October 10 in San Antonio history…

1972
National Bank of Commerce installs the city’s first automatic teller machine (ATM) across Soledad street from their downtown headquarters.

1973
The Spurs play their very first regular season ABA game against the San Diego Conquistadors.  San Diego erupted for 48 points in the final quarter, storming back from a deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to claim a 121-106 victory over the Spurs. San Antonio blew a 77-73 lead coming into the final quarter.

1991
City Council authorizes city staff to proceed with preliminary planning to move the council chambers out of City Hall and into the historic Main Plaza Building. The move, according to the most inexpensive option outlined by the staff, will cost $1.5 million.

August 25 in San Antonio history…

1852
St. Mary’s Institute (now University) is founded near San Fernando with 12 male students.

1939
A Communist rally at Municipal Auditorium turns into a riot when a crowd of 5,000 stone-throwing citizens converges on the building.

1973
A festive dedication celebration is planned for today’s opening of the new San Antonio Community Hospital. Dubbed “Night in New San Antonio Community Hospital,” the celebration will be held from 7-9 p.m. at the 316-bed acute care facility located in the Medical Center.

July 27 in San Antonio history…

1918
Women are allowed to vote in the Democratic primary in Texas for the first time.  Candidate William P. Hobby for governor, Annie Webb Blanton for state superintendent of public instruction and other candidates favored by the women are victorious.

1973
Willie Nelson, Leon Russell, Johnny Bush, Sammi Smith, El Curro and Gino Scorza entertain at the Menudo World Championship held at Raymond Russell Park.

June 29 in San Antonio history…

1904
Constable Charles Stevens and City Marshal Irvin praised the county’s new-fangled automobile for enabling them to reach the scene of a crime seven miles from the courthouse in just 40 minutes.

1973
Tom Nissalke, former coach of the ABA Dallas Chapparals and the NBA Seattle Supersonics, is named the first head coach of the San Antonio Spurs.

2013
San Antonio reaches its all-time high temperature for the month of June – 108 degrees.

April 23 in San Antonio history…

1923
The Supreme Court finds rules against the City of San Antonio in the their lawsuit to collect taxes from Santa Rosa Hospital.  The court rules that institutions of this type operated for charitable purposes are exempt from taxation.

1973
The first La Semana Alegre “Happy Week,” sponsored by the San Antonio Jaycees, kicks off in Hemisfair Park behind Beethoven Hall.   The entertainment consists of a Dixieland band in one area and a western band in another.

1976
The Brackenridge Eagle collides with an automobile parked too close to the tracks in the 3100 block of Avenue B.  No passengers are injured.  The only casualty is the engineer, who complains of a sore back after he is thrown from the train when the engines derail.

April 22 in San Antonio history…

1968
Tonight’s River Parade features celebrity guests, Don Knotts and Miss Universe 1967, Sylvia Hitchcock .

1973
The San Antonio Wheelmen bicycle club sponsors the first “Fiesta 100” bicycle tour that leaves from Broadway National Bank at 8:30 a.m.  Despite the name, the ride is only 50 miles.

1982
RepublicBank receives a permit from city council to demolish the Texas Theater.  The Conservation Society receives a federal court order to delay the demolition for 60 days.

February 15 in San Antonio history…

1973
Alex Haley, author of “Roots” and “The Autobiography of Malcolm X,” delivers a lecture at Our Lady of the Lake entitled, “The American Black Experience: Seeking An Identity.”

1988
Rivercenter Mall opens for business but the grand opening festivities will have to wait five more days.

2021
Just one year ago, San Antonio records a wind chill of -8 degrees.  This is the second-coldest wind chill on record for the Alamo City, having reached -11 degrees on February 14, 1949.  In both years, San Antonio experienced a snowfall of about five inches.

January 11 in San Antonio history…

1951
A sell-out, overflow crowd is expected at the Municipal Auditorium to hear Rev. Billy Graham.

1973
San Antonio receives a snowfall officially measured by the National Weather Service at less than one inch but there are accumulations of two and a half inches in some areas.

1985
Weathermen issue a winter storm watch for San Antonio with low temperatures for tomorrow in the low 20’s and a 50% chance of snow.  Tomorrow’s high temperature is predicted to be only in the high 20’s.

December 30 in San Antonio history…

1915 
The new bandstand in Alamo Plaza has been completed (right).  It will probably be opened to the public in early January as soon as all the furniture is installed.  The bandstand contains San Antonio’s first “comfort station” (public restroom). “The basement, in which the comfort station is located, has a tile floor and ample sewer connections for the purpose to which it will be devoted. One room will be fitted up with first-aid appliances and it is proposed to have a nurse there so that persons injured or overcome while downtown can be given temporary dressings or treatment.”

1973
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. finalizes the purchase of the San Antonio Express and News newspapers from Harte-Hanks.

2010
One of the San Antonio Police Department’s “Blue Eagle” helicopters loses power in flight and is forced to make an emergency landing on Highway 281 in the northbound lanes south of Bitters Road.  Neither the pilot nor the observer are seriously injured.

December 1 in San Antonio history…

1884
The Light asked San Antonians to assure the city’s future by purchasing beer from local breweries rather than ordering from St. Louis.  (The Lone Star Brewery was founded in 1884 by Adolphus Busch of Anheuser-Busch Brewing Company in St. Louis.)

1938
The headlines of the San Antonio newspapers describe a bus/train accident that resulted in the death of 26 children.  This accident spawned the myth of the “ghost tracks” at Shane and Villamain. Despite being the lead story in the newspaper, the accident actually took place in Salt Lake City, Utah.

1973
A dark but colorful will be the story of this year’s city Christmas tree in Alamo Plaza. Finishing touches are being made on the 60-foot tree, which will not have any lights this year because of the energy crisis, according to City Manager Sam Granata.