| Vol 8, No 39 | February 8, 1836 | Monday Evening |
(1963)
On this date in 1963, Dallas Texans of the AFL announced their move to Kansas City. Lamar Hunt sought an NFL franchise for several years, but was rejected at every turn. He eventually decided to start his own league, the AFL. His Dallas Texans would be one of eight teams when the AFL had it's first draft in 1959.
On this date in 1894, King Wallis Vidor was born in Galveston. He was six when the Galveston Storm destroyed his hometown. He became a newsreel freelance photographer. In 1913, Vidor directed his first feature film, "Hurricane in Galveston." The national response to the film launched his directing career which spanned eight decades, a Guiness record. He directed "Stella Dallas", "Fountainhead", "War and Peace" and much of the Kansas sequences for "The Wizard of Oz" (He was never credited). For his work, he was nominated five times for an academy award in directing.
(1836)
On this date in 1836, Davy Crockett and his Tennessee Volunteers answering the call for aid in the fight for Texas Liberty, arrive at the Alamo, just weeks before Santa Anna lays seige to the former Spanish mission. Crockett had just enlisted in the volunteers at Nacogdoches, and received orders to report to the Rio Grande. When he stopped in San Antonio, he and his fellow volunteers learned that Santa Anna was already heading north. Today Crockett, Jim Bowie, Colonel William Travis and over 150 others began to fortify the Alamo against an overwhelming Mexican Army currently camped just South of the Rio Grande.
On this date in 1924, Charles Reynolds was executed at Huntsville. He was the first to be executed by "Old Sparky", the electric chair. On that day, four others are executed, all for murder.
