December 2 in San Antonio history…

1994
All San Antonio Sound Warehouse locations are now rebranded as Blockbuster Music.

December 2 in San Antonio history…

1927
At 10 a.m. sharp, the doors to Municipal Auditorium are opened and San Antonians rush in to see “the new Ford” – the Model A – first new Ford model in 15 years.  By noon, five-thousand have seen the new phaeton and the two-door sedan, with 5,000 more predicted to see the cars before the doors close late tonight.

1950
Ceremonies are held in the Alamo Garden to dedicate the new library on the grounds.  The new building is a gift of Mrs. John King Beretta and is donated to the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.

1994
All San Antonio Sound Warehouse locations are now rebranded as Blockbuster Music.

November 10 in San Antonio history…

1891
The entire west block of Military Plaza, including the Fashion Theater , is consumed by fire.

1954
Ruth Brown (“Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean”) and Charles Brown (“Merry Christmas, Baby”) perform at the [Carver] Library Auditorium.

1994
Actress Ann B. Davis signs copies of her cookbook, “Alice’s Brady Bunch Cookbook” at the Twig bookstore.

October 20 in San Antonio history…

1899 
The first automobile in San Antonio, an electric, arrived at Staacke Brothers today. However, the batteries did not arrive with the car so the first drive will have to wait.

from the Tibbals Circus Collection

1903
Robert Benjamin Vandervoort of Corpus Christi, who bills himself as “Diavolo,” performs the loop-de-loop on a bicycle as part of the Forepaugh and Sells Bros. circus at the fairgrounds (right.)

1994
Blockbuster Entertainment buys Sound Warehouse, including all six San Antonio locations, from Los Angeles-based Shamrock Holdings.

September 18 in San Antonio history…

1940
The old cornerstone of the Texas Hotel, built as St. Mary’s Hall in 1866, is removed as the building is razed.

1986
Joint public TV stations KLRN-TV of San Antonio and KLRU-TV of Austin vote to split up and work toward operating independently.  Starting in October, each station will begin keeping its own books.

1994
Alamo Heights Methodist Church conducts the first Sunday services in its new location at 825 E. Basse Road after moving from its longtime location at 5101 Broadway.

July 1 in San Antonio history…

advertisement, San Antonio Express, 29 June 1977, p. 16-A

1977
Star Wars (right) debuts in San Antonio at the Wonder Theater (ABC Interstate) and the Century South 6 (Santikos).

1994
St. Luke’s Lutheran Hospital becomes part of the Baptist Memorial Hospital System and is renamed St. Luke’s Baptist Hospital.   This is the fifth in the Baptist system of hospitals and the first in the Medical Center.  With the closure of Lutheran General Hospital in 1991, this merger means that no Lutheran-affiliated hospitals remain in San Antonio.

1995
Demolition of HemisFair Arena officially begins.  The graduation ceremony for the Thomas Jefferson High School Class of 1995 was the last public event held in the old arena.

June 30 in San Antonio history…

San Antonio Express newspaper, 30 June 1954, p. 9A

1954
Color television arrived in San Antonio today but it will be some time before the average person will be able to afford and enjoy it in his home.  The first color TV programs were broadcast by WOAI – the “Today” show from 6 to 8 a.m. and “Home” from 9 to 10 a.m.  For the present time, no color programs in color will originate locally.  The programs were available for viewing in color at the Wolff & Marx department store on a handmade television with a 14-inch screen.

1965
A San Antonio Light article reports on the new computer handling patient records at Brooke General Hospital.  The IBM 1440 computer required the construction of a special room and uses disk packs that store 3 million characters [3 Megabytes], or 4,000 patient records.  The system cost “less than $25,000.””

1994
The Eagles, who Don Henley once claimed would get back together “when hell freezes over,” bring their “Hell Freezes Over Tour” to a packed Alamodome crowd.  Melissa Etheridge opens the concert.  Almost 10 minutes into Etheridge’s set, KSMG-FM radio personality Sonny Melendrez leeaves the lofty press box, walks across the cavernous Alamodome floor to the opposite side and then all the way up into the rafters section to deliver two front row tickets to two unsuspecting concertgoers, Yolanda Trevino and Sendi Forley, who are obviously caught by surprise.

May 2 in San Antonio history…

1887
The chapel at the Concepcion Mission, as repaired, is rededicated to our Lady of Lourdes by Bishop Neraz.

1951
Fire sweeps through the O’Brien Hotel at 412 E. Martin Street. Nineteen people survive by jumping from second-floor windows after finding the fire escape blocked by the flames.

1994
VIA Metropolitan Transit begins using two off-duty deputies on bike patrol to monitor downtown bus stops for crime.

December 31 in San Antonio history…

1917
Responding to a call, Fire Chief William P. Bishop (right) is killed instantly when a pumping engine from Company No. 7 collides with his Locomobile auto, hurling it into Joske’s.  Lieut. Robert Koppelin is also killed.

1946
The Alamo Bowl, scheduled to pit the Hardin-Simmons Cowboys vs. the University of Denver Pioneers in Alamo Stadium, is postponed due to freezing temperatures and heavy ice. The game would eventually be played on January 4.

1984
An explosion rocks the Chateau Orleans apartments at 3730 Fredericksburg Road.  One woman is killed and twelve are injured.  The explosion is later traced back to an accumulation of natural gas in the building.

December 11 in San Antonio history…

1926
The Olmos Dam (right) is dedicated and opened to traffic.

1949
WOAI-TV Channel 4 is dedicated today. The station began broadcasting regular programming at 4:45 that afternoon and signed off at 9:00 pm. The feature program is the SMU-Notre Dame game from Dec. 3.  The program was condensed to 40 minutes by eliminating huddles and time between plays.

1995
HEB grocery store breaks ground on their first store outside the U.S., in Monterrey, Mexico.