This Day in Texas History December 24th, 1910 On this day in 1910, Kay Kimbell and Velma Fuller, future benefactors of Fort Worth’s Kimbell Art Museum, married in Durant, Oklahoma. Kay Kimbell was born in 1886 in Leon County and attended public schools in Whitewright, where he met his future wife. At the time…
Read more
This Day in Texas History: Alamo Survivor Dies October 7, 1883 On this day in 1883, Susanna Wilkerson Dickinson, survivor of the Alamo, died in Austin. The Tennessee native married Almaron Dickinson in 1829 and moved to Gonzales, Texas, in 1831. Susanna’s only child, Angelina Elizabeth Dickinson, was born in 1834. Her husband went off…
Read more
Apparently a lot of people aren’t aware of of the fact that Sly Stone is a native Texan. That’s right, the immensely talented and controversial performer born Sylvester Stewart on May 15, 1943, was born in Denton, Texas, but his family moved away around the time he was three months old. Born into a very religious family…
Read more
This Day in Texas History: “Bandit Queen” Marries for the Last Time June 5, 1880 On this day in 1880, Myra Maybelle (Belle) Shirley Reed, the “Bandit Queen,” married her second, or possibly third, husband, Sam Starr, in the Cherokee Nation. Belle Starr was born near Carthage, Missouri, in 1848. During the Civil War her…
Read more
This Day in Texas History: Heroic Texan Graduates From Flight-Nurse School February 18, 1943 On this day in 1943, Dolly Shea graduated with the first flight-nurse class of the United States Army Air Forces at Bowman Field, Kentucky. The San Benito, Texas, native served in the European Theater during World War II. She was killed…
Read more
This Day in Texas History: Space Shuttle Explosion Kills Texas Astronaut and Crew January 28, 1986 On this day in 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after takeoff. Seven American astronauts were killed, including Texas resident Judith Arlene Resnik. The world watched as, 73 seconds into its flight, Challenger broke apart in a violent…
Read more
This Day in Texas History: Mason County Courthouse Burns January 21, 1877 On this day in 1877, the Mason County courthouse burned, destroying all early county records, including those pertaining to the Mason County War. This deadly episode began as a feud over cattle rustling but grew into a conflict between the Anglo and German…
Read more
This Day in Texas History: First Appearance of Popeye January 17, 1929 On this day in 1929, Popeye, the Sailor Man, renowned comic-strip character, first appeared in print. The Victoria Advocate is credited as the first newspaper in the nation to run Elzie Crisler Segar’s comic strip, originally called “Thimble Theatre,” which starred the spinach-eating…
Read more
This Day in Texas History: Elvis Plays Lubbock’s Cotton Club January 6, 1955 On this day in 1955, Elvis Presley, while on the Louisiana Hayride tour played the Cotton Club in Lubbock. The up-and-coming, but still largely unknown, Elvis Presley officially joined the Louisiana Hayride with guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black on November 6, 1954.…
Read more
Recent Comments