July 28 in San Antonio history…

1941
Earl “Fatha” Hines performs at the Library Auditorium (now the Carver Center) on Hackberry Street.

1969
KENS Channel 5 airs “The Harlem Cultural Festival,” an hour-long special featuring the 5th Dimension, Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach, The Chambers Brothers, and the Edwin Hawkins Singers (right).

1988
Rolling Oaks Mall opens at Nacogdoches and Loop 1604.  Phase One, with 570,000 square feet of leasable area, features Dillards, Sears, Circus World, County Seat, Deck the Walls, Everything’s a Dollar, Foot Action, Hasting’s Records, Naturalizer, Radio Shack, The Accessory Store, Unique Creations, Waldenbooks, Woolworth Express, Zales and six Santikos theaters. The mall also contains 14 restaurants and a 400-seat dining area. Designed to grow with the community, Rolling Oaks plans to add four major department stores and one junior department store by the year 1990 — increasing the mall’s leasable space to 1.2 million square feet.

May 28 in San Antonio history…

1971
The General Cinema Corporation opens the new twin-screen Cinema I & II theaters at McCreless Mall.  The opening attractions are “The Andromeda Strain” and “Red Sky at Morning.”

1988
Sea World of Texas holds grand opening festivities featuring television stars throughout the park, such as Bob Keeshan of “Captain Kangaroo,” Tina Yothers of “Family Ties,” and Bryce Beckham of “Mr. Belvedere.” Susan Howard of “Dallas” said, “God gave someone good sense and the powers that be for choosing San Antonio as a site for the park.  This is truly a Memorial Day that we will all remember for the rest of our lives.”

1997
San Antonio native Linda Finch completes an around-the-world flight in a Lockheed Electra to commemorate Amelia Earhart’s ill-fated attempt sixty years earlier.

April 19 in San Antonio history…

1918
No darkening of the streets or show windows in stores along the parade route tonight will be required, according to the directors of the Fiesta Association.  “The more lights there are on the street the better the floats will show up and we are anxious that there be as much light as possible,” says B. R. Webb, president of the Fiesta Association.

1988
Longtime San Antonio clothiers, Frost Brothers, files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

1991
Longtime album-oriented rock station 99.5 KISS changes formats and begins simulcasting the 50’s and 60’s oldies format of 930 KOOL AM.  Eight full-time and part-time disc jockeys are fired as a result.  Reaction from listeners is swift and harsh.

April 15 in San Antonio history…

1936
A 44-year-old salesman for a Chicago clock company leaps to his death from the seventh floor of the Hotel Lanier.

1976
The Northwest Six Theatres open at IH 10 and 410, showing “Play It Again, Sam”, “The Hiding Place”, “Crime & Passion”, “Echoes of a Summer”, “Bugs Bunny Superstar” and “The Duchess & the Dirtwater Fox.”  The multiplex will later expand to ten and fourteen screens.

1988
Sea World opens its doors for the first time for their soft opening.  The new theme park expects 5,000 visitors.  The grand opening is planned for Memorial Day weekend.

April 4 in San Antonio history…

1922
San Antonio’s 1922 Spring Auto show opens at the St. Anthony Hotel

1946
Alamo Drive-In opens on Austin Highway.

1988
The South Texas Nuclear Plant (officially known as South Texas Project Electric Generating Station), the first nuclear plant in Texas, begins producing power.  The city of San Antonio owns a 40% stake in the plant, located near Bay City.

March 28 in San Antonio history…

1924
The Fiesta Association board receives a request from Ku Klux Klan No. 31 to enter a decorated float in the Battle of Flowers parade and 5,000 to 10,000 unmasked members in the night parade.  The letter stated that they would be led by the Klan band and fiery cross of the order.  Action on the request was delayed by the board.

1927
The new Magnolia gas station at Broadway and the Austin Highway opens for business (photo, right, taken in 2011).

1988
San Antonio drivers with outstanding parking tickets had until 8 a.m. to settle up with the city or risk getting “booted” as the city begins installing Auto Kuff immobilizing devices on the cars of violators.  Cars with “boots” cannot be moved until the driver pays a $25 fee to remove the device plus all outstanding tickets.

March 24 in San Antonio history…

1966
The groundbreaking is held for the South Texas Medical School and Bexar County Teaching Hospital (later renamed The University of Texas Health Science Center and University Hospital.)

1988
The long-awaited union between classical station KPAC and National Public Radio affiliate KSTX was formally voted on and approved today by the boards of the two stations.  “With any luck, this plan will be approved by the Federal Communications Commission and KSTX will be operating by the end of the year,” said Joe Gwathmey, who will be general manager of the two stations.

2004
The Judson School District board votes to name the district’s second high school for 1979 Judson High graduate Lt. Col. Karen Wagner, who died in the Sept. 11, 2001 attack on the Pentagon.

February 20 in San Antonio history…

1965
After 88 years in business, Wolff and Marx closes their downtown department store in the Rand Building at Soledad and Houston along with North Star Mall location (later reopened as Joske’s).

1988
RiverCenter Mall holds its grand opening festivities.

1990
The San Antonio Light reports that a local resident has a set of letters from the Joske’s building and has applied for a $7,000 grant from the Public Arts Committee of the San Antonio Fine Arts Commission to have them restored and placed on display under the South Alamo/Losoya Street bridge.

January 19 in San Antonio history…

1950
The new H. L. Green store (right), built on the site of the old Grand Opera House at Crockett and Alamo Streets, holds its grand opening.  Artifacts from the Grand Opera House were given to the Witte Museum.

1958
San Antonio oilman-scientist Tom Slick said today it is “entirely possible” a Russian scientist’s claim he spotted two “Abominable Snowmen” is true.  Last year Slick led an expedition in which he photographed tracks believed to have been made by the elusive Himalayan creatures.

1988
The Hertzberg clock, a San Antonio landmark since 1878, was removed today from its corner at Houston and St. Mary’s streets and stored at the La Vernia Clock Works in La Vernia. It will be reinstalled when TriParty construction is completed around the location.

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.