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.

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 26 in San Antonio history…

1946
More than six inches of rain falls in twelve hours in San Antonio, causing major flooding.  Water reaches the fifty-foot level at Olmos Dam, only ten feet from the top.  Six people are killed and property damage is estimated at $8 million. ($100 million in 2019 dollars.)

1957
Pompeo Coppini, sculptor of the Alamo Cenotaph (“Spirit of Sacrifice”) and many Texas heroes, dies at his home at the age of 87.

1982
After 26 years broadcasting from their facility at the corner of Avenue E and 4th streets downtown, KENS Channel 5 begins broadcasting from their new studios at 5400 Fredericksburg Road.  It took six tractor-trailer trucks to move all the equipment.  The last broadcast at the old studio signs off at 2 a.m. and the new broadcast begins at 5 p.m.

September 25 in San Antonio history…

1922
Radio station WOAI (“World Of Agricultural Information”) transmits its first radio broadcast. It is the third radio station in San Antonio.

1965
Atheist Madelyn Murray O’Hair, noted for her 1963 Supreme Court case banning prayer in schools, is arrested in San Antonio after a flight from Mexico City.  She is taken into custody and jailed under 11 warrants from Baltimore charging her with aggravated assault on policemen.  She was arrested at the Greyhound bus terminal after police missed her at the airport.

1982
After a yearlong $2 million renovation project, La Villita is reopened with much fanfare.  The renovation funds came from a $1.7 million grant from the Economic Redevelopment Administration and $600,000 in matching city funds.

September 6 in San Antonio history…

1894
San Antonio Female College opens its doors.  In 1916 the college was recognized by the University of Texas as a junior college. The name was changed to Westmoorland College in 1918 and to the University of San Antonio in 1937. In 1942 the institution passed out of Methodist control, and the University of San Antonio was merged with Trinity University.

1982
Betty Jean Alden’s controversial statue of Samuel Gompers is unveiled along Market Street.

2012
San Antonio’s Greenway Trails system is renamed the Howard W. Peak Greenway Trails System after the former mayor who envisioned the project.

August 14 in San Antonio history..

1914
Assistant Fire Chief Gilbert Hovey dies when the front suspension of Chief Wright’s big 1910 Locomobile collapses and Hovey is thrown out of the car and into a telephone pole.  Hovey  was 42 years old.

1922
This morning, Judge James R. Davis submitted a petition from property owners in the settlement of Viva, between San Antonio and Leon Springs on the San Antonio & Aransas Pass railroad, that the streets and alleys in the 35-year-old town be ordered closed. The commissioners’ court granted the petition. Thus, the township was wiped out. There were no casualties.

1982
Workers spend five hours removing the 4,000-pound marquee from the Texas Theater only to have it bend and crumble due to structural rust.  The marquee was due to have been donated to the Institute of Texan Cultures.

August 10 in San Antonio history…

1946
A number of San Antonio merchants are cooperating in a “back to church and Sunday School” campaign by using cuts prepared by the Council of Churches especially for use when the polio ban was lifted. Local radio stations also are participating in the campaign by making public interest announcements.

1957
Police were probing three bomb threats today which disrupted downtown businesses yesterday afternoon.  Telephoned bomb threats were made to Joske’s, the Prince Theater, and the St. Anthony Hotel. No bombs were found.

1982
Duval County rancher Clinton Manges and his lawyer, Pat Maloney, purchase the San Antonio Bulls franchise of the American Football Association.  They are looking to buy the San Antonio Spurs basketball team.  Team owner and CEO Angelo Drossos says the Spurs are “not for sale at any price” but later says he would entertain a “legitimate” offer with the understanding that the team would remain in San Antonio.

August 4 in San Antonio history…

1891
The City Council passes the “Bawdy House Ordinance,” legalizing and licensing houses of prostitution.

1960
Ground is broken on the new outer loop north of the city (Loop 1604).

1982
FCC Administrative Law Judge Joseph Stirmer awards Alamo Broadcasting Co. permission to build a new television station to broadcast on UHF Channel 29.

1983
An overnight two-alarm blaze suspected to have been caused by an arsonist, causes $10,000 damage to this historic Yturri house located at 327 S. Presa.  The house dates from 1817. 

July 31 in San Antonio history…

1944
Weatherman J. Henry Jarboe reported this was the first July in San Antonio weather history without a measureable drop of rain.

1978
Tropical Storm Amelia stalls over South Texas, beginning three days of continuous rain over the Guadalupe River basin leading to widespread flooding and evacuations. Medina receives 48″ of rain, a record not only for Texas but any tropical cyclone impacting the continental United States.

1982
A “We Want Pro Ball” rally, the brainchild of KSAT sportscaster Joe Fowler, is held before a San Antonio Bulls football game at Alamo Stadium.  Shreveport beats the Bulls anyway, 32-23.

July 5 in San Antonio history…

1819
A major flood in San Antonio, described as a “solid overflowing stream roaring south, spread east and west from the walls of the former mission San Antonio de Valero (Alamo) all the way to San Pedro Creek.”

1923
Mayor John W. Tobin returned to the San Antonio Amusement Co. several passes saying he did not believe any public official or city employee was entitled to free admittance to theaters.

1982
Jimmy Johnson donates the 3/8 scale, 270 lb. copper replica of the Liberty Bell to the Beautify San Antonio Association for display at the “Patio of States” in front of the Convention Center.  Johnson purchased the bell in 1975 for display at his amusement park, Playland Park, where it was displayed until the park closed in 1980.