Texas Day by Day
Find out what happened today in Texas history.
Rock and roll legend born in Vernon
88 years ago today on April 23rd, 1936
On this day in 1936, rock and roll singer Roy Orbison was born in Vernon, Texas. He grew up in Wink, and while attending Wink High School he formed a country music group called the Wink Westerners. Later, while attending North Texas State College, he transformed the Wink Westerners into his first rock and roll band, the Teen Kings. The group played throughout West Texas and recorded "Ooby Dooby," which brought him to the attention of the Sun record label in Memphis. Orbison rerecorded "Ooby Dooby" for Sun, and in 1956 it became his first chart hit. In 1959 Orbison joined the small Monument label in Nashville, for which he recorded a string of international hit records, including "Only the Lonely" (1960), "Blue Angel" (1960), "Running Scared" (1961), "Blue Bayou" (1963), "It's Over" (1964), and "Oh, Pretty Woman" (1964). He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and died the following year.
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Seed of modern art museum planted in Fort Worth
132 years ago today on April 23rd, 1892
On this day in 1892, a group of Fort Worth women received from the state of Texas a charter establishing the Fort Worth Public Library Association, a part of whose stated purpose was "the accumulation of paintings and artistic work of every character for the enjoyment and cultivation of our people. " The resulting gallery was named the Art Gallery of the Carnegie Public Library in 1901, the Fort Worth Museum of Art in 1910, the Forth Worth Art Center in 1954, the Fort Worth Art Center Museum in 1971, and the Fort Worth Art Museum in 1974. The current name was adopted in 1987. The museum, located in the Fort Worth Cultural District, houses the collection of the Fort Worth Art Association. It maintains a well-defined relationship with its two neighbors, the Amon Carter Museum and the Kimbell Art Museum. The Carter focuses on the art of the American West and American art in general until 1940, the Kimbell covers non-Western art and European art up to 1920, and the Modern Art Museum concentrates on European art since 1920 and American art since 1940.
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Legendary jazz pianist dies
40 years ago today on April 23rd, 1984
On this day in 1984, jazz pianist William M. (Red) Garland died in Dallas, where he had been born in 1923. Garland played the clarinet and alto saxophone as a child and learned piano from other servicemen at Fort Huachuca, Sierra Vista, Arizona. After leaving the army in 1944 he joined a band led by Henry (Buster) Smith, and by 1946 was playing in nightclubs in New York City. He was part of one of the most exciting periods of jazz evolution. Much of the 1950s jazz now regarded as classic was built upon Garland's characteristic block chords. He achieved his greatest fame as a member of Miles Davis's Quintet from 1955 to 1958. After leaving that group, Garland started his own trio. He returned to Dallas in 1965 because of his mother's illness and made few public appearances until the late 1970s, when he performed several times in New York and cut a new album. His last performance was at the Park Central Jazz Festival in Dallas in 1981.
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From Cabeza de Vaca's ship-wreck in 1528 through the Texas Revolution to present day—almost 500 years of recorded history—a myriad of significant events in Texas history have occurred. These events are arranged by day of the year to allow the reader to see into the past on any specific day.
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Recent & Upcoming Anniversaries
The following entries have anniversaries that occurred this month or will occur in the next 2 month(s)
470th Anniversary
- Spanish treasure ships wrecked on Padre Island 6 days from now
335th Anniversary
- Spanish explorer names the Nueces 2 weeks ago
- Coahuila governor discovers and names Guadalupe River 1 week ago
- Spanish explorer finds defunct French fort 1 day ago
325th Anniversary
- San Juan Bautista Mission founded 2 months 1 day from now
315th Anniversary
245th Anniversary
- American Revolution reaches Texas 1 month 4 weeks from now
205th Anniversary
- Provisional government declares Texas independence 2 months 23 hours from now
- Early Texas journalist heralds Long expedition 1 month 2 weeks from now
200th Anniversary
- Austin Colony settlers clash with Karankawas 1 month 4 weeks from now
195th Anniversary
- Future Alamo defender and survivor elope 1 month 1 day from now
- Irish trader takes citizenship oath 3 weeks from now
185th Anniversary
- Republic of Texas defeats revolutionary plotters in key action 3 weeks from now
- "Village Blacksmith of Cumby" born in Tennessee 1 month 1 week from now
180th Anniversary
- Pioneer Texas doctor born in Alabama 4 weeks from now
- Historic steamer arrives in Texas 2 weeks from now
175th Anniversary
- Major Neighbors returns to San Antonio after leading historic western surveying expedition 1 month 1 week from now
- German furniture artist arrives in Texas 4 weeks from now
170th Anniversary
- War Department orders surveys for Indian reservations 3 days from now
- Texas Germans declare slavery to be evil 3 weeks from now
- Prairie chicken namesake born in England 5 days from now
160th Anniversary
- General Taylor foils Union campaign in Louisiana 2 weeks ago
- Partisan leader promoted 1 month 1 week from now
- Former Texan rallies Union troops, awarded Medal of Honor 1 week from now
- Hood's Texas Brigade rallies around General Lee 1 week from now
- Civil War skirmish at Las Rusias 2 months 2 days from now
155th Anniversary
- Alleged participants in mob killing go on trial 1 month 1 day from now
- High court rules that Texas can sue in federal courts despite secession 1 week ago
150th Anniversary
- Governor Coke appoints commander of Frontier Battalion 1 week from now
- First letter from "Pidge" appears in Austin paper 3 days from now
- Indian raiders strike again at Adobe Walls 2 months 4 days from now
- Feudists intensify conflict by lynching 1 month 3 weeks from now
145th Anniversary
- Northeast Texas community gets a post office 1 month 3 weeks from now
- First county in Panhandle organized 1 week ago
135th Anniversary
- Texas booster fair opens in Fort Worth 1 month 6 days from now
130th Anniversary
- Water-well contractor accidentally discovers first major Texas oilfield 1 month 2 weeks from now
125th Anniversary
- Water rises disastrously as rain gluts the Brazos rivershed 1 month 3 weeks from now
120th Anniversary
- West Texas Landscape painter born in Milford 5 days ago
105th Anniversary
- Texas Senate ratifies women's right to vote 2 months 5 days from now
- Texas congressman calls Mexican president a "spineless cactus" 1 month 3 weeks from now
100th Anniversary
- Congress establishes United States Border Patrol 1 month 5 days from now
- West Texas Historical Association organized in Abilene 4 days ago
- Texas baritone makes professional debut in New York 3 days ago
90th Anniversary
- Murderers and bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde gunned down in Louisiana 1 month 23 hours from now
85th Anniversary
- UT observatory dedicated in Davis Mountains 1 week from now
- Soil Conservation Board established 1 month 6 days from now
- Refugee conductor gives "demonstration concert" in San Antonio 1 month 2 weeks from now
80th Anniversary
- U.S. Supreme Court dooms white primary 2 weeks ago
- Rudder's Rangers fight with distinction on Normandy beaches 1 month 1 week from now
75th Anniversary
- Residents of homestead community petition for incorporation 2 months 6 days from now
60th Anniversary
- Construction begins at Toledo Bend Reservoir 2 weeks from now
55th Anniversary
- Houston surgeon implants first artificial heart 2 weeks ago
- New park opens to public 1 month 1 week from now
- Famous horse wins at Aqueduct on the eve of his trainer's death 3 weeks ago
- Last passenger train leaves Dallas terminal 1 month 1 week from now
- New airport opens in Houston 1 month 2 weeks from now
- El Paso County gives rock art site to state 1 month 2 weeks from now
45th Anniversary
- Dallas designates Federal Reserve Bank a historic landmark 2 weeks from now
- Novelist dies after fistfight 1 month 2 weeks from now
- Orange Show opens to the public 2 weeks from now
40th Anniversary
- Landmark public education suit filed 1 month 23 hours from now
- Legendary jazz pianist dies today
25th Anniversary
- Spurs are champions! 2 months 2 days from now