1900-2000 Timeline

“Great Hurricane” hits Galveston

Sep 8, 1900

The deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history (about 6,000 deaths) occurred in Texas.

Spindletop oil gusher

Jan 10, 1901

Launches Texas into the petroleum age.

Poll tax becomes voting requirement

1902

A poll tax is imposed as a prerequisite to voting.

First military airplane flight in Texas

Mar 2, 1910

A Wright brothers airplane was flown at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio.

U.S. enters World War I

1917

Texas participates in the national war effort.

First woman elected to statewide office

Nov 5, 1918

Annie Webb Blanton becomes State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Discovery of East Texas Oil Field (Daisy Bradford #3)

Sep 5, 1930

A huge oil find marked one of the most important Texas oil booms.

Texas Centennial Exposition opens

Jun 6, 1936

Held in Dallas’s Fair Park to celebrate 100 years of Texas independence.

Assassination of JFK in Dallas

Nov 22, 1963

President John F. Kennedy is shot in Dallas; Lyndon Johnson becomes president.

Civil Rights Act signed into law

1964

Outlaws racial discrimination and enforces equal rights protections.

Apollo 11 moon landing

Jul 20, 1969

The U.S. becomes the first nation to land humans on the Moon.

End of Vietnam War / U.S. troops withdrawn

1973

Marks a divisive end to a long conflict that shaped U.S. society and politics.

Fall of the Berlin Wall / Cold War winds down

1989

Symbolizes the decline of communist power and the end of the Cold War.

9/11 Terrorist Attacks

Sep 11, 2001

Leads to the War on Terror; reshapes national security policies. The death toll is 2,976 people, and thousands more were injured.