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1786 - David Crockett, legislator, pioneer, and hero of the Alamo, was born in the territory that is now Tennessee.

Though often portrayed as a pioneer in buckskins, he was quite the dandy as a U.S. representative: 1807 - Robert Fulton's steamboat, known to history as Clermont, began its first trip up the Hudson River from New York City to Albany. It remained in successful commercial service for some time (which I am too lazy to look up).



The handwriting was on the wall for sailing ships, but they hung in for a century.

- Jim

I missed this event:

1915 - A category 4 hurricane struck Galveston, killing at least 275 people in the wider area and causing an estimated $50 million property damage (equivalent to about $1 billion today). It was the first test of the Galveston Seawall, which functioned as designed but required repairs.

After landfall, this storm caused damage as far north as New York.

- Jim

1997 - Jessica Cain, a teenage high school student from Tiki Island, disappeared. She was last seen at a restaurant in Webster after dark. A witness later reported seeing her vehicle chased at high speed by another vehicle, possibly a red Isuzu Amigo, southbound on I-45 (toward her home). Her vehicle was found the next day near the 7 mile marker.

No trace of Jessica Cain has ever been found.

Dozens of girls and young women have disappeared in this area over the past 40 years. Remains have turned up in an area near I-45 and Calder Road known as the "killing field." Many of the remains are unidentified. None of the cases has been closed by identifying a suspect, though many creepy "persons of interest" have been investigated. (Possibly one is in prison for another kidnapping.)

This stretch of I-45 was a dark, lonely place 14 years ago. It has been built up considerably since (including The Arms Room at FM 646), but it still is not a place where I would want to have a crash or breakdown.

- Jim