This Day In Texas History - May 5

[joe817]

1836 - The paddle steamer Yellow Stone was being prepared to take Texas government officials and Antonio López de Santa Anna to Galveston from the San Jacinto battlefield. Houston, painfully wounded above the ankle, was refused permission to sail with the group to seek medical aid. When Ross learned of this decision by the government officials, he replied forcefully that he would not sail without General Houston.

1845 - Isaac Webb established the first formal church in Dallas County(in present day Farmers Branch), called Webb or Webb's Chapel. This Methodist church originally met in a log cabin, which went through several buildings but still existed as a congregation in the 1990s.

1862 - Texas native Ignacio Seguín Zaragoza led a Mexican army in its resounding defeat of a French invasion. Zaragoza was born on March 24, 1829, at Bahía del Espíritu Santo in the state of Coahuila and Texas, near present Goliad, Texas. When the French invaded Mexico in 1862 he was entrusted with the defense of Puebla. French forces attacked the town in a battle that lasted the entire day of May 5, 1862, the now-famed Cinco de Mayo. Zaragoza's well-armed, well-trained men forced the withdrawal of the French troops. The number of French reported killed ranged from 476 to 1,000. Mexican losses were reported to be approximately eighty-six. Cinco de Mayo, a Mexican national holiday, is celebrated in Texas and the Southwest as well.

1898 - The first contingent of Rough Riders arrived in San Antonio to begin training during the Spanish-American War.

1939 - The telescope of the University of Texas at Austin McDonald Observatory was dedicated.

1942 -James Connally Air Force Base, located seven miles northeast of Waco, was initially a basic pilot-training school. It opened as Waco Army Air Field on May 5, 1942, and became headquarters for the Army Air Force Central Instructors' School in February 1945.

1983 - President Reagan traveled to San Antonio, TX, for the Cinco de Mayo celebration.

2004 - On this date in 2004, Roger Clemens of the Houston Astros, surpassed Steve Carlton to become the No 2 all time strikeout leader in Major League history, behind future Hall of Famer, Nolan Ryan, who also once pitched for the Astros. Clemens would finish the 2004 season with 4,317 career strikeouts, and earn his seventh Cy Young Award.