November 30 in San Antonio history…

1888
The first International Fair, held at the new Fair Grounds at Riverside Park, closes after 17 days.

1977
“Bing Crosby’s Merrie Olde Christmas” airs on KENS Channel 5 at 8 p.m. after “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”  Crosby records the Christmas special a little over a month before his death on Oct. 14, 1977.  The highlight of the show is his duet with David Bowie on “Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy.”

2012
Maryland-based Sinclair Broadcasting Group purchases WOAI Channel 3 from Newport Television for $412.5 million.  WOAI is one broadcast station in a package of six stations in five markets. Sinclair also owns the local Fox station, KABB.

November 27 in San Antonio history…

1946
The First National Bank of San Antonio inaugurates their new drive-up window service.  Joe Straus, President of the Straus-Frank Company, is the first customer to use the service to make a deposit at the bank.  “This is a real innovation,” he says.

1975
The city first begins displaying Christmas lights along the Riverwalk.

1991
Sister Mary Anne Holmes of the Ursuline Order announces at a somber news conference that the Ursuline School will close in May due to increasing debt and decreasing enrollment.  The sisters founded the school in 1851.

November 25 in San Antonio history…

1857
The San Antonio Fire Company is established on this date, A. A. Lockwood, chief.

1934
After a grand sendoff from the Harlandale High School band and the Alzafar Shrine calliope, Capt. and Mrs. F. E. Kleinschmidt take off from Winburn Field at 3 p.m. for a trip to the North Pole to find Santa Claus.  On board, they carry a cargo of Christmas letters from San Antonio schoolchildren for Kris Kringle when they locate him.

1946
San Antonio Transit Co. workmen began to clear Tech field in preparation for the company’s construction of a new maintenance shop and garage facilities. This ends all hopes of the San Antonio Missions using the area as a playing field in 1947.

November 21 in San Antonio history…

(photo from JB-Randolph AFB, San Antonio, Texas)

1963
President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy are in San Antonio to dedicate the Aerospace Medical Health Center at Brooks Air Force Base. He is assassinated in Dallas the following day.

1982
James Whitcomb Riley Middle School is officially renamed Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School in ceremonies taking place 25 years and two days after its original dedication.

1985
A city ordinance bans BASE jumping from the Tower of the Americas.  Skydivers who carry parachutes into the observation deck area and jump or attempt to jump will be subject to a $200 fine in Municipal Court.

November 12 in San Antonio history…

1903
A group of self-described “pencil pushers” from the San Antonio Light take a ride in a Cadillac automobile to Terrell Wells.  The automobile and chauffeur is provided by Staacke Brothers.  The machine “glided along rough roads at fifteen miles an hour in perfect ease and comfort.”

1911 
Due to the “Great Blue Norther of 1911,” temperatures drop 35 degrees and are accompanied by a 40 mile-an-hour wind.  Attendance for the final day of the ten-day International Fair is estimated at only 2,000 people.  “I am much disappointed in the attendance,” says President Vories P. Brown.  “It was due largely to the weather.  We really had only one good day. As to the future of the fair, I am not prepared to say.  It is not a hopeful outlook.”
In fact, this would be the last of the International Fairs held since 1888.

1946
Unofficial word is received from Washington that the Arsenal is to be closed by June 30, 1947 and the contents moved to the arsenal in Texarkana.  A War Department spokesman states that Col. R. N. Bodine, commanding officer of the arsenal, would be the first to issue an official statement.

November 10 in San Antonio history…

1891
The entire west block of Military Plaza, including the Fashion Theater , is consumed by fire.

1954
Ruth Brown (“Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean”) and Charles Brown (“Merry Christmas, Baby”) perform at the [Carver] Library Auditorium.

1994
Actress Ann B. Davis signs copies of her cookbook, “Alice’s Brady Bunch Cookbook” at the Twig bookstore.

November 9 in San Antonio history…

1948
The Centeno family opens their first supermarket at 1802 W. Commerce St.

1963
Bexar County voters registered 18,372 to 15,664 in favor of a statewide amendment to repeal Texas’s 61-year-old poll tax.  Unfortunately, the rest of the state was much less progressive and the poll tax remains in place.

2015
The new Hotel Emma, located in the brewhouse of the former Pearl Brewery, holds its grand opening.

November 2 in San Antonio history…

1949
Lt. Gen. Leslie Groves, head of the Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb, gives a speech entitled, “The Future of Atomic Energy” at San Pedro Playhouse.

1976
The Eagles bring their Hotel California tour to Convention Center Arena.
J. D. Souther opens.

1987
Richard Marx comes to the Alamo City for the first time and plays a concert at Sneakers.  At the time of the show, his second single “Should’ve Known Better” is climbing the charts at #14.

2000
Dan Cook announces that he is stepping down as sports anchor on KENS Channel 5.  His last broadcast will be November 30.

November 4 in San Antonio history…

1902
The Texas Propositional Poll Tax Amendment, also known as Proposition 1, which establishes a poll tax as a prerequisite for voting, is approved by voters.

1926
The Texas Historical and Landmarks Assn. and the Sons and Daughters of the Heroes of Texas submitted a petition to the city urging preservation of the Spanish Governor’s Palace at West Commerce and Military Plaza.

1967
Mr. and Mrs. Bertell Zachry, son and daughter-in-law of H.B. Zachry,  became the first guests of the Hilton Palacio de Rio, after they rode Room 522 from the ground as it was hoisted into place by a crane. (right)

October 31 in San Antonio history…

1967
In the process of lifting the tophouse to the top of the Tower of the Americas structure, three steel lifting rods snapped halting the process.  Elmer Joiner, project engineer, said that if one more rod had broken, the whole tophouse structure would have fallen to the ground crushing as many as ten men.  In the meantime, seven giant cranes have been brought in to support the tophouse while the lifting rods are being replaced.

1997
The classic “Rumours” lineup of Fleetwood Mac performs at the Alamodome in support of their live album “The Dance.”

2015
Stevie Wonder brings his “Songs in the Key of Life” Tour to the AT&T Center.  It is Wonder’s first-ever San Antonio appearance.