Texas Day by Day
Find out what happened today in Texas history.
Victory over French marks origin of Cinco de Mayo celebration
161 years ago today on May 5th, 1862
On this day in 1862, Mexican general and Texas native Ignacio Zaragoza defeated French expeditionary forces at Puebla, Mexico. This event is celebrated annually as El Cinco de Mayo. Once widely observed throughout Mexico, today it is an official public holiday only in the Mexican state of Puebla, where it is known as El Día de la Batalla de Puebla, or Battle of Puebla Day. However, Cinco de Mayo remains popular in the United States as a celebration of Mexican culture and heritage.
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UT observatory dedicated in Davis Mountains
85 years ago today on May 5th, 1939
On this day in 1939, the telescope of the University of Texas at Austin McDonald Observatory was dedicated. The observatory, located on Mount Locke near Fort Davis, owes its foundation to the unexpected legacy of William Johnson McDonald, bachelor banker of Paris, Texas, who died in 1926 and left the university $850,000 for the establishment of an astronomical observatory. The university, having no astronomy faculty, signed a thirty-year collaborative agreement with the University of Chicago in 1932, whereby Texas financed the telescope and Chicago provided the astronomers. World War II severely restricted astronomical research in many parts of the world, but McDonald gained the services of several refugee European astronomers. At the end of the war McDonald astronomers received many awards from American and European astronomical societies. Construction of the Hobby-Eberly Telescope on Mount Fowlkes, adjacent to Mount Locke, began in 1994, and it became operational in 1999.
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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 2 weeks from now
310th Anniversary
- St. Denis arrives at San Juan Bautista 2 months 2 weeks from now
245th Anniversary
- American Revolution reaches Texas 1 month 2 weeks from now
205th Anniversary
- Provisional government declares Texas independence 1 month 2 weeks from now
- Early Texas journalist heralds Long expedition 1 month 3 days from now
200th Anniversary
- Austin Colony settlers clash with Karankawas 1 month 2 weeks from now
195th Anniversary
- Future Alamo defender and survivor elope 2 weeks from now
- Irish trader takes citizenship oath 2 weeks from now
185th Anniversary
- Texans defeat Cherokees in battle of the Neches 2 months 1 week from now
- Republic of Texas defeats revolutionary plotters in key action 1 week from now
- "Village Blacksmith of Cumby" born in Tennessee 3 weeks from now
- Principal battle of Cherokee War begins 2 months 1 week from now
- Lamar expresses good will to Chief Colita 2 months 4 days from now
180th Anniversary
- Pioneer Texas doctor born in Alabama 2 weeks from now
- English writer leaves Texas 2 months 5 days from now
- Historic steamer arrives in Texas 2 days from now
175th Anniversary
- Major Neighbors returns to San Antonio after leading historic western surveying expedition 4 weeks from now
- German furniture artist arrives in Texas 2 weeks from now
170th Anniversary
- Texas Germans declare slavery to be evil 1 week from now
165th Anniversary
- Mexican folk hero shoots Brownsville marshal 2 months 1 week from now
160th Anniversary
- Partisan leader promoted 3 weeks from now
- Former Texan rallies Union troops, awarded Medal of Honor 1 day from now
- Hood's Texas Brigade rallies around General Lee 1 day from now
- Civil War skirmish at Las Rusias 1 month 2 weeks from now
155th Anniversary
- Alleged participants in mob killing go on trial 2 weeks from now
150th Anniversary
- Governor Coke appoints commander of Frontier Battalion 3 days ago
- Indian raiders strike again at Adobe Walls 1 month 3 weeks from now
- Feudists intensify conflict by lynching 1 month 2 weeks from now
145th Anniversary
- New law authorizes sale of state land to finance education 2 months 1 week from now
- Northeast Texas community gets a post office 1 month 1 week from now
- Greatest manager in Texas League history born 1 month 3 weeks from now
140th Anniversary
- Santa Fe Expedition survivor dies 2 months 2 weeks from now
- First public hospital in Central Texas opens 1 month 4 weeks from now
135th Anniversary
- Texas booster fair opens in Fort Worth 3 weeks from now
130th Anniversary
- Water-well contractor accidentally discovers first major Texas oilfield 1 month 4 days from now
125th Anniversary
- Water rises disastrously as rain gluts the Brazos rivershed 1 month 1 week from now
120th Anniversary
- First train to Brownsville touches off Kingsville celebration 1 month 4 weeks from now
105th Anniversary
- Texas Senate ratifies women's right to vote 1 month 3 weeks from now
- Racial disturbance rocks Longview 2 months 6 days from now
- Texas congressman calls Mexican president a "spineless cactus" 1 month 2 weeks from now
100th Anniversary
- Congress establishes United States Border Patrol 3 weeks from now
90th Anniversary
- Murderers and bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde gunned down in Louisiana 2 weeks from now
85th Anniversary
- UT observatory dedicated in Davis Mountains today
- Soil Conservation Board established 3 weeks from now
- Refugee conductor gives "demonstration concert" in San Antonio 1 month 1 week from now
80th Anniversary
- African-American civil rights advocate achieves ballot 2 months 2 weeks from now
- Rudder's Rangers fight with distinction on Normandy beaches 1 month 1 day from now
75th Anniversary
- Residents of homestead community petition for incorporation 1 month 3 weeks from now
65th Anniversary
- African American bus franchise in Houston suburb is first in the South 1 month 3 weeks from now
60th Anniversary
- San Antonio preservationist and architect dies 2 months 5 days from now
- Construction begins at Toledo Bend Reservoir 6 days from now
- Natural Bridge Caverns, largest in Texas, opens to public 1 month 4 weeks from now
55th Anniversary
- New park opens to public 3 weeks from now
- Last passenger train leaves Dallas terminal 3 weeks from now
- New airport opens in Houston 1 month 3 days from now
- El Paso County gives rock art site to state 1 month 1 week from now
50th Anniversary
- Old Galveston lives again in restored Ashton Villa 2 months 2 weeks from now
45th Anniversary
- Dallas designates Federal Reserve Bank a historic landmark 5 days from now
- Novelist dies after fistfight 1 month 2 days from now
- Orange Show opens to the public 4 days from now
40th Anniversary
- Landmark public education suit filed 2 weeks from now
25th Anniversary
- Spurs are champions! 1 month 2 weeks from now
