This Day In Texas History - August 14
Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2019 9:45 am
1819 - The Nacogdoches Texas Republican, believed to be the earliest newspaper published in Texas, was first printed on August 14, 1819. Eli Harris printed the paper for the James Long expedition. No copy of the paper is known to have survived, but the St. Louis Enquirer noted that the content was "principally occupied with the military and political operations going on in that quarter." The paper, a weekly, appeared twice in August and possibly a few times in September and then ceased publication.
1873 – Emma Meharg, the first woman to serve as Texas secretary of state, was born in Tennessee. She served in 1925 and 1926 under Governor Miriam A. Ferguson.
1945 - The Second Battalion, 131st Field Artillery, 36th Infantry Division, commonly named the Texas Lost Battalion is liberated, after helping POWs build the bridge on the River Kwai.
1945 - DICKSON GUN PLANT. The Dickson Gun Plant, operated during World War II by the Hughes Tool Company of Houston, produced centrifugally cast gun tubes of various calibers. The plant occupied 124 acres on the north shore of Buffalo Bayou and was constructed between March 1 and December 20, 1942, at a cost of $28,779,133. Operation ended on August 14, 1945, when the chief of artillery production for the United States Army ordered the plant's general manager, John Teer, to stop production. All 1,350 employees were absorbed by the main plant of Hughes Tool Company, which had been seized by the government on September 6, 1944. The army relinquished control on August 29, 1945.
1952 - The Gulf Freeway opened between Houston and Galveston. This long awaited artery between these two major Texas cities, will eventually become part of the Interstate Highway system
1957 - Jane McCallum, suffragist leader and Texas secretary of state, died in Austin. McCallum was born in La Vernia, Texas, in 1877. She first entered politics by campaigning for prohibition and woman suffrage. The Austin Women's Suffrage Association elected her president in 1915. She also teamed with Minnie Fisher Cunningham in leading statewide campaigns for suffrage. After suffrage was won she concentrated on political reforms.
1959 - The new American Football League owners held their first meeting in Chicago. Charter memberships were issued to Bud Adams of Houston, Bob Howsam of Denver, Max Winter and Bill Boyer of Minneapolis, Barron Hilton of Los Angeles, Harry Wismer of New York and Lamar Hunt of Dallas. By the time of the first draft in November, Ralph Wilson of Buffalo and Bill Sullivan of Boston would also join the new league. Sullivan would later comment "Before there was a player, coach or general manager in the league, there was Lamar Hunt. Hunt was the cornerstone, the integrity of the league. Without him, there would have been no AFL."
1970 - On August 14, 1970, the governor officially charged the Texas State Guard with the additional mission of assisting state and local civil defense and disaster relief officials on a voluntary basis.[ https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qqt01 ]
1873 – Emma Meharg, the first woman to serve as Texas secretary of state, was born in Tennessee. She served in 1925 and 1926 under Governor Miriam A. Ferguson.
1945 - The Second Battalion, 131st Field Artillery, 36th Infantry Division, commonly named the Texas Lost Battalion is liberated, after helping POWs build the bridge on the River Kwai.
1945 - DICKSON GUN PLANT. The Dickson Gun Plant, operated during World War II by the Hughes Tool Company of Houston, produced centrifugally cast gun tubes of various calibers. The plant occupied 124 acres on the north shore of Buffalo Bayou and was constructed between March 1 and December 20, 1942, at a cost of $28,779,133. Operation ended on August 14, 1945, when the chief of artillery production for the United States Army ordered the plant's general manager, John Teer, to stop production. All 1,350 employees were absorbed by the main plant of Hughes Tool Company, which had been seized by the government on September 6, 1944. The army relinquished control on August 29, 1945.
1952 - The Gulf Freeway opened between Houston and Galveston. This long awaited artery between these two major Texas cities, will eventually become part of the Interstate Highway system
1957 - Jane McCallum, suffragist leader and Texas secretary of state, died in Austin. McCallum was born in La Vernia, Texas, in 1877. She first entered politics by campaigning for prohibition and woman suffrage. The Austin Women's Suffrage Association elected her president in 1915. She also teamed with Minnie Fisher Cunningham in leading statewide campaigns for suffrage. After suffrage was won she concentrated on political reforms.
1959 - The new American Football League owners held their first meeting in Chicago. Charter memberships were issued to Bud Adams of Houston, Bob Howsam of Denver, Max Winter and Bill Boyer of Minneapolis, Barron Hilton of Los Angeles, Harry Wismer of New York and Lamar Hunt of Dallas. By the time of the first draft in November, Ralph Wilson of Buffalo and Bill Sullivan of Boston would also join the new league. Sullivan would later comment "Before there was a player, coach or general manager in the league, there was Lamar Hunt. Hunt was the cornerstone, the integrity of the league. Without him, there would have been no AFL."
1970 - On August 14, 1970, the governor officially charged the Texas State Guard with the additional mission of assisting state and local civil defense and disaster relief officials on a voluntary basis.[ https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qqt01 ]