October 24 in San Antonio history…

1909
Bexar County commissioners soon may be joyriding in an automobile. A. E. Staacke Automobile Co. has been awarded a contract to supply the county with a 1910 model seven-passenger, 40-horsepower Knox touring car for $3,350.

1960
The epic John Wayne movie The Alamo has its world premiere at the Woodlawn Theater on Fredricksburg Road in San Antonio.

2013
After decades of delivering books to underserved areas, the San Antonio Public Library’s Bookmobile makes its last run along San Antonio’s streets.

March 15 in San Antonio history…

1822
Stephen F. Austin arrives in San Antonio to meet with the Governor regarding plans for colonization of Texas.  He is told to continue to Mexico City and meet with authorities there.

1909
First Assistant Police Chief McCabe advocates a sidewalk along the bank of the San Antonio River along the business district downtown to allow police patrols to curb the rash of burglaries by thieves who rob the stores and then escape into the river undetected.

1955
In past years, today was income tax day, but this year you have an extra 30 days to get your income taxes in.  The deadline has been moved to April 15.

February 25 in San Antonio history…

1909
Baylor University brings its basketball team to San Antonio to play four games in two days in order to stake its claim as the best basketball team in the state of Texas.  The Bears hope to play Main Avenue High School, the YMCA, Fort Sam Houston and Turners teams.  They are only able to schedule the first three teams and only defeat the Fort Sam Houston team (35-18), losing to the high school (17-24) and YMCA (34-36) teams.

1942
Trinity University, a Presbyterian institution in Waxahachie, agrees to relocate to San Antonio and merge with the University of San Antonio, a Methodist university.

1985
Due to a dispute over the teams failure to provide sideline passes and parking permits, the San Antonio Gunslinger mascot quits and walks out of the stadium in the fourth quarter of the Gunslingers’ game vs. Memphis.

December 18 in San Antonio history…

1909
Hugo Haas of San Francisco and Charles Baldwin of New Orleans demonstrate the Burlingame Telegraphic Typewriter (right) in the Bexar Hotel to great acclaim.  But, it turns out it was a scam and the whole enterprise went bankrupt in June 1911.

1936
Arturo Trevino, a local grocer, paid $3 for an airplane flight over the city and jumped to his death 3,500 feet above his grocery store.  He misses the store and his body crashes through the residence of Frank Padalecki next door.  Trevino’s body goes through the tin roof, ceiling and floor, breaking a gas main under the house.

1992
Jerry Tarkanian is fired as head coach of the San Antonio Spurs after going 9-11 in only 20 games.  He is replaced with John Lucas.

 

November 20 in San Antonio history…

1897
The electric lights were tested last night and were found to be very good. Some more lamps have to be erected but it is expected the city will be lighted by electricity in two or three more days.

1909
The Gunter Hotel is completed and opened for business. The hotel stands on the former site of the Vance Building. Previous to that, it was the site of U.S. Army barracks and was the headquarters of Robert E. Lee, Albert Sidney Johnston and other Civil War heroes.

1988
A dedication ceremony is held to celebrate the renovations to the Brackenridge Eagle miniature railroad.  Owner Phil Sheridan has installed 3,500 new railroad ties, a new bridge and six electronic crossing gates as well as widening the track from 16 to 24 inches.  Three new replicas of an 1863 C. P. Huntington locomotive have also been purchased.

October 18 in San Antonio history…

1909
No less than 50,000 people packed Alamo Plaza today on the occasion of President Taft’s first public speech in this city. Other thousands lined the streets to get a glimpse of the distinguished visitor.

1932
At the instigation of Maury Maverick, the War Veteran’s Relief Camp is organized at Exposition Park where remnants of the Bonus Army are camping.  Maverick is designated the camp director and R. R. Rogers is Camp Commander.  The camp census lists forty-three adults and thirty-two children and is a place where veterans and transients can obtain a meal and a place to sleep.

2009
Early morning worshipers preparing for Mass at San Fernando Cathedral hear a man shouting obscenities in Main Plaza.  The agitated man runs through the plaza, picks up a rock and throws it at the head of the marble statue of St. Anthony de Padua (right), causing the head to detach from the body and fall to the ground.  The head is being kept inside the cathedral.  The agitated vandal is unknown.

August 12 in San Antonio history..

1909
San Antonio has a population of 101,994 and Bexar Country 133,188 people, according to the offical census report from the superintendent of public instruction.

1922
Frost Bank moves into its new multistory “skyscraper” at the SW corner of Commerce and Flores streets (now the Municipal Plaza Building.)

1977
The Space Shuttle Enterprise makes its first flight test at Edwards AFB in California.  Future Space Shuttles will make frequent refueling stops in San Antonio.

 

June 8 in San Antonio history…

1932
A classified ad in the San Antonio Express advertises “Jimmie Rodgers’ beautiful home in Kerrville, Tex. at a great sacrifice.”  No price is listed; only a telephone number.

1955
Fess Parker and Buddy Ebsen, stars of the new Disney movie “Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier” are in San Antonio for the movie’s world premiere at the Majestic Theater tonight.

1999
British rock band Def Leppard plays in the parking lot for the grand opening of the new Walmart store at I-10 and DeZavala Road.

March 18 in San Antonio history…

1909
The Detroit Tigers come to San Antonio for a spring training exhibition game against St. Louis College.  Tigers star slugger, Ty Cobb, is fanned by 17-year-old student Melvin “Bert” Gallia.  The Tigers win the game however, 10-2.  (Photo courtesy of St. Mary’s University.  Gallia, back row, far left.  Cobb, center, in white.)

1977
A millionaire Los Angeles woman leaves her brother-in-law, a member of a wealthy pioneer Hill Country family, almost $3 million – but only if he buries her next to her husband in her expensive Italian sports car with the seat “reclined at a comfortable angle.”

1995
Tejano superstar Selena plays her last San Antonio concert at Tejano Wave on Perrin-Beitel road.

March 3 in San Antonio history…

1909
The San Antonio Daily Express reports that the pants to be worn by William Howard Taft tomorrow at his inauguration come from Texas.  “Early tomorrow morning, President-elect Taft will receive from his tailor his inaugural trousers made from the wool taken from Admiral Togo, a 3-year-old Angora goat bred and owned by Frank O. Landrum of Laguna in Uvalde County.  The trousers, which are woven in specific design, with filling and pockets of finest silk, are the perfection of skilled workmanship.”

1976
The world-famous “Taj Mahal” at Randolph Air Force Base (right) is now an official state historical landmark.

1986
The Sears building on Romana Plaza closes.  It will be razed, rebuilt and reopened in 1995 as the San Antonio Central Library.