Born This Date Actor Randy Quaid born in Houston HOUSTON (1950) On this date in 1950, actor Randy Quaid was born in Houston. After graduating Bellaire High School in 1968, he attended The University of Houston, where in 1971, director Peter Bogdonovich cast Quaid as Lester Marlow in "The Last Picture Show". Quaid has since appeared in over 100 films and television series, including two years in the cast of Saturday Night Live. Probably his best known roll is that of Cousin Eddy in National Lampoon's Vacation. He also played President Lyndon Johnson in LBJ: The Early Years.
Rangers Win 6-2 NEW YORK CITY (1996) On this date in 1996, the Texas Rangers played and won their first ever post season game, after winning The American League West Division. In this first ever playoff game for the Rangers franchise, they beat the New York Yankees 6-2. The Rangers would go on to lose the series to the Yankees, who went on to win the 1996 World Series.
Education Desk Texas Tecnological College opens in Lubbock LUBBOCK (1925) On this date in 1925, Texas Technological College (Texas Tech) opened in Lubbock with 914 students. The City of Lubbock upon learning of the selection of their city for the new College celebrated with one of the biggest parties in the city's history. The name was changed to Texas Tech in 1969.
Exploration Desk Spain cedes Louisiana to France NEW ORLEANS LA (1800) On this date in 1800, Spain relinqueshed claims to Louisiana (the Mississippi River and it's tributaries) to France. Spain realized the they and the new United States were the big powers in the region now, and having a buffer between themselves and the United States made good military sense. At the time, the United States was strongly opposed to transferring Louisiana from the control of a weak Spanish government to a strong French government.
Originally, Spain had exclusive control of the entire region surrounding the Gulf of Mexico. But following the LaSalle expedition, and the founding of New Orleans, France had ligitomate claims to Louisiana. It was yet to be resolved if the French claim to Louisiana extended to the Rio Grande by virtue of LaSalle settlement near Matagorda, and his explorations throughout the region including the Rio Grande river. Many early excursions into Texas were based upon the belief that the territory did infact extend well beyond the Sabine river to the West.
Political Desk Deligates meet at San Felipe to Discuss Grievances SAN FELIPE (1832) Beginning on this date in 1832, 55 deligates met for 6 days at San Felipe to draw up a series of resolutions to be presented to the Mexican Congress. Much of the resolutions had to do with expanding immigration and land rights, and independent Statehood for Texas. The Mexican authorities, believing that the resolutions represented on Anglo Texans would later rejected them. President of the convention, Stephen F Austin himself believed that Statehood was still premature.
Technology Desk Waco gets it's first Telephone Service WACO (1881) On this date in 1881, The Southwest Telegraph and Telephone Company began telephone service to Waco with 45 new subscribers. Waco followed a growing list of cities with their own telephone exchange including Galveston, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, and Fort Worth. By the end of 1882 dozens of Texas Cities had their own telephone exchange, and by year's end in 1883, over 2,500 Texans had telephone service.