1890 March 11
Texas governor and U.S. senator W. Lee O'Daniel is born in Ohio.1860 March 12
Columbus 'Dad' Joiner, who finds the East Texas Oil Field, is born in Alabama.1836 March 13
Gonzales is burned as the Runaway Scrape begins.1845 March 14
Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels purchases the land that will become New Braunfels.1924 March 14
Charles Lindbergh starts pilot training at Brooks Field in San Antonio.1881 March 15
Abilene is born, with completion of the Texas-Pacific Railroad.1894 March 16
Killer John Wesley Hardin is given a full pardon while serving a sentence at the Huntsville State Prison.1949 March 17
Glenn McCarthy celebrates the opening of his Shamrock Hotel in Houston with a party for 50,000 guests.1937 March 18
A natural gas explosion at New London claims the lives of almost 300 students and teachers.1840 March 19
Peace talks between the Comanches and the Texas government turn into a fight at the Council House in San Antonio.1687 March 20
La Salle, a French explorer, lands in Texas instead of finding the mouth of the Mississippi.1888 March 20
Gov. Coke Stevenson is born in Mason County.1886 March 21
A shoot-out at Tascosa leaves four dead.1922 March 22
Oilman James Abercrombie invents the oil well blowout preventer1893 March 23
SMU chancellor and president Umphrey Lee is born in Indiana.1908 March 23
Movie actress Joan Crawford is born in San Antonio.2005 March 23
A major explosion at the British Petroleum Texas City Refinery kills 15 workers.1883 March 24
The first cowboy strike in Texas begins in the Panhandle.1843 March 25
The prisoners of the Mier Expedition draw white and black beans from a pot; the 17 who draw black beans are executed by the Mexicans. 1836 March 27
On Palm Sunday James Fannin and his men were divided into three groups, marched onto open prairie, and shot. Remember Goliad!2000 March 27
Phillips Refinery explosion of 2000 kills 1 and injures 71 in Pasadena, Texas.1836 March 29
San Felipe is burned to prevent its falling into the hands of the Mexican army.1896 March 29
Robert J. Kleberg Jr., longtime manager of the King Ranch, is born in Corpus Christi.1955 March 29
Football player Earl Campbell is born in Tyler.1870 March 30
Congressional Reconstruction ends as Texas readmitted to Union1878 March 31
World Heavyweight Champion Jack Johnson is born in Galveston.1833 April 01
Santa Anna is inaugurated president of Mexico.1932 April 01
Black rodeo star Bill Pickett dies.1957 April 02
Ralph Yarborough is elected to the U.S. Senate.1969 April 03
Texas-born horse trainer Max Hirsch dies at the age of 88.1888 April 04
Baseball great Tris Speaker is born in Hubbard.1993 April 04
12th NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: Texas Tech beats OH State 84-822007 April 04
Johnson Space Center Shooting: A man with a handgun barricades himself in NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas before killing a male hostage and himself.2008 April 04
The raid on the FLDS owned ranch called the YFZ Ranch in Texas, 401 children were taken into custody. 133 woman were taken into state custody also, the total number of woman and children is 534.1874 April 05
Houston business tycoon Jesse Jones is born in Tennessee.1830 April 06
Mexico enacts a law to stop American immigration to Texas. It is a prime seed that leads to the revolution six years later.1862 April 06
Albert Sidney Johnston is killed in battle at Shiloh, Tennessee.1911 April 07
Sarah Bernhardt plays Galveston in her farewell performance.1864 April 08
Confederate forces blunt Union attempts to invade Texas, at the Battle of Mansfield.1965 April 09
The Astrodome opens in Houston.1937 April 10
Lyndon Johnson wins his first election.1962 April 10
Major league baseball comes to Texas with the Houston Colt .45's 11-2 win over the Chicago Cubs.1979 April 10
Red River Valley Tornado Outbreak: A tornado lands in Wichita Falls, Texas killing 42 people.1861 April 13
Fort Sumter is fired upon; the Civil War begins.1935 April 14
During a great dust storm, folk singer and song-writer Woody Guthrie pens 'So Long, It's Been Good to Know You.'1958 April 14
Texas pianist Van Cliburn wins the International Piano Competition in Moscow.1978 April 14
WRR-AM in Dallas Texas changes call letters to KAAM1836 April 15
Sam Houston turns his army toward San Jacinto.1947 April 16
The Texas City Disaster claims hundreds of lives.1871 April 17
Texas A&M is created.1929 April 17
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is founded in Corpus Christi.1983 April 17
Nolan Ryan strikes out his 3,500th batter1847 April 18
Gen. Winfield Scott and Santa Anna battle at Sierra Gorda. The American victors capture Santa Anna's wooden leg1836 April 19
Houston appeals for help to fight the war.1993 April 19
Branch Davidians in Waco Texas dies in fire after 51 day siege (accident, suicide, tear gas are disputed causes)1842 April 20
Germans form a society to aid German immigration to Texas.1872 April 20
An Indian battle at Howard's Well leads to the government's cancellation of hunting permits for Indians.1836 April 21
The Texans beat the Mexican army at San Jacinto.1540 April 22
The Coronado Expedition sets out for Texas in search of the seven cities of Cibola.1892 April 22
The first class graduates from the University of Texas Medical School in Galveston.1942 April 24
A war bond quota of more than $18 million is set for Texas1846 April 25
A border skirmish near Brownsville marks the beginning of the U.S. war with Mexico.1837 April 26
John J. Audubon comes to Texas to study bird-life and to paint birds for his famous work.1896 April 27
Baseball great Rogers Hornsby is born in Runnels County.1929 April 28
The army air force carries out the first mass parachute drop in history, at Brooks Field in San Antonio.1933 April 30
Country and Western star Willie Nelson is born in Abbott.1718 May 01
The Mission San Antonio de Valero (the Alamo) is founded.1991 May 01
Texas Ranger Nolan Ryan pitches record 7th no hitter (beats Toronto 3-0)1874 May 02
John B. Jones is commissioned major in the Texas Rangers' Frontier Battalion.1906 May 02
Henry Bullock is born in North Carolina. He becomes the first black professor of arts and sciences at the University of Texas.1693 May 03
Don Gregorio de Salinas Varona leads an expedition into Texas, and reports that the land is unsuitable for settlement; a year later Spain abandons the Texas frontier.1821 May 04
Jean Lafitte abandons Galveston.1862 May 05
Cinco de Mayo; the Mexicans rout the French at Puebla.1864 May 06
Texans rally behind Gen. Robert E. Lee in the Wilderness Campaign.1930 May 06
The weather bureau says this is the worst single day for tornadoes in Texas history.1860 May 07
Julius Real, who stages the legislative Whiskey Rebellion of 1911 to keep Texas wet, is born in the hill country.1915 May 07
The sinking of the Lusitania: World War I is at hand, and Texas will send thousands away to die in the fighting.1846 May 08
The Battle of Palo Alto, the first major fight of the Mexican War, results in a U.S. victory.1945 May 08
V.E. Day the war is over in Europe.1840 May 09
Sam Houston marries Margaret Lea.1846 May 09
Gen. Zachary Taylor defeats the Mexicans at Resaca de Ia Palma.1988 May 1
Courtney Gibbs Eplin, 21, (Texas), crowned 37th Miss USA1911 May 10
Lt. George Kelly is the first military pilot to die in a plane crash; it happens in San Antonio.1953 May 11
A terrible tornado rips through Waco.1846 May 12
Norris Cuney, one of the most prominent black men in Texas, is born a slave in Waller County.1903 May 12
'The Eyes of Texas' is performed for the first time, in a UT minstrel show.2003 May 12
Fifty-nine Democratic lawmakers bring the Texas Legislature to a standstill by going into hiding in a dispute over a Republican congressional redistricting plan.1975 May 13
Bob Wills of the Texas Playboys dies following a stroke.1985 May 13
Laura Elena Martinez-Herring, 21, (Texas), crowned 34th Miss USA1836 May 14
Santa Anna and President David Burnet sign the Treaty of Velasco.1890 May 15
Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Katherine Anne Porter is born at Indian Creek.1898 May 15
Teddy Roosevelt arrives in San Antonio to train the Rough Riders.1888 May 16
The state capitol is dedicated.1942 May 16
Oveta Culp Hobby is sworn in as head of the WAACS.1835 May 17
A. B. Dodson marries Sarah Bradley. She later gives him a - flag-a red, white and blue banner with a lone star - for his army company.1871 May 18
Satanta, Big Tree, and their warriors massacre seven men from a wagon train at Salt Creek.1912 May 18
The second battleship Texas is launched.1836 May 19
Nine-year-old Cynthia Ann Parker is captured by Indians; it will be 24 years before her rescue.1927 May 20
Lucky Lindy takes off for Paris.1986 May 20
Christy Fichtner, 23, (Texas), crowned 35th Miss USA1911 May 21
Dictator Porfirio Diaz resigns, bringing temporary calm to revolution-torn Mexico.1953 May 22
President Dwight Eisenhower signs the Tidelands Bill, giving Texas rights to its offshore oil.1987 May 22
Multiple tornados hit Saragosa, Reeves County , Texas killing 30 injuring 151. Destroyed virtually every building in town.2003 May 22
In Fort Worth, Texas, Annika Sorenstam becomes the first woman to play the PGA Tour in 58 years.1541 May 23
Coronado gives thanks for having found friendly Indians in the Palo Duro Canyon; Texas has a Thanksgiving 79 years before the Pilgrims.1934 May 23
Lawmen ambush Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, who die in a hail of gunfire.1985 May 23
Julian Lennon's 1st concert (San Antonio Texas)1690 May 24
The Mission San Francisco de los Tejas is founded in east Texas.1896 May 25
The first meeting of the Daughters of the Confederacy in Texas is held.1900 May 26
The famous Frontier Battalion of the Texas Rangers is dissolved.1909 May 27
Major league baseball player and manager Michael ' Pinky' Higgins is born in Red Oak.1923 May 28
The Santa Rita No. j gusher brings the University of Texas vast oil fortunes.1997 May 28
Tornado in Jarrell, Texas kills at least 281861 May 29
Henry Robinson, famed Indian fighter, is killed near Uvalde1898 May 30
The Rough Riders leave San Antonio to charge up San Juan Hill.1986 May 30
5th NCAA Women Basketball Championship: Texas beats Southern Cal 97-811881 May 31
Fort Griffin, headquarters for buffalo skinners in Shackelford County, is abandoned.1981 May 9
Texan Dan Rather becomes primary anchorman of CBS-TV Evening News.1963 June 01
Texas A&M allows women to enroll; the 'Maggie' is born.2005 June 01
The longest oil/natural gas explosion in the Houston, Texas area occurs in Crosby, Texas. The drill was owned by the Louisiana Oil and Gas Company.1941 June 02
Andrew Jackson Houston, Sam's youngest son, is appointed to serve out a term in the U.S. Senate.1836 June 03
Land-based Texas Rangers capture Mexican ships, earning the nickname 'Horse Marines.'1947 June 03
Margo Jones opens her Dallas Theatre-in-the-Round.1965 June 03
Ed White of San Antonio becomes the first American to walk in space.1909 June 04
The Lone Star Gas Company files for a charter to become the first gas distributor in Texas.1859 June 05
Herman Lehmann is born in Loyal Valley. He is later captured by Apaches and adopted by them.1931 June 05
David Browning Jr., Olympic diving champion from UT, is born in Boston, Massachusetts.1849 June 06
Fort Worth is founded.1957 June 06
Attorney General Will Wilson raids Galveston to close down gambling.1819 June 08
The Long Expedition crosses the Sabine to declare a 'government' in Texas.1894 June 09
Oil is discovered in Corsicana.1821 June 10
Moses Austin dies in Missouri before he can start his Texas colonization plan.1832 June 11
Lucy Pickens-'Lady Lucy, Queen of the Confederacy'-is born in Tennessee.1865 June 11
Bandits try to rob the state treasury in Austin.1952 June 12
Henry Cohen, founder of the Galveston Plan to settle European Jews, dies in Houston.1832 June 13
The Turtle Bayou Resolutions, documents leading to the revolution of 1836, are adopted.1875 June 13
'Ma' Ferguson is born in Bell County. She later becomes first lady once and governor twice.1875 June 14
Jefferson Davis is invited to serve as the first president of Texas A&M, but he declines.1995 June 14
49th NBA Championship: Houston Rockets sweep Orlando Magic in 4 games1937 June 15
Country and Western singer Waylon Jennings is born in Littlefield.1976 June 15
Rain out! Astrodome cancels game heavy rains make it difficult for visiting team & umpires to get through flooded streets to the stadium1943 June 16
The national guard is called out to put down a race riot in Beaumont.1937 June 17
The Kilgore Oil Field is discovered.1899 June 17-28
A severe flood on the Brazos kills nearly 300.1877 June 18
Charles Goodnight and John Adair form the 'J.A' Ranch, the first in the Panhandle.1865 June 19
Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrives in Galveston with word that slavery has been abolished.1917 June 21
The Humble Oil Company incorporates.1867 June 22
This is the worst single day of a yellow fever epidemic that sweeps coastal Texas in 1867.1876 June 22
Santa Anna dies of old age in Mexico City.1931 June 23
Texan Wiley Post starts his flight around the world.1716 June 24
To celebrate the feast of St. John, soldiers of the Ramon expedition stage the first horse race in Texas.1840 June 24
Col. Henry Karnes calls for a volunteer army to fight Indians, Mexicans and lawless elements on the frontier.1864 June 25
'Rip' Ford's Confederates win one at Las Rucias. A year later he wins the last battle of the Civil War after the war ends.1994 June 25
A record 111?F (43.9?C) at El Paso Texas1832 June 26
The Battle of Velasco results in the first bloodshed of the revolution.1928 June 26
The Democrats open their national convention in Houston.1874 June 27
The Indians lose the second battle of Adobe Walls.1860 June 28
Southern Democrats nominate John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky for President.1892 June 28
The first battleship Texas is launched.1907 June 29
Sculptress Elisabeth Ney dies and is buried at Liendo Plantation.1835 June 30
Mexicans put down an uprising of colonists at Anahuac.2001 June 5
Tropical Storm Allison makes landfall on the upper-Texas coastline as a strong tropical storm and dumps large amounts of rain over Houston. The storm caused $5.5 billion in damages, making Allison the costliest tropical storm in U.S. history.1944 June 6-7
The Allies invade Normandy.1863 July 01
Hood's Texas Brigade joins in the fighting at Gettysburg.1716 July 02
The Spanish build a presidio west of the Neches River. It marks the beginning of continuous settlement in the province of Texas.1888 July 02
The Jaybird-Woodpecker feud starts in Fort Bend County.1897 July 03
Blues singer Blind Lemon Jefferson is born near Wortham.1883 July 04
The first recorded rodeo in Texas is held at Pecos.1901 July 05
John Henry Kirby charters his lumber company.1893 July 06
Kearie Lee Berry is born in Denton County. He becomes a great athlete at the University of Texas and a hero of the Bataan Death March of World War II.1911 July 07
Alphonso Steele, last survivor of San Jacinto, dies at his grandson's home near Kosse.1833 July 08
Stephen Austin reaches Mexico City with a plan to separate Texas from the state of Coahuila1907 July 08
The town of Post, founded by C.W. Post of 'Toasties' fame, becomes the seat of Garza County.1857 July 09
The first mail leaves San Antonio for San Diego, marking the start of the first successful transcontinental mail route.1824 July 10
Richard King, founder of the King Ranch, is born in New York.1881 July 11
William Buckley is born at Washington-on-the-Brazos. His son James becomes a senator from New York, and his son William Jr. is famous as a writer, magazine editor and television talk show host.1949 July 11
Gov. Beauford Jester dies en route to Houston; he is the first governor to die in office.1870 July 12
The Sixth Cavalry engages the Kiowas in the battle of the Little Wichita.1859 July 13
An arrest in Brownsville starts the Cortina Wars.1943 July 14
Broadway singer and actor Jules Bledsoe of Waco dies in Hollywood.1839 July 16
Chief Bowles of the Cherokee is killed at the Battle of the Neches1797 July 17
Philip Nolan receives a passport to go to Mexican Texas.1938 July 19
Douglas 'Wrong Way' Corrigan of Galveston flies 'by mistake' to Ireland.1969 July 20
Apollo II lands on the moon.1878 July 21
Sam Bass is killed by Texas Rangers at Round Rock on his 27th birthday.1933 July 22
A record-breaking rainstorm hits Freeport.1798 July 23
'Mother of Texas' Jane Wilkinson Long is born in Maryland.1958 July 24
Jack Kilby draws up the idea for the silicon chip at Texas Instruments in Dallas.1882 July 25
Judge Roy Bean opens his first saloon west of the Pecos.1974 July 25
Congresswoman Barbara Jordan of Houston delivers her famous 'We, the People' speech on the U.S. Constitution and impeachment.1979 July 25 - 26
The most rain in 24 hour - 43.00 inches in Alvin, Texas1863 July 26
Sam Houston dies at his home in Huntsville.1931 July 27
Oklahoma Gov. Bill Murray sends the national guard to seal off the entrance to Texas via the Red River Bridge.1933 July 28
W.E. Morris becomes the first Texas farmer to be paid for plowing his cotton crop under.1961 July 29
Oscar Fox, cowboy songwriter and hill country native, dies at age 821923 July 30
Roy Mitchell is strung up in Waco; his is the last legal public hanging in Texas.1985 July 30
Valerie Lowrance, of Texas, 18, crowned America's Junior Miss1964 July 31
Country and Western singer Jim Reeves of Carthage is killed in a plane crash.1519 August
Alonso ?lvarez de Pineda, probably the first European to map the coast of Texas.1973 August 02
The famed Chicken Ranch at La Grange ceases operations.1859 August 03
The Comanches are moved out of Texas and into Indian Territory.1861 August 03
The U.S.S. South Carolina fires on Galveston.1974 August 03
A prison siege at Huntsville comes to a bloody conclusion.1941 August 04
W. Lee O'Daniel resigns his governor's post to become a senator; Coke Stevenson replaces him.1917 August 05
The Simms-Sinclair No. 11 Sweet gushes in and becomes Goose Creek Oil Field's greatest producer.1945 August 06
A Texan scouts out a clear spot over Hiroshima, and the first atomic bomb is dropped.1907 August 07
Outstanding Longhorn football coach Blair Cherry is born in Kerens.1966 August 07
Charles Whitman kills 17 people in a shooting spree from the University of Texas Tower.1865 August 08
George Armstrong Custer leaves for a tour of duty in Texas.1809 August 09
William Barret Travis is born in South Carolina.1862 August 10
Vengeful Confederates attack German-American loyalists on the banks of the Nueces; 40 die.1849 August 11
Gov. George Wood sends three companies of Rangers to Corpus Christi to guard settlers from Goliad to the Rio Grande against Indian attacks.1984 August 11
Houstonian Carl Lewis duplicates Jesse Owens' 1936 feat, wins 4 Olympic track gold medals.1840 August 12
The Battle of Plumb Creek near Lockhart sees the white man defeat the Comanche, pushing the Indians farther to the west.1860 August 12
The first child born in the Governor's Mansion is Temple Houston.1936 August 12
The temperature hits 120?F. in Seymour-the hottest reading ever recorded in Texas.1912 August 13
Golfer Ben Hogan is born in Dublin, Texas1945 August 14
The Texas 'Lost Battalion' is liberated, after helping POWs build the bridge on the River Kwai.1952 August 14
The first leg of the Gulf Freeway connecting Houston and Galveston is dedicated.1844 August 15
President Houston calls out the militia to put down the Regulator-Moderator War.1798 August 16
Mirabeau B. Lamar is born in Georgia.1786 August 17
David Crockett is born in Tennessee. 1983 August 17
Hurricane Alicia, kills 17 in Texas1988 August 17
Republicans nominate George Bush for president1983 August 18
Alicia, the most expensive hurricane in U.S. history, hits Galveston and Houston.1983 August 18
Hurricane Alicia, kills 17 in Texas1905 August 20
Jack Teagarden, outstanding trombone player of the Big Band Era, is born in Vernon.1906 August 21
Capt. Bill McDonald of the Rangers quells a race riot in Brownsville.1996 August 21
Christie Lee Woods, 18, of Texas, crowned 14th Miss Teen USA1938 August 22
Sam Robertson, who fights with Pershing and wins Medal of Honor in World War I, dies in Brownsville.1917 August 23
Seventeen people die in the Camp Logan race riots, when black soldiers clash with Houston police.1949 August 24
Herman Barnett, a black, becomes a student at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.1917 August 25
Gov. Jim Ferguson resigns after being impeached.1836 August 26
The Allen Brothers buy the site for 'Houston.'1908 August 27
Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th U.S. President, is born at Stonewall.1948 August 28
Lyndon Johnson wins his senate race by 87 votes, thanks to Box 13 in Jim Wells County.1839 August 29
The Colt-Walker pistol is patented. (date under review)1874 August 30
The first fight of the Red River Indian War takes place in Palo Duro Canyon.1871 August 31
Gov. Jim Ferguson, who is the 'Pa' of 'Ma and Pa Ferguson' fame, is born in Bell County.1980 August 4
Hurricane Aline, kills 272 in Texas & Caribbean1972 September 01
La Raza Unida hold its first national convention.1945 September 02
Adm. Chester A. Nimitz of Fredericksburg accepts the Japanese surrender to end World War II.1844 September 03
Henri de Castro founds Castroville.1766 September 04
The first recorded hurricane strikes the Texas coast near Galveston.1898 September 05
Emma Seelye, the woman spy of the Confederacy, dies at La Porte.1890 September 06
Gen. Claire Chennault, of World War II 'Flying Tigers' fame, is born at Commerce.1863 September 07
Federal gunboats arrive off the bar at Sabine Pass where Dick Dowling and his men are waiting.1900 September 08
The Great Galveston Storm destroys half the city and kills thousands.1907 September 08
The world-famous Neiman-Marcus store opens in Dallas.1999 September 08
US Attorney General Janet Reno names former Senator John Danforth to head an independent investigation of the 1993 fire at the Branch Davidian church near Waco, Texas in response to revelations in the film Waco.1861 September 09
Col. Benjamin Terry organizes his 'Texas Rangers.'1943 September 09
The 36th Division invades Italy1961 September 10
Hurricane Carla strikes the upper Texas coast.1988 September 10
Hurricane Gilbert, kills 300 in Jamaica, Texas & Yucatan1862 September 11
William Sydney Porter ('0'Henry'), who lives and writes for a time in Texas, is born in North Carolina.1818 September 12
A hurricane wrecks the fleet of pirate Jean Lafitte in Galveston.1874 September 12
The battle of 'Buffalo Waller' begins in Hemphill County; six men hold off over 100 Indians for three days.1880 September 13
Carlysle Raht, who fights Pancho Villa and later works on the atom bomb, is born in Gainesville.2008 September 13
Hurricane Ike makes landfall on the Texas Gulf Coast of the United States, causing heavy damage to Galveston Island, Houston and surrounding areas.1874 September 14
The Sixth Cavalry arrives just in time to scare off Indians attacking Lyman's wagon train.1883 September 15
The organizational session of the new University of Texas is attended by 221 students.1896 September 15
A stunt to wreck two trains near Waco results in the death of two spectators.1873 September 16
R. L. More is born in Decatur. He amasses the world's largest private collection of bird eggs in his lifetime.1875 September 16
A hurricane destroys the city of Indianola.1869 September 17
Roy Aldrich, who serves longer as a Texas Ranger than any other man, is born in Illinois.1842 September 18
Forty-two people are massacred by Indians at the Battle of Salado Creek.1905 September 19
Leon Jaworski is born in Waco. He becomes president of the American Bar Association and the Watergate chief prosecutor.1967 September 20
A giant hurricane named Beulah hits the coast.1846 September 21
Ranger Capt. Robert Gillespie dies leading a charge on the Bishop's Palace in Monterrey during the Mexican War.1554 September 22
Fourteen years after setting out for Texas, Coronado dies. He is one of the first white men to explore Texas, and leader of one of 20 Spanish explorations of the area.1981 September 22
Texas born Sandra Day O'Connor appointed to Supreme Court1867 September 23
John A. Lomax, the Texas collector of folk music, is born in Mississippi. On the same day, William Marsh Rice is murdered in New York. His will sets up Rice University in Houston.1913 September 24
The Daily Texan becomes the first daily college newspaper in the South.2005 September 24
Hurricane Rita makes landfall in the United States, devastating Beaumont, Texas and portions of southwestern Louisiana.1867 September 25
Oliver Loving, the dean of Texas trail drivers, dies after an attack by Indians.1888 September 26
Texas historian and man of letters J. Frank Dobie is born in Live Oak County.1876 September 27
Former Civil War Gen. Braxton Bragg drops dead as he crosses a street in Galveston.1956 September 27
Babe Zaharias, America's greatest woman athlete, dies in Galveston.1874 September 28
Gen. Ronald MacKenzie led his men in one of the last major Indian battles in Texas, at Palo Duro Canyon.1907 September 29
Gene Autry is born in Tioga.1830 September 30
Jim Bowie becomes a Mexican citizen.1862 October 0
The Great Gainesville Hanging. Nineteen men thought to be Union sympathizers are strung up on various days throughout the month in the aftermath of an incident known as the Peace Party Conspiracy.1849 October 01
William Sansom becomes the first prisoner at the Huntsville state prison.1835 October 02
The first shots of the revolution are fired at Gonzales.1930 October 03
The Daisy Bradford well blows in, and the giant East Texas Oil Field is on its way.1876 October 04
Texas A&M opens with 40 students and a faculty of six men.1899 October 05
Ned Green drives the first car in Texas. It takes five hours to make the trip from Dallas to Terrell, a 6-mph average.1908 October 05
Josh Logan, the great Broadway director and producer, is born in Texarkana.1968 October 06
The first international exposition in the South, the HemisFair, closes in San Antonio1835 October 07
Greenberry Logan, a free Negro, joins the Texas army and later fights in the battle at Concepcion and is wounded in the siege of the Bexar.1990 October 08
24th Country Music Association Award: George Strait wins Entertainer of the Year.1835 October 10
Gail Borden Jr. begins publishing the Telegraph and Texas Register.1837 October 10
Lt. A.H. Miles, who captured Santa Anna at San Jacinto, is killed by Indians.1878 October 11
Bill Longley, killer of at least 32 people, is hanged at Giddings.1821 October 13
Jacob Brodbeck is born in Wurttemberg, Germany. Later, as a Texan, he invents an airplane 40 years before the Wright Brothers.1890 October 14
Thirty-fourth U.S. President, Dwight David Eisenhower, is born in Denison.1929 October 15
Two Rio Grande Valley nurserymen develop the Ruby Red grapefruit.1869 October 16
A.D. Topperwein is born in Boerne. He is in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame as the greatest trick shooter of his day.1902 October 16
Carry Nation comes to the University of Texas to drive out the demon rum.1991 October 16
George Jo Hennard, 35, crashes his truck into Luby's , kills 23 and himself and wounds 20 in Killeen Texas.1914 October 18
Joe Routt, the first All-American football player from Texas A&M, is born in Chappell Hill.1838 October 20
Moses Lapham, who helped destroy Vince's Bridge at San Jacinto to cut off Mexican escape, is killed by Indians.1898 October 21
Stanley Walker is born in Lampasas. He becomes a legendary New York City newspaper editor.1917 October 21
The 'Roaring Ranger' Oil Field blows in.1836 October 22
Sam Houston is inaugurated president of the republic1994 October 22
Statue of Sam Houston unveiled in Huntsville,Texas. The worlds tallest statue of an American Hero at 67 feet tall on a 10 foot sunset granite base.1806 October 23
Juan Seguin is born in Spanish Texas.1865 October 23
Federal forces reoccupy Fort McIntosh at Laredo.1941 October 24
Longtime Texas state treasurer Charlie Lockhart resigns.1931 October 25
The famed Texas prison rodeo is born.1862 October 26
Federal gunboats blockade Pass Cavallo and take Indianola1902 October 27
Galveston begins construction of the seawall.1929 October 29
'Black Tuesday'. The stock market crashes and America is plunged into the Great Depression.1855 October 30
Prize saddle-maker Paul Bauer, the son of German immigrants, is born in Yorktown, Texas.1863 October 31
Notorious outlaw 'Black Jack' Ketchum is born in San Saba County.2002 October 31
A federal grand jury in Houston, Texas formally indicted former Enron Corp. chief financial officer Andrew Fastow on 78 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, conspiracy and obstruction of justice related to the collapse of his ex-employer.1832 November 01
Lyne Barret is born. He is the first to hit oil in Texas.1912 November 01
The last cattle of the XIT ranch are sold.1979 November 01
Tanker Burmah Agate off Galveston Bay, Texas, spills 10.7 m gallons of oil, in US's worst oil spill disaster1949 November 02
The Daughters of the Republic of Texas become custodians of the French Legation.2004 November 02
George W Bush is elected to his second term as President of the United States.1793 November 03
Stephen F Austin is born in Virginia.1911 November 04
Col. Edward House of Houston meets Woodrow Wilson and becomes his aide and confidant.1863 November 05
Pendleton Murrah becomes governor when Francis Lubbock resigns the office to fight the Yanks.2009 November 05
Nov 5th - US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan killed 13 and wounded 43 at Fort Hood, Texas in the largest mass shooting ever at a US military installation.1528 November 06
Cabeza de Vaca is shipwrecked near Galveston. He begins an incredible journey that marks the white man's first exploration of Texas. 1876 November 07
Mason County's 'Hoodoo War' ends with the arrest of two men.1889 November 07
The Texas Hereford Association is organized in San Antonio.1923 November 08
Hubert Knickerbocker of Yoakum witnesses Hitler's beer hall putsch and begins a writing career that leads to the Pulitzer Prize.1903 November 09
John Nance Garner walks into Congress for the first time. Thirty years later he becomes FDR's vice-president.1837 November 10
Ten Rangers and fifty Indians die in the Battle of Stone Houses in Archer County.1883 November 12
Cattlemen meet in Gainesville to work out an end to the Fence-Cutting War.1863 November 13
Chipita Rodriguez, the only woman ever legally hanged in Texas, meets her Maker.1851 November 14
Fort Phantom Hill is established in Jones County to protect the settlers.1836 November 15
Texas patriot Lorenzo de Zavalla dies.1961 November 16
House Speaker Sam Rayburn dies, and is buried in Bonham.1882 November 17
The cornerstone is laid for the first building at the University of Texas in Austin.1947 November 18
The Alley Theatre opens in Houston.1999 November 18
In College Station, Texas, 12 are killed and 27 injured at Texas A&M University when a massive bonfire under construction collapses.1854 November 19
Sam Houston is baptized in a creek near Independence.1908 November 20
Howard R. Hughes Sr. applies for a patent for his rock bit, a drill bit that changes the oil patch.1869 November 21
William Henry 'Alfalfa Bill' Murray, who later becomes governor of Oklahoma, is born in Toadsuck, Texas.1963 November 22
President John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas.1853 November 23
James Henderson becomes governor and serves just 28 days1915 November 23
An Aggie prank creates 'Bevo,' the Texas mascot.1868 November 24
Scott Joplin, of ragtime music fame, is born in Texarkana.1874 November 24
J.F Glidden patents barbed wire.1835 November 25
The Texas navy is created.1850 November 25
Texas accepts the Compromise of 1850, and gets $10 million in exchange for giving up a claim that stretches all the way to California.1864 November 26
Kit Carson and his men defeat a band of Kiowas and Comanches in a battle at Adobe Walls.1944 November 27
Macario Garcia, a Mexican national who lived in Sugar Land, wins the Medal of Honor for actions in the war in Germany.1882 November 28
A labor-union-called 'holiday' on the Galveston docks protesting black laborers begins a segregation battle that lasts for years.1862 November 29
John Bankhead Magruder arrives in Texas to take command of the Confederate forces.1988 November 8
George Bush ? beats Mike Dukakis (D) for presidency1913 December 01
Mary Martin is born in Weatherford. She stars on Broadway in Peter Pan and South Pacific, and is the mother of 'Dallas' star Larry Hagman1956 December 01
Runner Bobby Morrow of San Benito wins three gold medals at the Olympics.1832 December 02
Sam Houston first sets foot on Texas soil, at the Jonesboro Crossing on the Red River.1854 December 03
One hundred Polish families arrive in Galveston, an event marking the start of major Polish immigration to Texas.1835 December 04
Ben Milam and his men storm the Bexar to drive out the Mexican army.1898 December 06
Ben Boynton is born in Waco. He becomes the first native Texan to achieve All-American football status.1941 December 07
The bombing of Pearl Harbor plunges the U.S. into World War II.1872 December 08
Architect Nicholas Clayton comes to Galveston and builds it into a city of beautiful homes.1977 December 08
43rd Heisman Trophy Award: Earl Campbell, Texas (RB)1844 December 09
Anson Jones takes the oath of office as the last president of the Republic of Texas.1854 December 10
Richard King marries Henrietta Chamberlain; together they make the King Ranch great.1879 December 11
Fort Worth leading citizen Amon Carter is born in Crafton.1931 December 11
George Strake's Conroe Oil Field blows in.1872 December 12
John 'Texas Jack' Omohundro goes to Chicago to star with Buffalo Bill in the Wild West Show.2000 December 12
The United States Supreme Court releases its decision in Bush v. Gore making George W. Bush the 41st President of the United States.2000 December 13
The 'Texas 7' escape from the John Connally Unit near Kenedy, Texas and go on a robbery spree, during which police officer Aubrey Hawkins is shot and killed.1861 December 14
H. H. Sibley takes command of the 'Army of New Mexico' at Fort Bliss and prepares for his ill fated attempt to conquer the Southwest for the Confederacy.1881 December 15
America's second transcontinental railroad links up at Sierra Blanca in Hudspeth County.1826 December 16
The Fredonian Rebellion begins in Nacogdoches.1861 December 17
Col. Ben Terry is killed leading a Rebel charge against the Union in Kentucky.1865 December 18
The Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified; slavery is abolished.1859 December 19
Mirabeau B. Lamar dies. He served as vice-president and president of the republic and is called the Father of Texas Education.1959 December 19
Walter Williams, last surviving veteran of the Civil War, dies at age 117.1877 December 20
Sam Bass robs the Fort Worth-Cleburne stage.1821 December 21
Jane Long gives birth to the first Anglo child born in Texas, a girl named Mary James. 1882 December 21
Edith Wilmans is born. She is elected to the Texas House in 1922, the first woman to serve in that capacity.1912 December 22
Claudia Alta Taylor, the future Lady Bird Johnson, is born in Kamack.1820 December 23
Moses Austin seeks permission to colonize a part of Mexican Texas.1852 December 24
The General Sherman goes into service as the first locomotive in Texas.1905 December 24
Howard R. Hughes Jr. is born in Houston.1874 December 26
Joe McComb stages the first commercial buffalo hunt in Texas.1836 December 27
Stephen F. Austin dies.1843 December 28
Rebecca Cummings, who is engaged to William Travis when he goes away to the Alamo fight, marries another man, David Portis.1845 December 29
Texas enters the union as the 28th state.1896 December 30
Homer Norton is born in Alabama. He becomes the leading football coach in Texas A&M history1842 December 31
The Archives War: Austin citizens keep the state's papers from being moved to Houston.1991 December 31
The USSR cease to existence.1982 December 7
In Texas, Charles Brooks, Jr. becomes the first person to be executed by lethal injection in the US.1996 September 15
Texas Rangers retire their 1st number, Nolan Ryan's #34
