Texas Day by Day
Find out what happened today in Texas history.
Legislature approves appropriation for Agricultural and Mechanical College
152 years ago today on April 17th, 1871
On this day in 1871, the state legislature approved a bill providing for the organization of the Texas Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Texas A&M University) and appropriating $75,000 for the construction of academic buildings and suitable accommodations. A committee selected a site near Bryan, now known as College Station, following the donation of 2,416 acres by local citizens. The college, the oldest public institution of higher education in the state, opened in October 1876 with 106 students and a faculty of six under President Thomas S. Gathright. By the year 2000, the College Station campus was the fifth-largest university in the nation, with more than 44,000 students, and the Texas A&M University System included nine schools across the state.
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Orphanage for black children founded in Gilmer
124 years ago today on April 17th, 1900
On this day in 1900, African-American Baptist minister W. L. Dickson founded the Dickson Colored Orphanage in Gilmer. Black and white Baptists contributed to its development, as did local Baptist churches and Gilmer businesses; Robert C. Buckner, a prominent Dallas Baptist minister, served as chairman of the orphanage's board of trustees. The Dickson Colored Orphanage was the only such institution for black children in Texas from 1900 to 1929. The state took over the home in the latter year and operated it as the State Colored Orphans' Home until 1943, when the resident orphans were moved to the Texas Blind, Deaf, and Orphan School in Austin.
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Historic academy building dedicated in New Braunfels
167 years ago today on April 17th, 1856
On this day in 1856, a stone building was dedicated at the newly established New Braunfels Academy. A twenty-year charter granted in 1858 provided that the school be governed by a board of six trustees, the mayor of New Braunfels, and the Comal county judge. The academy was supported by a city tax and tuition. New Braunfels is said to be the first city in Texas in which the citizens voted unanimously for a school tax. In 1876 the school received support from the Peabody Fund. When the charter was about to expire in 1878, a legislative act to renew it was vetoed by Governor O. M. Roberts, who thought the act establishing the academy was not in harmony with Texas constitution. The original long, one-story building of New Braunfels Academy was razed in 1913 to be replaced by a two-story school building on the same location, at East Mill and Academy streets.
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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 1 week from now
335th Anniversary
- Spanish explorer names the Nueces 1 week ago
- Coahuila governor discovers and names Guadalupe River 3 days ago
- Spanish explorer finds defunct French fort 5 days from now
325th Anniversary
- San Juan Bautista Mission founded 2 months 1 week from now
315th Anniversary
245th Anniversary
- American Revolution reaches Texas 2 months 4 days from now
205th Anniversary
- Provisional government declares Texas independence 2 months 6 days from now
- Early Texas journalist heralds Long expedition 1 month 3 weeks from now
200th Anniversary
- Austin Colony settlers clash with Karankawas 2 months 5 days from now
195th Anniversary
- Future Alamo defender and survivor elope 1 month 1 week from now
- Irish trader takes citizenship oath 1 month 2 days from now
185th Anniversary
- Republic of Texas defeats revolutionary plotters in key action 1 month 23 hours from now
- "Village Blacksmith of Cumby" born in Tennessee 1 month 1 week from now
180th Anniversary
- Pioneer Texas doctor born in Alabama 1 month 4 days 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 2 weeks from now
- German furniture artist arrives in Texas 1 month 4 days from now
170th Anniversary
- War Department orders surveys for Indian reservations 1 week from now
- Texas Germans declare slavery to be evil 3 weeks from now
- Prairie chicken namesake born in England 1 week from now
160th Anniversary
- General Taylor foils Union campaign in Louisiana 1 week ago
- Partisan leader promoted 1 month 2 weeks from now
- Former Texan rallies Union troops, awarded Medal of Honor 2 weeks from now
- Hood's Texas Brigade rallies around General Lee 2 weeks from now
- Civil War skirmish at Las Rusias 2 months 1 week from now
155th Anniversary
- Alleged participants in mob killing go on trial 1 month 1 week from now
- High court rules that Texas can sue in federal courts despite secession 2 days ago
150th Anniversary
- Governor Coke appoints commander of Frontier Battalion 2 weeks from now
- First letter from "Pidge" appears in Austin paper 1 week from now
- Indian raiders strike again at Adobe Walls 2 months 1 week from now
- Feudists intensify conflict by lynching 2 months 3 days from now
145th Anniversary
- Northeast Texas community gets a post office 1 month 4 weeks from now
- First county in Panhandle organized 5 days ago
135th Anniversary
- Texas booster fair opens in Fort Worth 1 month 1 week from now
130th Anniversary
- Water-well contractor accidentally discovers first major Texas oilfield 1 month 3 weeks from now
125th Anniversary
- Water rises disastrously as rain gluts the Brazos rivershed 2 months 23 hours from now
120th Anniversary
- West Texas Landscape painter born in Milford 1 day from now
105th Anniversary
- Texas Senate ratifies women's right to vote 2 months 1 week from now
- Texas congressman calls Mexican president a "spineless cactus" 2 months 2 days from now
100th Anniversary
- Congress establishes United States Border Patrol 1 month 1 week from now
- West Texas Historical Association organized in Abilene 2 days from now
- Texas baritone makes professional debut in New York 3 days from now
90th Anniversary
- Murderers and bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde gunned down in Louisiana 1 month 6 days from now
85th Anniversary
- UT observatory dedicated in Davis Mountains 2 weeks from now
- Soil Conservation Board established 1 month 1 week from now
- Refugee conductor gives "demonstration concert" in San Antonio 1 month 3 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 2 weeks from now
75th Anniversary
- Residents of homestead community petition for incorporation 2 months 1 week from now
60th Anniversary
- Construction begins at Toledo Bend Reservoir 3 weeks from now
55th Anniversary
- Houston surgeon implants first artificial heart 1 week ago
- New park opens to public 1 month 2 weeks from now
- Famous horse wins at Aqueduct on the eve of his trainer's death 2 weeks ago
- Last passenger train leaves Dallas terminal 1 month 1 week from now
- New airport opens in Houston 1 month 3 weeks from now
- El Paso County gives rock art site to state 1 month 3 weeks from now
45th Anniversary
- Dallas designates Federal Reserve Bank a historic landmark 3 weeks from now
- Novelist dies after fistfight 1 month 2 weeks from now
- Orange Show opens to the public 3 weeks from now
40th Anniversary
- Landmark public education suit filed 1 month 6 days from now
- Legendary jazz pianist dies 6 days from now
25th Anniversary
- Spurs are champions! 2 months 1 week from now