Born This Date Freddy Fender born in San Benito BROWNSVILLE (1937) On this date in 1937 in San Benito (Cameron County), Baldemar Huerta, better known as Freddy Fender was born. He was the first person ever to have a No.1 hit song on both the Billboard's Country and Pop charts with his 1974 hit song, "Before the Next Teardrop Falls.". Freddy also has a hit with "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights". He died in 2006.
Replaces Hamilton AUSTIN (1866)
On this date in 1866, James W Throckmorton was elected Governor of Texas. The prior Governor, Andrew Hamilton, apparently fled to Mexico. After the end of the Civil War, Texas was under laws collectively called "reconstruction" part of which severely limited the voting rights of anyone who took up arms against the United States. Because the restriction applied to most male adults, the political fortunes of Texas and the rest of the South, changed for a generation. Texas remained under reconstruction until 1870.