Texas Day by Day
Find out what happened today in Texas history.
Historic lighthouse extinguished by title search
136 years ago today on May 15th, 1888
On this day in 1888, the Port Isabel lighthouse was temporarily extinguished. Located on State Highway 100 in Port Isabel, southeastern Cameron County, the lighthouse was built by the United States government in 1852-53. The brick lighthouse had a light that consisted of four lamps on an iron platform. It was reported in 1854 that the lighthouse stood fifty-seven feet above the ground and eighty-two feet above sea level. The light was visible for sixteen miles and was produced by twenty-one reflectors and fifteen lamps. In 1887 it was discovered that the United States government did not have title to the land, and the lighthouse was closed the following year. The government, refusing to give up, sought title to the land and acquired it in 1894. The lighthouse was permanently abandoned, as no longer needed, in 1905, and the site was restored as the Port Isabel Lighthouse Historic Structure in the 1950s.
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Sánchez family founds Laredo
268 years ago today on May 15th, 1755
On this day in 1755, Tomás Sánchez de la Barrera y Garza founded Laredo with his family and several others. Sánchez was born near Monterrey, Nuevo León, in 1709. As a young man he served in the army and later ran a ranch in Coahuila. When José Vázquez Borrego established a ranch on the north bank of the Rio Grande in 1750, Sánchez started one on the south side within sight of the new settlement. He was residing there in 1754, when he petitioned José de Escandón for permission to found a town on the north bank of the river. Escandón eventually approved the request and appointed Sánchez captain and chief justice of the new settlement, to be named Laredo. Sánchez was almost singly responsible for maintaining the settlement on the north bank of the Rio Grande, and he held the offices of chief justice and alcalde with only brief intermissions until his death in January 1796.
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Distinguished author born in Central Texas hamlet
134 years ago today on May 15th, 1890
On this day in 1890, Katherine Anne Porter (born Callie Russell Porter) was born in Indian Creek, Texas. She grew up in Kyle. In addition to such major novels as Ship of Fools and Pale Horse-Pale Rider, she also published Noon Wine, a collection of short stories set in Central Texas. The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter (1965) won the Gold Medal for Fiction from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, the Pulitzer Prize, and the National Book Award. Two Texas historical markers were erected in Porter's honor: one at Indian Creek Cemetery in Brown County (1990) and another in Kyle (1991).
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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)
325th Anniversary
- San Juan Bautista Mission founded 1 month 1 week from now
310th Anniversary
- St. Denis arrives at San Juan Bautista 2 months 4 days from now
245th Anniversary
- American Revolution reaches Texas 1 month 6 days from now
205th Anniversary
- Provisional government declares Texas independence 1 month 1 week from now
- Early Texas journalist heralds Long expedition 3 weeks from now
200th Anniversary
- Austin Colony settlers clash with Karankawas 1 month 1 week from now
195th Anniversary
- Future Alamo defender and survivor elope 1 week from now
- Irish trader takes citizenship oath 4 days from now
185th Anniversary
- Texans defeat Cherokees in battle of the Neches 2 months 1 day from now
- Republic of Texas defeats revolutionary plotters in key action 2 days from now
- "Village Blacksmith of Cumby" born in Tennessee 2 weeks from now
- Principal battle of Cherokee War begins 2 months 23 hours from now
- Lamar expresses good will to Chief Colita 1 month 3 weeks from now
180th Anniversary
- Pioneer Texas doctor born in Alabama 6 days from now
- English writer leaves Texas 1 month 3 weeks from now
- Historic steamer arrives in Texas 1 week ago
175th Anniversary
- Major Neighbors returns to San Antonio after leading historic western surveying expedition 2 weeks from now
- German furniture artist arrives in Texas 6 days from now
170th Anniversary
- Texas Germans declare slavery to be evil 1 day ago
165th Anniversary
- Mexican folk hero shoots Brownsville marshal 1 month 4 weeks from now
160th Anniversary
- Partisan leader promoted 2 weeks from now
- Former Texan rallies Union troops, awarded Medal of Honor 1 week ago
- Hood's Texas Brigade rallies around General Lee 1 week ago
- Civil War skirmish at Las Rusias 1 month 1 week from now
155th Anniversary
- Alleged participants in mob killing go on trial 1 week from now
150th Anniversary
- Governor Coke appoints commander of Frontier Battalion 1 week ago
- Indian raiders strike again at Adobe Walls 1 month 1 week from now
- Feudists intensify conflict by lynching 1 month 5 days from now
145th Anniversary
- New law authorizes sale of state land to finance education 1 month 4 weeks from now
- Northeast Texas community gets a post office 1 month 1 day from now
- Greatest manager in Texas League history born 1 month 2 weeks from now
140th Anniversary
- Santa Fe Expedition survivor dies 2 months 6 days from now
- First public hospital in Central Texas opens 1 month 2 weeks from now
135th Anniversary
- Texas booster fair opens in Fort Worth 2 weeks from now
130th Anniversary
125th Anniversary
- Water rises disastrously as rain gluts the Brazos rivershed 1 month 2 days from now
120th Anniversary
- First train to Brownsville touches off Kingsville celebration 1 month 2 weeks from now
105th Anniversary
- Texas Senate ratifies women's right to vote 1 month 1 week from now
- Racial disturbance rocks Longview 1 month 3 weeks from now
- Texas congressman calls Mexican president a "spineless cactus" 1 month 4 days from now
100th Anniversary
- Congress establishes United States Border Patrol 1 week from now
90th Anniversary
85th Anniversary
- UT observatory dedicated in Davis Mountains 1 week ago
- Soil Conservation Board established 2 weeks from now
- Refugee conductor gives "demonstration concert" in San Antonio 4 weeks from now
80th Anniversary
- African-American civil rights advocate achieves ballot 2 months 1 week from now
- Rudder's Rangers fight with distinction on Normandy beaches 3 weeks from now
75th Anniversary
- Residents of homestead community petition for incorporation 1 month 2 weeks from now
65th Anniversary
- African American bus franchise in Houston suburb is first in the South 1 month 2 weeks from now
60th Anniversary
- San Antonio preservationist and architect dies 1 month 3 weeks from now
- Construction begins at Toledo Bend Reservoir 4 days ago
- Natural Bridge Caverns, largest in Texas, opens to public 1 month 2 weeks from now
55th Anniversary
- New park opens to public 2 weeks from now
- Last passenger train leaves Dallas terminal 2 weeks from now
- New airport opens in Houston 3 weeks from now
- El Paso County gives rock art site to state 4 weeks from now
50th Anniversary
- Old Galveston lives again in restored Ashton Villa 2 months 1 week from now
45th Anniversary
- Dallas designates Federal Reserve Bank a historic landmark 5 days ago
- Novelist dies after fistfight 3 weeks from now
- Orange Show opens to the public 6 days ago
40th Anniversary
- Landmark public education suit filed 1 week from now
25th Anniversary
- Spurs are champions! 1 month 1 week from now