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.

October 28 in San Antonio history…

1959
For the first time in history a world premiere for a grand opera was held in San Antonio. Dr. Carl Venth’s 2-act opera, “La Vida de la Mision,” was presented at Municipal Auditorium by the Symphony Society.

1965
City Council today approves final plans for San Antonio’s planned $8 million Convention Center.

1976
Former major leaguer Wally Moon purchases the San Antonio Brewers from Ft. Worth businessman Jack Williams for $50,000.  The Texas League team will be an affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers after being previously affiliated with the Texas Rangers and Cleveland Indians in past seasons.

September 30 in San Antonio history…

1936
Alamo Plaza is decided upon as the location for the cenotaph honoring the Alamo heroes.

1976
Dedication ceremonies at Market Square followed by a mass at Milam Park kick off a four-day fiesta to celebrate the reopening of El Mercado.

1982
“Cheers” debuts on KENS-TV Channel 4 at 8 p.m., slotted against the two-hour season premiere of “Magnum P.I.” on KMOL and “Too Close for Comfort” on KSAT.

September 14 in San Antonio history…

1866
The cornerstone for the Ursuline Convent Dormitory was laid and blessed.

1933
San Antonians were looking forward to midnight to sample their first legal beer in 15 years.

1976
A “hammer-like” gust of wind topples a wall of the partially-demolished Household Furniture Building at St. Mary’s and Commerce Streets, injuring six people, scattering debris over Commerce Street and shattering the doors of the Alamo Bank Building nearby.

August 31 in San Antonio history…

1898
A party who read in the Sunday Light the proposition of the doctors to be allowed right-of-way when calling on patients, suggests that they be compelled to put gongs on their vehicles to prevent accidents.

1915
The largest single piece of glass in the South was installed at Joske Bros.  It is 21 feet, five and one-half inches long and exceeds by two feet any piece of glass ever used in the South.

1976
After 17 years of planning, battling and waiting, the end is in sight for completion of the North Freeway, now officially named the W.W. McAllister Freeway. The last section extends from Sandau Road on the south to north of Bitters Road on the north, a distance of some two or three miles. Construction on this final section should begin in five to six months and should be completed in about 18 months, according to Mal Steinberg, highway department consultant.

August 27 in San Antonio history…

1883
Hugo & Schmeltzer’s store at Commerce and Navarro streets is destroyed by fire when two young men in the basement were transferring alcohol from a barrel to other containers while standing too near an open flame.  The barrel exploded and burned them severely.  The firemen managed to save Groos Bank and Hannig & Standen’s furniture store.

San Antonio Public Library, Texana/Genealogy Department microfilm collection

1945
Publication of the San Antonio Express, San Antonio Light and San Antonio Evening News is suspended this morning when members of the San Antonio Typographical Union strike and walk off the job.  All three newspapers publish late editions with the same headline (right).

1976
Elvis Presley plays the Convention Center Arena for his final San Antonio appearance.  He will die less than a year later on August 16, 1977.

July 29 in San Antonio history…

1936
Church officials were preparing today to direct the removal of the altar of San Fernando Cathedral in the hope that excavation beneath the floor of the church might produce the bones of the Alamo heroes.

1975
The Audie Murphy Veterans hospital adds guards and beefs up security after the weekend disappearance of nurse Mary Margaret “Peggy” Moran from the hospital parking lot.

1976
An estimated 100,000 people turned out today for the grand opening of Windsor Park Mall, San Antonio’s largest enclosed regional shopping center.

July 21 in San Antonio history…

1936
Thomas “Fats” Waller plays a concert in the Colored Library Auditorium.

1976
Southwest Airlines opens San Antonio International Airport’s first ground level jetway gate.

1981
More than 50 people wearing black arm bands and carrying a casket march from Travis Park to the Majestic Theater protesting the play “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.”  The march is called “The Death of Morality March” and is led by Rev. Joe H. West, pastor of Town East Baptist Church and vice president of the Moral Majority in Texas.

July 9 in San Antonio history…

1912
San Antonio today paid its last respects to the late Mayor Bryan Callaghan. Thousands visited the Callaghan home on Crockett St., where the body lay in state, and viewed the features of the man who for nearly a score of years held the highest executive office in the Alamo City.

1943
A new employee at the San Antonio National Bank, 213 W. Commerce, stepped on the burglar alarm button, causing 10 police cars to dash to the bank.

1976
Plans for a $16.1 million expansion at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio were approved today by the UT System regents. Officials said the construction will add 179,012 square feet, and is expected to be completed in about 30 months.

July 7 in San Antonio history…

1883
The first polo game is held in San Antonio is held between the Reds and the Blues in San Pedro Park.  This was only eleven years after polo was first played in England

1976
The huge B-52 aircraft that launched most of the X-15 rockets in pioneer United States space efforts arrived at Kelly Air Force Base today for modifications that will make it useful in the 1979 space shuttle and the Pioneer-Venus programs. No. 0008 is the oldest of the B-52 aircraft still flying. The plane will undergo $272,000 worth of maintenance and updating inspection at Kelly, an Air Force spokesman said. Officials said the B-52 would be instrumental in preparing for the space shuttle by taking the shuttle craft up 100,000 feet (27 miles) and jettisoning two engines of the craft to float to earth under 120-feet diameter parachutes.

1997
The 210 area code changes to include only San Antonio and Bexar County.  Area codes 830 and 956 are added for areas north and south of San Antonio.