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The “Great Hurricane,” destroys much of Galveston and kills 6,000 people there.
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Oil found by mining engineer Capt. A.F. Lucas at Spindle top near Beaumont catapults Texas into petroleum age.
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Lt. Benjamin D. Foulois makes the first military air flight in a Wright brothers plane at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio.
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World War I
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The Democratic National Convention is held in Houston, the first nominating convention held in a Southern City since 1860.
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The league of United Latin America citizens (LULAC) is founded in Corpus Christi.
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The Daisy Bradford #3 well, drilled near Turner Town in Rusk County by wildcatter C.M. (Dad) Joiner, blows in, heralding the discovery of the huge East Texas Oil Field.
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Texas Centennial Exposition opens at Dallas’ Fair Park; it runs until Nov. 29.
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World War II.
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A race riot in Beaumont leads to a declaration or marital arts.
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The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston admits its first black student.
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Texas women gain the right to serve on juries.
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Integrated circuit, developed by Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments, Dallas, is successfully tested, ushering in the semiconductor and electronics age.
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John Tower wins special election for US Senate, becoming the first Republican senator from Texas since Reconstruction.
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NASA opens the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston. The center moves to a new campus-like building complex in 1964. It is renamed Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center on Aug. 17, 1973.
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President John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas; vice president Lyndon B. Johnson succeeds to the office, becoming the 36th US president.
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Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) were incorporated in Texas; its first national office is San Antonio.
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Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong transmits the first words from the surface of the moon: “Houston, the Eagle has landed.”
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The Sharpstown Scandal results in the conviction of House speaker Gus Mutscher and two associates for conspiracy and bribery.
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William Clements becomes the first Republican governor of Texas since Reconstruction.
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Several tornadoes kill 53 in West Texas, including 42 in Wichita Falls, and cause $400 million in damages.
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The National Republican Convention is held in Dallas.
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Houstonian George Bush is elected president of the United States.
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Democrat Ann Richards became the first woman governor of Texas in her own right.
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Former Texas Gov. George W. Bush elected President of the United States.
