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What Is A Historyscope?

Westerners are not only known as history ignoramuses, but double dumbass history ignoramuses when it comes to Texas and Texas history. Since I'm the one-and-only Historyscoper (tm), let me quickly bring you up to speed before you dive into my Master Historyscope.

The word Texas comes from the Caddo Indian word "teysha" (tejas) meaning "hello friend", referring to the friendly tribes in East Texas. Texas was originally claimed by Spain, followed by France, Mexico (until 1836), becoming an independent republic ("the Lone Star State") until 1845, when it joined the U.S. as the 28th state, seceding in 1861-5 before rejoining with the slogan "Six Flags over Texas", becoming the 2nd largest state in area (773 mi. width, 790 mi. length, 268,581 sq. mi.) and pop. (27.8M) by modern times.

In 110M B.C.E. giraffe-like Sauroposeidon ("lizard Poseidon") in Okla.-Tex. is the largest creature ever to walk the Earth, reaching 56 ft. in height, 98 ft. in length, and 60 tons in weight; the four neck vertebra discovered in 1994 by U. of Okla. paleontologist Richard Cifelli (1954-) are up to 10 ft. long each, and were first thought to be tree trunks.

In 96M B.C.E. the crocodile Terminonaris lives in Tex.; its snout is 2 ft. long and 7 in. wide.

In 89M B.C.E. the earliest known Pteranodon flying reptile lives in Tex.

In 68M B.C.E. giant toothless pterosaur (up to 12m wingspan) Quetzalcoatlus (named for the Aztec feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl) is the largest known flying creature, weighing only 200 lb. max; discovered in Big Bend Nat. Park in Tex. in 1971 by Am. geologist-paleontologist Douglas A. Lawson (1947-).

In 37,000 B.C.E. a spear point dating to this time has been found in modern-day Lewisville (near Dallas), Tex.

In 14,700 B.C.E. the Gault Site in Tex. 30 mi. N of Austin contains 90+ stone tools (incl. biface blades) and human teeth fragments, discovered in 2012, becoming the oldest known tools in North Am., beating the Clovis culture by 4K years.

In 13,500 B.C.E. the Buttermilk Creek dig in Austin, Tex. is the oldest "credible" archeological site in North Am. The oldest known weapons in North Am. come from the Debra L. Friedkin site 40 mi. NW of Austin, Tex.

In 9,200 B.C.E. the oldest known domesticated dog lives in SW Tex.?

In 6,100 B.C.E. Pecans are cultivated in Texas.

In Mar. 1519 with backing from gov. Francisco de Garay, Spanish explorer Alonso Alvarez (Álvarez) de Pineda (1494-1520) leaves Santiago, Jamaica with three ships and 270 soldiers, exploring and mapping the Gulf of Mexico coastline, establishing that Florida is a peninsula instead of an island; on June 2 he reaches Mobile Bay (Alabama River), then discovers the mouth of the Mississippi River, and reaches Corpus Christi Bay in Tex. on June 24 (Feast of Corpus Christi), making the first known map of the Gulf Coast region of the U.S. incl. Texas, anchoring off Villa Rica de la Veracruz shortly after Hernan Cortes leaves, causing the latter to turn around to meet him, after which Pineda attempts in vain to negotiate a boundary between the lands they claim, then sails N to the "Las Palmas" (Panuco) River, landing near modern-day Tampico and spending 40+ days repairing his ships; too bad, next Jan. the Huastecs attack and kill him, although 60 colonists are evacuated by Diego de Camargo.

Welcome to Hurricane Country? In Apr. 1528 the Narvaez (Narváez) Expedition, led by 1-eyed Spanish explorer Panfilo de Narvaez (Pánfilo de Narváez) (1470-1528) sails from Cuba with 300 soldiers and colonists in an attempt to colonize Florida (Fla.) (Sp. "land of flowers"), and lands on Apr. 14 near Cape Corrientes after discovering Pensacola Bay in the Fla. Panhandle; after exploring a dismal swampland filled with people who don't want them they end up in Tallahassee, and on Sept. 22 they set sail in five crude barges and try to reach the Panuco River, but get shipwrecked in Nov. on the Texas coast, where he tells his men "every man to himself - Spain ends here"; too bad, the Apalachee Indians kick his butt, and he barely escapes to the Mississippi River before being killed in Nov.; on Nov. 6 after surviving a storm at the mouth of the Mississippi River, his treasurer Alvar Nunez (Álvar Núñez) Cabeza de Vaca (1490-1557) (Sp. "cow head") and three others, incl. African (Moroccan) slave Esteban Dorantes (Estevanico) (1500-39) (first African to set foot in the future U.S.?) land on Galveston Island in Texas, and run into the Karankawa (Carancahua) coastal Indians, who take pity and feed them, showing them giant oyster beds and how to eat cattail "nuts"; Cow Head ends up separated from the other survivors, enslaved and taken to the mainland next spring, and spends eight years walking to the Spanish colony in Mexico while getting kicked around and meeting the indigenous pop. incl. the peyote-smoking Coahuiltecans (pr. cal-TEK-ans), becoming the first Euro to view Am. bison (buffaloes); he also later reports seeing "a devilish thing, and it is that I saw one man married to another"; when Estevanico returns to New Spain, he tells about hearing of the Seven Golden Cities of Cibola.

Don't just take your family on a vacation, take them on an adventure? Whitey finally reaches the far side, and it's gone in a flash? On Feb. 23, 1540 Francisco Vazquez (Vázquez) de Coronado (1510-54), gov. of Nueva Galicia leads an expedition of 400 men plus 1.3K-2K Indios, four Franciscan monks, and several slaves from Compostela, Mexico, exploring N Texas and invading New Mexico and conquering the Zunis (Zuñis); on Sept. 8 they establish winter HQ at the Indian pueblos of Kuau and Puaray, using it as a base for vain searches for the riches of Quivira; in 1934 archaeologists unearth ancient paintings of Indian god-demons behind 85 layers of adobe plaster; on May 9 Spanish navigator Hernando de Alarcon (Alarcón) leaves Coronado's party, goes by sea to the Gulf of Calif., then completes the explorations of Francisco de Ulloa the preceding year, satisfying himself that there is no open water passage between the gulf and the South Sea (Pacific Ocean); he then travels up the Colorado River (which he names the Buena Guia), becoming the first Euro to navigate it, viewing Am. bison (buffalo) ("tatanka"); Garcia Lopez de Cardenas (García López de Cárdenas) leaves Coronado's party and discovers the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River in modern-day Ariz.; another lt. of Coronado reaches the pueblos of the Hopi (Moqui); Capt. Hernando de Alvarado leaves Coronado's party and explores the Rio Grande River, stopping halfway at Isleta Pueblo (S of modern-day Albuquerque), which becomes a stopping place for every future Spanish explorer in New Mexico.

On May 8, 1541 after failing to find the fabled Mayan city of Yupaha (discovered in 2011 near Brasstown Bald Mt. in Ga.?), and reaching Mobile Bay in Ala., then fighting fierce Choctaw chief Tuscaloosa ("black warrior") (-1540), Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto (1496-1542) and his 400 men discover the Mississippi River (2nd longest river in the U.S. after the Missouri River), and cross it near Randolph, Tenn., then explore Ark., becoming the first Euros to see Hot Springs, then Okla. and Tex.

In July 1673 Ft. Frontenac is founded on the mouth of the Cataraqui River on the St. Lawrence River near modern-day Kingston, Ontario, Canada by Rene-Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle (1643-87), who gave away his father's fortune to join the Jesuits and sailed for New France in spring 1666, hoping to find a western passage to China; in Sept. 1679 after building Fort Conti at the mouth of the Niagara River on Lake Ontario early in the year, then building the 7-gun 45-ton barque Le Griffon, he sails with Father Louis Hennepin (1626-1705) to Lake Erie, Lake Huron, and Michillmackinac, discovering Niagara Falls, then sails through the Detroit River to Green Bay, ditching the barque and switching to canoes, paddling down the W shore of Lake Michigan to the mouth of the Miami (St. Joseph) River, building Fort Miami on the shores of Lake Superior near modern-day Duluth, Minn. in Jan. 1680, and leaving on Dec. 3, reaching modern-day South Bend, Ind., then crossing the Kankakee River to the Illinois River, building Fort Crevecoeur near modern-day Peoria, Ill., surviving a mutiny and canoeing down the Mississippi River in 1682, naming Louisiana after Louis XIV and claiming the entire territory for him, then building Fort Saint Louis at Starved Rock on the Illinois River to replace Fort Crevecoeur before leaving for France, returning on July 24, 1684 with a large expedition incl. four ships and 300 colonists, founding Fort Saint Louis on Garcitas Creek in modern-day Victoria, Tex., claiming Texas for France; too bad, while searching for the mouth of the Mississippi River, La Salle is ambushed and killed on Mar. 19, 1687 by Pierre Duhaunt in modern-day Navasota, Tex.; his fort on the Illinois River is later taken over by John Jacob Astor's fur trading co.

The Indians finally yuck it up on the Conquistadors? On Aug. 10, 1680 after a decade of drought, white man's diseases, and suppression of their medicine men, the Pueblo (Po'pay's) (Pope's) (Popé's) Revolt (ends 1692) begins in Pueblo of Isleta in New Mexico 13 mi. S of Albuquerque against the Spanish, led by pagan Tewa religious leader Po'pay Pope (Popé) (1630-88) ("pumpkin mountain"), who stages a blitzkrieg attack, killing 380 Spaniards, incl. 21 of 40 Franciscans, followed by a siege of Santa Fe, causing Spanish settlers to flee S on Aug. 21 to El Paso del Norte (until 1691), closing El Camino Real and becoming the most successful Indian revolt in history, after which Po'pay sets himself up in the governor's palace and orders all vestiges of Roman Catholicism destroyed, washing Catholic converts in yucca juice to get rid of the yucky white man's stink; El Paso (modern-day pop. 650K/1M) is founded near El Paso del Norte (modern-day Ciudad Juarez) as a temporary capital of the New Mexico territory until Santa Fe is reconquered in 1692, remaining the largest settlement in N.M. until 1848, when it becomes part of Tex., after whch it is incorporated in 1873; meanwhile in 1682 Spanish fugitives from the revolt, joined by Tigua (Tiwa) Indians found La Purisima del Socorro Mission (Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion del Soccoro) halfway between Santa Fe and El Paso, waiting for the various Pueblo tribes to begin infighting and play into their hands, and Spanish fugitives found the Ysleta Mission in El Paso.

In 1689 Spanish explorers discover the remains of Fort Saint Louis, and meet reps of the Caddo people who live between the Trinity and Red Rivers, claiming they are eager to learn about Christianity, causing Alonso De Leon (1639-91) AKA El Mozo to establish a Roman Catholic mission in May 1690 in East Tex. near the Hasinai village of Nabedaches, holding its first Mass on June 1; too bad, after floods and an epidemic kill half the pop., the people turn on the missionaries, causing them on Oct. 25, 1693 to burn the mission, bury the bell, and flee to Mexico, returning on July 3, 1716 to establish Nuestro Padre San Francisco de los Tejas, which in 1721 is renamed Mission San Francisco de los Neches, and moved in 1731 to San Antonio, Tex. under the name Mission San Francisco de la Espada; meanwhile in Sept. 1690 Mission Santisimo Nombre de Maria is established in East Tex. 6 mi. NE of Mission San Francisco; it is destroyed by a flood in 1692.

In 1716 Spain begins establishing Roman Catholic missions in East Tex., starting with Mission Senora de la Purisima Concepcion de los Ainais on the Angelina River, serving the Ainais tribe until the French threat causes them to close it and reopen it in 1721, then move it to Austin, Tex. in 1730 followed by San Antonio, Tex. in 1731 as Mission Nuestra Senora de la Purisima Concepcion de Acuna; in 1716 Mission San Jose de los Nazonis is established near modern-day Cushing, Tex., moving in 1730 to San Antonio as San Juan Capistrano; in 1716 Mission Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe de los Nacogdoches is established in East Tex. to serve the Nacogdoche tribe, later becoming the town of Nacogdoches, Tex.; in 1716-17 Mission San Miguel de Linares de los Adaes is established 20 mi. W of the French fort at Natchitoches, La. to serve the Adaes tribe; in 1717 Mission Nuestra Senora de los Dolores de los Ais is established near modern-day San Augustine, Tex. to serve the Ais tribe, moving to San Antonio in 1719; on May 1, 1718 Mission San Antonio de Valero is established on the San Antonio River by Father Antonio de Olivares and New Spain viceroy Marquis de Valero as the first of a mission chain for Christianizing Indians, becoming known as the Alamo in 1744; on May 5 Gov. Martin Alarcon founds Villa de Bejar 3/4 league upstream at the headwaters of San Pedro Creek, which becomes the capital of the New Spain province of Tejas, the northernmost settlement in the Valley of Mexico; the mission is abandoned in 1793, becoming a military depot and fortress until 1836, when it becomes the Alamo, "Cradle of Texas Liberty".

On May 15, 1755 the town of Laredo, Tex. (modern-day pop. 244.7K/259.1K) on the S border of modern-day Tex. is founded as Villa de San Augustin de Laredo in New Spain by Capt. Don Tomas Sanchez (Tomás Sánchez) de la Barrera (1709-96), named in honor of Laredo, Cantabria, Spain and St. Augustine of Hippo; by modern times it becomes 95% Hispanic-Latino.

On Feb. 10, 1763 after House of Commons leader (since 1762) Sir Henry Fox bribes, intimidates and persuades the House to approve it (and is raised to the peerage for it, becoming 1st Baron Holland), the 1763 Treaty of Paris between Britain, France, Spain, and Portugal, negotiated for France by foreign minister Cesar Gabriel de Choiseul, Duc de Praslin (1712-85) ends the French and Indian War along with the Seven Years' War (begun 1756), giving Britain's ally Frederick II the Great of Prussia a V; "Half a continent... changed hands at the scratch of a pen" (Francis Parkman); French imperialist dreams are dashed bigtime, and in return for the #1 sugar island of Guadalupe, France cedes to Britain all claims to Acadia, Canada (Quebec), Cape Breton, Louisiana E of the Mighty Mississippi except Orleans Island, plus all of India; Spain cedes Florida to Britain in return for British evacuation of Havana (to prevent Britain from going on to swallow up Mexico), and receives Louisiana from France, which is resisted locally by French colonists; St. Vincent Island is ceded to Britain (until 1779), along with Dominica Island; displaced Acadians begin to head for Louisiana, where they become known as Cajuns, while Spanish colonists leave Florida for Havana, and British colonists with their slaves head for Florida; Spain regains Cuba and the Philippines, while Portugal regains Colonia and Rio Grande do Sul; the Spanish begin transforming Havana into the most heavily fortified city in the New World, building the Fortress of San Carlos de la Cabana over 11 years, becoming the biggest Spanish fortification in the New World, equipped with cannons made in Barcelona; France is allowed to keep a trading post in Bengal, India, and to keep Guadeloupe Martinique, Belle Isle, Maria Galante and St. Lucia, and also to have fishing rights on the Newfoundland Banks, with the small islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon for fish curing, otherwise the French empire in America is, er, history?; Britain keeps one of the French posts on the coast of Guinea and loses the other; Britain recovers Minorca; France is bankrupt, and its navy a wreck, but war secy. (Cesar's cousin) Etienne Francois, Duc de Choiseul (1719-85) predicts that the British Am. colonies will rebel, and begins rebuilding the French navy to take advantage of it?; Britain is now numero uno, but the British Parliament then proceeds to fart away its American colonies via a series of dumbass Acts?; Lord Newcastle tries to organize an opposition to the Treaty of Paris and fails, finding that all who vote against it soon lose any offices or pensions they hold from the crown as punishment; by using this power the king gradually builds up a group in the House of Commons known as the King's Friends - if you look like a tree he'll talk to you?

On Aug. 31, 1812 after an insurrection in his native Nuevo Santander, Mexico was suppressed last year, causing him to travel to the U.S. to seek help for the remaining rebels, blacksmith Jose Bernardo Maximiliano Gutierrez de Lara places an ad in The Herald of Alexandria, La. calling for volunteers for the "Republicans of Nacogdoches", causing U.S. Lt. Augustus William Magee (McGee) (1789-1813) to recruit a force of 130 men in Nachitoches, La. for the Gutierrez-Magee Filibustering Expedition, meeting with La. Gov. William C.C. Clairborne and William Shaler in New Orleans before crossing the border in early Aug. 1812 and capturing Nacogdoches on Aug. 16, recruiting 200 more and taking Trinidad (Santisima Trinidad de Calcedo), Tex. on the E bank of the Trinity River on Sept. 13, followed by Presidio La Bahia in Goliad, where Magee dies of malaria or consumption (poisoned?), causing Am. adventurer Samuel Kemper (-1814) to take over as cmdr.; meanwhile on Dec. 10 de Lara meets with the U.S. House of Reps, who turn him down for fear of jeopardizing relations with Spain.

On Feb. 19, 1813 after a 1.5K-man royalist army under Lt. Col. Francisco Ignacio Elizondo Villarreal (1766-1813) pursues them, the Repub. Army of the North under Samuel Kemper, U.S. Col. Henry A. Perry, and Bernardo Gutierrez de Lara retreat to San Antonio de Bexar, and get ambushed on Mar. 29 while searching for food on Rosillo (Salado) Creek in SE Bexar County, Tex., leading on Mar. 29 to the Battle of Rosillo Creek (Rosalis) 9mi. SE of San Anontio de Bexar near the confluence with Salado Creek, with 100-330 royalist troops vs. six repub. troops KIA, and most of the royalists' arms and ammo captured, causing them to retreat to San Antonio and sign a truce on Apr. 1, after which on Apr. 6 de Lara declares Texas independent from Spain, proclaiming its first constitution, with himself as pres. #1 of the First Repub. of Tex.; on June 20 the 2-hour Battle of Alazan Creek in modern-day Bexar County, Tex. W of San Antonio de Bejar sees the 800-man Repub. army under de Lara and Perry surround the 1K-man army of Col. Ignacio Elizondo at dawn and surprise them during breakfast, wiping them out and inviting Indian allies to scalp them, capturing massive supplies incl. 2K horses and mules, 300 guns and muskets, 5K lbs. of gunpowder, and mucho food; too bad, de Lara is replaced by U.S.-backed Gen. Jose Alvarez de Toledo y Dubois (1779-1858), who leads the men to capture San Antonion on aug. 1, but alienates them with racism, causing them to be defeated on Aug. 18 by Jose Joaquin de Arredondo y Miono (José Joaquín de Arredondo y Mioño) (1776-1837) at the Battle of Medina 20 mi. S of San Antonio, losing 1.3K KIA (vs. only 55 royalists), causing Toledo to flee to La., attempt another invasion in 1814, then flop and reconcile with Spain in 1816, becoming an adviser to Fernandi VII; meanwhile the royalists execute all the captured U.S. citizens, ending hope of U.S. aid.

In Sept. 1816 French pirate Louis-Michel Aury (1788-1821) establishes a base on Galveston Island, Tex. to help the fledgling Repub. of Mexico fight the Spanish, with a commission as gov. of Texas.

In 1817 French pirate Jean Lafitte (1776-1825) is driven from his stronghold in Barataria Bay off the coast of New Orleans, La., and moves to Galveston Island, Tex., taking advantage of the absence of Louis-Michel Aury to found the pirate kingdom of Campeche (Campeachy), burning it to the ground and escaping at night in 1821 after the U.S. Navy gives him an ultimatum, causing rumors that he left buried treasure there; meanwhile Aury captures Old Providence Island in the W Caribbean on July 4, 1818 and sets up a base there; Barataria Bay goes on to become the center of the U.S. shrimping industry.

On Aug. 24, 1821 after being sent with an army last year by viceroy (1816-21) Juan Ruiz de Apodaca, 1st Count of Venadito (1754-1835), then deciding to switch sides, Spanish royalist army gen. Agustin (Agustín) de Iturbide (1783-1824) and Indian-Spanish-African mestizo rev. leader Vicente Ramon Guerrero Saldana (Saldaña) (1782-1831) sign the Treaty of Cordoba, recognizing Mexican independence under the Feb. 24 Plan of Iguala, ending the Spanish colony of New Spain (founded 1521), with a new white-green-red flag symbolizing "religion, independence and union", meaning an established Roman Catholic Church (white), an independent monarchic govt. with liberal constitution (green), and unity of native Am. and Euro citizens (red for Castile, showing that the Spaniards will be considered more equal than the indigenous browns, which are a mixture of red and green?); too bad, they permit the royalist Spanish to turn their land holdings into hard currency before departing, depleting Mexico of currency, and causing silver church bells and gold altarpieces to be melted down to save the new nation from bankruptcy.

In Sept. 1821 Mo. trader William Becknell (1787-1856) leads a party up the Arkansas River on a horse-trading expedition, stumbles onto Mexican soldiers, and is told that they are welcome in Santa Fe to trade for gold, silver and furs, opening the Santa Fe Trail, a 780-mi. overland route between Independence, Mo. and Santa Fe, N.M. which takes 100-200 white merchants round-trip once a year until supplanted by a monthly stage in 1850 and the Santa Fe Railroad in 1880; on the first journey Becknell discovers Hispanic ladies smoking "seegaritos".

In Dec. 1821 Mo.-born New Orleans atty. ("the Father of Texas") Stephen Fuller Austin (1793-1836) starts the first legal and successful colony in Texas with 300 families ("the Old 300") at a bend on the lower Brazos River after receiving a huge Mexican land grant via his lead mining magnate father Moses Austin (1761-1821), who dies of pneumonia before he can go with them; they name it Fort Bend, which is later absorbed into the town of Richmond, Tex. (incorporated in 1837) in Fort Bend County, Tex., home of Jane Long, Deaf Smith, and Mirabeau Lamar; Tenn.-born William Stafford (1780-1840) establishes Stafford's Point planation in Fort Bend County; Austin was talked into it by his mother Mary Brown Austin (1768-1824), who wrote a letter to him two days before Moses died; by 1824 the white Moses leads 2K Anglos into settling his lands; the reason the Mexicans wanted gringos to move in was to form a barrier against the pesky Comanches, who were expert horsemen and could shoot six arrows in the time they could load a rifle; in 1842 the Texas Rangers begin using Colt 5-shot revolvers, turning the tide, allowing them to drive the Comanches into Okla. and N.M.

In 1823 the Texas Ranger Div. (Texas Rangers) is founded by Stephen F. Austin; in 2015 they have 162 commissioned members - upgrade to the healthier side of whitening?

On Oct. 17, 1825 the Congress of Mexico proclaims the Port of Galveston, Tex., and builds a customs house in 1830.

In 1825 the state of Coahuila-Texas (Coahuila y Tejas) on the E coast of Mexico passes a colonization law offering large tracts of rich cotton land to empresarios who promise to sponsor immigrants; by 1830 it has 20K white settlers and 1K black slaves.

I'll go with Shirley Temple, final answer? Depression can turn you into a person you don't recognize? White, small and wrinkled, or, Sugar Daddy pays all the bills? On Jan. 22, 1829 36-y.-o. Sam Houston (1793-1863) and 18-y.-o. sweet young thing Eliza Allen (1811-) (daughter of a well-to-do planter) are married, but in less than 3 mo. something "private" happens to end the marriage and she returns to her parents' home; a week later on Apr. 16 the near-suicidal old man resigns as gov. of Tenn., ruining his chances for the presidency as his friend Jackson's successor, then hops a westward-bound steamboat in Nashville to Little Rock, Ark. on Apr. 23, lands on May 8, then hops another boat to Webber's Falls near the mouth of the Illinois River and moves back in with his Cherokee friends near Ft. Gibson (Muskogee, Okla.) to feel sorry for himself, until one day, seeing an eagle swoop near his head then fly into the setting sun, he sees a vision and decides to go W to Texas, telling a friend that he might "conquer Mexico or Texas, and be worth two millions in two years"; when Jackson hears of this and admonishes him, he pledges to do nothing to "injure, or involve my country"; settling with the Cherokees in Okla., he marries Cherokee widow (comfortable like an old mocassin?) Tiana Rogers and runs a successful trading post called Wigwam Neosho, becoming known as Ootsetee Ardeetahskee (Big Drunk).

In 1829 Pres. Guerrero of Mexico is overthrown by Gen. Anastasio Bustamante (1780-1853); slavery is abolished in Mexico; too bad, the gringos in Texas want to keep their slaves, giving them an excuse for secession.

In 1830 the problem of too many gringos flocking into Texas prompts the Mexican govt. to forbid further immigration and move troops to the frontier in a vain attempt to stop the flow of illegal aliens - they should know?

In 1830 the Waco (Huaco) (Hueco) tribe of Caddoan Indians (located near modern-day Waco, Tex.) are almost wiped out by the wacked-out Cherokees, and the remainder end up in a rez in 1855.

On June 10, 1832 the Battle of Anahuac near Anahuac, Tex., followed on June 25-26 by the Battle of Velasco in Fort Velasco, Tex. are the first blood drawn in the deteriorating peace between Texas and Mexico.

On Dec. 2, 1832 Sam Houston is commissioned by Pres. Jackson to negotiate treaties with the Indian tribes in Texas for the protection of U.S. traders, and decides to move there, settling in a subdivision of Coahuila province of the 11-y.-o. Mexican Repub. (pop. 8M), containing 20K Anglos and 5K Hispanics; J.Q. Adams later claims that Houston and Pres. Jackson were in a conspiracy to steal Texas for the U.S.

On Apr. 1-3, 1833 the lily white Anglo Convention of 1833 in San Felipe drafts a constitution for Texas to be submitted to the Mexican Congress; on Oct. 1 it calls for the formation of a separate (as in gringo) state of Texas within the Mexican Repub.

On Oct. 2, 1835 the white Anglo Texians of E Texas proclaim their right to secede from Mexico and begin the Texas Rev. (War of Independence) (ends Apr. 21, 1836). On Oct. 2 the DeWitt Colony in Tex., founded in the 1825 by recently-deceased (May 18) Ky.-born Anglo Green DeWitt (1787-1835) fight to keep a cannon donated in 1831 by the Mexicans to protect them from Comanche raids at the Battle of Gonzales, becoming the "Lexington-Concord of Texas" against Mexico; with the slogan "Come and Take It", first used on a banner by Green's wife Sara and daughter Naomi made from a dress. On Oct. 9 the Mexican-held Presidio La Bahia fort in Goliad, Tex. is captured by a group of Texian volunteers. On Nov. 2 Tenn. frontiersman Sam Houston is made CIC of the Texian Army. In Nov. 4 the Battle of Nueces Crossing (Lipantitlan) at Ft. Lipantitlan in SE Texas is a V and morale booster for 60-70 Texians over 90 Mexicans under Cmdr. Nicolas Rodriguez, giving them full control of the Texas Gulf Coast, preventing Mexican reinforcements from arriving by sea and contributing to the final Texian V. On Nov. 26 the immortal Grass Fight of Texas S of San Antonio results when Jim Bowie leads a group of Texians in ambushing a Mexican silver shipment, and it turns out to be grass to feed their horses. On Dec. 5 the Texican army under Gen. Edward "the Old Indian Fighter" Burleson (1798-1851) attacks San Antonio; Samuel Augustus Maverick (1803-70), who moved to San Antonio from S.C. earlier in the year, was captured by the Mexican army, released on a pledge to return the U.S., and reneged (proving that he's an er, maverick?) fights with Burleson.

In Jan. 1836 Saluda County, S.C.-born lt. col. William Barret "Buck" Travis (b. 1809) leads a small garrison of 30 Texians and U.S. volunteers into the Alamo compound on orders of Provisional Gov. Henry Smith (1788-1851). On Feb. 27 the Battle of San Patricio near San Patricio, Tex. (near the SE coast) is a V for 200 Mexicans under Gen. Jose de Urrea (1797-1849) over 43 Texians under Texian Army co-CIC Francis White "Frank" Johnson (1799-1884), who lose 16 KIA and 24 taken POW, after which Texian Col. James Walker Fannin Jr. (1804-36) is told by survivors that they were all executed, causing him to chuck plans to reinforce the Alamo and secure Presidio La Bahia in Goliad. On Mar. 1-17 after approving the Siete Leyes (Seven Laws), which institute a centralized form of govt. and suspends the 1824 Mexican Constitution, causing civil war to spread across Mexico, with the Repub. of Yucatan, Repub. of the Rio Grande, and Repub. of Texas all scrambling for position, Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna approaches with an army as 54 delegates of the Convention of 1836, incl. Gen. Sam Houston meet in Washington-on-the-Brazos, Tex. to draw up a constitution; on Mar. 2 (Sam Houston's 43rd birthday) the Repub. of Texas is declared (ends Feb. 19, 1846); Ala. plantation owner Richard Ellis (1781-1846) is elected interim pres., and Lorenzo de Zavala (Manuel Lorenzo Justiniano de Zavala y Sáenz) (1788-1836) interim vice-pres.; meanwhile although Houston orders its Texian defenders to blow it up, the abandoned adobe mission ("nothing but a church... surrounded by poplars" - Houston) called the Alamo (Sp. for poplars) is sieged by 3K-4K Mexican troops led by Gen. Santa Anna, who on Feb. 23 demands surrender, only to be answered with a cannon shot; it is chock-full of 180 colorful gringos, incl. Tenn. frontiersman Davy Crockett (1786-1836) (and his trusty rifle Old Betsy), Col. James Bowie (b. 1796) (bedridden with pneumonia), Penn. surgeon John Purdy Reynolds (b. 1806), N.Y. hatter George C. Kimball (Kimble) (Kimbell) (b. 1803), poet-businessman Micajah Autry (b. 1793) of Tenn., a marksman who is chosen to take Santa Anna out as he walked outside the Alamo wall, and misses; and garrison cmdr. (from S.C.) Lt. Col. William Barret "Buck" Travis (b. 1809), who on Feb. 23 sends local Va.-born resident John William Smith (1792-1845) (mayor #1 of San Antonio in 1837-8) to scout the Mexican Army, and on Feb. 24 he is sent to Gonzales, Tex. with a letter from Travis appealing for aid, returning on Mar. 1; on Mar. 2 (Wed.) (day of the signing of the Tex. Declaration of Independence) local residents John William Smith and S.C.-born Samuel Augustus "Sam" Maverick (1803-70) leave the Alamo carrying a letter from Travis to the Tex. Independence Convention in Washington-on-the-Brazos appealing for aid, arriving on Mar. 5, only to find the convention in recess over the weekend, signing the Texas DOI on Mar. 6 after a special session is convened, too late to prevent the Alamo from falling; on Mar. 3-5 after days of frontal assaults which decimate the completely-surrounded Anglos, Santa Anna sends a letter to Travis demanding surrender or death, and Travis draws a line in the sand with his sword, saying to the men, "Those prepared to give their lives in freedom's cause come over to me", and every man crosses it except Louis (Lewis) "Moses" Rose (1785-1851), who becomes known as "the Coward of the Alamo" and "the Yellow Rose of Texas" (every man that hasn't snuck out yet?); Travis responds to Santa Anna's letter with cannon fire, after which the Mexican army plays the Deguello (Sp. "beheading") bugle call, meaning no quarter to be given; on Mar. 6 (Sun.) (3-6-36) after a 13-day siege, despite fanatical gringo resistance ("Pierce the heart of the enemy as you would a feller that spit in your face, knocked down your wife, burnt up your houses, and called your dog a skunk! Cram his pesky carcass full of thunder and lightning like a stuffed sassidge... nd bite his nose off into the bargain" - Davy Crockett) the Alamo falls on the 3rd assault of the day after the master race defenders run out of ammo and the allegedly inferior but numerically-superior cannon-fodder Mexicans break through the N wall; Santa Anna's English-speaking secy., advisor and interpreter Col. (later Gen.) Juan Nepomuceno Almonte (1803-69) accepts the surrender of the remaining 10-15 Texans, and later helps Santa Anna earn the Texans' goodwill and arranges better surrender terms; Santa Anna heads E for Gonzales; rumors later spread of a cache of gold buried by Col. Bowie in a well; Susanna Wilkerson Dickerson (1814-83) and her baby are the sole adult Anglo survivors, along with about 20 Hispanic women and children and one slave, the rest being put to death and their bodies burned; Mexican losses are 1,544; Davy Crockett pitifully begged for his life?; on Mar. 13 Houston and 188 poorly-equipped men (out of 374 he found on Mar. 6 when the Texians chose him to be their CIC), who set off in early Mar. to save them encounter baby-carrying Dickinson and her servant on the way, hearing her version of the heroic stand, which causes him to begin a series of strategic retreats in despair to E Texas and then to the Gulf Coast, despite grumbles of cowardice from some of his men, and pleas by provisional pres. David Gouverneur Burnet (1788-1870) to fight; meanwhile Burnet moves his govt. to Galveston Island, main port for the Texas navy, and Canadian-born fur trader Michel Branamour Menard (1805-56) buys 4,605 acres on the island for $50K to found the modern Anglo city of Galveston, Tex., which is incorporated in 1839. On Mar. 17 after being appointed by Pres. Sam Houston, Pendleton, S.C.-born Thomas Jefferson Rusk (1803-57) becomes Tex. secy. of war #1, resigning on Nov. 13, 1837 due to domestic problems, going on to become a Tex. rep in 1837-8 and become chmn. of the House Military committee, sponsoring a militia that passes over Houston's veto and being elected its maj. gen.; on Dec. 12, 1838 he is elected chief justice of the Tex. Supreme Court (until June 30, 1840); on Feb. 21, 1846 he becomes a U.S. sen. from Tex. (until July 29, 1857), rising to Senate pres. pro tempore on Mar. 14, 1857. On Apr. 21 after Maj. Gen. Sam Houston gathers reinforcements, his 900 men, crying "Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad!", surprise Santa Anna's sleeping (siesta) Mexicans at 4 p.m. at the Battle of San Jacinto on the San Jacinto River near Buffalo Bayou (near modern-day Houston), in a fight which lasts 20 min., and results in Mexican losses of 630 KIA, 208 wounded, 730 taken prisoner vs. Texian losses of 6 (2?) KIA and 13 (30?) wounded; Santa Anna dresses in civies and tries to sneak out, but is captured on Apr. 22, his fine underwear giving him away, not to mention Mexican cries of "El Presidente!" as he is led into camp; he is later rumored to have been preoccupied with mulatto ho Emily West Morgan (Emily of Morgan's Point) (1815-91) in his tent, giving rise to the song The Yellow Rose of Texas (as in high yellow?); Houston is wounded in the right leg, and receives Santa Anna while lying beneath an oak tree, immortalized in the 1890 William Henry Huddle painting Surrender of Santa Anna (housed in the Texas State Capitol in Austin) (Lyndon B. Johnson's great-great-uncle John Wheeler Bunton is shown half-hidden behind a tree trunk); on May 14 after saving him from a lynching, Houston gets Santa Anna to sign the Treaty of Velasco, recognizing Texan independence, with the Rio Grande as the boundary, ending the Texan Rev. (begun 1835), although the Mexican Congress repudiates it; the Lone Star Flag of Tex., designed by Joanna (Johanna) Troutman (1818-79) is first flown over Velasco on Jan. 8; on May 27 Lorenzo de Zavala et al. are appointed by the peace commission to escort Santa Anna back to Mexico City to argue for Texan independence, but the plan is scrapped.

On Aug. 26, 1836 the town of Houston, Tex. (named after Sam Houston) (modern-day pop. 2.1M/6.3M) is founded on Buffalo Bayou (modern-day Allen's Landing) by Canaseraga Village (modern-day Sullivan), N.Y.-born brothers Augustus Chapman Allen (1806-64) and John Kirby Allen (1810-38) after purchasing 6,642 acres from John Austin's widow Elizabeth E. Parrott for $5K; it becomes the capital of the Repub. of Texas on Nov. 30, and is incorporated next June 5.; meanwhile the Lone Star Repub. drafts a constitution, voting for annexation to the U.S., which balks, fearing a war with Mexico; on Sept. 5 big Anglo hero Sam Houston is elected as pres. #1 of the Repub. of Texas, which is proclaimed on Oct. 1, and he is sworn in on Oct. 22 (until Dec. 10, 1838),; Zavala resigns on Oct. 17.

In 1836 Charleston, S.C.-born Bernard Elliot Bee Sr. (1787-1853) moves to Houston, Tex. and takes part in the Texas Rev., serving as Tex. treasury secy. in 1836, war secy. in 1837-8, and secy. of state in 1839, followed by ambassador to the U.S. in 1980-1, negotiating the treaty recognizing the Texas Repub. and going on to oppose annexation before returning to Charleston, leaving sons sons Hamilton Prioleau Bee (1822-97) and Barnard Elliott Bee Jr. (1824-61), who become U.S. Civil War Confed. gens.; Barnard Bee Jr. becomes one of the first generals KIA in the Civil War after coining the nickname "Stonewall" for Confed. Gen. Thomas J. Jackson; Beeville, Tex.. is later named in papa Bee's honor.

In 1836 after a recommendation from his great-uncle Andrew Jackson, Wilson County, Tenn.-born John Coffee "Jack" Hays (1817-83) is appointed to the Texas Rangers by Sam Houston as a capt., going on to lead a campaign against the Comanche in Tex. alongside Apache Chief Flacco, culminating in the Battle of Plum Creek near Lockhart, Tex. on Aug. 12, 1840.

On Mar. 3, 1837 his last day of office, the election of Van Buren a done deal, Old Hickory Pres. Andrew Jackson finally recognizes the Texas Repub. (Sam Houston had fought Indians with him at Horseshoe Bend).

On June 5, 1837 the city of San Antonio, Tex. (modern-day pop. 1.49M/2.45M) (AKA San Antone) (River City) (Alamo City) (named after St. Anthony of Padua) on the San Antonio River (site of the Alamo) (founded May 1, 1718) is incorporated. on the Maumee River at the W end of Lake Erie is incorporated.

In Aug. 1837 the town of Seguin, Tex. in Guadalupe County on the N edge of the South Texas Plains is founded, becoming the home of the Texas Rangers.

In 1837 John James Audubon visits Houston, Tex. and describes the president's mansion as "a small log house, consisting of two rooms", with a muddy and filthy ground floor where Gov. Houston shares quarters with the surgeon-gen. and all sleep on camp cots.

On Oct. 5, 1838 Cherokee Indians pissed-off at the Anglo abrogation of their 1837 treaty with Sam Houston massacre settlers in East Tex. in the Killough Massacre, killing or kidnapping 18 incl. Isaac Kilough Sr. and his family, who arrived from Talladega County, Ala. on Dec. 24, 1837, becoming the largest and last Native Am. attack on white settlers in East Tex.; eight escape on horseback.

On Dec. 10, 1838 rebuffed in their efforts at annexation by the Van Buren admin., the Texans elect Ga.-born Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar (1798-1859), cavalry cmdr. at the Battle of San Jacinto as pres. #2 of the Repub. of Texas (until Dec. 13, 1841), becoming known for talking of expanding to the Pacific and rivaling the U. Stinks, er, U.S., creating the Second Texas Navy; France and Britain recognize Texas and begin developing trade relations.

In Apr. 1839 Commodore Edwin Ward Moore (1810-65) becomes fleet cmdr. of the new Second Texas Navy (until July 1843), running it during its glory years, battling Mexican ironclads to keep the Texas Repub. afloat; too bad, he ends up getting fired in disgrace for piracy in 1843 by Sam Houston when he regains the presidency, and the naval vessels are sold at auction.

In 1839 after the site is chosen to replace Houston as the new capital of Tex., the city of Austin, Tex. (Lat. "magnificent") (modern-day pop. 2.0M/967K) on the Colorado River is incorporated, named after Stephen F. Austin "the Father of Texas" (first Tex. secy. of state); it goes on to become known as "the City of the Violent Crown" (sunset light on the hills), "the Live Music Capital of the World", and "Silicon Hills".

In 1839 the city of Corpus Christi, Tex. (Lat. "Body of Christ") (modern-day pop. 305K/320K) in coastal S Tex. is founded by Col. Henry Lawrence Kinney (1814-62) as Kinney's Trading Post to sell supplies to a Mexican rev. army.

On Mar. 19, 1840 the Council House Fight (Massacre) in San Antonio, Tex. sees white Texians pissed-off at the failure of a delegation of Comanche chiefs to release white POWs massacre 12 chiefs inside the Council House, murder 23 more on the streets, and take 30 POW, causing the pissed-off Comanches to stage the Great Raid of 1840 on Aug. 7 in Victoria and Linnville, Tex., killing 41, becoming the largest Native Am. raid on a U.S. white city (until ?), after which the Battle of Plum Creek near Lockhart, Tex. on Aug. 12 sees 1K Comanches under Chief Buffalo Hump (-1870) defeated by 200 Rangers and Tex. militia led by Col. Edward Burleson and Tonkawa chief Placido.

I fooled around and fell in love, yes I did? In 1840 mass slaughter of the 36M buffalo (bison) in the U.S. begins at the rate of 1M-2M a year under a U.S. govt. policy to "settle the vexed Indian question"; by 1875 only 5.5M remain, down to 541 in 1889 and 300 in 1900; in 1875 Gen. Philip Sheridan tells the Tex. legislature that whites should "kill, skin and sell until the buffaloes are exterminated. Then your prairie can be covered with speckled cattle and the festive cowboy - the forerunner of an advanced civilization."

Early in the 1840s Plano, Tex. (Sp. "flat") 17 mi. NE of modern-day Dallas, Tex. (modern-day pop. 2670K/7.1M) is founded by Euro settlers.

On Dec. 17, 1840 the Fifth Tex. Congress establishes Lamar County in NE Tex., named after Tex. Repub. pres. #2 Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar; the city of Paris, Tex. (modern-day pop. 25K) is founded there; on Feb. 23, 1861 it becomes one of 18 Tex. counties voting against secession; its mostly white pop. becomes known for white supremacy incl. lynchings of blacks in 1893 and 1920; in 1943 the U.S. Supreme Court rules in Largent v. Tex. that a city ordinance requiring a permit to sell or distribute religious (esp. Jehovah's Witness) pubs. is unconstitutional; in 1916 a fire destroys half of the town and causes $11M in property damage; it goes on to be named "Best Small Town in Texas" in 1997.

On June 19, 1841 after the Repub. of Texas claims Santa Fe as part of its territory, the Texan Santa Fe Expedition of 21 ox-drawn wagons carrying $200K in merchandise plus 320 militia leaves Kenney's Fort near Austin, Tex. with the real goal of controlling the Santa Fe Trail and developing trade links with New Mexico, backed by Tex. pres. Mirabeau B. Lamar to stave off the growing Tex. annexation movement; too bad in mid-Sept. after arriving in N.M. they are met near modern-day Tucumcari, N.M. by a 1.5K-man Mexican army sent out by N.M. gov. Manuel Armijo, and are promised safe conduct in exchange for surrender, only to be double-crossed by Armijo, who has them chained and mistreated, then puts their fate to his officers, who by one vote decide not to execute them, after which they are forced to march 2K mi. to Mexico City, and released from Perote Prison leper colony in Veracruz on June 13, 1842, arriving in New Orleans, La. via Veracruz on Sept. 5, their number reduced to 47; in 1844 Mont Vernon, N.H.-born George Wilkins Kendall (1809-67), founder of The New Orleans Picayune in New Orleans, La. in 1837, who suffers smallpox in prison pub. the 900-page book Narrative of an Expedition Across the Great Southwestern Prairies, from Texas to Santa Fe, which sells 40K copies by 1852, going on to use his newspaper to advocate annexation of Tex. and war with Mexico, becoming the #1 war correspondent during the 1846-8 Mexican-Am. War before going into the sheep ranching business in Tex. in 1852 on the Nueces River, moving to Waco Springs then Boerne, becoming known as "Father of the Tex. Sheep Business".

In Nov. 1841 Dallas, Tex. (Gael. "dwellers by the waterfall") (modern-day pop. 5.1M/7.7M) in NE Tex. on 640 acres overlooking the Three Forks area of the Trinity River is settled by Tenn. trader-atty. John Neely Bryan (1810-77); the site is where JFK is assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963; in 1846 after attracting Anglo-Am. (non-Hispanic) settlers, it and the surrounding county are named after Philly-born Anglo U.S. vice-pres. #11 (1845-9) George Mifflin Dallas (1792-1864) - shouldn't that be Houston-Mufflin?

On Dec. 13, 1841 pres. (since Dec. 10, 1838) Mirabeau Lamar steps down as pres. of the Repub. of Texas after gaining formal recognition by the major European powers and establishing a public school system (incl. the basis of the U. of Texas), and on Dec. 21 Sam Houston is reelected as Tex. pres. #3 (until Dec. 9, 1844), appointing Chester District, S.C.-born John Hemphill (1803-62) as chief justice of the Tex. Supreme Court (until 1858), becoming known as "the John Marshall of Texas"; on the side Hemphill lives with his black slave Sabina for over a decade and fathers two daughters by her.

On Sept. 17, 1842 the Dawson Expedition (Massacre) sees 36 Texian militiamen KIA and 15 of 54 captured by 500 Mexican cavalry near San Antonio, Tex. after the Texians raise a white flag but the two Mexican cannons keep firing. In Nov. 1842 after the Dawson Massacre, the Mier Expedition of the Texian militia against Mexican border settlements in disputed territory between the Rio Grande and Nueces Rivers begins (until Feb. 1843), culminating in the 24-hour Battle of Ciudad Mier on Dec. 25, in which 200 Texians surrender after running out of food, water, and ammo despite sustaining only 30 casualties vs. 800 for the Mexicans; too bad, the Mexicans consider them pirates and march them back to Mexico City for execution, during which an escape attempt fails and 176 of 179 are recaptured and returned to Salado in Tamaulipas, after which pres. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna intervenes, ordering Coahuila gov. Francisco Mexia to execute them, but he balks, and Santa Anna orders the Black Bean Episode on Mar. 25, 1843, in which the POWs are forced to draw from a jar containing 159 white and 17 black beans in El Rancho Salado, and the unlucky 17 esecuted, along with Scottish-born Capt. Ewen Cameron, who led the escape attempt and is executed on Apr. 26, 1843 despite drawing a white bean.

In Mar. 1843 after planning an invasion to retake Tex. in early Jan., then staging another revolt and forcing Anastasio "Bust a Move" "I'm Busted" Bustamante from power again, Gen. Santa Anna becomes pres. of Mexico again, and orders an invasion of his arch-enemy Tejas, er, Texas, but his troops are routed at the Battle of Salado Creek in Salado Creek, Tex. on Sept. 17 by 220 Tex. milia, with 60 Mexicans KIA and hundreds wounded vs. 1 Texian KIA and 9-12 wounded; Bustamente serves with the Mexican army during the 1846-8 U.S.-Mexican War.

On Apr. 24, 1843 after being given authorization on Feb. 16, the Snively Expedition of the 170-man Battalion of Invinciles led by Greencastle, Penn.-born Jacob Snively (1809-71) leaves to intercept a train of Mexican traders returning from Mo. through Tex. via the Santa Fe Trail in retaliation for Mexican raids on San Antonio in 1842, and the mistreatment of Tex. POWs captured in the Mier Expedition and the Santa Fe Expedition; too bad, after defeating a 100-man Mexican force on the Arkansas River on June 20, violating U.S. sovereignty, they are disarmed by U.S. Dragoons on July 15, and 70 diehards continue pursuing the traders, only to find them guarded by Mexican soldiers, giving up and returning to Tex. on Aug. 6.

In Apr. 1843 secret negotiations to annex Texas, spurred by Southern slaveholders skittish about growing British influence result in a treaty completed by U.S. secy. of state John C. Calhoun being sent to the Senate for ratification; Calhoun then sticks his cotton' pickin' foot in his mouth when he sends the British minister a letter stating that Texas annexation will foil British abolitionists, and solid Whig opposition results in an overwhelming rejection of the treaty.

On Sept. 29, 1843 the Treaty of Bird's Fort between the Repub. of Tex. and "the Indigenous Nations of the Delaware, Chickasaw, Waco, Tawakani, Keechi, Caddo, Anadahkah, Ionie, Biloxi, and Cherokee", negotiated by Edward H. Tarrant and George W. Terrell and signed in modern-day Haltom City, Tex. ends years of warfare, establishing the border of Indian territory as a "line of trading houses" at the junction of the Clear Fork and West Fork of the Trinity River in modern-day Fort Worth, Tex. (modern-day pop. 854K/7.1M) which is founded by the U.S. Army in 1849 as Camp Worth, becoming the northernmost fort protecting the Am. Frontier after the Mexican-Am. War.

On Apr. 27, 1844 Henry Clay and Martin Van Buren pub. letters in separate Washington, D.C. newspapers opposing Texas annexation because of the danger of war, with Clay adding in his Raleigh Letter of Apr. 17 that it would be "dangerous to the integrity of the Union"; the U.S. Senate rejects the Texas annexation plan zealously pushed by Pres. Tyler, who wants to give slavery more room - I didn't want to do it, I didn't want to do it?

On May 1, 1844 the 1844 Whig Nat. Convention in Baltimore, Md. unanimously nominates Henry Clay (1777-1852) of Ky. for pres., and Theodore Frelinghuysen (1787-1862) "the Christian Statesman" of N.J. for vice-pres.; the first-ever 1844 Whig Platform omits any reference to the hot potato of Texas; on May 27-29 the 1844 Dem. Nat. Convention in Baltimore, Md. deadlocks over anti-annexation candidate Martin Van Buren and pro-annexation candidate Lewis Cass of Mich., and on the 9th ballot nominates pro-slavery pro-expansionist (both Tex. and Ore.) James Knox Polk (1795-1849) of Tenn., who becomes the first "dark horse" candidate in U.S. history (a shock of long grizzled hair looks like a mane, and he has probing gray eyes?), and the first to announce that he won't seek reelection; the 1844 Dem. Platform calls for "the reoccupation of Oregon and the reannexation of Texas"; "president without a party" Tyler fails to win renomination by the alienated Whigs or the Dems; the Chronicle of Ithaca, N.Y. runs a false story about German tourist Baron von Roorback, who claimed to see Polk brand and sell 23 slaves at a slave auction, which backfires when it is exposed as a hoax, but doesn't stop the term "Roorback" from being coined to denote last-minute black propaganda.

On Nov. 1-Dec. 4, 1844 after Henry Clay suddenly flip-flops on Texas, saying that slavery there is only a "temporary institution", and that if it could be annexed "without dishonor, without war, with the common consent of the Union, and upon just and fair terms" he wouldn't object, and Polk's followers cry for "Texas and Democracy" and "Fifty-four Forty or Fight" (annexing Oregon all the way to Alaska), with Polk's Senate spokesman William Allen (1803-79) "the Ohio Foghorn" leading the charge, tasking Clay for being a gambler, dueling fool, and debaucher, with the Whig campaign slogan "Who is James K. Polk?", the 1844 U.S. Pres. Election sees Polk barely edge Clay in the popular vote by 39K (1,339,494 to 1,300,004), but win by 170-105 electoral votes; the 62K votes (out of 2.5M total) cast for abolitionist James G. Birney of the Liberty Party (former Northern Whigs) deprives Clay of N.Y. and costs him the election (he would have won by 7 electoral votes); Polk carries neither N.C., his birth state, nor Tenn., the state he served as gov. for two terms; the Liberty Party disbands in 1848 when many of its members join the Barnburners to form the Free-Soil Party.

On July 4, 1845 the Texas Convention of 1845, presided over by former Tex. Supreme court chief justice (1838-40) Thomas Jefferson Rusk (1803-57) accepts the offer of U.S. statehood, agreeing to pay its own war debt and reserving the option of subdividing into as many as five states; on Oct. 13 Texas voters ratify the annexation along with a new 1845 Tex. Constitution (amended in 1861, 1866, 1869, and 1876), and on Dec. 29 "Lone Star State" Texas (Tex.) is admitted as the 28th U.S. (slave) state, with a provision for dividing it into five states, but the Mexicans don't take this lying down, and border disputes cause war to loom; the U.S. claims the Rio Grande River as the boundary, while Mexico claims the Nueces River farther N; in July Pres. Polk sends Gen. "Old Rough and Ready" Zachary Taylor (1784-1850) to the Nueces River to meet Mexican troops massing there and defend the territory of the new state of Texas; the hot-to-trot independent state of Texas (Tex.) has 100K whites and 35K black slaves. The July ed. of the eastern newspaper United States Mag. and Democratic Review first mentions the term "manifest destiny" as a rationale for annexation of Texas by the Polk admin. in an article by editor John Louis O'Sullivan (1813-95): "The American claim is by right of our manifest destiny to overspread and to possess the whole of the continent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty and federative self-government entrusted to us"; "Our manifest destiny is to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions."

In 1845 Prince Carl (Karl) of Solms-Braunfels (1812-75) settles New Braunfels, Tex. on the Guadalupe River with 150 families, becoming the first German emigrant colony in Tex., and the start of a planned New Germany.

In 1845 Baylor U. in Waco, Tex. on the banks of the Brazos River is founded by the Union Baptist Assoc. after a suggestion by Ky.-born Judge Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor (1793-1874), becoming the first univ. in Tex.

On Feb. 19, 1846 the Texas state govt. is formally installed in Austin, Tex. (settled 1835; incorprated Dec. 27, 1839) (modern-day pop. 967K/2.1M), with Lincolnton, N.C.-born atty. James Pinckney Henderson (1808-58) as gov. #1 (until Dec. 21, 1847); on Feb. 21 Sam Houston becomes the first U.S. sen. from Tex. (until Mar. 4, 1859), and goes to Washington, D.C., counseling Pres. Polk against war with Mexico, lobbying for peaceful purchase of western lands, and attending a Baptist church; in Apr. after the Mexican-Am. War breaks out, Henderson takes a leave of absence to command a troop of Texas Rangers with the rank of maj. gen. under Gen. Zachary Taylor.

In Mar. 1846 U.S. ambassador John Slidell gives up on his mission to negotiate peace in Mexico City; meanwhile in Mar. Gen. Zachary Taylor uses the Santa Fe Trail and crosses the Nueces River into the disputed area between it and the Rio Grande River near U.S. Ft. Brown (modern-day Brownsville, Tex.) (modern-day pop. 183K/420K) (founded in Apr.), the Mexicans cross the Rio Grande into U.S. territory in Apr. under Gen. Mariano Arista (1802-55); on Apr. 25 the Mexicans draw first blood at the Battle of Rancho de Carricitos, killing 11 U.S. soldiers, wounding five, and taking POWs; on May 8 Taylor defeats the Mexicans under Gen. Arista at the Battle of Palo Alto, then again on May 9 at the Battle of Resaca de la Palma near Fort Brown, forcing them back over the Rio Grande to Matamoros on the Gulf of Mexico; Ft. Brown cmdr. Maj. Jacob Brown, is KIA; on May 9 Pres. Polk labels these actions as acts of Mexican aggression and gets the cabinet's approval for his May 11 War Message to Congress, and on May 13 the U.S. declares war on Mexico, beginning the U.S.-Mexican (Mexican-U.S.) (Mexican-Am.) War (ends 1848); the House authorizes a call for 50K volunteers and a war appropriation of $10M, although 27 members vote for an amendment stating that U.S. troops are not approved to move below the Rio Grande River; politically ambitious Whig Gen. "Fuss and Feathers" Winfield Scott (1786-1866) (CIC) of the U.S. army in 1841-61) quarrels with Pres. Polk's secy. of war, causing Polk to withdraw his appointment as cmdr. for the Rio Grande front; when Scott says that he received a letter from the secy. as he "sat down to take a hasty plate of soup", he becomes known as Marshal Tureen; on May 18 Taylor's forces enter Matamoros to find that the demoralized Mexicans have retreated to Monterrey, further inland; Polk makes him Taylor the new cmdr. for the conquest of Mexico, figuring that the homely bow-legged old fart will not become a political threat later; waiting for reinforcements and supplies, Taylor stalls in Matamoros while New Mexico and Calif. are all but taken by his compatriots; leaving in Sept., Taylor occupies Monterrey on Sept. 20-24, followed by Saltillo on Nov. 16; jealous of Taylor's growing popularity, in Nov. Pres. Polk appoints Gen. Winfield Scott as the new CIC of U.S. forces in Mexico, and sends him to open a new front at Veracruz (Vera Cruz) on the Gulf of Mexico E of Mexico City, with the goal of capturing the latter; Scott's forces initially land in Matamoros, then wait at Tampico for Taylor's forces to link up; meanwhile, in Aug. tricky Santa Anna, living in exile in Havana convinces Polk that he could negotiate a settlement if Washington would pay well for new territories acquired, and is allowed to pass through the U.S. blockade into Veracruz; he then turns on the U.S., becomes pres. of Mexico, and gains command of the Mexican army.

In Jan. 1847 miffed Gen. Taylor disobeys orders to give his troops over to Gen. Winfield Scott in Tampico, instead advancing E to Saltillo - in hopes of this not being the end, my only friend? On Feb. 22-23, 1847 Gen. Zachary Taylor finally gets to fight the Big Beaner Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna at the Battle of Buena Vista Hacienda (La Angostura) near Saltillo after the Mexicans, seeing that they outnumber the Americans invite them to surrender without a fight, and Gen. Taylor gives the classic Am.-style smart-alecky reply, "Tell him to go to hell"; Taylor's son-in-law Col. Jefferson Davis leads a regiment that breaks up a Mexican cavalry charge, and he is shot in the foot, causing Taylor to lament refusing his daughter's hand in marriage, saying "My daughter was a better judge of men that I was"; the battle is a push, but both claim victory; Taylor is then granted leave to return home so that he can run for pres. on the strength of his big V. On Mar. 8 Gen. Winfield Scott launches an amphibious invasion of Vera Cruz (Veracruz) with his 10K-man army (first major U.S. military amphibious operation), and on Mar. 9 lands on the beaches S of Veracruz; on Mar. 27 after a week-long siege he captures Veracruz, then, following Cortes' route 300 years ealier, heads for Mexico City, evading a trap set by Santa Anna at Cerro Gordo on Apr. 18, instead capturing 3K POWs along with their equipment, incl. Santa Anna's personal effects; on May 15 Scott enters Puebla, Mexico's 2nd largest city, and watches 3K of his 10K men leave for home as their 12-mo. enlistments expire, forcing him to wait 3 mo. for reinforcements and supplies from the coast. On Aug. 7 Gen. Winfield Scott sets out again for Mexico City, riding the snake through the mountain passes, thereby cutting his supply line to the coast, which causes the old fart backseat driver, the Duke of Wellington to comment that he "is lost - he cannot capture the city and he cannot fall back upon his base"; on Aug. 19-20 Scott wins the Battle of Contreras 13 mi. SSW of Mexico City, defeating a Mexican force of 7K under Gen. Valencia blocking the road to Mexico City with his force of 4.5K, with Mexican losses of 1.5K vs. U.S. losses of only 60, leading to an easy U.S. V at the Battle of Churubusco (the last fort defended to the death by Mexican officer-cadets) on Aug. 20, followed by an armistice on Aug. 23, which ends on Sept. 7, during which time Scott prepares a final assault on the remaining fortifications, starting with the enemy left at Battle of Molino del Rey on Sept. 8, then the enemy right at the Battle of Casa Mata on Sept. 11, and finally, after heavy losses on both sides, the enemy center at the Battle of Chapultepec on Sept. 13, where the Mexican Irish San Patricio Battalion puts up a desperate struggle for fear of capture and execution for treason; Scott then executes a brilliant flanking operation around the lakes and marshes guarding the E approaches, overwhelming Mexican defenses and entering Mexico City on Sept. 14, then mops up all resistance from the beaners within three days, finally having brig. gen. William Jenkins Worth (1794-1849) take down the Mexican flag on the Nat. Palace and run up the gringo Stars and Stripes flag while the U.S. Marines occupy the Halls of Montezuma; St. Patrick's Battalion is nearly wiped out at Churubusco Convent on Aug. 21, with all but 71 killed or taken POW, and 20 POWS hanged as deserters on Sept. 10, followed by several more later - when the music's over, turn out the lights?

On Dec. 21, 1847 George Tyler Wood (1795-1858) becomes Dem. Tex. gov. #2 (until Dec. 21, 1849), followed by a string of lily white Dems. incl. Peter Hansborough Bell (1810-98) (#3) (Dec. 21, 1849 - Nov. 23, 1853), James Wilson Henderson (1817-80) (#4) (Nov. 23, 1853 - Dec. 2, 1853), Elisha Marshall Pease (1812-83) (#5) (Dec. 21, 1853 - Dec. 21, 1857) (#13), and Hardin Richard Runnels (1820-73) (#6) (Dec. 21, 1857 - Dec. 21, 1857) (only person to defeat Sam Houston in an election).

On Dec. 30, 1847 the Commercial & Agricultral Bank of Galveston, Tex. becomes the first bank in Tex.; it closes in 1859.

Make a run for the border? On Jan. 2, 1848 after the All Mexico idea of annexing Mexico by force is toyed with and dumped (making Pres. Polk reluctant to sign a treaty with Mexico yet), with S.C. Sen. John C. Calhoun uttering the soundbyte: "[W]e have never dreamt of incorporating into our Union any but the Caucasian race - the free white race. To incorporate Mexico would be the very first instance of the kind of incorporating an Indian race; for more than half of the Mexicans are Indians, and the other is composed chiefly of mixed tribes", and John O'Sullivan uttering the soundbyte: "There is no growth in Hispanic America... How would it kick the beam against the simple, solid weight of the two hundred and fifty, or three hundred millions - and American millions - destined to gather beneath the flutter of the stripes and stars, in the fast hastening year of the Lord 1945?", formal peace talks between the proud WASP U.S. and defeated BHRC (Brown Hispanic Roman Catholic) Mexico begin at the village of Guadalupe Hidalgo outside Mexico City, where what's left of the Mexican govt. is holed-up, trapped like brown rats by white wolves?; on Feb. 2 after Nicholas P. Trist engages them in brinksmanship, down-on-its-knees Mexico signs the grossly 1-sided dirty-deal Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ceding all of Texas above the Rio Grande, plus New Mexico and Calif. (incl. the Nevada region), a total of 529,189 sq. mi. (half of all Mexican territory, incl. the modern states of Calif., Nevada, Utah, and parts of modern Ariz., N.M., Colo., and Wyo.) (the old Aztec homeland of Aztlan?), giving the U.S. a new Am. Southwest and making it a continental power, with a 1,952-mi. 4-state (Texas, N.M., Ariz., Calif.) border with Mexico, while making "reconquista" a perennial Mexican cause, and becoming the first time that the lily-white U.S. actually doesn't want to absorb a people or steal all of their land, preferring to create a border with them racial underclassers safely on the other side, all nicely color-coded for inferiority or separated by language, religion and culture, or both; the rev.-free U.S. has completed its transformation from a cute little agrarian repub. into a continental giant; in return for the land grab the U.S. agrees to pay Mexico $15M ($300M in 2009 dollars, about enough to buy a major league sports team) and assume the claims of U.S. citizens against Mexico up to a $3.75M limit; the treaty is signed days before news of the Calif. gold strike is received; white supremacist gringo (Anglo) disdain for "inferior" Mexicans is firmly implanted, while the continental U.S. is pretty much rounded out (modulo the Gadsden Purchase in 1853); the messy town of Mesilla on the Camino Real N of El Paso is designated as the border of Mexico, causing native Mexicans on the E side of the Rio Grande River to settle there, but they have to move again in 1854 after the Gadsden Purchase gives it to the U.S.; the El Camino Real becomes an extension of the Santa Fe Trail from Mo., and the gringos begin calling it the Chihuahua Trail; Pres. Polk is actually miffed at the terms, since he is eyeing the growing movement that wants to annex all of Mexico, but his fear of Congress' shenanigans causes him to submit the treaty to them, and they ratify it on Mar. 10, ending the Mexican-Am. War (begun 1846); the last Americans leave Veracruz by the end of July, bringing back with them a new taste for cigars (and Mexican senoritas?), although chewing tobacco is still preferred in the South; the Mexican War costs the U.S. 1,721 KIA, 4,102 wounded, and 11,155 dead of disease (total 13,283), at a total cost of $98M; the first successful offensive U.S. war is also the first reported by modern war correspondents, and the first in which West Point graduates play a major role (Robert E. Lee, U.S. Grant, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, George B. McClellan, George Pickett, George Meade, Braxton Bragg, et al.); "There will be added to the United States an immense empire, the value of which twenty years hence it would be difficult to calculate" (Polk); "Alas, poor Mexico, so far from God and so close to the United States!" (Mexican pres. Porfirio Diaz).

In 1848 the Shawnee (Sedalia) (Kansas) Trail across Indian Territory into Tex. is created by immigrants to Tex., later becoming known as the Texas Road, carrying Tex. Longhorn cattle N; it later becomes part of U.S. Route 69.

On Mar. 1, 1849 after Neil McLennan settles in the area in 1845, Waco, Tex. (modern-day pop. 134K/265K) on the Brazos River is founded on lands formerly inhabited by the Waco (Huaco) tribe.

On June 6, 1849 Ft. Worth, Tex. (modern-day pop. 854K/7.1M) ("Where the West begins") is founded 30 mi. W of Dallas as the northernmost of a chain of 10 forts for protecting the U.S. frontier, named after maj. gen. William Jenkins Worth (1794-1849) (who died in Feb. of cholera while trying to establish 10 new forts to mark the W Texas frontier from Eagle Pass to the confluence of the West and Clear Forks of the Trinity River), later being called "Cowtown" after the Chisholm Trail runs through it; it is incorporated in 1873.

In summer 1849 S.C.-born former Texas Ranger John Joel Glanton (Gallantin) (1819-50) forms the Glanton Gang of scalp hunters to work for the Mexican govt. killing Apaches along the U.S.-Mexican border, going too far and killing peaceful Indians and Mexican citizens, causing the state of Chihuahua to put a bounty on their heads in Dec., driving them through Sonora to Ariz; 7-ft. hairless Judge Holden is 2nd in command; meanwhile the Apache Wars (end 1886) begin with the White Massacre on Oct. 18, which sees a band of Utes and Jicarilla Apaches ambush the family of merchant James White, killing him and kidnapping his wife Ann White, who is killed during a U.S. Army rescue attempt a couple of weeks later, leading to the Jicarilla War (ends 1855); Glanton is finally killed on Apr. 23, 1850 by a band of Quechans led by Caballo en Pelo after his men destroy their ferry on the Colorado River; N.H.-born former gang member Samuel Emery Chamberlain (1829-1908) later writes My Confession: The Recollections of a Rogue after rising to brig. gen. in the U.S. Civil War as head of the Fifth Mass. African-Am. Cavalry; meanwhile in winter 1853/4 the U.S. Army enters the Jicarilla War.

In 1849 800 sq. mi. (510K acre) W.T. Waggoner Ranch near the Red River in N Tex. 13 mi. S of Vernon, Tex. and W of Wichita Falls, Tex. is founded, becoming the 2nd largest ranch in Tex. after the King Ranch, largest fenced ranch in the U.S., and largest estate on Earth, becoming the "Statue of Liberty of cowboy culture."

In 1849 Norwich, N.Y.-born inventor Gail Borden Jr. (1801-74) of Tex. (who helped plot the towns of Houston and Galveston in 1836) invents the concentrated "meat biscuit" (beef broth and flour) for travelers going West, revolutioning travel by allowing meat to be transported great distances without spoiling - if I only had some milk to drink with it? In 1853 after moing back East, Condensed (evaporated) milk is invented by Gail Borden Jr. (1801-74) of New York City, and patented on Aug. 19, 1856, marketed under the name Eagle Brand; he goes on to open plants in Conn. and Ill., and sell large quantities to the U.S. military in the U.S. Civil War.

In June 1853 3K Tex. Longhorns being herded through W Mo. are blocked by farmers because they carry the tick that causes Texas fever, which the longhorns are immune to, after which by 1855 farmers in W and C Mo. form vigilance committees to block or kill any Tex. Longhorns entering their counties, and in Dec. 1855 the Mo. legislature bans diseased cattle from the state, followed in 1859 by Kan., which doesn't stop them since they never get the disease.

In 1853 825K-acre King Ranch in the Wild Horse Desert in S Tex. between Corpus Christi and Brownsville near Kingsville is founded by New York City-born Irish-descent riverboat captain Richard King (1825-85), becoming the largest ranch in Tex.; it incl. four divs., the Santa Gertrudis (originator of the Santa Gertrudis breed, the first new U.S. breed), Laureles, Encino, and Norias; in 1961 it is designated a nat. historic landmark.

In 1853 the city of Uvalde, Tex. (originally Encina) is founded at the S limit of the Texas Hill Country in N South Tex., becoming known as the home of U.S. vice-pres. John Nance "Cactus Jack" Garner, singer Dale Evans, and actor Matthew McConaughey.

On May 30, 1854 after a push by Ill. Sen. Stephen Douglas to help the North catch up with Pres. Pierce's deal for a southern-route transcontinental railroad, the Missouri Compromise of 1820 is repealed, and the U.S. Kansas-Nebraska Act is passed, creating the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, while permitting a local option on slavery (popular sovereignty) (Tex. Sen. Sam Houston votes against it); both slave owners and free soilers rush in, riots ensue, and the War for Bleeding Kansas begins, trashing the existing political party system, destroying the Whigs and dividing the Dems.

In Dec. 1854 English ship Ben Nevis arrives in Galveston, Tex. with 500 Wendish-speaking Slavic Wends from Lusatia, Germany.

On Mar. 3, 1855 after a newspaper article by Gen. Edward Fitzgerald "Ned" Beale (1822-93), who got the idea while exploring Death Valley with Kit Carson, causing U.S. war secy. Jefferson Davis to send a ship under Capt. David Dixon Porter to Tunis to purchase a herd, the U.S. Congress founds the U.S. Camel Corps, which next summer ships some camels to Camp Verde, Tex.

In 1856 German-born cooper William Menger (-1871) and German-born brewmaster Charles Dengen (-1912) found Menger (Western) Brewing Co. in San Antonio, Tex., producing lager beer from water from the Alamo Madre Ditch; it success spawns the building of the limestone Menger Hotel in 1859.

In 1856 the city of Dallas, Tex. (founded 1841) is incorporated; meanwhile former U.S. vice-pres. George M. Dallas becomes U.S. minister to England (until 1861).

On Jan. 27, 1858 Tex. gov. #6 (1857-9) Hardin Richard Runnels commissions Capt. John Salmon "Rip" Ford (1815-97) as senior captain of the Texas Rangers, who leads the Antelope Hills Expedition into the Comancheria, winning the Battle of Antelope Hills (Little Robe Creek) on May 12 in modern-day Okla., then fights to a draw against Mexican rancher-bandito ("the Rio Grande Robin Hood") ("the Red Robber of the Rio Grande") Juan Nepomuceno Cortina Goseacochea (1824-94) in the Rio Grande Valley, after which on July 13, 1859 Cortina launches the Cortina Wars (1859-61) by shooting Brownsville, Tex. marshal Robert Shears in the arm for brutalizing a former employee, occuping the town on Sept. 28-30 with 40-80 men, going on to try unsuccessfully to reclaim for Mexico the territory between the Rio Grande and Nueces Rivers.

On Dec. 21, 1859 after he opposes secessions, saying that the day of secession "will be written... in the blood of humanity", causing the Tex. legislature to make plans to dump him as U.S. sen., and he resigns on Mar. 4 and runs for gov. again, Rockbridge County, Va.-born Tenn. gov. #6 (1827-9) and U.S. Unionist Tex. sen. (since Feb. 21, 1846) after he opposes secession and the Tex. legislature plans to dump him as U.S. sen., and he resigns on Mar. 4 and runs for gov. again, Rockbridge County, Va.-born Tenn. gov. #6 (1827-9) and U.S. Unionist Tex. sen. (since Feb. 21, 1846) Sam Houston (1793-1863) becomes Tex. gov. #7 (until Mar. 16, 1861), becoming the only foreign head of state to become a U.S. state gov., and first to be elected gov. of two U.S. states; a secessionist pleads publicly for a "Texan Brutus" to assassinate him; Houston's friend John Hemphill (1803-62), Tex. Supreme Court chief justice in 1841-58 is elected to replace him, ending up as one of the first 14 U.S. senators expelled by Congress in 1861 for seceding.

In 1859 Todd County, Ky.-born anti-Prohibitionist Roger Quarles Mills (1832-1911) (known for his tall big-chested physique and debating skills) becomes a Dem. member of the Tex. House of Reps, going on to become a Confed. officer in the U.S. Civil War, a U.S. rep. in 1873, and a U.S. sen. in 1892-9, rising to chmn. of the House Ways and Means Committee, backing free trade, sponsoring the Mill Tariff Bill of 1888, which passes the House, but is amended and killed by the Repub.-controlled Senate, becoming the main issue in the 1888 U.S. pres. campaign, allowing Repub. Benjamin Harrison to win the electoral vote based on the swing states of N.Y. and Ind. despite losing the popular vote; in 1893 Mills backs Pres. Cleveland in repealing the Sherman Silver-Purchase Act, turning Dems. against him, and he loses reelection in 1898.

In 1860 Frisco (F-Town), Tex. (modern-day pop. 170K) on the Shawnee (Preston) Trail starts out as Lebanon, Tex.; in 1902 the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway builds a watering stop 4 mi. W of Lebanon on low ground called Emerson, which in 1904 is renamed Frisco City in honor of the railway.

On Jan. 31, 1861 a secession convention meets in Austin, Tex., and selects members for the Provisional Confed. Congress.

On Mar. 4, 1861 slave state Tex. secedes (#7) after 104 of 122 counties vote for it,; on Mar. 16 Gov. Sam Houston refuses to swear allegiance to the CSA and is deposed as he allegedly sits in the basement of the state capitol silently whittling on a stick while the convention above loudly calls him to renounce the Union.

On Apr. 12, 1861-May 9, 1865 the horrific U.S. Civil War sees the invention of the first modern weapon when N.C.-born agricultural equipment maker Richard Jordan Gatling (1818-1903) patents the 10-barrel hand-cranked hundreds-of-rounds-per-min. Gatling Gun (the first practical machine gun) just in time for use on some Johnny Rebs; it is first used by the Union Army in 1864, but luckily never sees extensive use.

On June 1, 1861 the U.S. Post Office Dept. discontinues operations in the Confederacy, and the CSA Post-office Dept. takes over, headed by Sevier County, Tenn.-born John Henninger Reagan (1818-1905) (U.S. rep. from Texas from Mar. 4, 1857 to Mar. 3, 1861) (the only member of Davis' cabinet from W of the Mississippi River), who sends his agent to Washington, D.C. to ask the head of each bureau to come work for him, which nearly all do, after which he cuts costs and makes it the first (only) post office dept. in U.S. history to pay its own way; after making a run from Richmond with Davis on Apr. 2, 1865, being appointed secy. of the treasury by Davis on Apr. 27, and captured with him near Irwinville, Ga. on May 10, spending 22 weeks in solitary in Ft. Warren in Boston, Mass., he writes an open letter to fellow Texans on Aug. 11 urging them to cooperate with the Yankees to avoid unduly harsh military rule, pissing them off but later becoming known a s "the Old Roman" (Texan Cincinnatus), going on to becomes a U.S. Dem. sen. from Tex om Mar. 4, 1887 to June 10, 1891; too bad, on Aug. 21, 2017 his statue at the U. of Texas at Austin is taken down amidst the wave of Confed. monument removals.

In 1861 Texas rancher Oliver Loving (1812-67) is detained by Union authorities in Denver, Colo. until Kit Carson and Luxien Maxwell intervene, and he returns to the South, where the Confed. govt. commissions him to drive cattle to Miss. for Confed. troops, hooking up with Charles Goodnight (1836-1929) to pioneer the Goodnight-Loving Trail from W Tex. and N.M. to Colo., becoming one of the first Am. Wild West cattle drives; after the war the defunct rebel govt. stiffs him for $100K-$200K.

In Jan. 1862 Tex. Confeds. led by Maj. Henry Hopkins Sibley (1816-86) (inventor of the tepee-like Sibley Tent and Sibley Stove) march N up the Rio Grande from El Paso in an attempt to capture the gold fields of Colo. Territory followed by Calif. to get around the Union blockade, and capture Valverde, Albuquerque, and Santa Fe, N.M.; the Union makes a stand at Ft. Union, near Las Vegas, N.M., issuing a call for Colo. volunteers; Sibley is court-martialed for cowardice next year but gets off with a censure.

On Mar. 26-28, 1862 after the Confederates capture Albuquerque, N.M. (westernmost battle of the U.S. Civil War), the Battle of Glorieta Pass ("the Gettysburg of the West") on the Santa Fe Trial in New Mexico E of Santa Fe sees Union forces under Gen. Edward Richard Sprigg Canby (1817-73), aided by the 1st Colo. Infantry Regiment (1,342 men) stop Confederate forces under Maj. Henry Hopkins Sibley; "They were regular Demons, in the form of Pike's Peakers from the Denver City gold mines... shooting us down like sheep"; although the battle is a draw, Colo. Col. "Fighting Parson" women and children by the volunteer troops of the First Colo. Infantry, led by Methodist minister (since 1844) Col. John Milton Chivington (1821-94) messes up their supply train, bayoneting 600 horses and mules, causing them to give up their attempt to take Colo. gold fields and return to Tex.; Colo. volunteers cmdr. Col. (later gen.) John Potts Slough (1829-67) (pr. like cow) is so hated by his troops that they try to kill him by firing a howitzer at him?; in 1879 the 1st Colo. Infantry Battalion is born - getting some practice for Indian squaws and children?

Mexico gets its big Cinco de Mayo? On May 5, 1862 an army of 2K-4K Mexican nationalists loyal to Benito Juarez (many of them peasants with farm implements), led by Gen. Ignacio Zaragoza (1829-62) defeats an army of 3.5K Mexican and 4.5K French soldiers loyal to Napoleon III led by French Gen. Lorenz at the Battle of Puebla (Cinco de Mayo) 100 mi. E of Mexico City; Zaragoza dies of typhoid fever on Sept. 8; the V keeps the French from aiding the Confederates in Tex., and helps the Union win the U.S. Civil War, but white supremacist Americans never consider it a holiday worth celebrating like the Mexicans, and later, Mexican-Ams. do.

On Aug. 10, 1862 the Nueces Massacre (Massacre on the Nueces River) sees a group of 61 pro-Union German immigrants fleeing from the Hill Country of Tex. to Mexico en route to New Orleans, La. ambushed by 96 Confed. soldiers under Brig. Gen. Hamilton Prioleau Bee (1822-97) on the Nueces River, who kill 37, ending German resistance to the Confederacy but pissing-off the German pop.

On Oct. 4, 1862 the Union captures Galveston, Tex., but the Confeds. under Maj. Gen. John Bankhead Magruder (1807-71), "the handsomest soldier in the Confederacy" begin planning a counterattack. On Jan. 1, 1863 the Confs. under theatrical Gen. "Prince" John Bankhead Magruder (1807-71) recapture Galveston, Tex.

On Dec. 14, 1863 abolitionist U.S. rep. (R-Ohio) (1859-69) James Mitchell Ashley (1824-96) introduces a U.S. Constitutional amendment to abolish slavery, becoming the first since J.Q. Adams in 1839; a similar proposal is soon made by U.S. Rep. (R-Iowa) (1861-8) James Falconer "Jefferson Jim" Wilson (1928-95). On Jan. 11, 1864 U.S. Sen. (D-Mo.) (a War Dem.) John Brooks Henderson (1826-1913) introduces a joint resolution for an amendment to abolish slavery. On Feb. 8, 1864 U.S. Sen. (R-Mass.) (1851-74) Charles Sumner (1811-74) (known for his big beating in 1856) introduces another version, with a guarantee of equality, causing a combined amendment to be submitted by the Senate Judiciary Committee to the Senate on Feb. 10, 1864; on Apr. 8, 1864 the Senate passes it by a 38-6 vote, but on June 15, 1864 the House rejects it by 93-65 (for-against). The Confederacy is done for, stick it with a fork? On Jan., 1865 31 after abolitionist Ohio Repub. Rep. (1859-9) James Mitchell Ashley (1824-96) (House floor mgr.) (known for traveling with John Brown's widow to see his execution, writing a bill to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, and introducing the first bill for a constitutional amendment to abolish slavery on Dec. 14, 1863) moves for a reconsideration on Jan. 6, causing a month-long House debate with crowded galleries, giving Ashley time to swing some lame duck Dems., and Pres. Lincoln sends a last minute trick message to the House claiming that he has "no knowledge" of Southern peace reps. in Washington, D.C. even though he sent Repub. leader Francis Preston Blair Sr. (1791-1876) to Richmond, Va. to persuade Jefferson Davis to send commissioners incl. vice-pres. Alexander Stephens to discuss peace terms, and had them held up at Gen. Grant's HQ in Va. on Jan. 29 to help the amendment pass, and Radical Repub. leader Thaddeus Stevens (1792-1868) on Jan. 13 cops-out and claims it's only to create "equality before the law" rather than racial equality, weathering sarcastic questions from Copperhead Dem. N.Y. rep. (1863-5) (Tammany Hall sachem) Fernando Wood (1812-81) and Ohio rep. (1857-85) (pro-slavery leader) "Gentleman" George Hunt Pendleton (1825-89), the Thirteenth (13th) Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, abolishing slavery and involuntary servitude except as punishment for a crime, originally introduced by U.S. Sen. (R-Ill.). (1855-73) Lyman Trumbull (1813-96) (chmn. of the Senate Judiciary Committee) is approved by the 38th Congress by 119-56-8 to a great cheer incl. blacks in the gallery, and sent to the states for ratification on Feb. 1, and after Ga. becomes state #27 of 36 to ratify it on Dec. 6, on Dec. 18 it is officially adopted by U.S. secy. of state William Seward; Stevens later utters the soundbyte: "The greatest measure of the nineteenth century was passed by corruption, aided and abetted by the purest man in America"; Lincoln could have waited until Mar. to call a special session of the Congress, with enough votes to pass it assured, but claims that prompt bipartisan approval would show nat. unity; he really thinks it can't be passed if the war ends first?; in 1864 the Cooperheads pub. the pamphlet Abraham Africanus I: His Secret Life, Revealed under the Mesmeric Influence, claiming that Lincoln signed a contract with the Devil to become pres. for life and "subvert the liberties of the American people and debach their civic aspirations", which doesn't keep the amendment from passing; Fla. ratifies it on Dec. 28, N.J. in 1866, Tex. in 1870, Del. in 1901, and Ky. in 1976; Mo. and Tenn. abolish slavery by state action in Jan.; too bad, the Southern states soon exploit the loophole that slavery is permissible as punishment for crimes, soon getting freed slaves sentenced to "time at hard labor" sans prisons, creating the Convict Lease Labor Racket, which lasts until WWII although in 1928 Ala. becomes the last state to do it officially; it takes until Feb. 7, 2013 for Miss. to finally ratify it after it's ratified in 1995 but the notification isn't sent to Congress until the Oct. 8, 2012 Steven Spielberg film Lincoln alerts U. of Miss. profs. Ranjan Batra and Ken Sullivan to kick the Miss. secy. of state in the pants.

On Nov. 25, 1864 after 335 Calif. and N.M. volunteers and 70 scouts under Col. Kit Carson attack the 150 tepees of the Kiowas under chief Little Mountain and Iron Shirt, other Kiowas under paleface-hating chief Satanta (Set-tainte) ("White Bear") (1820-78), Stumbling Bear, and Lean Bear, allied with the Comanches, Apache, and Arapaho counterattack at the First Battle of Adobe Walls in the Tex. Panhandle near the Canadian River (near the ruins of William W. Bent's trading post), and the palefaces get surrounded, using two small mountain howitzers with 12-lb. shells on the swarms of Indians, then retreating toward the village of Little Mountain while being chased by shell-dodging braves; after a bitter tepee-to-tepee fight Kiowa Chief Iron Shirt is KIA, the Indians flee, and the tepees are torched by the palefaces; total losses: Indian: 60 KIA and wounded; palefaces: two KIA and 10 wounded; Indian allies of palefaces: one KIA and five wounded; too bad that the palefaces' horses are too tired to chase the fleeing Indians?

On May 12-13, 1865 after the soldiers fail to hear of the war's end on Apr. 9, the Battle of Palmito Ranch (Hill) in S Texas on the Rio Grande River is the last land engagement of the U.S. Civil War; the Confeds. win.

On June 19, 1865 the last 250K Southern slaves in Tex. learn that they had been freed 2.5 years earlier by the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation from Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger (1822-76) when his 2K Union troops land by ship in Galveston, Tex.; the day becomes the Juneteenth nat. holiday with U.S. blacks.

In 1865 as the U.S. Civil War ends, Texas has nothing but a zillion head of cattle to sell (5M running wild), so frontier scout Jesse Chisholm (1806-68) blazes the Chisholm Trail from San Antonio, Tex. to Abilene, Kan. (ends in the 1880s); meanwhile on Dec. 25 the $1.5M Union Stock Yards in Chicago, Ill., built by Dutchess County, N.Y.-born Samuel Waters Allerton (1828-1914) and John B. Sherman on railroad money open on a 345-acre tract of reclaimed swamp land SW of the city limits, which later expands to 475 acres, benefitting from the virtual shutdown of the Mississippi Valley by the war, along with meat-packing centers St. Louis, Louisville and Cincinnati, with pens that can hold 10K head of cattle and 100K hogs; meanwhile Chicago doubles its packing capacity in one year, with eight new major plants plus many smaller ones, serving nine railroads; the stock yards peak in 1924 and finally close on July 30, 1971.

On Aug. 15, 1866 Kiowa chief Satanta (Set-tainte) ("White Bear") (1820-78), "the Scourge of the Southern Plains" raids Cooke County, Tex. with 23 warriors and ambushes the family of paleface James Box, killing and scalping him twice, then taking his wife Mary and three daughters ages 17 to 7, and killing an infant; after raping the wife and two oldest daughters, and making the youngest walk barefoot on hot coals, they ransom them to Capt. Andrew Sheridan of Ft. Dodge, Kan. for $2.8K in weapons, food and cash; 17-y-o. Margaret later gives birth to a half-breed baby.

On Sept. 12, 1866 the first oil well is discovered in Oil Springs, Texas, the 106-ft. No. 1 Isaac C. Skillern Oil Well, which produces only 10 barrels of oil.

In 1866 the city of Denton, Tex. (modern-day pop. 113K) N of Dallas is incorporated, named for Methodist minister and Tex. militia capt. John Barnard (Bunard) (Bunyan) Denton (1806-41), who was KIA by Kichai people on May 22, 1841 in the Battle of Villge Creek in modern-day Tarrant County; in 1890 the U. of North Tex. is founded there, followed in 1901 by Tex. Woman's U.

In 1867 Philip Danforth Armour (1833-1901), who became head of Plankinton Packing Co. in Milwaukee, Wisc. (founded 1852) in 1863 and acquired a large interest in the grain business of his brother Herman Ossian Armour (1837-1901) forms Armour & Co. in Chicago, Ill., adding a pork packing plant to it next year; in 1870 they merge, becoming a pioneer in canned meat and refrigeration, causing demand for beef to zoom, with prices reaching $40 a head, making it profitable to herd cattle from long distances incl. Tex., which is first tried in 1866; too bad, they treat their workers like manure, fighting unionization and breaking strikes in 1904 and 1921 after being caught selling tainted beef to the U.S. Army during the 1898 Spanish-Am. War; the Meatpacking Union finally succeeds in unionizing the co. in the late 1930s, joining the CIO; in 1884 Armour dissolves his partnership with Plankinton, and the Milwaukee operation becomes Cudahy Packing Co.

In 1867 the cow town of Abilene, Tex. in Taylor County, 150 mi. WSW of Ft. Worth (modern-day pop. 120K/165K) is founded by Chicago cattle dealer Joseph McCoy, and named after Abilene, Kan., becoming the original endpoint for the Chisholm Trail; it is incorporated as a town in 1881, becoming county seat of Taylor County in 1883; in 1910 the pop. is 9,204.

On Mar. 30, 1870 Texas is readmitted to the Union.

In 1870 the city of San Antonio, Tex. is 50% German - the men all look like Hoss Cartwright or professional wrestler JBL?

In 1870 the first bridge over the Brazos River is built near Waco, Tex.

On Apr. 30, 1871 the Camp Grant Massacre in Ariz. Territory sees a group of whites and Mexican Ams. plus some Tohono O'odham Indians sneak into a planned Apache Rez in Aravaipa Canyon in Ariz. (60 mi. NE of Tucson) and massacre 150 Apaches, mostly women and children. In the spring undefeated Comanche chief Quanah Parker (1845-1911) (whose mother was a part-white woman) raids Texas, drawing allied Indian bands along, causing the U.S. 41st Black Infantry to go after them, only to see the Kiowa almost capture Gen. Tecumseh Sherman then disappear into the Llano Estacado (Staked Plain) or into Indian Territory, knowing that U.S. policy prohibits the U.S. military from entering without permission of the Indian Agent; the soldiers finally capture Kiowa chiefs Satank (Satanta) (Set-tainte) (1810-79) (an old guy) and his cousin Big Tree (1847-1929) after they brazenly come to Ft. Sill and brag to Gen. William T. Sherman that they had attacked a wagon train on May 18 and scalped seven freighters; after Satank attempts an escape and is killed, the rest are turned over to Texas authorities at Ft. Richardson, convicted of murder on July 5-6, and sentenced to hang, but on Aug. 2 Tex. Gov. Edmund J. Davis commutes their sentences to life imprisonment at the Texas State Prison at Huntsville, and after they grow ill Set-tainte and Big Tree are paroled on Aug. 19, 1873, after which Big Tree becomes a Baptist deacon, while Set-tainte lies low until the 1874 Red River War.

In 1871 the Austin American-Statesman (originally "Democratic Statesman") tri-weekly newspaper is founded by the Tex. Dem. Party; in 1914 it merges with the Austin Tribune, becoming the Austin Statesman and Tribune; in 1916 it becomes the Austin Evening Statesman; in 1919 Charles E. Marsh and E.S. Fentress acquire it and merge it with the rival Austin American (founded 1914), pub. the morning and evening newspapers separately during the week and combining them on Sun. until 1973, when they are combined, with four daily eds.

On Sept. 28, 1872 the Battle of North Fork on the Red River sees the U.S. Black 4th Cavalry led by Col. Ranald S. Mackenzie attack a Comanche camp on McClellan Creek, Gray County, Tex., killing 23 men and capturing 120 women and children, using them to lure the other warriors back to the Rez.

In 1872 the town of Dallas, Tex. begins a boom after the arrival of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad this year, the Texas and Pacific Railroad next year, and several other railroads within a short period - only 91 years to go until JFK's fatal visit?

In 1872 "Cowboy Capital of the World", "Wickedest Little City in the West", "Queen of Cowtowns" Dodge City, Kan. on the Arkansas River in SW Kan. (on the meridian separating Central and Mountain time) 5 mi. W of Ft. Dodge (modern-day pop. 27K) (founded last year as an outpost on the Santa Fe Trail and originally called Buffalo City) becomes connected to the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway, becoming a main shipping point for Texas cattle (unti 1885), famous for lawmen Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson, Front St., the Long Branch Saloon, and Boot Hill (where they bury them with their boots on).

On May 22, 1873 Mesquite, Tx. near Dallas is founded by a Texas and Pacific Railway engineer, going on to become known as the Rodeo Capital of Tex.

In 1873 the city of El Paso (del Norte) in W Texas on the Rio Grande River (modern-day pop. 600K/1.2M) is incorporated.

In 1873 the city of Fort Worth, Tex. on the Trinity River (modern-day pop. 400K/800K), founded in 1849 as a military camp and named after U.S. gen. William Jenkins Worth (1794-1849) is incorporated, becoming known as a cattle drive terminus.

In 1873 Texas Christian U. (originally the AddRan Male & Female College) in Ft. Worth, Tex. is founded by Addison Clark and Randolph Clark; sports teams are nicknamed the Horned Frogs.

On May 26, 1874 (his 21st birthday) outlaw John Wesley Hardin (1853-95) shoots and kills deputy Charles Webb in Brown County, Tex., causing a lynch mob to hang his brother Joe and two of his cousins; after he is captured, he is sentenced to 25 hears in Huntsville, Ala. prison, claiming to have killed 42 men, after which he eventually tames down and passes the bar.

On June 27-July 2, 1874 the 5-day Second Battle of Adobe Walls in the Tex. Panhandle sees several hundred Comanches led by Quanah Parker siege 28 white bison hunters holed-up in a ramshackle outpost, losing 30-70 warriors vs. only four whites, one of whom shot himself by accident, before giving up and riding away after more hunters arrive, beefing the garrison up to 100 men and Parker is wounded; one of the hunters is young Bat Masterson; buffalo hunting ceases in that region; later in the summer the Red River War begins as the Southern Plains tribes (Comanche, Kiowa, Southern Cheyenne, Arapaho) make a last attempt to get their stolen prairies back from the paleface U.S. Army, which wants to remove them from the Southern Plains and forcibly relocate them to reservations in Indian Territory; on Oct. 4 Set-tainte and 144 Kiowas decide to surrender to the white men in order to get food and blankets for the winter, and Set-tainte is put back in Texas State Prison for parole violation, and on Oct. 11, 1878 he commits suicide by leaping headfirst from a 2nd story window of the prison hospital into a brick wall; in 1963 his remains are reburied in the cemetery at Ft. Sill; "The red man was pressed from this part of the West,/ He's likely no more to return/ To the banks of the Red River where seldom if ever/ Their flickering campires burn" - Home on the Range.

In 1874 the city of Garland, Tex. NE of Dallas starts out as the communities of Embree and Duck Creek, centered around a Santa Fe Railroad depot; in 1887 after a rivalry, Dallas County Judge Thomas A. Nash asks visiting congressman Joe Abbott to move the post office to a point midway between them, which is completed in 1887, and named after U.S. atty. gen. Augustus Hill Garland; in 1891 the city of Garland is incorporated, reaching 819 pop. in 1904, reaching 226,876 in 2010 and 238,002 in 2017, becoming a top city for first-time home buyers and working parents, voted by Smartasset in 2017 as "Third Best City for Living the American Dream".

In 1874 the Great Western Cattle Trail parallel to the Chisholm Trail is first traveled by Capt. John T. Lytle, who drives 3.5K longhorn cattle from S Tex. into Neb., becoming one of the most-traveled cattle trails in the U.S., closing in 1893.

On Feb. 15, 1876 the 1876 Tex. Constitution is adopted, replacing those of 1845, 1861, 1866, and 1869.

On Sept. 27, 1876 after getting a job as a railroad engineer-inspector, Warrenton, N.C.-born U.S. Civil War Confed gen. Braxton Bragg (b. 1817) is walking down a street in Galveston, Tex. when he suddenly faints in the middle of a street, dying in 10-15 min after being dragged into a drugstore, after which "Bragg's Light" mysteriously appears near the spot.

In 1876 the town of Lubbock, Tex. (modern pop. 252K/315K) in NW Tex. is founded, named after Charleston, S.C.-born Texas Ranger Thomas (Thompson) Saltus Lubbock (1817-62), brother of Tex. gov. #9 (1861-3) Francis R. Lubbock, becoming known as "Hub City".

On July 19, 1878 after robbing $60K in gold from the Union Pacific Railroad in Big Springs, Neb. last year (largest single robbery of the Union Pacific until ?), and being betrayed to the Texas Rangers led by Capt. Junius Peak, the Sam Bass Gang is cornered in Round Rock, Tex., and Mitchell, Ind.-born leader Samuel "Sam" Bass (b. 1851) is fatally wounded, dying on July 21, but wounded member Frank "Blockey" Jackson (1856-1930) vanishes and is never apprehended, creating a legend.

In the 1880s the "Tumblin'" Tumbleweed, Amaranthus graecizans (Russian thistle) ("romantic symbol of the Am. West") arrives on the Am. Great Plains from seeds imported by accident from Russia by German Mennonite farmers, who had gone there on a promise of religious toleration only to find the Russian govt. renege and have to return to the U.S., settling in Kan. and Neb.; liking the hardy Russian wheat, which can't be legally exported, they sneak it through in bags sewed into their clothes and in flax bales, and the tumbleweed seeds ride along; by 1900 they cover the prairies from S Canada to N Tex., and W to the Rockies, each root system producing a new plant each year, which dies, blows away, and begins tumbling, spreading 10M seeds with each hop; the dry weeds stack up against bldgs., becoming a fire hazard, and totally foul carpets and mattresses with their tiny stickers, but make great kites and wild horses for kids?

In the 1880s street vendors in San Antonio, Tex. begin selling Hot Tamales, and their popularity with Anglos causes causes chili con carne to be sold in Alamo Plaza by Chili Queens (young Mexican senoritas) until the U.S. Army shuts them down as a health hazard in 1943.

In 1881 after barbed wire is patented in 1874, the Fence Cutting Wars (end 1891) break out in Tex. as homesteaders begin cutting the barbed wire fences of cattlemen, initially being justified because the fences were put up by men who didn't own the land, but later doing it to anybody's fences, claiming that all land should be in the public domain, speading to Wyo. and Mont.

On Jan. 16, 1883 after serving in the Confed. army then joining the Tex. House of Reps in 1872 and helping it create the U. of Tex. at Austin (UTA) before serving on the Tex. Supreme Court in 1875, Hart County, Ky.-born atty. "Oxcart" John Ireland (1827-96) of Seguin, Tex. becomes Dem. Tex. gov. #18 (until Jan. 18, 1887), going on to get an amendment to the Tex. constitution passed establishing an ad valorem tax, pick Tex. pink granite for the new Texas State Capitol, and permit public lands to be sold to cattle ranchers, who fence their holdings with barbed wire to keep cattle from straying, cutting off access to water by farmers and ranchers, which is compounded by a drought early in the year, causing them to cut the fences in over half of the counties of Tex., splitting public opinion, causing Gov. Ireland to call a special session of the legislature next year that passes a law making fence-cutting a felony with a 5-year sentence, with Texas Rangers sent out as police, quelling the Fence War by the end of the decade, esp. after big cattle ranches such as the 825K-acre King Ranch (founded 1853) (originator of the Santa Gertrudis breed, the first new U.S. breed) and the 3M-acre XIT Ranch in the Tex. Panhandle begin fencing cattle to keep them in, allowing them to conserve grass and engage in selective breeding.

On Sept. 15, 1883 after stalling since the Tex. legislature approved it on Feb. 11, 1858, the U. of Tex. at Austin (UTA) in Austin, Tex. opens, becoming the flagship univ. of the state; sports teams are called the Texas Longhorns.

In 1884 the Lone Star Brewing Co. is founded in San Antonio, Tex. by Adolphus Busch of St. Louis, Mo. and Otto Koehler, becoming the first large mechanized brewery in Tex., producing "the National Beer of Texas"; it is prominently featured in the 1980 film "Urban Cowboy"; in 1976 it is acquired by Olympia Brewing Co., which in 1983 is acquired by G. Heileman, which in 1996 is acquired by Stroh Brewery; in 1979 Gilley's Beer is introduced to capitalize on the movie, but it flops in the 1980s.

On Oct. 1, 1885 Manchester, England-born George Bannerman Dealey (1859-1946) begins pub. the Dallas Morning News in Dallas, Tex., which reaches a modern-day circ. of 400K - the countdown to Nov. 22, 1963 begins?

On Dec. 1, 1885 23-ingredient Dr. Pepper brand soft drink, invented by Brooklyn, N.Y.-born pharmacist Charles Courtice Alderton (1857-1941) is first served at Morrison's Old Corner Drug Store in Waco, Tex., named after his friend Dr. Charles Pepper; customers ask the soda jerk to "shoot a Waco"; in 1891 he and Robert S. Lazenby of the Circle A Ginger Ale Co. in Waco form the Artesian Mfg. and Bottling Co. to mass-produce it, becoming a hit at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair - which makes the drink wacky or way cool?

In 1885 the all-American Hamburger is invented by 15-y.-o. Charles "Hamburger Charlie" Nagreen (1870-1951), who sells them from a food stand at the county fair in Seymour, Wisc. after seeing his meatballs sell slow then flattening them and serving them on sliced bread, naming them after Hamburg, Germany; either that, or it is invented by brothers Frank and Charles Menches of Akron, Ohio, who run out of pork sausage for their sandwich concession at the Buffalo Fair in Hamburg, N.Y. and substitute ground beef; either that, or on July 4, 1891 Oscar Weber Bilby of Tulsa, Okla. becomes the first to serve a hamburger on a bun; either that, or in this decade Fletcher Davis (1864-1941) of Athens, Tex. invents the hamburger, setting up Uncle Dave's Hamburger Stand at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair; either that, or in 1895 Danish immigrant Louis Lassen sells the first hamburger and steak sandwich from his small Louis' Lunch lunch wagon in New Haven, Conn.; it is never served with ketchup - just what 75M Americans with full dinner pails need to clog their veins?

On Jan. 30, 1886 the first Texas State Fair is held in Dallas, switching to the last Fri. in Sept. until the 3rd Mon. in Oct. - only 77 years till they murder their first president?

On June 20, 1886 after obtaining it from his brother in Mexico, physician John Raleigh Briggs (1851-1907) of Dallas, Tex. eats one-third of a peyote button, and next year describes it for the first time in the medical lit., with the soundbyte "I know of nothing like it except opium and cocaine"; next year he sends a sample to German pharmacologist Dr. Louis Lewin (1850-1929), who distributes it around Germany for analysis and pub. the first scientific analaysis, causing it to be named Anhalonium lewinii.

On Aug. 19, 1886 a 150 mph hurricane wipes out the town of Indianola, Tex., killing 74 and causing $200K damage, preceded by four and followed by three more this year; on Aug. 31 a 7.3 North Am. Plate earthquake rocks "the most polite city in America" Charleston, S.C., killing 110 and causing $5M in damage in a 200-mi. radius of the town, which is built on an unstable sandy coastal plain; Am. geologist Clarence Edward Dutton (1841-1912) studies the earthquake, discovering a method for determining its depth of focus; in 1889 he coins the term "isostasy".

In Apr. 1887 Amarillo, Tex. (200K/276K) (Sp. "Yellow") (originally Oneida) ("the Yellow Rose of Tex.") in the Tex. Panhandle is founded by J.I. Berry along the Fort Worth and Denver City Railroad; on Aug. 30 it becomes the seat of Potter County; by the late 1890s the town becomes one of the busiest cattle-shipping points on Earth; in 1918 natural gas is discovered, followed by oil in 1921; in 1927 the U.S. govt. acquires the Cliffside Gas Field, and in 1929 the Federal Bureau of Mines begins operating the Amarillo Helum Plant, becoming the sole producer of helium on Earth, earning it the nickname "Helium Capital of the World"; it goes on to become a major meat-packing site, and the home of Pantex nuclear weapons assembly facility, giving it the nickname "Bomb City".

In 1888 the Jaybird-Woodpecker War (ends 1889) rocks Ft. Bend, County, Tex. when Dem. blacks led by Bob Chapel are taken on by white Dems. opposed to Reconstruction; Chapel likes to sing about both jaybirds and woodpeckers, but the whites pick jaybirds, while the blacks settle for woodpeckers and get backing from the Repub. Reconstruction govt., resulting next Aug. 16 in the Battle of Richmond

In 1888 after moving in after the completion of the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1882, Mason County, Ky.-born "Hanging Judge" Phantly Roy Bean (1825-1903) ("the Law West of the Pecos") sees his idol Lillie "Jersey Lily" Langtry (1853-1929) for the first and only time in San Antonio, Tex., then returns to his Jersey Lilly Saloon in Langtry, Tex. on the S border with Mexico, named after engineer George Langtry not Lily - makes me want to fall in love all over again, okay?

On Aug. 16, 1889 the Battle of Richmond in Richmond, Tex. between the two sides in the Jaybird-Woodpecker War (begun 1888) causes Tex. gov. (1887-91) Lawrence Sullivan "Sul" Ross (1838-98) (former Texas Ranger and Confed. col.) to declare martial law and negotiate a settlement giving the white Jaybird faction control of the govt. for decades to come - you build a better mousetrap you get a smarter mouse?

In 1892 the cotton boll weevil (beetle) (Anthonomus grandis) is discovered near Brownsville, Tex. after it crossed the Rio Grande River from Mexico, reaching SE Ala. by 1909 going 40-160 mi./year, penetrating all cotton-growing regions of the U.S. by the mid-1920s, adding to the devastation of the Depression; in 1949 it reaches Venezuela, followed in 1950 by Colombia, Brazil in 1983, and Paraguay and Argentina in the 1990s; in 1978 the U.S. Boll Weevil Eradication Program is launched.

On Mar. 12, 1894 Coca-Cola narc, er, soft drink is first bottled by Biedenharn Candy Co. in Vicksburg, Miss., run by Joe Biedenharn, who sells it by the case; meanwhile the first syrup manufacturing plant outside Atlanta, Ga. opens in Dallas, Tex., and by next year it has addicts in every U.S. state and territory, causing two men from Tenn. to acquire exclusive U.S. rights to bottle and sell it in 1899 - enjoy thirst?

In 1894 the Grand Opera House in Galveston, Tex. is built, surviving the 1900 hurricane.

On Sept. 15, 1896 the Crash at Crush between Dallas an Houston, Tex. sees a staged head-on train crash by the Mo.-Kan.-Tex. (Katy) Railroad attended by 40K end in disaster when the boilers of both engines explode, sending flying debris that kills two and injures several; ragtime composer Scott Joplin copyrights the "Great Crush Collision March" on Oct. 15.

On Mar. 2, 1897 the Tex. State Historical Assoc. is founded by 250 people incl. U.S. Dem. Tex. Sen. (1887-91) John Henninger Reagan at the U. of Tex. in Austin.

On Jan. 17, 1899 Grenada, Miss.-born Bastrop, Tex.-raised Joseph Draper Sayers (1841-1929) becomes Dem. Tex. gov. #22 (until Jan. 20, 1903), going on to push legislation creating school districts, increasing spending on education, prisons, and social service orgs., and outlawing railroad rebates; during his term Tex. is plagued by disasters starting with a flood of the Brazos River this year, while labor unions are exempted from antitrust laws and blacklists are outlawed.

In 1899 Flamboyant Okla. atty. Temple Lea Houston (1860-1905) (son of Sam Houston) delivers his famous Soiled Dove Plea in defense of "the Fallen Woman" ho Minnie Stacey, getting her acquitted by bringing up Jesus Christ's speech about casting the first stone, after which she moves to Tex. and gives up hooking to become a devout Methodist washerwoman, later sending flowers to his funeral.

Galveston, oh Galvesto-o-n? On Sept. 8, 1900 Galveston, Tex., the #2 wealthiest city in the U.S. after New York City is struck by the Category 4 (145 mph) 1900 (Great) Galveston Hurricane (Aug. 27-Sept. 17), killing 6K-12K and almost wiping the city off the map, throwing smug Americans who thought they ruled the world into denial, becoming the deadliest hurricane in U.S. history (until ?); the authorities failed to order evacuation, thinking they were immune from Mother Nature?

In 1900 the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Tex. is founded.

On Jan. 10, 1901 the Spindletop oilfield S of Beaumont, Tex. is brought in by Croatian-born mining engineer Anthony Francis Lucas (Antun Lucic) (1855-1921), spewing a plume 200 ft. (60m) high for nine days before a crowd of 50K before being clamped down, going on to produce 100K barrels/day, causing the pop. of Beaumont to zoom from 8K to 60K in one year, marking the birth of the petroleum industry; by 1902 285 oil wells are being operated on Spindletop Hill by 600 cos., causing Houston, Tex. to become the nat. center of the U.S. oil industry, which passes Russia as #1 in the world.

On Oct. 14, 1901 Marcellus E. Foster founds the Houston Chronicle, which sells for 2 cents, undercutting the rivals' 5 cent price, growing to 4,378 circ. in 1 mo., and 75K in 1926; in 1995 it buys-out the rival Houston Post, becoming the 3rd largest Sun. circ. in the U.S. after the New York Times and Los Angeles Times.

In 1901 Morris Kellogg founds the M.W. Kellogg Co. in New York City, moving to Jersey City, N.J. in 1905 and building power plants, then branching into thermal cracking of petroleum in the 1920s with Texaco and Standard Oil of Ind.; in 1930 it forms the British subsidiary M.W. Kellogg Ltd.; in 1970 it moves to Houston, Tex. and becomes the first U.S. contractor to receive contracts from Red China; in 1998 it merges with Brown and Root (founded 1910) to form KBR Inc.

On June 15, 1902 Ont., Canada-born Adrian, Mich.-raised catcher Jay Justin "Nig" Clarke (1882-1949) of the Corsicana Oil Citys of the Texas League scores a record eight home runs in one game in Ennis, Tex., defeating the Texarkana Casketmakers 51-3; too bad, "The right field fence at Ennis wasn't more than 40 feet [12 m] back of first base. Nig just pulled eight short flies around and over that wall. I'm not taking anything away from old Nig's batting prowess - he was the one of the best hitters I ever saw. But that's the way he hit eight homers that day. Didn't have to send the ball more than 140 feet [43 m] at the most."

On Jan. 20, 1903 Spartanburg County, S.C.-born Samuel Willis Tucker Lanham (1846-1908) becomes Dem. Tex. gov. #23 (until Jan. 15, 1907) (last Confed. veteran), going on to push election reform and tax reform, passing two election reform laws and laws taxing gross receipts of express cos. and pipelines and raising taxes on intangible assets of railroads and other industries.

In 1904 Tex. voters approve an amendment to the Tex. Constitution permitting a state banking system, and in 1905 the Tex. legislature creates the Tex. State Insurance and Banking Commission, with Thomas B. Love as dir. #1, going on to create 500 banks by 1910.

In 1904 Greensboro, N.C.-born O. Henry (William Sydney Porter) (1862-1910) (who was imprisoned in 1898-1902 for embezzlement as a bank teller in Austin, Tex. before settling in New York City) (O. Henry comes from "Ohio" and "Penitentiary"?) pub. the short story collection Cabbages and Kings. In 1906 he pub. the collection The Four Million, which incl. The Gift of the Magi, containing the lines: "One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And 60 cents of it was in pennies" (2-cent and 3-cent coins are still in circulation). In 1907 he pub. the collection The Trimmed Lamp. In 1908 he pub. the collection The Gentle Grafter. In 1910 he pub. the collection Whirligigs. In 1911 the collection Sixes and Sevens is pub. posth.

On Aug. 13, 1906 (night) the Brownsville Affair sees up to 20 unidentified men shoot up Brownsville, Tex., killing a bartender and severely injuring a policeman, causing Pres. Theodore Roosevelt to come down on nearby Ft. Brown where black Buffalo soldiers of the 25th Infantry are posted, discharging 167 "without honor" sans trial on Nov. 6 (after the nat. elections), pissing-off the NAACP and other African-Am. orgs., who turn on the Repub. Party; in 1972 Repub. Pres. Richard Nixon pardons the men and awards them honorable discharges sans back pay; in 1973 Congress grants a tax-free $25K pension to the last survivor Dorsie Willis.

On Jan. 15, 1907 Rusk, Tex.-born Palestine, Tex.-based Great Northern Railroad mgr. Thomas Mitchell Campbell (1856-1923) becomes Dem. Tex. gov. #24 (until Jan. 17, 1911), going on to fight big business and champion trade unions, establish the Tex. Dept. of Insurance and Banking, the Tex. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Tex. Board of Health, and the Tex. State Library, hiring legendary Texas Rangers Capt. William Jesse "Bill" McDonald (1852-1918) (bodyguard of Pres. Theodore Roosevelt in 1905) as the Tex. revenue agent, who increases the state's valuation by $1B in two years, going on to become the bodyguard of Pres. Woodrow Wilson, who appoints him U.S. marshal for the Northern Distict of Tex.

On Dec. 26, 1908 30-y.-o. 196-lb. Galveston, Tex.-born black boxer ("the Galveston Giant") John Arthur "Jack" Johnson (1878-1946) KOS 27-y.-o. 176-lb. white boxer Tommy Burns in round 14 in Sydney, Australia to become world heavyweight boxing champ #6 and first black champ (until 1915); the referee is Hugh McIntosh; the white-is-wrong news causes a frantic search for a Great White Hope as Johnson, sporting a trademark screw-you white smile easily beats several white contenders, and flaunts it by hiring a white chauffeur and white butler, marrying two white women and cheating on them with dozens of white hos.

In 1908 the Trinity River floods in Dallas, Tex., causing the construction of the Houston St. Viaduct in 1911, longest reinforced concrete structure in the world, later crossed by Lee Harvey Oswald in a taxi as he flees Dealey Plaza on Nov. 22, 1963.

In 1909 the 15-story 190 ft. (58m) Praetorian Bldg. at Main St. and Stone St. in Dallas, Tex. opens, becoming the first skyscraper in the SW U.S.; it is demolished in summer 2013.

In 1909 the Spoetzl Brewery (originally the Shiner Brewing Assoc.) is founded in Shiner, Tex. ("Cleanest little city in Texas"); in 1915 it is acquired by German Bavarian immigrant brewmaster Kosmos Spoetzl, introducing Shiner Bock in 1913, which becomes a hit with German and Czech immigrants in the Texas Hill Country, going on to produce 60K barrels/year in 1983, 100K barrels/year in 1994, and 300K barrels/year in 2004, becoming the 4th largest craft brewery and 10th largest brewery in the U.S., and oldest independent brewery in Tex.

Should be called the No White Women for Black Man Act? On June 25, 1910 the U.S. Congress passes the U.S. Mann (White-Slave Traffic) Act, named after U.S. Rep. James Robert Mann (1846-1922), prohibiting the interstate transportation of women for immoral purposes (white slavery); meant to prosecute pimps, it is so vaguely written that just about anybody crossing a state line accompanying a female can be slammed into a federal prison to protect the country from them, and it is soon being used to prosecute women rather than men, unless they're a black man hooking up with white women; prostitution has never been banned in the U.S., and is done for the first time in Mass. in 1917, after which when women get the vote they get federal laws passed; the law causes red-light districts in Tex. to be closed, starting with Dallas, Austin, and Amarillo in 1914, followed by El Paso and Houston in 1917, causing gambling venues to go underground; San Antonio, Tex. and Galveston, Tex. keep their vice districts open through WWI.

The first Bout of the Century? On July 4, 1910 in Reno, Nev. mostly white spectators listen to a brass band playing "All Coons Look Alike to Me," then watch black boxing champ John Arthur "Jack" Johnson (1878-1946) easily defeat 6'2-1/2" prime specimen and Great White Hope (former champ in 1899-1905) James Jackson "Jim" Jeffries (1875-1953), "the Boilermaker" (who had been talked into coming out of retirement) in round 15; race riots and atrocities against blacks ensue in the South, and the U.S. govt. sets out to "get the nigger" for having sex with our white wimmin, making use of the new U.S. Mann Act; one bright side is a number of blacks winning bets on Johnson made with whites - get him or his johnson, I don't care? In 1910 The Jeffries-Johnson World's Championship Boxing Contest, a record of the July 4 Jack Johnson-James J. Jeffries heavyweight title fight offends American feelings about race, and the U.S. Congress bans its exhibition, pretending that it's the violence not the sight of a black man kicking a white man's butt, and goes on to ban interstate distribution of all prize fight films, which isn't repealed until the 1940s.

On Jan. 17, 1911 Camilla, Ga.-born anti-Prohibitionist "Little" Oscar Branch Colquitt (1861-1940) becomes Dem. Tex. gov. #27 (until Jan. 19, 1915), going on to engage in a standoff with the Prohibition Party-dominated legislature resulting in a statewide vote for prohibition that loses by 6K votes, and sign laws reforming the penal system, restricting working hours for women and protecting factory and child labor, calling a meeting of Southern governors in 1912 to stabilize the cotton market, causing prices to increase; after leaving office he becomes pro-German.

The Covenanter meets the Politician, or, Is There a Doctor, Er, Colonel in the House? In 1911 Houston, Tex.-born "Colonel" (honorific title from Tex. Gov. Jim Hogg) Edward Mandell House (Huis) (1858-1938) meets Woodrow Wilson at his suite at the Gotham Hotel on Fifth Ave. and 56th St. in New York City and convinces him that he can help him win the White House for the Dems. for the first time since 1892 (Cleveland), causing Wilson to call him the "Sphinx in a soft felt hat"; House goes on to coach him and make him look less arrogant, secure campaign funds, and persuade William Jennings Bryan to endorse him, even though Wilson had been a Bourbon Dem. and Bryan was their leading opponent, which later backfires when Bryan demands a payback of becoming secy. of state, then pursues a neutral non-interventionist policy, causing Wilson to make House his unofficial secy. of state, sending him abroad to assure Entente members. In 1911 House pub. the novel Philip Dru, Administrator; a demagogue leads the Wild West against the plutocratic East, becomes dictator of the U.S., imposes the Bull Moose Platform of 1912, then vanishes.

In 1912 the Marx Brothers bring their singing act to the Opera House in Nacogdoches, Tex., and are interrupted by a runaway mule, which causes the audience to leave to watch as better entertainment, causing them to switch to insulting the audience,which draws laughs, changing their act permanently to comedy, after which Groucho Marx likes to bring up the town any time anybody mentions Tex.

On Feb. 3, 1913 Morris County, Tex.-born Tex. Dem. rep. (since Mar. 4, 1903) John Morris Sheppard (1875-1941) becomes a U.S. sen. from Tex. (until Apr. 9, 1941), going on to write the Eighteenth (Prohibition) Amendment, becoming known as "the Father of National Prohibition".

On Mar. 4, 1913 Roane County, Tenn.-born, Windom, Tex.-raised Dem. schoolteacher Samuel Taliaferro "Sam" Rayburn (1882-1961) becomes U.S. Rep. from the 4th district of Tex. (until Nov. 16, 1961), going on to become House majority leader on Jan. 3, 1937-Sept. 16, 1940, House dean #37 on Jan. 3, 1953, and House Speaker #43 on Jan. 3, 1955 (until Nov. 16, 1961), becoming the longest-serving House Speaker (until ?).

On May 13, 1913 black world heavyweight boxing champ John Arthur "Jack" Johnson (1878-1946) is railroaded through an all-white federal jury in Chicago, Ill. on trumped-up U.S. Mann (White Slave Traffic) Act charges for supposedly paying white ho and longtime lover Belle Schreiber to come meet him while he traveled from Atlantic City to Philadelphia, thus transporting a woman across state lines for an immoral purpose; after an all-white he is sentenced to one year and one day in priz in the courtroom of white supremacist judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis despite the alleged offense taking place before passage of the Mann Act, causing him to flee to Canada then Europe, returning in 1920 to serve his sentence in Leavenworth, Kan.

In 1913 King Vidor's Hurricane in Galveston debuts, becoming the dir. debut of Galveston, Tex.-born King Wallis Vidor (1894-1982), who receives five best dir. Oscar nominations during the next 70 years.

On Aug. 4, 1914 - Nov. 11, 1918 the horrific World War I causes 15M deaths and 39M military casualties. and destroys the Old Order of white formerly Christian Europe. On Feb. 26-28, 1915 the Germans first use a Flamethrower (Flame Projector) in the village of Douaumont, France near Verdun, becoming the first of 653 flamethrower attacks in the war. On Apr. 1, 1915 French aviator Roland Garros (1888-1918) becomes the first pilot to shoot down an aircraft using a deflector gear, which allows shooting through the propeller; after more Vs against German aircraft on Apr. 15 and Apr. 18, he is shot down and the Germans capture his plane, after which Dutch designer Anthony (Anton Herman Gerard) Fokker (1890-1939) clones then improves the deflector gear into the synchronization (interrupter) gear, mounting them on the new Fokker E.I. in Aug., beginning the Fokker Scourge (Scare) as they shoot down nearly every enemy aircraft they encounter and generate the first German aces, incl. Max Immelmann (1890-1916); next year the French counter with the Nieuport 11 Bebe (Bébé), in which the gun is mounted on the top wing clear of the prop, and the British with the Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2b and Airco DH.2 (Feb. 1916), which mount the engine backwards with the prop in back, causing them to be called "pushers", ending the Fokker Scourge by spring 1917. In 1915 arsenic-based vomiting-sneeze gas Adamsite (DM) (diphenylaminechlorarsine) is synthesized by German chemist Heinrich Otto Wieland (1877-1957); in 1918 Am chemist Roger Adams (1889-1971) duplicates it, and both sides stockpile it, but it is allegedly never used on the battlefield. On Mar. 22, 1916 the British have their first success with their new Depth Charge off the SW coast of Ireland, destroying a German U-boat. Are you used to Hell yet, try this? On Sept. 15, 1916 Winston Churchill's pet project the Tank (Russian Water Closet) (Char-Schneider) is first used by the Brits in the Somme.

On Jan. 19, 1915 Salado, Tex.-born James Edward "Pa" Ferguson Jr. (1871-1944) becomes Dem. Tex. gov. #26 (until Aug. 25, 1917); on Aug. 25, 1917 after getting into a war with the U. of Tex. over certain faculty members, he is impeached, and his wife Ma Ferguson begins running for his seat; on Aug. 25 Moscow, Tex.-born Houston Post publisher William Pettus Hobby (1878-1964) becomes Dem. Tex. gov. #27 (until Jan. 18, 1921) (youngest so far).

On Dec. 25, 1917 Mexican raiders attack the Brite Ranch in Presidio County, Tex., killing three and robbing the gen. store then riding back to Chihuahua under pursuit by the U.S. Army 8th Cavalry; in retaliation Texas Rangers kill 15 men of the small Mexican settlement at Porvenir, Tex. in Jan. while U.S. Cavalry troops look the other way, then burn the abandoned village.

In 1919 Tex. becomes the 2nd U.S. state after Calif. (1913) to outlaw marijuana.

In the 1920s jazz-influenced Western Swing originates in small towns in Tex., Okla., and Calif., influenced by Dixieland jazz, featuring the steel guitar and an up-tempo dance beat.

On June 20, 1920 the New York Times first uses the term "wetback", meaning a Mexican who swims the Rio Grande River to illegally enter Tex.

On Jan. 18, 1921 McGregor, Tex.-born progressive Pat Morris Neff (1871-1952) becomes Dem. Tex. gov. #28 (until Jan. 20, 1925), going on to support Prohibition, create the Tex. State Parks Board, and pardon singer Lead Belly; in 1932-47 he becomes pres. #9 of Baylor U.

On Mar. 31, 1922 the Dallas Historical Society is founded in Dallas, Tex.; in 1938 it assumes mgt. of the Hall of State at Fair Park.

On Dec. 13, 1922 Houston East & West Texas Railway passenger train No. 28 en route for Shreveport, La. sideswipes a light engine in Humble, Tex., killing 22 and injuring 11 after high-pressure steam enters the first three passenger coaches.

On Nov. 29, 1923 emerging silent screen superstar Martha Mansfield (nee Ehrlich) (b. 1899) leaves the set of the big budget film "The Warrens of Virginia" in San Antonio, Tex. and sits in a car, after which a match ignites her U.S. Civil War costume, burning her to death; her leading man Wilfred Lytell saves her face and neck by throwing his overcoat over her; her chauffeur suffers serious burns to his hands while trying to remove her burning clothes; she dies on Nov. 30; she is edited down from the film to promote Rosemary Hill as the female lead.

On Nov. 4, 1924 the 1924 U.S. Pres. Election elects "Keep Cool with" Calvin Coolidge on a pro-business platform, becoming the 2nd Repub. vice-pres. to succeed to the presidency then get reelected (first Teddy Roosevelt in 1904); the Dems. win just 29% of the popular vote in a 3-way race with Coolidge and Sen. Robert "Fighting Bob" LaFolette of Wisc. of the Progressive Party (382 to 186 electoral votes); the 3rd time that a third party polls more than 15% of the vote in a U.S. Pres. Election (1892, 1912, 1968); Nellie Tayloe Ross (1876-1977) of Wyo. is elected America's first woman gov., serving the remaining term of her husband William B. Ross, who died in office; 15 days later Dem. Miriam Amanda Wallace "Ma" Ferguson (1875-1961), wife of impeached gov. (1915-17) James Edward "Pa" Ferguson (1871-1944) becomes the first woman gov. of Texas and the 2nd woman state gov. in the U.S. (until 1927) (reelected 1933-5). On Jan. 20, 1925 after her hubby James Edward "Pa" Ferguson is impeached and barred from office, and his Bell County, Tex.-born wife Miriam Amanda Wallace "Ma" Ferguson (1875-1961) runs in his place under the slogans "Two governors for the price of one" and "Me for Ma, and I Ain't Got a Durned Thing Against Pa", she becomes Dem. Tex. gov. #29 (until Jan. 18, 1927), doing it again as Tex. gov. #32 on Jan. 17, 1933-Jan. 15, 1935.

In 1925 the U.S. begins stockpiling helium near Amarillo, Tex. for dirigible use.

In 1925 Gainesville, Tex.-born Rose Franken (1896-1988) pub. her first novel Pattern. She then turns to plays.

On Nov. 11, 1926 U.S. Route 66, a paved highway from Chicago, Ill. to Santa Monica, Calif. (2,448 mi.) through eight states (Ill., Mo., Kan., Okla., Tex., N.M., Ariz., Calif.) opens, later being called "the Mother Road" by John Steinbeck (1902-68), and also becoming known as "the Main Street of America" and "Will Rogers Highway" after it becomes a favorite for westward migration during the Dust Bowl years; after the U.S. Interstate Highway System makes it obsolete, it is decommissioned in 1985 after jazz pianist Bobby Troup sings about getting his kicks on it.

In 1926 the syncretistic monotheistic vegetarian religion of Cao Dai (Vietnamese "high place") is founded in Tay Ninh (55 mi. NW of Saigon), South Vietnam, growing to 4M-6M adherents by modern times, complete with a Roman Catholic Church-like hierarchy and Holy See, building a temple (holy see) in 1933-55, later cloning it in in Dallas, Tex. and other countries.

In 1926 Yates Oil Field in W Tex. opens, becoming the #1 oil reserve in the U.S. until the opening of Prudhoe Bay in Alaska, producing its 1 billionth barrel of oil on Jan. 11, 1985.

On Jan. 18, 1927 Taylor, Tex.-born Tex. atty. gen. (since Jan. 1925) Daniel "Dan" Moody (1893-1966) (known for fighting the Ku Klux Klan incl. the mayors of Dallas, Fort Worth, and Wichita Falls, and investigating former Tex. gov. James E. "Pa" Ferguson for corruption, recovering $1M for Tex. taxpayers) becomes Dem. Tex. gov. #30 (until ?), the youngest (until ?); he later turns against FDR's New Deal and endorses Repub. candidates Dwight D. Eisenhower for U.S. pres. in 1956 and 1956, and Richard M. Nixon for U.S. pres. in 1960.

A boy is already not just a man but a Great White Father? In Aug. 1928 19-y.-o. Lyndon Baines Johnson (b. 1908) takes a $125/mo. job as a teacher at Welhausen School in Cotulla, Tex. (60 mi. from the Mexican border) to help him graduate from Southwest Texas State Teachers College, and takes over the 5th-7th grades, insisting that the dirt-poor mostly Hispanic students speak English, and organizing an athletic program; in Oct. he writes his mother asking for 200 packages of toothpaste for them.

In 1928 the 21-story Milan Bldg. in San Antonio, Tex. is built, becoming the first office bldg. with integral air conditioning (by Carrier).

In 1929 the Corn Dog is patented by German immigrant sausage makers in Tex., along with other deep-fried foods on sticks incl. bananas, cheese, and strawberries; meanwhile the Albert Pick-L. Barth wholesale catalog begins selling a "Krusty Korn Dog Baker".

In 1929 "Oklahoma's yodeling cowboy" Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (1907-98) (born in Tioga, Tex.) is discovered by Will Rogers, going on to wow America's hick chicks as "the Singing Cowboy", appearing in 93 films, always the mighty white, honest, brave, straight-shooting hero, with the theme song "Back in the Saddle Again", cranking out Christmas songs incl. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", "Frosty the Snowman", and "Here Comes Santa Claus".

On Oct. 5, 1930 the 140K-acre 5-county East Tex. Oil Field is discovered, becoming the largest and highest-producing oil reservvoir in the lower 48 U.S. states (30K+ wells), spawning the Tex. Oil Boom, resulting in the heavy industrialization of Tex. and great increase in the pop. of major cities esp. Houston.

In Nov. 1930 white activist Jesse Daniel Ames (1883-1972) of Tex. founds the Assoc. of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching (until 1942), telling white men that they don't need to have their "virtue" protected by brutal murder, and that it isn't chivalrous of them, getting 40K women to sign a pledge against lynching, causing a public outcry leading to a decrease in lynchings.

It's so whacko it won't go away, but thank Gawd I'm a country boy? In 1930 the Davidians (Davidian Seventh Day Adventists) (AKA The Shepherd's Rod), founded by Bulgarian-born Victor Tasho Houteff (1885-1955) split off from the Seventh Day Adventist Church; in 1955 the Branch Davidians (AKA The Branch) spit, er, split off from them; on Feb. 28, 1993 the 51-day 1993 Waco Siege begins when a gun battle erupts at the Branch Davidian Compound in Mount Carmel Center in Elk (9 mi. ENE of Waco), Tex. when ATF agents try (in SWAT gear) to serve trumped-up warrants in a master plan to shut them down and arrest 33-y.-o. high school dropout, failed rock guitarist and Jesus Christ messiah wannabe leader David Koresh (Vernon Wayne Howell) (b. 1959) of the Branch Davidians (a disavowed sect of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church), but catch hot lead instead, causing four agents and six Davidians to be killed, and one ATF agent in particular to be caught looking bad trapped on a roof while the cultists use him for target practice, causing a standoff led by the FBI; on Apr. 19 armored vehicles tear large holes in the compound and spray tear gas for several hours, and at about noon a fire breaks out throughout the compound, which burns down in 30 min., killing all 77 members of the cult, incl. many children; after fingers are pointed both ways, the govt. investigates and clears itself in Oct., claiming that fanatical cult members started the fire in an effort to bring on Armageddon; on Sept. 30 a U.S. Dept. of Justice Report on Waco criticizes the ATF for mishandling the initial raid; white supremacists have a new legend to justify hatred of the U.S. govt.; U.S. atty. gen. Janet Reno takes responsibility for the decision to attack the compound, and in 1999 it is revealed that despite FBI denials, pyrotechnic gas grenades had been used in the siege; an investigation in 2000 by former Mo. Repub. Sen. John Danforth clears the Justice Dept. of wrongdoing, and a Waco civil jury decides for the govt. in a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the survivors.

In 1930 Texas Instruments (TI) is founded in Dallas, Tex. as Geophysical Science Inc. (GSI) (until 1951) by Eugene McDermott (1899-1973) and commercial reflection seismograph inventor John Clarence Karcher (1894-1978) to manufacture seismic equipment, changing to Coronado Corp. in 1939, and expanding to defense electronics during WWII after being acquired on Dec. 6, 1941 by McDermott, Cecil Howard Green (1900-2003), John Erik Jonsson (1901-95), Henry Bates Peacock, and Patrick Eugene Haggerty (1914-80), going on to introduce the world's first commercial silicon transistor in Apr. 1954 (Gordon Teal), the first transistor radio (Regency TR-1) in 1954, the first integrated circuit on Sept. 12, 1958 (Jack Kilby), the first hand-held calculator (Cal Tech) in 1967, the first single-chip micromputer in 1971, the first microwave landing system in 1976, the first inverse synthetic aperture radar in 1984, the first digital light processing device (DLP) in 1987, and the TI-81 calculator in 1990; in 1997 Raytheon acquires its defense business; in 2011 it acquires Nat. Semiconductor for $6.5B.

In 1930 after singing in 1928 on KVOO-AM in Tulsa, Okla. as "Oklahoma's Yodeling Cowboy", and signing with Columbia Records in 1929, Tioga, Tex.-born "Singing Cowboy" Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (1907-98) appears on National Barn Dance (until 1934), hiring Summum, Ill.-born Lester Alvin "Smiley" Burnette (1911-67) (who can play 100 musical instruments) in Dec. 1933 as his sidekick. In 1931 he releases The Death of Mother Jones. In 1932 he releases his first hit That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine with Jimmy Long (5M copies). In 1934 Autry and Burnette make their film debut in Mascot Pictures Corp.'s In Old Santa Fe. In 1935 The Phantom Empire debuts for the first of 12 episodes, starring Gene Autry as himself, and Burnette as comic relief Oscar, after which Republic Pictures Corp. hires them to make 44 films until 1940, with Burnette playing Frog Millhouse; in 1948 Autry replaces Burnette with Addison, Ala.-born Maxwell Emmett "Pat" Buttram (1915-94), who work together in 40+ films and 100+ TV episodes before Buttram is injured in 1951, after which Autry and Burnette team together for six final films for Columbia Pictures in 1952-3. In 1935 Autry releases Tumbling Tumbleweeds (1935), Mexicali Rose (1935), If You Want to be a Cowboy (1937) (from the film Git Along Little Dogies), South of the Border (1939), and his signature song Back in the Saddle Again (1939). On Jan. 7, 1940-Aug. 1, 1943 and Sept. 23, 1945-May 16, 1956 he hosts the radio show Gene Autry's Melody Ranch on CBS Radio, sponsored by Doublemint chewing gum. In 1941 he releases Blueberry Hill, followed by You Are My Sunshine (1941), Be Honest With Me (1941) (from the film Ridin' on a Rainbow), Don't Bite the Hand That's Feeding You (1942) (from the film Bells of Capistrano), I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes (1944) (#3 country), Don't Fence Me In (1944) (#4 country), At Mail Call Today (1944) (#1 country), Don't Hang Around Me Anymore (1945) (#4 country), I Want to Be Sure (1945) (#4 country), Don't Live a Lie (1945) (#4 country), Silver Spurs (On the Golden Stairs) (1945) (#4 country), I Wish I Had Never Met Sunshine (1946) (#3 country), Wave to Me, My Lady (1946) (#4 country), You Only Want Me When You're Lonely (1946) (#7 country), Have I Told You Lately that I Love You? (1946) (#3 country), Someday (You'll Want Me to Want You) (1946) (#4 country), You're Not My Darlin' Anymore (1947) (#3 country), Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane) (1948) (#4 country) (#8 in the U.S.), Buttons and Bows (1948) (#6 country) (#17 in the U.S.), Ghost Riders in the Sky (1948), Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (w/Johnny Marks) (1949) (#1 country) (#1 in the U.S.), Peter Cottontail (1950) (#3 country) (#5 in the U.S.), Frosty the Snow Man (w/the Cass County Boys) (1950) (#4 country) (#7 in the U.S.), and Old Soldiers Never Die (They Just Fade Away) (1951) (#9 country). He goes on to release 640 records incl. 300+ songs written by himself, selling 100M copies, incl. the first certified gold record.

In 1930 Stephenville, Tex.-born vocalist Milton Brown (1903-36) meets Kosse, Tex.-born fiddler James Robert "Bob" Wills (1905-75) and joins the Wills Fiddle Band, consisting of Wills and guitarist Herman Arnspiger, which in 1931 is renamed the Light Crust Doughboys after their sponsor, the Burrus Mill and Elevator Co. of Saginaw, Tex., then the Fort Worth Doughboys, which also incl. Marvin "Smokey Montgomery, going on to launch Western Swing stars Bob Wills, Milton Brown, Tommy Duncan, Cecil Brower, John "Knocky" Parker, and Kenneth Pitts; they go on to release Beer-Drinking Mama, Good Gracious Gracie!, Tom Cat Rag, and Pussy Pussy Pussy (1939) before disbanding in 1942; in 1933 Bob Wills forms the Musical Brownies, the world's first Western Swing band at the Crystal Springs Dance Hall in Fort Worth, Tex., going on to become "the Father of Western Swing" along with Bob Wills, calling it "hot jaz hillbilly", inspiring Euro string jazz musicians Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grapelli to form the Hotel Club de Paris quintet in 1935; in 1934 they add Beggs, Okla.-born electric steel guitar player (jazz trombonist) Robert Lee "Bob" Dunn (1908-71), who becomes the first to record an electrically-amplified instrument on Jan. 27, 1935, making thesteel guitar a must in country and Western music, releasing Taking Off.; in Jan. 1935 they sign with Decca Records; in 1936 they sign fiddler Cliff Bruner, who teams with Bellevue, Tex.-born classically-trained fiddler Cecil Lee Brower (1914-65) to create a double fiddle sound; too bad, just as he is poised to achieve nat. fame, Bruner dies on Apr. 18, 1936 in Fort Worth, Tex. of pneumonia caused by a narcoleptic car accident, leaving Bob Wills to gain all the fame. In 1934 Bob Wills forms the Texas Playboys in Waco, Tex., moving to Tulsa, Okla. and pioneering Western Swing music, becoming known as "the King of Western Swing", releasing hits incl. Spanish Two Step (1935), Steel Guitar Rag (1936), San Antonio Rose (1938) (2M copies), Ida Red (1938) (later becomes Chuck Berry's "Maybellene), Take Me Back to Tulsa (1941), New San Antonio Rose (1943) (#3), Smoke on the Water (1945) (#1), Stars and Stripes on Iwo Jima (1945) (#1), New Spanish Two Step (1946) (#1), White Cross on Okinawa (1946) (#1), Roly Poly (1946) (#3), Sugar Moon (1947) (#1), Bubbles in My Beer (1948) (#4), Texarkana Baby (1948) (#15), Deep Water, and Faded Love (1950) (#8). In Nov. 1937 Clinton, Okla.-born Estel Eldon "Sham" "Frog" Shamblin (1916-98) of The Alabama Boys joins the Texas Playboys, becoming their lead guitarist until he is drafted into the U.S. Army in 1942, then again in 1946-54, being presented with one of the first Fender Stratocaster electric guitars in Mar. 1954 by Leo Fender and using it in the Texas Playboys' last recording session with MGM Records, after which Eric Clapton offers him $10K for it in the early 1980s. In the late 1940s Tyler, Tex.-born 5-string fiddle player John Paul "Johnny" Gimble (1926-) joins the Texas Playboys. In 1950 Bob Wills' Memphis, Tex.-born younger brother Billy Jack Wills (1926-91) quits after six years to form Billy Jack Wills and His Western Swing Band, which releases Take Me Back to Tulsa, Tobacco Chewing Boogie, Milk Cow Blues, Cadillac to Town in My Model A, Rock-A-bye Baby Blues, and All She Wants to Do Is Rock; too bad, they fold in 1954 after Bob Wills disbands the Texas Playboys and takes it over and runs it into the ground.

On June 23, 1931 Van Zandt County, Tex.-born aviator Wiley Post (1898-1935) (who wears a patch over his left eye, which he lost in a 1926 oilfield accident), and Tasmanian-born Harold Charles Gatty (1903-57) take off from Roosevelt Field, Long Island on the first round-the-world flight in the single-engine plane Winnie Mae (Lockheed Model 5C Vega), and return on July 1 after travelling 15,474 mi. in 8 days 15 hours 51 min. and making 14 stops in Newfoundland, England, Germany, the Soviet Union, Alaska, Alberta, and Cleveland, shattering Hugo Eckener's icky 1929 Graf Zeppelin record of 21 days; the reception rivals Lindbergh's, and they lunch at the White House on July 6 and get a ticker-tape parade in New York City on July 7.

On July 10, 1931 the Toll (Red River) Bridge War between Okla. and Tex. begins when the Red River Bridge Co. obtains an injunction preventing the Tex. Highway Commission from opening a new span NW of their toll bridge between Durant, Okla. and Denison, Tex. on U.S. Routes 69 and 75, claiming that they promised to buy the old bridge for $60K, pissing-off Tex. Gov. Ross S. Sterling, who orders the new bridge barricaded on the Tex. side, after which on July 16 Okla. gov. #9 (1931-5) Alfalfa Bill Murray orders it opened by the Okla. Nat. Guard, causing a Mexican standoff, with Murray patrolling the site carrying a revolver until Tex. lawyers determine that both sides are on Okla. territory, causing it to be opened on Sept. 7 (Labor Day); Adolf Hitler hears about the war, citing it as proof that the Union is coming apart?

In 1931 Kellyville, Tex.-born singing cowboy Carl Stuart Hamblen (1908-89) debuts his Family Album radio show in Calif., which features performers incl. Ken Carson (Hubert Paul Flatt) (1914-94) (AKA Hubert "Shorty" Carson), who leaves in 1932 to join the Beverly Hill Billies, the first Southern Calif. Western band, who pretend to live in log cabins, and incl. comic stutterer George Clinton "Shug" Fisher Jr. (1907-84) (first bass fiddler in a country band); in 1934 Hamblen becomes the first artist signed by the U.S. subsidiary of Decca Records; too bad, his horse race gambling, drinking, and brawling lands him frequently in jail, until he is converted by Billy Graham at a crusade in Los Angeles in 1949, then refuses to do alcohol commercials, getting him fired, writing the song It's No Secret What the Lord Can Do after John Wayne offers him a drink and he gives him that answer, the The Cowboy Church of the Air (1949-52); in 1950 he almost wins an election for Dem. rep. from Calif.'s 20th district (41%); in 1952 he is the U.S. pres. candidate for the Prohibition Party; in 1954 he writes This Ole House, which becomes a #1 U.S. and U.K. hit for Rosemary Clooney, along with the chipmunky Open Up Your Heart (and Let the Sunshine In), which becomes a hit for the Cowboy Church Sunday School (#8 in the U.S.), and is covered by Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm on The Flintstones on Sept. 17, 1965; in 1956 he releases Hell Train; in 1963 Graham holds another crusade in Los Angeles (his first coast-to-coast TV broadcast), and calls Hamblen's conversion "the turning point" in his ministry, which caused the small crowds to swell.

In 1932 no rain falls on the Great Plains, turning it into a great Dust Bowl; in Jan. a black dust cloud 10K ft. high begins outside Amarillo, Tex., then blows into the city on Jan. 21 on the way to Okla., looking like "a range of mountains on the move" with "an edge like steel wool", causing the pop. to complain that if the sodbusters can't keep their dirt in place, someone should pave it over or park used cars on it; the storms become permanent for the next decade, which become known as the Dirty Thirties.

On June 14-16, 1932 the 1932 Repub. Nat. Convention in Chicago, Ill. renominates Pres. Hoover and Charles Curtis despite the Depression making his name a punchline, with terms incl. Hooverville and Hoover Flag (empty pocket turned inside-out); the party platform incl. reduced govt. spending, a balanced budget, a high tariff, and maintenance of Prohibition; on June 27-July 2 the 1932 Dem. Nat. Convention is held in Chicago Ill.; 2-term New York gov. Franklin Delano Roosevelt fails to get the necessary two-thirds majority (770) on the first three ballots due to holdouts for "Happy Days Are Here Again" conservative Al Smith; on the 4th ballot Marietta, Ga.-born Calif. Sen. (1933-8) William Gibbs McAdoo Jr. (1863-1941) throws his Calif. delegation to Roosevelt, and Red River County, Tex.-born Tex. rep. (since Mar. 4, 1903) (lukewarm on the New Deal and an isolationist) John Nance "Texas Jack" Garner IV (1868-1967), "the Texas Coolidge" (poor speaker) throws his Tex. delegation to Roosevelt in return for being nominated for the vice-pres. job, which he later compares to "a pitcher of warm spit", and Roosevelt receives 945 to 190 for Smith; Garner backer William Randolph Hearst is instrumental in getting Garner to switch to Roosevelt because Hearst dislikes Roosevelt but hates Smith more?; on July 2 FDR flies for 9 hours in a Ford trimotor plane from Albany, N.Y. to Chicago to accept at Chicago Stadium, issuing the soundbyte: "I pledge you, I pledge myself to a New Deal for the American people", introducing his quasi-Socialist New Deal program at the stadium and later that evening on nat. radio; the Dem. Party platform calls for reduced govt. spending and a balanced budget, but is also for lower tariffs and repeal of Prohibition; the campaign slogan is "In Hoover we trusted, now we're busted"; FDR tells an advisor that budding fascist Huey P. Long is "one of the two most dangerous men in the country", along with Gen. Douglas MacArthur; meanwhile freelance journalist Albert Jay Nock (1870-1945) leads the intellectual criticism of the New Deal, later becoming a favorite of William F. Buckley Jr.'s daddy - don't nock it till you try it?

The Babelympics? On July 30-Aug. 14, 1932 the Olympic Flame is inaugurated in the X (10th) Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Calif., held smack dab in the middle of the Great Depression, causing less than half of the 1928 participants to attend, even being stood up by Pres. Herbert Hoover, becoming the first Olympic Games not attended by the sitting head of the govt. of the host country, which doesn't stop them from making $1M profit; 1,332 athletes from 37 nations participate in 116 events in 14 sports; the first Olympic Village is built in the Baldwin Hills (men only); the first use of a victory podium; Jim Thorpe is a press reporter at the Games; Paavo Nurmi is banned for being a pro; the U.S. wins bronze in field hockey because there are only two other nations competing (India gold, Japan silver); Thomas Edward "Eddie" Tolan (1908-67) ("the Midnight Express") of the U.S. wins gold in the 100m and 200m, becoming the first African-Am. world's fastest human; Stanislawa Walasiewicz (Stella Walsh) (1911-80) of Poland wins gold in the women's 100m, and after her death it's discovered that she's intersex; Baron Takeichi Nishi (1902-45) of Japan wins a gold in the equestrian show jumping individual event on his horse Uranus, becoming a tank unit cmdr. and getting KIA during the Battle of Iwo Jima; "unnatural" (not delicate or feminine) Port Arthur, Tex.-born Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrikson (1911-56) ("the female Babe Ruth") sets four world records in one afternoon during the Olympic trials, then sets world records in the javelin throw (143' 4") and 80m hurdles (11.7 sec.) for two golds, then wins a silver in the high jump (nobody's perfect?); she earns All-Am. honors in basketball 1930-2, appears in vaudeville, then takes up golf; actress-swimmer Eleanor G. Holm (1913-2004) wins gold in the 100m backstroke, setting a world record in that plus the 200m backstroke, then despite having not lost a race in seven years and being the first female swimmer chosen for three U.S. Olympic teams, she is unceremoniously thrown off the team in 1936 by Avery Brundage after being caught drinking, shooting craps, and singing in cabarets past the 9 p.m. curfew on the boat trip to Germany, although if a man did it no action would have been taken?; the publicity makes her a star with the press, and she meets Adolf Hitler and Hermann Goering, who gives her a silver swastika, which she has later copied in gold with a diamond Star of David inside it after she marries Jewish hubby Billy Rose in 1939; they divorce in 1954.

In Dec. 1932 Cimmerian warrior-king Conan the Barbarian, created by Peaster, Tex.-born Robert Ervin Howard (1906-36) debuts in Weird Tales mag., pioneering the sword and sorcery subgenre; too bad, on June 11, 1936 after hearing that his mother entered a terminal coma, momma's boy Howard shoots himself in the head in his car.

In 1932 10KW XED-AM in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico across the Rio Grande River from McAllen, Tex. signs on, becoming the first Border Blaster, aiming its transmissions at the U.S., followed by on Aug. 18 by radio station XERF-AM (735KHz) (50KW-250KW), located in Ciudad Acuna, Mexico across the border from Del Rio, Tex.; by 1938 there are 11 border blasters in Mexico, plus one in Windsor, Ont., Canada; they are used by quack doctors et al. to get around U.S. laws, and also help popularize country music, with performers incl. Cowboy Sam Nichols, Doye O'Dell, and Walt and Cal Shrum; in 1962-4 Wolfman Jack broadcasts on XERF-AM, becoming famous before moving in 1965 to XERB-AM "the Mighty 1090" in Rosarito Beach, Tijuana, Mexico, which is featured in the 1973 film American Graffiti.

On July 22, 1933 wealthy Tex. oil tycoon Charles Frederick Urschel (1890-1970) is kidnapped in Oklahoma City, Okla. by Memphis, Tenn.-born gangster Machine Gun Kelly (George Francis Barnes Jr.) (1895-1954), who takes him to a farmhouse in Paradise, Tex. and releases him on July 30 after a $200K ransom is paid; too bad, Urschel leaves clues and memorizes details that help the FBI track him down and capture him and his wife Kathryn Kelly on Sept. 26 in Memphis, Tenn., catching him without his Tommy gun, causing him to shout "Don't shoot, G-men!" and telling them, "I've been waiting all night for you" (coining the term "G-men"), after which he is the first person to be charged under the 1932 U.S. Little Lindbergh Law (Federal Kidnapping Act), receiving a life sentence after the first federal criminal trial in the U.S. in which cameras are allowed, the first prosecution in which defendants are transported by airplane, and the first major case solved by the FBI.

On May 23, 1934 after a 2-year crime spree of 100+ felonies in Tex., Mo., Ind., Minn., Ark., Okla., Colo., Miss., and Ill. that killed nine police officers and several civilians, flamboyant Texas outlaws Bonnie Elizabeth Parker (b. 1910) and Clyde Chestnut Barrow (b. 1909), AKA Bonnie and Clyde are shot to death in their stolen Ford Deluxe in a 6-man police ambush near Sailes, Biensville Parish 7 mi. from Gibsland, La. (future site of the Bonnie and Clyde Ambush Museum), ending their 2-year crime spree in a hail of 100+ bullets; Bonnie is shot 23x, Clyde 25x; license plates from Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., La., Mo., Ohio, and Tex. are found in the car; Bonnie smokes Camel cigarettes not cigars, but a gag photo is so heavily circulated that she can't beat the rap.

On Jan. 7, 1935 the U.S. Supreme Court rules 8-1 in Panama Refining Co. v. Ryan that the "hot oil" orders of the 1933 Nat. Industrial Recovery Act are unconstitutional for lack of clear criteria to limit pres. power, causing the U.S. Connally Hot Oil Act of 1935, sponsored by Tex. Dem. Sen. (1929-63) Thomas Terry "Tom" Connally (1877-1963) to be passed, allowing the pres. to protect the oil industry from "contraband oil".

In 1935 Fanin County, Tex.-born William Lemuel "Bill" Boyd (1910-77) and The Cowboy Ramblers incl. his brother Jim Boyd (1914-) release their first hit Under the Double Eagle, which becomes a Westerrn swing std. In 1941 they release their 2nd hit If You'll Come Back (#4 in the U.S.); they go on to release 225+ recordings in 1934-51, incl. Pussy, Pussy, Pussy, I'll Never Let You Cry Over Me, and Wah Hoo.

On Oct. 23, 1936 David Butler's Pigskin (Harmony) Parade debuts, starring Jack Haley as Texas State U. football coach Winters, who saves the struggling team with Ark. hillbilly Stuart Erwin, the best passer of all time; the feature film debut of Judy Garland (Frances Ethel Gumm) (1922-69) from Grand Rapids, Mich., who is named by George Jessel after Carole Lombard's char. Lily Garland in the 1934 film Twentieth Century, and by Frances after a popular Rudy Vallee song; lesbian actress Patsy Kelly plays Haley's wife Bessie; features Garland singing The Balboa.

In 1936 after the death of Milton Brown, Texas City, Tex.-born Western Swing fiddler-bandleader Clifton Lafayette "Cliff" Bruner (1915-2000) forms the Texas Wanderers, incl. Dickie McBride (guitar, vocals), Moon Mullican (piano, vocals), Bob Dunn (steel guitar), Leo Raley (mandolin), J.R. Chatwell (fiddle), going on to release the country hits It Makes No Difference Now (1938) (#1 country), I Hate to Lose You (1938), Truck Drivers' Blues (1939) (first trucker song), Draft Board Blues, Kangaroo Blues, That's What I Like About the South, Kelly Swing, I'll Keep On Loving You, Ouch, Out of Business, Snow Flakes, Singin' the Low Down Blues Down Low, Sugar, Sorry, When You're Smiling, and Lucille from Old Mobile (1947). Bruner's band disbands in the 1950s, but he continues to play, receiving recognition during the 1970s revival of Western Swing, and his trio is featured in the 1984 Sally Field film Places in the Heart.

In 1936 after learning to play the blues from a black sharecropper and developing a style of his own that mixes country, blues, Western Swing, and rock and roll, Polk County, Tex.-born "King of the Hillbilly Piano Players" Aubrey Wilson "Moon" Mullican (1909-67) releases his first country hit Swing Baby Swing (#5 country), followed by I'll Keep On Loving You (1938), Pipeliner's Blues (1940), Seven Come Eleven (1946), New Pretty Blonde (Jole Blon) (w/the Showboys) (1947) (#2 country) (King Records), Jole Blon's Sister (1947) (#4 country), Sweeter Than the Flowers (1948) (#3 country), I Left My Heart in Texas (by Jenny Lou Carson) (1948), Moon's Tune (1949), I Done It (?), I'll Sail My Ship Alone (1950) (#1 country) (#17 in the U.S.), Mona Lisa (1950) (#4 country), Goodnight Irene (1950) (#5 country), Cherokee Boogie (Eh-Oh-Aleena) (1951) (#7 country), Rock and Roll Mr. Bullfrog (?), and Ragged But Right (1961) (#15 country).

On July 17, 1938 Galveston, Tex.-born pilot Douglas Corrigan (1907-95) is denied permission from the Civil Aviation Authority to fly across the Atlantic from New York City to Ireland because of the poor condition of his plane; he takes off from New York anyway and claims to have mistakenly turned 180 degrees on a flight to Calif., landing in Ireland 28 hours and 13 min. later; after police question him, New York City gives "Wrong Way" Corrigan a ticker-tape parade - the quintessential American success story?

On Jan. 17, 1939 after gaining fame with his Western swing band Pat O'Daniel and His Hillbilly Boys and his Hillbilly Flour Co. (with the slogan "Pass the biscuits, Pappy"), Wilbert Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel (1890-1969) becomes conservative populist Dem. Tex. gov. #34 (until Aug. 1, 1941), going on to become the only person to defeat Lyndon Baines Johnson in an election (by 1,311 votes) and become U.S. sen. from Tex. on Aug. 4, 1941 to Jan. 3, 1949; he goes on to compose the song Beautiful Texas and claim that Brown v. Board of Education is part of a Communist conspiracy.

On Sept. 1, 1939 - Sept. 2, 1945 the horrific $3.5T World War II resulted in 24M military and 49M civilian deaths, and featured the low point of the Jewish Holocaust (Shoah) by the German Nazis, I guess it was the Jews' fault for not ransoming themselves to go to Israel before they could round them up for the camps. The whole experience turned Jews from lovers into fighters, ramping up the Zionist movement with full world sympathy and support by new world superpower U.S., which had its own guilt trip because on Nov. 24, 1942 Budapest-born Am. Zionist leader Rabbi Stephen Samuel Wise (1874-1949) announced in a press conference in Washington, D.C. that he was authorized by the U.S. State Dept. to confirm that the Nazis had murdered 2M Jews as part of a plan to exterminate all Jews in Europe; too bad, the nat. newspapers didn't consider it front page news, and the U.S. govt. did nada. After the war ended and Americans toured the concentration camps in horror, Polish-born Jewish scholar Raphael Lemkin (1900-59), who single-handedly led an unsuccessful campaign to get the League of Nations to give internat. protections against genocide starting in 1933 finally got what he wanted after his own people got it, namely the Dec. 9, 1948 U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Gen. Assembly Resolution 260), which didn't come in force until Jan. 12, 1951, and which the U.S. still didn't ratify until 1988.

On Sept. 20, 1940 William Wyler's The Westerner (United Artists) debuts, starring Walter Brennan as hanging Judge Roy Bean of Vinegaroon, Tex., Gary Cooper as drifter Cole Harden, Forrest Tucker as Wade Harper, Paul Hurst as Chickenfoot, Dana Andrews as Hod Johnson, and Lilian Bond as Lily Langtry.

In 1940 Crisp, Tex.-born 6'0" Jimmie Rodgers fan ("the Texas Troubadour") Ernest Dale Tubb (1914-84) releases his first country hit Blue Eyed Elaine, followed in 1941 by Walking the Floor Over You (#23 in the U.S.), first hit to feature an electric guitar solo, popularizing the Honky Tonk Style of country music, getting him an invite to join the Grand Ole Opry in Feb. 1943, putting together his band the Texas Troubadors and remaining a regular for four decades, becoming the first to use an electric guitar on the show, played by Tommy "Butterball" Page and William Lewis "Billy" Byrd (1920-2001). He follows with Try Me One More Time (1944) (#2 country) (#18 in the U.S.), Soldier's Last Letter (1944) (#16 in the U.S.), Yesterday's Tears (1944) (#4 country) (#29 in the U.S.), It's Been So Long Darling (1945) (#1 country), and Rainbow at Midnight (1946) (#1 country). In Sept. 1947 Tubbs headlines the first Grand Ole Opry show presented in Carnegie Hall in New York City. He follows with Have You Ever Been Lonely? (Have You Ever Been Blue) (1948) (#2 country), Till the End of the World (1949) (#4 country), Slippin' Around (1949) (#1 country) (#17 in the U.S.), Blue Christmas (#1 country) (#21 in the U.S.), Letters Have No Arms (1950) (#2 country), I Love You Because (1950) (#2 country), Missing in Action (1952) (#3 country), Thanks a Lot (1963) (#3 country), Waltz Across Texas (1965) (#34 country), Sweet Thang (w/Loretta Lynn) (1967) (#45 country), and Leave Them Boys Alone (w/Hank Williams Jr. and Waylon Jennings) (1983) (#6 country). He goes on to release 37 studio albums and 92 singles incl. 6 #1s. In 1954 his San Antonio, Tex.-born son Justin Wayne Tubb (1935-98) releases his first country hit Looking Back to See (w/Goldie Hill) (1954) (#4 country), followed by Sure Fire Kisses (w/Goldie Hill) (1955) (#11 country), I Gotta Go Get My Baby (1955) (#8 country), Take a Letter, Miss Gray (1963) (#6 country), Hurry, Mr. Peters (w/Lorene Mann) (1965) (#23 country), We've Gone Too Far, Again (w/Lorene Mann) (1966) (#44 country), and But Wait There's More (1967) (#63 country).

On Aug. 4, 1941 after Gov. W. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel resigns to take a seat in the U.S. Senate, Mason County, Tex.-born Dem. Tex. rep. (1929-39) and speaker of the Tex. house (1933-8) Coke Robert Stevenson (1888-1975) becomes Dem. Tex. gov. #35 (until Jan. 21, 1947), going on to become the longest-serving Tex. gov. and preside over the WWII era economic recovery while being accused of doing nothing, then deciding to run for the U.S. Senate in 1948.

On Dec. 11, 1941 (9:30 a.m. EST) Germany declares war on the U.S., with Hitler saying that the Yanks' entry into the war will make very little difference to the final outcome; later Italy declares war against the U.S.; at 3:05 p.m. EST the U.S. declares war on Germany, with U.S. Sen. (D-Tex.) (1929-63) Thomas Terry "Tom" Connally (1877-1963) standing next to FDR holding a watch to fix the exact time; Connally goes on to help create NATO and the U.N.; Churchill utters the soundbyte: "The accession of the United States makes amends for all, and with time and patience will give certain victory" - Hitler's biggest mistake was to misunderstand the U.S. and underestimate the power of Uncle Sam?

In 1942 the Corn Dog (patented 1929) is popularized by Carl and Neil Fletcher at the Texas State Fair; 15 cents each.

In 1942 Fritos, the first successful commercial corn chips begin to be marketed by a small Texas co., with a recipe for "Frito Chili Pie" on the back, causing chili con carne and once-disdained "Mexican food" to finally become popular in the U.S., spawning a Mexican restaurant boom after the war.

In 1944 Indian Creek, Tex.-born Katherine Anne Porter (1891-1980) pub. The Leaning Tower (short stories). In 1952 she pub. The Days Before (short stories). On Apr. 1, 1962 she pub. the bestseller Ship of Fools. On Apr. 29, 1962 JFK and Jackie give a White House black tie dinner for 49 Nobel Prize Winners and other prominent intellectuals incl. J. Robert Oppenheimer, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., Robert Frost, James Baldwin, Katherine Anne Porter, Diana Trilling, and William Styron; JFK utters the soundbyte "This is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever gathered at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone." No surprise, in 1965 her short story collection Collected Stories wins a Pulitzer Prize.

In 1944 after becoming the first artist to sign with Capitol Records in 1942, Murvaul, Tex.-born "Song of the Gringo" singing cowboy actor Woodward Maurice "Tex" Ritter (1905-74) (father of actor John Ritter) releases his debut single I'm Wastin' My Tears on You (#1 country) (#11 in the U.S.), followed by There's a New Moon Over My Shoulder (1944) (#2 country) (#21 in the U.S.), Jealous Heart (by Jenny Lou Carson) (1945) (#2 country), You Two-Timed Me One Time Too Often (1945) (by Jenny Lou Carson) (#1 country) (first #1 country hit written by a woman), You Will Have to Pay (1946) (#1 country), Christmas Carols by the Old Corral (1946) (#2 country), Have I Told You Lately That I Love You? (1946) (#3 country), Rock and Rye (1948) (#5 country), The Deck of Cards (1948) (#10 country), Daddy's Last Letter (1950) (#6 country), The Wayward Wind (1956) (#28 in the U.S.), and I Dreamed of a Hillbilly Heaven (1961) (#5 country) (#20 in the U.S.).

In Dec. 1945 Johnny Moore's Three Blazers, fronted by Texas City, Tex.-born blues pianist-singer Tony Russell "Charles" Brown (1922-99) release the song Driftin' Blues, helping launch smooth West Coast "lounge blues", making a fan of Ray Charles, who begins covering it in 1946 calling it "a hell of a number"; it is later covered by Lightnin' Hopkins (1950), Billy Eckstine (1959), John Lee Hooker (1969), Chuck Berry (1960), Bobby "Blue" Bland (1968), The Paul Butterfield Blues Band (1967), Albert King (1968), and Little Willie Littlefield (1997). In Nov. 1947 they release the R&B Christmas single Merry Christmas Baby, composed by Johnny Moore and Lou Baxter, which becomes a Christmas standard covered by Chuck Berry, Etta James, Mae West, Otis Redding, B.B. King, Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, The Monkees, Billy Idol, Bruce Springsteen, Booker T. & the MGs, Christina Aguilera, Bonnie Raitt, Cheryl Crow, Hanson, Melisa Etheridge et al. In 1960 Brown releases the album Charles Brown Sings Christmas Songs, featuring the single Please Come Home for Christmas (#76 in the U.S.), which is covered in 1978 by The Eagles, becoming the first Christmas song to reach the U.S. top-20 (#18) since Ray Orbison's "Pretty Paper" in 1963; on Oct. 20, 1992 1992 Jon Bon Jovi covers it in the holiday album A Very Special Chritmas 2, with a promo video featuring supermodel Cindy Crawford.

On Jan. 21, 1947 former U. of Tex. Austin (UTA) pres. (1933-5) and Tex. Railroad Commission member (since Jan. 1, 1943) Beauford Halbert Jester (1893-1949) becomes Dem. Tex. gov. #36 (until July 11, 1949), going on to reform the state prison system, help pass an anti-lynching law and right-to-work laws, and create the Board of Tex. State Hospitals and Special Schools before dying of a heart attack aboard a you guessed it; in 1964 24-acre Jester Park in Corsicana, Tex. is dedicated in his honor, becoming home to the Lefty Frizzell Memorial and Pioneer Village; in 1968 Jester Center on the UTA campus is named after him, containing Jester Dormitory (cap. 3K), the largest college residential facility on Earth (until ?), along with Jester Prison Farm, featured in the 1974 film "The Sugarland Express".

On Oct. 16, 1948 the Big D Jamboree, held in the Dallas Sportatorium debuts on KRLD-AM in Dallas, Tex., airing nationally on the CBS-Radio Network in 1956, and picked up by KRLD-TV, becoming a launchpad for the Louisiana Hayride; performers incl. Hank Locklin, Webb Pierce, Billy Walker, Jimmy Lee Fautheree (1934-2004), Gene O'Quin (1932-78), Elvis Presley, and Johnny Cash.

On Nov. 2, 1948 (Tues.) the 1948 U.S. pres. election is held; 51.1% of the electorate votes for pres., and gives Truman 24.2M popular votes to Dewey's 22.0M (49.6% to 45.1%); Truman carries 28 states to 16 for Dewey (303 to 189 electoral votes); the Dems. also win both houses of Congress; Thurmond receives 1.2M popular votes, 4 Southern states and 39 electoral votes; Wallace receives 1.2M popular votes but no electoral votes; the combined third parties receive only 5.75% of the vote; the polls showed Dewey kicking Truman's ass, causing newspapers to be pre-printed with the headline "Dewey Defeats Truman", causing the clever to reply "Thomas E. Who?" as the arrogance of the prognostications causes Truman voters on the West Coast to flock to the polls and throw the election the other way; Gen. Eisenhower votes for Dewey, and later complements Truman for his "stark courage and fighting heart"; on Nov. 3 Pres. Truman gives the first televised pres. address from the White House (no tapes saved); on Nov. 2 despite lagging in the primary by 33.7% to 39.7%, Stonewall, Tex.-born Texas Rep. (since Apr. 10, 1937) Dem. Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-73) is elected to the U.S. Senate by 66.2% over Repub. Jack Porter after winning the primary over Tex. gov. #35 (since Aug. 4, 1941) Coke R. Stevenson by a suspicious 87 votes out of 988,295 cast, incl. 200 votes cast in alphabetical order in Jim Wells County, and using atty. Abe Fortas to get U.S. Supreme Court justice Hugo Black to overturn a federal district court ruling backed by Stevenson to remove his name from the gen. election ballot, causing him to become known as "Landslide Lyndon".

In 1948 San Angelo, Tex.-born Jay (Jacqueline) Presson Allen (1922-2006) pub. her first novel Spring Riot. She later turns playwright, cranking out "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie", "Marnie", "Cabaret", and "Funny Lady".

On July 11, 1949 Tex. gov. (since Jan. 21, 1947) Beauford Jester dies of a heart attack aboard a train, and Lufkin, Tex.-born Tex. lt. gov. #33 (since Jan. 21, 1947) Robert Allan Shivers (1907-85) becomes conservative Dem. Tex. gov. #37 (until Jan. 15, 1957) (first lt. gov. to succeed through predecessor's death) (longest continuously-serving until Rick Perry in June 2008), going on to lead the conservative Shivercrats faction of the Dem. Party and win reelection in 1950, 1952 (nominee of both parties), and 1954, splitting with Pres. Truman over the Tidelands dispute and delivering Tex. to Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952, painting liberals as Commies and calling for the death penalty for membership in the Communist Party, opposing the Brown v. Board of Education and decision. and surviving a corruption fraud in 1954 involving the Tex. Veterans Land Board and African-Am. war veterans; Lyndon Baines Johnson and John Connally start out as Shivercrats, becoming a Yarborough liberal after becoming U.S. pres. on Nov. 22, 1963.

In 1949 the 1950s Tex. Drought begins (ends 1957), with rainfall decreasing 30%-50% amid rising temps, aggravated by dust storms, causing the number of farms and ranches to decrease by 100K and the rural pop. to flee to the cities; in 1957 the Tex. Water Development Board is established, managing water conservation plans incl. damming rivers to create lakes and drilling for groundwater.

In 1949 Trinity, Tex.-born Charles William Goyen (1915-83) pub. his first novel The House of Breath. In 1952 he pub. Ghost and Flesh: Stories and Tales.

In 1949 El Paso, Tex.-born Thomas Calloway "Tom" Lea III (1907-2001) pub. his first novel The Brave Bulls (Toros Bravos), about bull raisers in Las Astas (really La Punta) ranch in E Jalisco, Mexico, and Luis Bello, "the Swordsman of Guerreras", greatest matador in Mexico, who turns chicken after his mgr. Raul Fuentes and mistress Linda de Calderon are killed in a car crash after sneaking off to hook up. In 1952 he pub. The Wonderful Country.

On Nov. 15, 1950 John Ford's B&W Rio Grande (Republic Pictures) debuts, last in Ford's Cavalry Trilogy, starring John Wayne as Lt. Col. Kirby Yorke, an ex-Civil War cavalry cmdr. on the Mexican border of Tex. campaigning against Apaches while dealing with unhappy wife Kathleen (Maureen O'Hara) and a new recruit, his son Trooper Jeferson Yorke (Claude Jarman Jr.); Ben Johnson plays Trooper Travis Tyree; features folk songs sung by the Sons of the Pioneers incl. "Festus Haggen in Gunsmoke" Ken Curtis; studio pres. Herbert Yates forces Ford to make this film before "The Quiet Man", only to see the latter go #1; does $2.25M box office; "John Ford's greatest romantic triumph".

In 1950 Corsicana, Tex.-born, El Dorado, Ark.-raised ("King of the Honky Tonk") William Orville "Lefty" Frizzell (1928-75) releases his first #1 country hit If You've Got the Money I've Got the Time, followed by I Love You A Thousand Ways (1950) (#1), I Want to Be With You Always (1950) (#1), Always Late (With Your Kisses (1951) (#1), Give Me More, More, More (Of Your Kisses) (1951) (#1), and Saginaw, Michigan (1964) (#1). In 1951 he has four songs in the country top-10 at the same time, which is topped by the Beatles in 1964 (five). Too bad, he has a massive stroke on July 19, 1975 caused by alcoholism. His relaxed style influences Merle Haggard, George Jones, Willie Nelson, John Fogerty, Roy Orbison, Keith Whitley, and Dwight Yoakam.

In 1950 6'1 190 lb. QB Charles Kenneth Hall (1935-) becomes a star with the Sugar Land H.S. Gators football team in Sugar Land, Tex., setting 17 nat. football records in 1950-3, many of which stand for 50+ years, becoming known as the Sugar Land Express; in 1999 the Kenneth Hall Trophy is established for the most outstanding U.S. h.s. football player.

In 1950 Ft. Worth, Tex.-born alcoholic lesbian Patricia Highsmith (Mary Patricia Plangman) (1921-95) pub. her first novel Strangers on a Train (first novel); the 1951 Alfred Hitchcock film makes her a star and lets her give up her career writing for comic books, developing novels that make a criminal into somebody to cheer for. In 1952 she pub. The Price of Salt (Carol) under the alias Claire Morgan, a bestseller (1M copies); the first lesbian novel with a happy ending? In 1955 she pub. The Talented Mr. Ripley, the first of five novels ("the Ripliad") about Tom Ripley, an evil murderous con artist that readers can relate to and even root for; filmed in 1960 by Rene Clement as "Plein Soleil" and in 1999 by Anthony Minghella starring Matt Damon. On Oct. 31, 1961 she pub. This Sweet Sickness. The Two Faces of January; Rydal Keener, Chester McFarland, and his wife Colette. In 1962 she pub. The Cry of the Owl; Robert Forester begins watching Jenny through her window in suburban Penn. On Dec. 31, 1964 she pub. The Glass Cell; Philip Carter in priz. In 1965 she pub. A Suspension of Mercy (The Story-Teller). On Jan. 31, 1967 she pub. Those Who Walk Away; a groom talks the police in Rome into believing in his innocence, after which the father-in-law shoots him. In 1969 she pub. The Tremor of Forgery; Am. writer Howard Ingham uses a typewriter as a murder weapon in Tunisia. In 1970 she pub. Ripley Under Ground (Ripley #2) (May 31); Ripley tries to keep his lovely French countryside lifestyle going despite all his crimes; filmed in 2005 by Barry Pepper. In 1972 she pub. A Dog's Ransom, about psycho dog killer Kenneth Rowajinski and Tina the poodle. In 1974 she pub. Ripley's Game (Ripley #3); sequel to "The Talented Mr. Ripley" (1955-); filmed in 1977 by Wim Wenders as "The American Friend", and in 2002 by Liliana Cavani. In 1977 she pub. Edith's Diary; mentally-ungluing housewife Edith Howland, who lives on Grove St. in Manhattan and knits for her imaginary grandchildren while her son Cliffe tries to murder family cat Mildew. In 1980 she pub. The Boy Who Followed Ripley (Ripley #4); 16-y.-o. Yank Billy gets a job as his gardener, and turns out to be Frank Pierson, who killed his tycoon father and fled. In 1983 she pub. People Who Knock on the Door; Arthur's father becomes a Bible-thumping Christian, tearing the family apart. In 1987 she pub. Found in the Street; the Sutherlands of Grove St. in Manhattan kill Elsie Tyler in her apt. at 102 Greene St.; In 1991 she pub. Ripley Under Water (Ripley #5). In 1996 Small g: A Summer Idyll is posth. pub.

On Jan. 16, 1951 a gas pipeline from Brownsville, Tex. to New York City opens, becoming the world's largest.

In 1952 Perryville, Tex.-born "Cherokee Cowboy" Noble Ray Price (1926-2013) (former Nashville roommate of Hank Williams Sr.) releases his first charting counry hit Talk to Your Heart (#3 country), followed by I'll Be There (If You Ever Want Me) (1954) (#2 country), Release Me (by Eddie Miller) (1954) (#6 country), Crazy Arms (by Ralph Mooney and Charles Seals) (1956) (#1 country) (#27 in the U.S.), My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You (1957) (#1 country) (#63 in the U.S.), City Lights (1958) (#1 country) (#71 in the U.S.), The Same Old Me (1959) (#1 country), Heartaches by the Number (by Harlan Howard) (1959) (#2 country), Under Your Spell Again (1959) (#5 country), Make the World Go Away (1963) (#2 country) (#100 in the U.S.), Burning Memories (1964) (#2 country), The Other Woman (In My Life) (1965) (#2 country), Touch My Heart (1966) (#3 country), For the Good Times (1970) (#1 country) (#11 in the U.S.), I Won't Mention It Again (1971) (#1 country) (#42 in the U.S.), I'd Rather Be Sorry (1971) (#2 country) (#70 in the U.S.), The Lonesomest Lonesome (1972) (#2 country) (#109 in the U.S.), She's Got to Be a Saint (1972) (#1 country) (#93 in the U.S.), You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to me (1973) (#1 country) (#82 in the U.S.), and Faded Love (w/Willie Nelson) (1980) (#3 country). He goes on to release 52 studio albums and 116 singles incl. 9 #1s.

On Apr. 11, 1953 Killeen, Tex.-born Oveta Culp Hobby (1905-95) superseding the 1939 Federal Security Agency (FSA) and the 1798 U.S. Public Health Service (PHS), becoming the first U.S. govt. agency created by a pres. via his reorganizational authority; the U.S. Food and Drug Admin. (FDA) is transferred to it as part of the FSA; Nelson A. Rockefeller, who conducted the study that resulted in its creation becomes under-secy. (until 1954); in 1955 she resigns after her husband, former (1917-21) Tex. Gov. #27 William Pettus Hobby (1878-1964) becomes ill; in 1979 it is renamed to Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS), with the Dept. of Education split off; by the end of the cent. its budget grows to $17B.

On May 9, 1953 a series of 33+ tornadoes begins hitting 10 different U.S. states from Minn. to Tex.; on May 11 an F-5 tornado hits downtown Waco, Tex., killing 114, becoming the worst U.S. tornado since 1947.

On Sept. 20, 1953 Dallas, Tex.-born Ernest "Ernie" Banks (1931-) of the Chicago Cubs (#14) hits his first ML home run, later becoming known as "Mr. Cub" and "Mr. Sunshine".

In 1953 Galloway, Tex.-born James Travis "Gentleman Jim" Reeves (1923-64) releases his debut single Mexican Joe (#1 country) (#23 in the U.S.), followed by Bimbo (1953) (#1 country) (#23 in the U.S.), I Love You (w/Ginny Wright) (1954) (#3 country), Yonder Comes a Sucker (1955) (#4 country), Am I Losing You (1957) (#3 country), and Four Walls (1957) (#1 country) (#11 in the U.S.), Billy Bayou (1958) (#1 country) (#95 in the U.S.), Home (1959) (#2 country), He'll Have to Go (1960) (#1 country) (#2 in the U.S.) ("Put your sweet lips a little closer to the phone/ Let's pretend that we're together all alone/ I'll tell the man to turn the jukebox way down low/ And you can tell your friend there with you he'll have to go"), Losing Your Love (1961) (#2 country) (#89 in the U.S.), I'm Gonna Change Everything (1962) (#2 country) (#95 in the U.S.), Welcome to My World (1964) (#2 country) (#102 in the U.S.) (a favorite of Meher Baba), and I Guess I'm Crazy (1964) (posth.) (#1 country) (#82 in the U.S.). Too bad, he dies on July 31, 1964 in Davidson County, Tenn. in a private plane crash, which doesn't stop his songs from charting, incl. There's a Heartache Following Me (1964) (a favorite of Meher Baba, causing his follower Pete Townshend of The Who to record his version on his first solo album "Who Came First" in 1972), This Is It (1965) (#1 country) (#88 in the U.S.), Is It Really Over? (1965) (#1 country) (#79 in the U.S.), Distant Drums (1966) (#1 country) (#45 in the U.S.), Blue Side of Lonesome (1966) (#1 country) (#59 in the U.S.), and I Won't Come in While He's There (1967) (#1 country) (#112 in the U.S.). To top it off, he becomes the most popular English language singer in Sri Lanka.

In Feb. 1954 Saratoga, Tex.-born ("Rolls-Royce of Country Singers") George Glenn Jones (1931-2013), AKA Thumper, the Possum, and No Show (for his alcoholism) releases his debut single No Money in This Deal on Starday Records. In 1955 he scores his first of 150+ hits Why Baby Why, followed on Feb. 9, 1959 with White Lightning (#1 in the U.S.) (by J.P. "the Big Bopper" Richardson). In 1960 he forms the backing band The Jones Boys, starting with Marion, Ind.-born George Riddle (1936-2014). The Window Up Above (1960) (#2 country), Tender Years (1961) (#1 country) (#76 in the U.S.), She Thinks I Still Care (1962) (#1 country), We Must Have Been Out of Our Minds (w/Melba Montgomery) (1963) (#3 country), She's Lonesome Again (1963) (later covered by George Riddle), The Race Is On (1964) (#3 country) (#96 in the U.S.), Love Bug (19650 (#6 country), Walk Through This World With Me (1967) (#1 country), Say It's Not You (1968) (#8 country), As Long As I Live (w/Gene Pitney) (1968) (#3 country), (I'll Be Over You) When the Grass Grows Over Me (1968) (#2 country), and I'll Share My World with You (w/Tammy Wynette) (1968) (#2 country) (#124 in the U.S.), In 1969 he marries "Stand By Your Man", Tammy Wynette, who can't stand him by the time she divorces him in 1975. In 1970 he releases Good Year for the Roses (#2 country) (#112 in the U.S.), followed by Loving You Could Never Be Better (1972) (#2 country), A Picture of Me (Without You) (1972) (#5 country), The Grand Tour (1974) (#1 country), The Door (1974) (#1 country), Her Name Is (1976) (#3 country), Maybellene (w/Johnny Paycheck) (1978) (#7 country) He Stopped Loving Her Today (1980) (#1 country) (his biggest hit?), I'm Not Ready Yet (1980) (#2 country), Still Doin' Time (1981) (#1 country), Yesterday's Wine (w/Merle Haggard) (1982) (#1 country), C.C. Waterback (w/Merle Haggard) (1982) (#10 country), Same Ole Me (w/the Oak Ridge Boys) (1982) (#5 country), Shine On (Shine All Your Sweet Love on Me) (1983) (#3 country), I Always Get Lucky with You (1983) (#1 country), Tennessee Whiskey (1983) (#2 country), We Didn't See a Thing (w/Ray Charles) (1983) (#6 country), You Still Got a Place in My Heart (1984) (#3 country), She's My Rock (1984) (#2 country), Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes (1985) (#3 country), The One I Loved Back Then (The Corvette Song) (1985) (#3 country), (I'm A) One Woman Man (1988) (#5 country), A Few Ole Country Boys (w/Randy Travis) (1990) (#8 country), You Don't Seem to Miss Me (w/Patty Loveless) (1997) (#14 country) (#109 in the U.S.), Beer Run (B Double E Double Are You In?) (w/Garth Brooks) (2001) (#24 country) (#118 in the U.S.). He goes on to release 60 studio albums, scoring more hits than any musical artist of any genre. "If we call could sound like we wanted to, we'd all sound like George Jones." (Waylon Jennings).

On May 3, 1954 the U.S. Supreme (Warren) Court rules unanimously in Hernandez v. Texas that Mexican-Ams. and other racial groups beyond "white" and "negro" in the U.S. have equal protection under the 14th Amendment, and that each has a right to have fellow Mexican-Ams. on their jury, which Tex. had been denying for over 25 years by claiming that they were white, just not as white as non-Mexican-Am. whites?; the first case in which Mexican-Am. attys. appear before the U.S. Supreme Court.

On July 2, 1954 the Johnson Amendment (Rule) to the U.S. tax code is proposed by U.S. Sen. (D-Tex.) (1949-61) Lyndon B. Johnson, barring churches and nonprofits from tax-exempt status if they express political free speech, as if they give up their First Amendment rights by not paying taxes; no surprise, Southern black churches have de facto immunity; it is repealed in ?; meanwhile after work by Tex. Dem. Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson, the IRS extends section 501(c)(3) for tax-exempt orgs. to cover churches; part of a plot to eliminate political influence by churches?

If they're going to integrate our schools, let's keep kiddie TV white? On Oct. 27, 1954 Disneyland debuts on ABC-TV, becoming "Walt Disney Presents in 1959 (until Oct. 17, 1961), then "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color" (1961-9), "The Wonderful World of Disney" (1969-79), "Disney's Wonderful World" (1979-81), "Walt Disney" (1981-3), "The Wonderful World of Disney" (1983-8), "The Disney Sunday Movie" (1986-8), and "The Wonderful World of Disney" (1991-), with saintly Walter Elias "Walt" Disney (1901-66) hosting various Disney made-for-TV films; on Dec. 15 Walt Disney's Davy Crockett, starring Fort Worth, Tex.-born Fess Elisha Parker Jr. (1924-2010) (fess = a broad horizontal band across a shield) as Crockett, and Belleville, Ill.-born Christian Ludolf "Buddy" Ebsen Jr. (1908-2003) as his sidekick George Russel debuts on TV for five episodes (until Dec. 14, 1955), starting a children's craze for memorabilia, Coonskin Caps, and Lincoln Logs; the theme song is The Ballad of Davy Crockett by George Bruns and Thomas W. Blackburn, sung by The Wellingtons; "Born on a mountain top in Tennessee,/ Greenest state in the Land of the Free,/ Raised in the woods so's he knew ev'ry tree, /Kilt him a b'ar when he was only three./ Davy, Davy Crockett,/ King of the wild frontier".

By the end of 1954 Okla., Tex., Ky., W. Va., Md., Tenn., Ark., and Del. report partial integration in 350 school districts, but Deep South legislatures in Va., Ga., and S.C. decide to fight in court, and the fighting moves to the streets, with the FBI reporting that small arms sales increased up to 400% in some parts of the South; the KKK organizes White Citizens' Councils to resist, while the Black Muslims gain recruits on their side - a white wearing a coonskin cap takes on a new meaning?

In 1954 after moving to Tex. in 1931 and running the Houston Country Club, where she becomes a celeb with men for her haute cuisine, Benson, N.Y.-born chef Helen Corbitt (1906-78) becomes food services dir. of Neiman-Marcus, going on to develop her own unique cuisine for their menu, incl. Poppy Seed Dressing, her recipes getting featured in their 1969 Neiman Marcus Kitchen Computer, the first consumer computer; she goes on to pub. seven cookbooks and become known as "the Balenciaga of food and the best cook in Texas" (Chicago Tribune, 1975) and "the Julia Child-esque cooking celebrity with a Texas twang" (Los Angeles Times, 2009).

In 1954 Chicago, Ill. ad agency Leo Burnett Worldwide (founded 1935) creates the Marlboro Man for heretofore womens-only Marlboro filtered cigarettes after seeing a 1949 Life mag. photo of Clarence Hailey Long (1910-), foreman at the 320K-acre JA Ranch in Tex., and next year the image is introduced nationally, causing sales to leap 3,241% to $5B, becoming #1 in the world by 1972 even after cigarette commercials are banned in the U.S. in 1971.

In 1954 after joining the Louisiana Hayride in 1952, Ralls, Tex.-born "the Tall Texan" William Marvin "Billy" Walker (1929-2006) releases his first country hit Thank You for Calling (#8 country). In 1955 he and Slim Whitman help Elvis Presley get on the show for his TV debut. In 1957 he releases On My Mind Again (#12 country), followed by Funny How Time Slips Away (by Willie Nelson) (1961) (#23 country), (I'd Like to Be In) Charlie's Shoes (1962) (#1 country), Willie the Weeper (1962) (#5 country), Circumstances (1964) (#7 country), Cross the Brazos at Waco (1964) (#2 country) (#128 in the U.S.), Matamoros (1965) (#8 country), A Million and One (1966) (#2 country), Bear With Me a little Longer (1966) (#3 country), and Ramona (1968) (#8 country). In 1968-9 he hosts Billy Walker's Country Carnival on TV. He goes on to release When a Man Loves a Woman (The Way That I Love You) (1970) (#3 country), She Goes Walking Through My Mind (1970) (#3 country), I'm Gonna Keep On Keep On Lovin' You (1971) (#3 country), Sing Me a Love Song to Baby (1972) (#3 country), Gone (Our Endless Love) (w/Mike Curb Congregation) (1972) (#24 country), and Bye Bye Love (w/Barbara Fairchild) (1980) (#74 country).

On Mar. 3-May 2, 1956 Lakewood, Tex.-born Bill Lillard Sr. (1927-) of the Falstaff Team becomes the first bowler to win four titles at one ABC nat. tournament,

On Mar. 13, 1956 John Ford's The Searchers (Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney), debuts, based on the 1954 Alan Le May novel, starring John Wayne as white racist Tex. Civil War vet Ethan Edwards, who searches for his Indian-kidnapped niece Debbie (Natalie Wood) and almost kills her to keep her from bearing half-breed kids; also stars Jeffrey Hunter as Martin Pawley, Ward Bond as Rev. Samuel Johnson Clayton, Vera Miles as Laurie Jorgensen, Lana Wood as young Debbie Edwards, and Ken Curtis as Charlie McCorry; the greatest Western of all time, and the classic study of the white Am. psyche?; Wayne's line "That'll be the day" (said 4x) is used by Buddy Holly as a song title.

Davy, Davy Crockett, King of the What? In Sept. 1956 Washington, D.C. white racist bookseller John Kasper (1929-98) stirs up 1K white citizens of Clinton, Tenn. (pop. 4K) to stop 12 black students from enrolling in the high school, then to attack the 8-man police dept., shouting "Let's get the nigger lovers!", causing 100 state troopers, 633 Nat. Guardsmen and seven M-41 tanks to be called in; meanwhile, in Mansfield, Tex. (pop. 1,450), three blacks trying to enroll in a h.s. with 300 whites are scared out by 400 white men waving placards reading "Dead Coons Are the Best Coons" and "$2 A Dozen For Nigger Ears"; "If God wanted us to go to school together He wouldn't have made them black and us white."

On Oct. 10, 1956 George Stevens' Giant debuts, based on the 1952 Edna Ferber novel, starring Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, and James Dean as feuding Tex. oil tycoons Jordan "Bick" Benedict, Leslie Lynnton, and Jett Rink.

In 1956 Copeville, Tex.-born honky tonk country musician (former DJ and member of the Cowboy Ramblers) Charlie Walker (1926-2008) releases his first country hit Only You, Only You (#9 country) (Decca Records), followed by Pick Me Up On Your Way Down (by Harlan Howard) (1958) (Columbia Records) (#2 country), I'll Catch You When You Fall (1959) (#16 country), Who Will Buy the Wine (1960) (#11 country), Facing the Wall (1961) (#25 country), Close All the Honky Tonks (1964) (#17 country), Wild as a Wildcat (1965) (#8 country), and Please Don't Squeeze My Sharmon (1967) (#8 country). In 1967 he becomes a member of the Grand Ole Opry. He follows with Bow Down Your Head and Cry, My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You, and Don't Sing a Song About Texas (1979).

On Jan. 15, 1957 after being elected to the U.S. Senate in 1952, coming under LBJ's wing, then breaking and signing the 1956 Southern Manifesto protesting the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education decision, and winning the election by a 7-1 margin over Repub. Edwin S. Mayer, Dayton, Tex.-born Marion Price Daniel III (1910-88) becomes Dem. Tex. gov. #38 (until Jan. 15, 1963), going on to reorganize the State Board of Insurance, pass an ethics code for state employees and lawmakers, and implement a long-range water conservation plan; too bad, after refusing to veto a 2-cent state sales tax in 1961, his popularity tanks, and he loses reelection to a 4th term to John Connally.

In Feb. 1957 Galloway, Tex.-born James Travis "Gentleman Jim" Reeves (1923-64) records Four Walls (#1 country) (#11 in the U.S.), the first Nashville Sound record, a reaction to the honky tonk sound which cuts out the fiddle and steel guitar and adds choruses; "My Grandpa farmed for a livin'/ Content to live the simpler kind of life,/ My Grandma worked in the kitchen,/ Awfully proud to be that farmer's wife./ They used to say that they'd got everything that they need,/ Each mornin' they wake up,/ Four walls, three words, two hearts, one love"; also this year Ferlin Husky releases Gone (by Smokey Rogers) (#1 country), which makes it to #4 on the U.S. pop charts, becoming the first Nashville Sound pop hit; in Dec. 1957 Don Gibson releases Oh Lonesome Me (RCA) (#7 country) (#7 in the U.S.), produced by Chet Atkins, also pioneering the Nashville Sound, with the soundbyte: "It's the sound of money"; meanwhile after his 1958 song "On the Wings of a Dove" becomes a million-seller by Ferlin Husky, whom he met in El Cajon, Calif., becoming his mgr., Willow Springs, Mo.-born Robert Bruce "Bob" Ferguson Sr. (1927-2001) becomes an executive asst. to Chet Atkins at RCA Victor, helping to create the Nashville Sound, developing new talent incl. Porter Wagoner, Dolly Parton, Connie Smith, and Charlie Pride; Nashville Sound evolves into Country Pop; meanwhile the Bakersfield Sound is developed by Ken Nelson of Capital Records in Calif. as a reaction to the Nashville Sound, which produces artists incl. Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, Tommy Collins, Merle Haggard, Jean Shepard, Freddie Hart, Susan Raye, and Wynn Stewart; the 1954 single Louisiana Swing by Bud Hobbs is the first Bakersfield Sound record; in the 1960s Nashville Sound morphs into pop-friendly Countrypolitan, with orchestras and choirs, favored by Glen Campbell, Lynn Anderson, Charlie Rich, and Charley Pride. Later on Sept. 25, 1997 after Ferguson graduates from Vanderbilt U. with an anthropology degree, the newly-forming NBA Nashville Predators team adopts a saber-toothed cat (Smilodon) logo after the first skeleton E of the Mississippi River was discovered in 1971 during the construction of the First Am. Nat. Bank in downtown Nashville, Tenn. by Ferguson.

On Apr. 8, 1957 The Jimmy Dean Show is first aired by CBS-TV under the name "The Morning Show", airing on weekday and Sat. afternoons until June 1959, making Plainview, Tex.-born Jimmy Ray Dean (1928-2010) a star; it switches to ABC-TV on Sept. 19, 1963-Apr. 1, 1966, featuring Dean interacting with animated TV char. Fred Flintstone, and singing duets with Muppet Rowlf the Dog, operated by Jim Henson; in 1973-5 a half-hour version is syndicated. In Sept. 1961 he releases the album Big Bad John and Other Fabulous Songs and Tales, which features Smoke, Smoke, Smoke That Cigarette ("I smoked them all my life and I ain't dead yet/ But nicotine slaves are all the same/ At a pettin' party or a poker game/ Everything's gotta stop when you have that cigarette"), and Big Bad John (#1 in the U.S., #2 in the U.K.) (1M copies), written by Jimmy Dean and Roy Acuff; "Every morning at the mine, you could see him arrive. He stood 6 foot 6, weighed 245. Kind of broad at the shoulders, narrow at the hip. And everybody knew you didn't give no lip to Big John"; "Grabbed a sagging timber and gave out with a groan and like a giant oak tree just stood there alone."

On Apr. 29, 1957 Chandler, Tex.-born "Smilin'" Ralph Webster Yarborough (1903-96) becomes a liberal Dem. U.S. sen. from Tex. (until Jan. 3, 1971), going on to become the only Southern sen. to vote for every civil rights bill from 1957-70, becoming known as "the patron saint of Texas liberals".

On Aug. 16-22, 1957 Lubbock, Tex.-based Charles Hardin Holley (1936-59) and his group Buddy Holly and the Crickets performs at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, N.Y., breaking the color line in music, launching the Lubbock Sound, which influenced the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Lou Reed et al.; his hits incl. That'll Be the Day (1M copies), whose title is based on a line by John Wayne in the 1956 film "The Searchers", and Peggy Sue (#3 in the U.S.).

On Sept. 27, 1957 (Fri.) the Western comedy Maverick(B&W) (Warner Bros.) debuts on ABC-TV for 124 episodes (until Apr. 22, 1962), starring Okla.-born James Garner (1928-), Queens, N.Y.-born John Augustus "Jack"Kelly (1927-92), and Long Beach, Calif.-born Robert Colbert (1931-) (season 4), as Tex.-born high-stakes poker-playing traveling Maverick brothers Bret, Bart, and Brent; after season 3 Garner leaves after a winning a lawsuit freeing him to go into movies; no more than two brothers appear in the same episode, often only one; after Sean Connery turns the part down, London-born Roger George Moore (1927-) (season 4) (who suffers from hoblophobia, fear of guns, blinking when he touches on) plays their English cousin Beau; after uttering the soundbyte: "Put me in a dress and call me Brenda, but don't do this to me!", Colbert is deliberately palmed-off as Garner, lasting only two seasons when the voice gives him away.

On Oct. 4, 1957 (Fri.) "the thinking man's Western" series Trackdown debuts on CBS-TV for 70 episodes (until Sept. 23, 1959), starring Robert Martin Culp (1930-2010) as Texas Ranger Hoby Gilman in 1870s Porter (NE of Houston), Montgomery County, Tex.

On Feb. 4, 1958 Pres. Eisenhower creates the Killian Committee to reorganize America's ballistic missile and space program; U.S. Sen. (D-Tex.) Lyndon Johnson leads the Congressional effort to establish the Nat. Aeronautics and Space Admin. (NASA) (big bucks for Texas) on July 16, signed by Ike on July 29; the 1959 NASA Logo is known as the "meatball"; it is replaced in 1975-2 by the NASA "worm" Logo.

In Feb. 1958 Houston, Tex.-born Kenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers (1938-) releases his debut single That Crazy Feeling (#51 in the U.S.). In 1967 he forms the country rock group The First Edition with Terry Williams, Mike Settle, Thelma Camacho, and Mickey Jones, which releases Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In (1967) (#5 in the U.S.), Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town (1969) (#39 country) (#6 in the U.S). In 1976 the group disbands, and he goes solo again, releasing Lucille (#1 country) (#5 in the U.S.), followed by Daytime Friends (and Nighttime Lovers) (1977) (#1 country) (#28 in the U.S.), Love or Something Like It (1978) (#1 country) (#32 in the U.S.), The Gambler (1978) (#1 country) (#16 in the U.S.), She Believes in Me (1979) (#1 country) (#5 in the U.S.), You Decorated My Life (1979) (#1 country) (#7 in the U.S.), Coward of the County (1979) (#1 country) (#3 in the U.S.) (3M copies), Lady (1980) (#1 country) (#1 in the U.S.), I Don't Need You (#1 country) (#3 in the U.S.), Love Will Turn You Around (1982) (#1 country) (#13 in the U.S.), We've Got Tonight (w/Sheena Easton) (1983) (#1 country) (#6 in the U.S.), and Islands in the Stream (w/Dolly Parton) (1983) (#1 country) (#1 in the U.S.). In 1999 he releases Buy Me A Rose (w/Alison Krauss and Billy Dean) (#1 country) (#40 in the U.S.). He goes on to release 30+ albums and 75+ singles (incl. 21 country #1s) and sell 165M records worldwide.

On Mar. 8-9, 1958 (2nd weekend) the town of Sweetwater, Tex. (181 mi. W of Fort Worth) holds its first annual Rattlesnake Roundup, combined with the Sweetwater Rifle and Pistol Club's gun and coin show.

In 1958 Sheldon, Iowa-born Eugene Burdick (1918-65) and New York City-born William Julius Lederer Jr. (1912-2009) pub. the bestseller The Ugly American, about how U.S. officials should learn local languages and customs to win hearts and minds in Indochina. In Oct. 1962 Burdick and Waco, Tex.-born John Harvey Wheeler (1918-2004) pub. Fail-Safe, about a computer glitch that causes USAF nuclear bombers to attack the Soviet Union; filmed in 1964; Wheeler was born in Waco, Tex., natch? In 1964 Burdick pub. The 480: A Novel of Politics; engineer John Tatch seeks the 1964 Repub. pres. nomination, and computers are used to simulate 480 groups to forecast his probable success. In 1965 he pub. Nina's Book. In 1966 Burdick and Lederer Sarkhan; Southeast Asian nation Sarkhan is targeted for Commie takeover. In 1977 they pub. The Deceptive American.

In 1958 Alvarado, Tex.-born Terry Southern (1924-95) and Mason Hoffenberg pub. Candy in France under the alias Maxwell Kenton, a sexually explicit novel, which is suppressed by Charles de Gaulle; it is pub. in the U.S. in 1964, creating a sensation and raising the bar for obscenity prosecution. In 1959 he pub. The Magic Christian, about eccentric billionaire Guy Grand, who likes to stage elaborate practical jokes to prove that everyone has their price; the final adventure takes place on board SS Magic Christian; "It was an incredible influence on me" (Hunter S. Thompson). In 1970 he pub. Blue Movie; Boris "B" Adrian films "The Faces of Love" about the full range of human sexual experience; dedicated "To the great Stanley K." (Kubrick)

On Feb. 3, 1959 the Day the Music Died sees Lubbock, Tex.-born "Peggy Sue" star Buddy Holly (Charles Hardin Holley) (b. 1936), Pacoima, Calif.-born "La Bamba" star Ritchie Valens (Ricardo Esteban Valenzuela Reyes) (b. 1941), and Sabine Pass, Tex.-born "Chantilly Lace" star The Big Bopper (Jiles Perry "J.P." "Jape" Richardson Jr.) (b. 1930) killed shortly after takeoff in an airplane crash near Clear Lake (outside Mason City), Iowa in a chartered Beech Bonanza N3749N headed for their next engagement in Moorhead, Minn. (sister city of Fargo, N.D.); after leaving the Crickets, Holly hired a new band consisting of bassist Waylon Arnold Jennings (1937-2002), guitarist Tommy Allsup (1931-) (who leaves his wallet onboard, which is later recovered), and drummer Carl Bunch (1939-2011) to play the Winter Dance Party Tour; Jennings and Allsup relinquished their seats at the last minute as Jennings give up his seat to the Big Bopper and Valens won a coin toss with Allsup; on Feb. 4 the audience in Fargo expecting to see them saw Bobby Vee and the Shadows for the first time instead; Holly leaves Puerto Rico-born widow Maria Elena Holly (nee Santiago) (1935-), and Valens' girlfriend Donna Ludwig already kicked off. Buddy Holly's hits incl. Peggy Sue (1957) (#3 in the U.S.), and Oh Boy! (1957) (#10 in the U.S.). Ritchie Valens' big 1958 hits are La Bamba (#22 in the U.S.), and Donna (#2 in the U.S.). The Big Bopper's big 1958 hit is Chantilly Lace (#6 in the U.S.). While much has been makes of their sudden deaths, the truth is that they are all square 1950s throwbacks and wouldn't have done well in the 1960s, although we'll never know for sure.

On Mar. 1, 1959 the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. 6.5 mi. NE of Washington, D.C. is established by renaming the Beltsville Space Center in honor of rocket pioneer Robert H. Goddard (1882-1945), going on to manage Project Vanguard and Project Mercury until it gets to big, causing NASA to establish the Manned Spacecraft Center in "Space City" Houston, Tex. on Nov. 1, 1961, being renamed the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) on Feb. 19, 1973.

On Mar. 18, 1959 Howard Hawks' Rio Bravo (Warner Bros.) debuts, shot in Tucson, Ariz., starring John Wayne as Presidio County, Tex. sheriff John T. Chance, Dean Martin as his drunken deputy Dude, John Russell and Claude Akins as ranchers Nathan and Joe Burdette, Ward Bond as wagon train boss Pat Wheeler, Walter Brennan as gimpy deputy Stumpy, Angie Dickinson as Feathers, and Ricky Nelson as Colorado Ryan, who performs the song "Get Along Home, Cindy".

In 1959 Houston, Tex.-born Allen Stuart Drury (1918-98) pub. the Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller Advise and Consent, about the Senate fight to nominate a controversial secy. of state, launching the Washington, D.C. novel genre; filmed in 1962. In 1962 he pub. the sequel A Shade of Difference. In 1965 he pub. That Summer. In 1966 he pub. Capable of Honor. In 1967 he pub. A Very Strange Society. In 1968 he pub. Preserve and Protect. In 1970 he pub. The Throne of Saturn; the first manned mission to Mars and its dirty politics. In 1973 he pub. Come Nineveh, Come Tyre. In 1975 he pub. The Promise of Joy. In 1976 he pub. A God Against the Gods; "horse-faced" Pharaoh Akhenaten. In 1977 he pub. Anna Hastings; also Return to Thebes (Feb.); the Egyptian 18th Dynasty incl. Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and King Tutankhamen. In 1979 he pub. Mark Coffin, U.S.S.: A Novel of Capitol Hill. In Oct. 1980 he pub. Egypt: The Eternal Smile. In 1981 he pub. The Hill of Summer; new U.S. pres. Hamilton Delbacher vs. Soviet PM Yuri Serapin. In Aug. 1983 he pub. Decision; the U.S. Supreme Court takes on a murder case. In Sept. 1984 he pub. The Roads of Earth; alternate history of the fall of the Soviet Union. On Sept. 17, 1986 he pub. Pentagon; the Yankee response to Russian occupation of a South Pacific island to build a submarine base. In 1988 he pub. The Destiny Makers. In 1990 he pub. Toward What Bright Glory. In 1993 he pub. Into What Far Harbour? In 1995 he pub. A Thing of State. In 1998 he pub. Public Men (last novel).

In 1959 Sherman, Tex.-born Alvis Edgar "Buck" Owens Jr. (1929-2006), who moved to Bakersfield, Calif. in 1951 and signed a recording contract with Capital Records in Feb. 1957 releases his first hit country song Second Fiddle (#24 country), backed by the Buckaroos, followed by Under Your Spell Again (1959) (#4 country), Excuse Me (I Think I've Got a Heartache) (1960) (#2 country), Foolin' Around (1961) (#2 country) (#113 in the U.S.), Mental Cruelty (w/Rose Maddox) (1961) (#8 country), Save the Last Dance for Me (1962) (#11 country), Act Naturally (1963) (#1 country), Love's Gonna Live Here (1963) (#1 country), My Heart Skips a Beat (1963) (#1 country) (#94 in the U.S.), I Don't Care (Just as Long as You Love Me) (1964) (#1 country) (#92 in the U.S.), I've Got a Tiger by the Tail (1964) (#1 country) (#25 in the U.S.), Before You Go (1964) (#1 country) (#82 in the U.S.), Only You (Can Break My Heart (1964) (#1 country) (#120 in the U.S.), Together Again (1964) (#1 country), Buckaroo (1965) (#1 country) (#60 in the U.S.), Waitin' in Your Welfare Line (1966) (#1 country) (#57 in the U.S.), Think of Me (1966) (#1 country) (#74 in the U.S.), Open Up Your Heart (1966) (#1 country), Where Does the Good Times Go (1966) (#1 country) (#114 in the U.S.), Sam's Place (1967) (#1 country) (#92 in the U.S.), Your Tender Loving Care (1967) (#1 country), How Long Will My Baby Be Gone (1968) (#1 country), Who's Gonna Mow Your Grass (1969) (#1 country) (#106 in the U.S.), Johnny B. Goode (1969) (#1 country) (#114 in the U.S.), Tall Dark Stranger (1969) (#1 country), The Great White Horse (w/Susan Raye) (1970) (#8 country) (#9 in the U.S.), Rollin' in My Sweet Baby's Arms (1971) (#2 country), Made in Japan (1972) (#1 country). In 1986 he leaves Hee-Haw. In 1988 he and Dwight Yoakam release Streets of Bakersfield (#1 country). In 1998 he and Cledus T. Judd release First Redneck on the Internet. He goes on to release 97 singles incl. 21 #1 country hits, becoming the only country star to have a hit record that is later done by the Beatles ("Act Naturally" in 1965, with Ringo Starr singing lead, plus a duet with Owens in 1989).

On Jan. 28, 1960 after twisting the arm of Washington Redskins owner (since 1932) George Preston Marshall (1896-1969) (owner of a TV monopoly in the South) by buying the rights to their fight song "Hail to the Redskins", the new Dallas Cowboys NFL franchise (originally the Dallas Steers then the Dallas Rangers) is created by Clint William Murchison Jr. (1923-87) et al., going on to become rivals of the other Southern team the Washington Redskins (greatest rivalry in sports?); after the Redskins defeat them 26-14 in their first contest they finish their first season 0-11-1; in the 1970s the song Dallas Cowboys Pride by Charley Pride becomes their anthem, followed in 20?? by Feed Me by Keize Montoya.

On May 5, 1960 Vernon, Tex.-born 4-octave-range singer-songwriter Roy Kelton Orbison (1936-88), known for wearing black clothes and black sunglasses to cover for his childhood jaundice and congenital poor eyesight, with black dye in his prematurely white hair, making him look like Elvis' sick brother released his first of 22 1960s hit singles Only the Lonely (#2 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.), followed by Running Scared (Mar. 1961) (#1 in the U.S., #9 in the U.K.), Crying (July 1961) (#2 in the U.S., #7 in the U.K.), Love Hurts (by Boudleaux Bryant) (1961) (#5 in Australia), Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream?) (Jan. 1962) (#4 in the U.S., #2 in the U.K.), In Dreams (Feb. 1963) (#7 in the U.S., #6 in the U.K.), Falling (May 1963) (#22 in the U.S., #9 in the U.K.), Blue Bayou (Aug. 1, 1963) (#29 in the U.S., #3 in the U.K.), Pretty Paper (Nov. 1963) (#15 in the U.S., #6 in the U.K.), It's Over (Apr. 1964) (#1 country) (#9 in the U.S.) (#1 in the U.K.), and Oh, Pretty Woman (Aug. 1964) (#1 in the U.S. and U.K.). That's right, the Beatles Invasion even killed him. In Jan. 1967 he releases the tribute album Roy Orbison Sings Don Gibson, which features Too Soon to Know (#3 in the U.K.), and (I'd Be) A Legend in My Time. On May 26, 1986 he releases the album Class of '55 (#15 country), recorded with Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, and Carl Perkins, which features Class of '55, and Big Train (from Memphis) (by John Fogerty). The Oct. 18, 1988 album Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 (#3 in the U.S.) (#16 in the U.K.) (6M copies), recorded with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Leff Lynne features Handle with Care, Tweeter and the Monkey Man, and End of the Line. The Feb. 7, 1989 posth. album (his last) Mystery Girl (#17 country) (#5 in the U.S.) (#2 in the U.K.) (3M copies) features She's a Mystery to Me, and You Got It (#1 country) (#9 in the U.S.) (#3 in the U.K.). He goes on to release 23 studio albums and 92 singles incl. 22 top-40s, six top-5s, and two #1s.

On June 15, 1960 (midnight) the town of Kopperl, Tex. experiences "Satan's Storm", in which a heat burst from a dying thunderstorm causes superheated air to compress and fall on the town, bursting thermometers at 140F (60C), with wind gusts of up to 75 mph (121 km/hr), popping corn on the stalks.

In 1960 after getting turned on by an Elvis performance, then almost signing with the ML Pittsburgh Pirates until the Everly Brothers talk him out of it, Nacogdoches, Tex.-born ex-rockabilly star wannabe Robert Glynn "Bob" Luman (1937-78) releases his first hit single Let's Think About Livin' (Warner Bros. Records) (#9 country) (#7 in the U.S.) (#10 in the U.K.), followed by a decade of touring in Las Vegas et al. along with low-charters, turning his career around with a contract with Epic Records, releasing When You Say Love (1971) (#6 country), Lonely Women Make Good Lovers (1972) (#4 country), Neither One of Us (1973) (#7 country), Still Loving You (1973) (#7 country), and The Pay Phone (1977) (#13 country). He goes on to become the first country singer to perform in Puerto Rico before dying of pneumonia at age 41.

In 1960 Fort Worth, Tex.-born, Okla.-raised Roger Dean Miller Sr. (1936-92) releases his first hit single You Don't Want My Love (In the Summertime) (#14 country) (RCA Records), followed by Dang Me (1964) (#1 country) (#7 in the U.S.), Chug-a-Lug (1964) (#3 country) (#9 in the U.S.), Do-Wacka-Do (1965) (#15 country) (#31 in the U.S.), King of the Road (1965) (#1 country) (#4 in the U.S.) ("Trailer for sale or rent/ Rooms to let 50 cents/ No phone, no pool, no pets/ I ain't got no cigarettes/ Ah but two hours of pushin' broom/ Buys an 8 by 12 4-bit room/ I'm a man of means by no means/ King of the road"), Engine Engine #9 (1965) (#2 country) (#7 in the U.S.), Kansas City Star (1965) (#7 country) (#31 in the U.S.), England Swings (1965) (#3 country) (#8 in the U.S.),, Husbands and Wives (1966) (#5 country) (#26 in the U.S.). Walkin' in the Sunshine (1967) (#7 country) (#37 in the U.S.), Little Green Apples (1968) (#6 country) (#39 in the U.S.), Me and Bobby McGee (1969) (#12 country) (#122 in the U.S.), Where Have All the Average People Gone (1969) (#14 country), and Tomorrow Night in Baltimore (#11 country).

Knocking on Heaven's Door, or Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, or King Arthur and the Days of Camelot come to the White House, only to be defeated by the mean Dragon of the MIC? On Jan. 20, 1961 (Sun.) 43-y.-o. charisma-maximus Mass.-born Harvard-educated WWII Navy PT-boat hero (first to be knocked-off by the Military-Industrial Complex?) John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy (1917-63) becomes the 35th U.S. pres. (until Nov. 22, 1963) in the 51st U.S. Pres. Inauguration (youngest pres. until?) (first Boy Scout pres.) (first Gemini pres.) (first pres. with an air-conditioned limo) (continues the tradition of all Mass.-born presidents being born in Norfolk County, incl. John Adams and John Quincy Adams); "from a medical standpoint, he was a mess", having been hospitalized more than three dozen times and given last rites 3x; snowiest inauguration (8 in. of snow) until ?; Robert Frost delivers his poem The Gift Outright ("The land was ours before we were the land's"); Stonewall, Tex.-born U.S. Sen. (D-Tex.) (since Jan. 3, 1949) Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-73) becomes the 37th U.S. vice-pres. (until Nov. 22, 1963); JFK makes wearing hats uncool for decades to come?; the inaug. theme is "World Peace Through New Frontiers"; JFK's Inauguration Address, mainly written by his "intellectual blood bank" advisor Theodore Chaikin "Ted" Sorensen (1928-) (a Nebraskan with a Danish father and Russian Jewish mother), incl. the soundbytes: "The world is very different now, for man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe: the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God. We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans, born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world. Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty"; "Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all minkind? Will you join in that historic effort? In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility, I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it, and the glow from that fire can truly light the world. And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for you country"; he adds "I now invite all nations, incl. the Soviet Union to join with us in developing a weather prediction program, in a new communications satellite program), and in preparation for probing the distant planets of Mars and Venus, probes which may someday unlock the secrets of the Universe"; on Jan. 21 JFK's brother Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy (1925-68) becomes U.S. atty.-gen., with JFK explaining that it's "to give him... experience before he goes out to practice law" (which is OK despite nepotism because the Nixon Doctrine says that if the president does it it isn't illegal?); Yale U. grad Burke Marshall (1922-2003) is appointed by RFK as asst. atty.-gen. in charge of the U.S. Justice Dept.'s Civil Rights Div. (until Dec. 1964), initially chosen because he's not a known civil rights leader and turning JFK off, who says "I have nothing in common with that man", but who later distinguishes himself by using the U.S. govt. power to regulate interstate commerce as the tool to force black civil rights on states rather than the more obvious 14th Amendment; Dem. Pierre Emil George Salinger (1925-2004) (Jewish father, French Catholic mother) becomes White House press. secy., continuing with LBJ after JFK's death; Repub. Clarence Douglas (Douglass) Dillon (1909-2003) becomes treasury secy. #57 (until 1965); after turning down the treasury secy. job, Oakland, Calif.-born Repub. Robert Strange McNamara (1916-2009) ("an IBM machine with legs") (whose portrait resembles actor James Stewart crossed with a Scottish Terrier and Giant Poodle?) (pres. of Ford Motor Co. for five weeks, first who wasn't a descendant of Henry Ford, one of the Ford Whiz Kids, known for his slicked-back hair, frameless glasses, and statistical-quoting technocrat approach, who made the decision to dump the Edsel, and takes a $3M pay cut to take the $25K-a-year govt. job after visiting JFK in a snowstorm and telling him he has no experience and isn't qualified, to which JFK responds that he had no experience as pres. either but that didn't stop him) becomes U.S. defense secy. #8 (until Feb. 29, 1968) (first to exert civilian control over the military) (the Defense Dept. soaks up 15% of the GDP, and 50% of the federal budget), going on to see the U.S. and Soviet Union come to the brink of nuclear war 3x; Athens, Ga.-born "Cold War, hell it was a hot war"; Rockefeller Foundation head (a Dem. from Ga., who only takes the job after he gets a partial pension) David Dean Rusk (1909-94) becomes U.S. secy. of state #54 (until Jan. 20, 1969) after JFK snubs his too-liberal campaign foreign policy advisor Chester Bliss Bowles (1901-86) (Conn. gov. #78 in 1941-51) (who becomes undersecy., and is fired before the end of the year) for a conservative figurehead who gives an appearance of not appeasing the Commies, although Rusk is the odd man out in the admin. and a weak secy., and JFK really leans on his 25-year friend William David Ormsby-Gore, 5th Baron Harlech (1918-85) (British ambassador to the U.S.) and seems to know more about British than U.S. society and foreign policy, esp. U.S. civil rights, and regards Gore's boss British PM Harold Macmillan as a surrogate father after his own daddy's stroke?; on Jan. 21 Jewish-Am. Dem. Conn. gov. #80 (since Jan. 5, 1955) Abraham Alexander Ribicoff (1910-98) becomes U.S. HEW secy. #4 (until July 13, 1962); JFK goes hatless to his inaguration, and starts the trend toward 2-button suits? (easier to get out of when making out?); JFK favors John Wayne Westerns for White House viewing, and his favorite food is tomato soup with sour cream; he is a sex and drug (methamphetamime?) addict, which the press covers up; his two pet cats are named Kitten and Tom; First Lady Jacqueline Lee Bouvier "Jackie" Kennedy (1929-94) (Secret Service codename: Lace) last year hired Paris-born Am. fashion designer Oleg Cassini Loiewski (1913-2006) to create her own look, and he decided that she looks Egyptian, "the Cleopatra of the modern era", making use of her broad shoulders, flat chest, thin hips and long torso, causing her to bite big and spend $100K on haute couture clothes this year alone; she smokes cigarettes even though she is never photographed with one; JFK orders a copy of the Robert Preston exercise song Go, You Chicken Fat, Go sent to every U.S. school; in Nov. 1960 UPI correspondent Helen Thomas (1920-) (Greek Orthodox of Lebanese descent) is assigned to the White House, becoming known as "the Sitting Buddha", sitting in the front row and asking the first question, and beginning the tradition of ending all the conferences with "Thank you, Mr. President"; she resigns from UPI on May 17, 2000 after 57 years a day after News World Communications Inc., owned by Rev. Sun Myung Moon acquires it, and joins Hearst Newspapers; after on-camera remarks about Jews needing to leave Palestine and go back to Europe surface, she retires on June 7, 2010.

On June 15, 1961 Houston, Tex.-born John Goodwin Tower (1925-91) becomes a Repub. sen. from Tex. (until Jan. 3, 1985), the first Repub. since Reconstruction, and the only Southern Repub. senator until Strom Thurmond in 1964, going on to oppose the 1964 U.S. Civil Rights Act and the 1965 U.S. Voting Rights Act before mellowing and supporting Gerald Ford over Ronald Reagan along with legalized abortion, and opposing Pres. Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative.

In 1961 the Washington Senators move to Minneapolis, Minn. and become the Minnesota Twins; the new Washington Senators become Washington, D.C.'s first ML team; after the 1971 season they move to Arlington, Tex. and change their name to the Texas Rangers; in 1980 Tex. oil tycoon Harrell Edmonds "Eddie" Chiles (1910-93) buys the team, selling it in 1989 to a group incl. future U.S. pres. George W. Bush and Am. history-loving New York City stockbroker Richard Gilder Jr. (1932-), who in 2005 marries his paternal niece, actress Lois Chiles.

In 1961 Archer City, Tex.-born Larry McMurtry (1936-) pub. his first novel Horseman, Pass By, about Homer Bannon, his stepson Hud, and grandson Lonnie, becoming the basis of the 1963 film "Hud"; first in his Thalia Trilogy (1961-6). In 1963 he pub. Leaving Cheyenne, about Molly, Gideon, Johnny and Eddie; basis of the 1974 film "Lovin' Molly". In 1966 he pub. The Last Picture Show; #3 in his Thalia Trilogy (1961-6); high school seniors Sonny Craword and Duane Jackson in Thalia, Tex. in 1951-2 experiment with sex; filmed in 1971. In 1975 he pub.Terms of Endearment; overbearing widowed mother Aurora, and her daughter Emma with terminal cancer; filmed in 1983; in 1992 he pub. the sequel The Evening Star, about Aurora Greenway dealing with old age. In 1982 he pub. Cadillac Jack, about big Texas liar Jack McGriff. In 1985 he pub. Lonesome Dove (Pulitzer Prize), about retired Texas Rangers Capt. Augustus "Gus" McCrae and Capt. Woodrow F. Call, who run the Hat Creek Cattle Co. and Livery Emporium in the Tex. border town of Lonesome Dove and decide to drive a herd of cattle to begin the first cattle ranch N of the Yellowstone River and visit Gus' sweetheart Clara on the Platte River near Ogallala Neb.; based on the cattle drive of Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving, where Loving is attacked by Indians and dies of blood poisoning; turned into a TV miniseries in 1989 starring Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones; followed by "Streets of Laredo", "Dead Man's Walk", and "Comanche Moon".

It's time to shop at checkered auto parts? On Jan. 4, 1962 Pres. Kennedy appoints Texas-born Frederick Herman "Fred" Korth (1909-98) as U.S. Navy secy. #56 (until Nov. 1, 1963) after Texas-born John B. Connally Jr. (appointed on Jan. 25, 1961) resigns last Dec. 20 and Texas-born LBJ lobbies him in; within weeks Korth gets the X-22 V/STOL contract switched from Boeing of Seattle, Wash. to Bell Aerospace Corp. of Ft. Worth, Tex.; too bad, after a prototype crashes on Aug. 8, 1966, the program is cancelled; meanwhile the $6.5B joint Navy-Air Force swing-wing TFX/F-111 Aardvark program is up for bids, and with his and LBJ's lobbying, General Dynamics Co. of Ft. Worth, Tex. gets the award on Oct. 24, despite Boeing Co. of Washington state having a better design and bidding $100M lower; Korth served as pres. of the Continental Nat. Bank in Fort Worth, Tex., which financed the Gen. Dynamics plant, and before that he was the lawyer for Edwin A. Ekdahl, hubby of Lee Harvey Oswald's mother Marguerite Frances Ekdahl during their divorce; too bad, on Dec. 12 when LBJ visits GD for their big celebration, Texas Dem. rep. (1955-89) James Claude "Jim" Wright Jr. (1922-), representing the Texas 12th District based in Ft. Worth slips and utters the soundbyte: "You have to have friends and they have to stick with you through thick and thin even if you do have merit on your side", causing the U.S. Senate to begin an investigation. On Nov. 20, 1963 a Senate investigating committee holds hearings on the TFX (Tactical Fighter Experimental) Fighter Plane Scandal where General Dynamics had received a $7B contract in 1962; on Nov. 22, 1963 they hear testimony about an alleged $100K cash payoff to vice-pres. LBJ, but after the assassination of JFK there is no follow-up - hmmm, JFK, Cuba, the U.S.S.R., Oswald, Marcello, General Dynamics, LBJ... let's make a movie?

On June 27, 1962 Texarkana, Tex.-born Henry Ross Perot (1930-) founds his govt. contracting co. Electronic Data Systems (EDS), pioneering outsorcing in 1967 before floating it on the stock market and becoming a billionaire; in 1984 he sells it to Gen. Motors, then founds Perot Systems in 1988, which is acquired by Dell Computers in 2009; meanwhile EDS is acquired by Hewlett-Packard for $13.9B - sound effects man, can you queue the coins now?

On Jan. 15, 1963 Floresville, Tex.-born former U.S. Navy secy. (1961) John Bowden Connally Jr. (1917-93) (close friend of LBJ) becomes Dem. Tex. gov. #39 (until Jan. 21, 1969).

On May 29, 1963 Martin Ritt's B&W Hud (Paramount Pictures) debuts, filmed on location in the Tex. Panhandle incl. Claude, Tex., starring Paul Newman as alienated youth Hud Bannon, Melvyn Douglas as his stern daddy Homer Bannon, and Patricia Neal as neighbor Alma Brown, whom he assaults; does $10M box office on a $2.35M budget; "The man with the barbed wire soul"; "I always say the law was meant to be interpreted in a lenient manner."

On Nov. 21, 1963 JFK and Jackie begin a 2-day tour of yee-haw Tex.; JFK fails to rehearse for a press conference the next day because his mind is on Vietnam, telling asst. press secy. Malcolm MacGregor "Mac" Kilduff Jr. (1927-2003), "I've just been given a list of the most recent casualties in Vietnam. We're losing too damned many people over there. It's time for us to get out. The Vietnamese are not fighting for themselves. We're the ones who are doing the fighting. After I come back from Texas that's going to change. There is no reason for us to lose another man over there. Vietnam is not worth another American life"; at 9 p.m. JFK gives a speech at the Rice Hotel in Houston at a gala given by the League of United Latin Am. Citizens (LULAC), where they are filmed on 8mm film by Roy Botello (1922-), who keeps the film in his drawer for almost 47 years before releasing it to the public; Jackie gives a speech in Spanish; LBJ says "But I know I speak for all of you when I say that we are very proud and very happy that we have our beloved president and our lovely First Lady here with us tonight."

If the government's so perfect, why did it send me a license saying I'm a woman? The You Always Remember Where You Were Day? The Day the U.S. Constitution Died Like That, 1-2-3? The first fully televised tragedy? A turning point in U.S. history, as the most forked-up official coverup in Illuminati history offers the old One Lucky Plucker Theory, which seems on closer inspection like one of them Japanese magic shows with black ninjas? The JFK Assassination is like a dark alley, with a stand in front holding a voluminous official story, which you are told to accept by the government, while if you try to go in the alley to see for yourself, you will end up dead, and all historyscopers can do is hope to shine a little light in the alley while looking downstream and seeing who had the power to do it, who benefitted, and who had the power to cover it up? The Mighty U.S. comes to a stop for a month, during which who knows what's going on behind the scenes during the nonexistent coup d'etat? "And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed; and all the world wondered after the beast" (Rev. 13:3)?

On Nov. 22, 1963 (11-22-33, er, 11-22-63) (6+3=9 and 22-11=11, thus the first real 9/11?) (Fri.) U.S. pres. (since Jan. 20, 1961) (34 mo., 2 days) (64 press conferences, avg. viewership 18M, max 65M) after approving a probe to see whether relations with Fidel Castro can be improved earlier this mo., John Fitzgerald Kennedy (b. 1917), visiting the 2nd of three Tex. cities (San Antonio, Ft. Worth, Dallas) with his wife Jackie leaves the Texas Hotel during a light rain after accidentally leaving his St. Jude and St. Christopher medals hanging on his Texas Hotel Suite 850 shower head, and asking Jackie to wear her pink suit, and commenting "We're heading into nut country today", stopping to give some brief remarks on a platform set up outside: "There are no faint hearts in Fort Worth. I appreciate your being here this morning. Mrs. Kennedy is organizing herself. It takes longer, but, of course, she looks better than we do when she does it", adding a remark about "the willingness of the citizens of the United States to assume the burdens of leadership"; he then leaves from Carswell Air Force Base (in operation 1942-94) 5 mi. NW of Ft. Worth, Tex., then 13 min. later lands in Love Field in Dallas on Runway 31 at 11:39 a.m., leaving in his 22-car motorcade and touring downtown Dallas (250K spectators) in his 1963 Blue Lincoln Continental (license plate GG-300), chauffeured by Irish-born 10th grade-educated William Robert Greer (1909-85) (one of three special-built cars), with the non-bulletproof bubbletop left in the trunk (JFK's idea, so people could see Jackie, or ordered removed by the Secret Service to make it easier for the shooters to see?), and with no motorycle cops riding in the usual flanking positions, as ordered by the Secret Service; the usual flat-bed truck for reporters to ride in front of the limo is cancelled; vehicles were in the wrong order, with Kennedy's limo in front, when it should been in the middle; Mafia-connected Dallas County sheriff (since 1949) James Eric "Bill" Decker (1898-1970) (who rides in the backseat of the motorcade's lead car) withdraws all police protection for the motorcade; as they leave Love Field, Secret Service agent Emory P. Roberts in the SS car behind JFK's car (taking orders from their new pres. LBJ in the car behind that, as they quit protecting soon-to-be dead pres. JFK in favor of him to keep their jobs?) orders agent Henry J. Rybka (standing on the back bumper of the pres. limo) to jump off and remain at the airport, with only Clint Hill on the bumper on Jackie's side, after which he too is gone by the fatal turn onto Houston St.; Jackie sits next to JFK wearing a (brain-colored?) pink suit and pillbox hat, designed by gay Am. fashion designer Halston (Roy Halston Frowick) (1932-90), which ends up stored in the Nat. Archives until the year 2103; in the front seat next to driver Greer is Secret Service agent Roy Herman Kellerman (1915-84), in the 2nd row are the Connallys, and in the 3rd row the Kennedys; the 1956 Cadillac 9-passenger convertible behind it contains eight Secret Service agents, and the rented 1964 Lincoln 4-door convertible behind that contains shining Teflon LBJ and his left-wing Texas. Dem. Sen. buddy Ralph Yarborough (1903-96), who had been feuding with Connally and had believed LBJ was leaning towards his side, causing him to snub LBJ and refuse to ride in the same car with him in San Antonio on Nov. 21, but had been quickly reconciled; this is the first time that the Secret Service has allowed both the pres. and the vice-pres. to ride in the same motorcade, why why why ask the sky?; LBJ's driver is Texas Highway Patrolman Hurchel D. Jacks (1929-95); Secret Service Agent Rufus Youngblood (1924-96) sits in the front passenger seat of LBJ's car, and throws himself on top of him to protect him during the shooting (later getting promoted by LBJ to #2 in the Secret Service), while Kellerman only turns around and stays seated, but is later promoted, while later claiming to believe there was a can-you-spell-conspiracy that he wasn't in; the agents protecting LBJ's cars react instantly after the shooting starts, opening the left rear door, while JFK's agents stand around doing nothing; photos of LBJ's car in the motorcade later seem hard locate; the usual military aide with the telephone suitcase, as well as JFK's physician are not in the limo; meanwhile loose cannon Jack Ruby, owner of the Carousel strip joint is placing ads in the Dallas Morning News, and British "Brave New World" author Aldous Huxley (b. 1894) is dying of cancer, going down high by taking 100 micrograms of LSD intramuscularly at 11:45 a.m. before croaking at 5:21 p.m.; English writer C.S. (Clive Staples) Lewis (b. 1898) also croaks at 5:33 p.m. of renal failure; "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Polka Dot Bikini" singer Brian Hyland (1943-) is touring with Dick Clark's "Caravan of Stars" in Dallas, and sees the motorcade passing by but forgets to remove the lens cap from his camera; after driving through downtown Dallas through 250K cheering onlookers, where the 112th Military Intelligence Group at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio is mysteriously told to not show up to protect him like they're supposed to, and the usual four motorcycle cops are called off each side of the pres. limo and told to ride in the back of the motorcade, it reaches its end (where JFK's cheering supporters can't help him anymore, since he's now in copland, the oldest part of Dallas, where the cops control every square centimeter?), and about 12:00 instead of continuing on Main St. to the Triple Underpass (built 1936) (which allows a railway to pass over Commerce, Main and Elm Sts., where there are some railroad cars parked), it turns right from Main St. onto S Houston St. in front of the 1895 Romanesque Pecos Red sandstone 3-story Dallas Criminal Courts Bldg. ("Old Red") on the right, with the 1913 Dallas County Jail (where Bonnie and Clyde were once held) on the left; after passing the Dallas County Records Bldg. on the right and going one block N, it turns left in front of and away from the 7-story Dal-Tex (Dallas-Textiles) Market Bldg. (built 1902) at 501 Elm St., and passes in front of the 7-story red brick Texas School Book Depository at 411 Elm St. (built 1893, rebuilt 1903) (which sports a Hertz Rent-a-Car and Chevrolet sign on the roof and incongruous open windows on the 5th and 6th floors) onto Elm St. into Illuminati-friendly Devil's, er, Dealey Plaza (Lat. "rule of the goddess"?) in W Dallas, named after Dallas Morning News founder (1885) George Bannerman Dealey (1859-1946), located in the birthplace of Dallas (also home to its first Masonic Temple), just S of deg. 33 lat. near the Trinity River; going against all the usual Secret Service rules, the naked hearse, er, limo then slowly enters the Kill Zone, passing the Grassy Knoll, a term coined by UPI correspondent Albert Merriman Smith (1913-70) (who rides in the press pool four cars behind JFK and later sends the message on his radiotelephone "Three shots were fired at President Kennedy's motorcade in Dallas") on the way to the Triple Underpass, then to the N Stemmons Freeway, where JFK is scheduled to attend a luncheon at the Dallas International Trade Mart and deliver a speech to 2.6K which includes the soundbyte: "If we are strong, our strength will speak for itself. If we are weak, words will be no help"; the excuse for the end-route diversion is that there is a 3-in. concrete divider preventing crossing from Main onto the freeway on-ramp to force traffic into the plaza for commercial reasons, although for a president removing it would have been no problemo, as if they couldn't all easily drive over it?; around 10:30 a.m. after some early rains, Julia Ann Mercer claims to see a pickup truck parked next to the curb beyond the Triple Underpass, and a man remove a rifle wrapped in brown paper and carry it toward the Grassy Knoll; on Nov. 23 she IDs Jack Ruby as the driver for the FBI, who treat her like merde, mama said there'd be days like this; at 12:19 Dallas Morning News mail room employee Jerry Boyd Belknap (1940-), who was hit by a car several years earlier, requiring 3x a day medicine for fainting spells forgets it and faints while lined up to watch the motorcade on the W side of Houston St. (100 N. Houston), causing an ambulance to be dispatched from Parkland Memorial Hospital, after which he is given his medicine and walks out of the hospital without registering; a diversion to allow the shooters to get into place?; at 12:30 p.m. after the limo stops at the foot of Elm St. after making a wide turn in front of the Texas School Book Depository, then passes the "Stemmons Freeway" sign on the right (270 ft. from the 6th floor window in the Depository), U.S. Pres. John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy (b. 1917) is assassinated with three shots from some kind of gun during a 5.6 sec. shooting window (8.6 sec.?), becoming the 7th straight victim of the Zero-Year Presidential Curse (after W.H. Harrison, Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, Coolidge, and FDR); the distance from the Magic Window to JFK is 88 yards, and Oswald had been rated as a sharpshooter who can accurately and rapidly hit targets at 200 yards, albeit with an M1; Texas gov. #38 (Jan. 15, 1963-Jan. 21, 1969) John Bowden Connally Jr. (1917-93) (key aid to LBJ in his congressman days, who switches to the Repub. Party after LBJ dies in 1973), riding in JFK's limo in the front seat is seriously wounded; JFK's driver William Greer suddenly slows down and stops after JFK's neck is wounded, then hits the gas only after the shots stop, and speeds to Parkland Memorial Hospital (founded 1894) at 5201 Harry Hines Blvd., Oak Lawn, later claiming to glance over his shoulder, see Connally shot, get told by Kellerman to "Get out of here fast", then step on the gas, while "a flurry of shells come into the car"; Greer later claims there was a conspiracy (which doesn't incl. him); some later claim to see photographic proof that Greer pulls out a pistol and plugs him right between the eyes, then puts the gun away quick and speeds up to the freeway, and others claim that the pistol is gas-powered and has an exploding bullet, all supplied by the CIA; too bad, it turns out to be a reflection from the top of Connally's head, although he still might have been in on it because of hitting the brakes; Connally's wife (since 1940) Idanell "Nellie" Connally (1919-2006) is not hurt, and later becomes the last living person that was in the car, claiming that the last words she said before the shots were "Mister President, you can't say Dallas doesn't love you"; Jackie Kennedy sees JFK raise his right hand before falling, saying "He raised his hand just like that, it was neat, it was beautiful", and shouts out "Oh, no, they've shot Jack"; she then climbs out on the trunk to retrieve a piece of her hubby's skull (brain?), and later turns it over to the surgeon at the hospital, asking "Will this help?"; the photo of Jackie on the trunk by Dallas-born photojurnalist James William "Ike" Altgens (1919-95) becomes iconic; motorcycle cop Bobby Harkiss, riding to JFK's left rear is hit by a spray of brain matter, at first believing he has been shot, and later says "When I turned back to look, that's when the president was shot in the face"; there were two head shots, the first from the rear, the 2nd a half sec. later from the front, which blows out a piece of his skull along with brains, which is what Jackie reaches for?; during the shooting, Secret Service agent George Hickey (1923-) rises to his feet in the follow-up car with his AR-15 machine gun, but doesn't fire it?; he accidentally shot JFK, causing the big coverup?; Dallas policeman Dallas policeman Joe Marshall Smith races to the Grassy Knoll and meets a mysterious Secret Service agent in the parking lot, who flashes his credentials; the first radio announcement is by Edwin Newman (1919-2010) of NBC; at 12:36 the first nat. news bulletin of the shooting is aired by ABC Radio, with Don Gardiner (-1977) interrupting a recording of Doris Day's "Hooray for Hollywood"; the first TV announcement comes at 12:40 p.m. as CBS journalist Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. (1916-2009), who had broadcast various warnings of danger to JFK in Dallas files an audio report after "As the World Turns" is interrupted, along with several others, later breaking up with emotion over the assassination, viewed by up to 70M Americans plus viewers in 23 other countries, causing Charles Collingwood (1917-85) to be called in to replace him during the day, and Harry Reasoner to anchor the CBS Evening News; Cronkite later reads the Soviet reaction to the JFK assassination by Valentin Alexandrovich Zorin (1902-86), containing the soundbyte "Those who know how the security of President Kennedy is organized know that it is not possible for a fanatic to commit such an assassination. A political crime, thoroughly prepared and planned has taken place.... It is not accidental that it took place in the Southern states, which are well known as a stronghold of racist and other fascist scum. It is precisely here that Goldwater, who is one of the contenders for the presidency gets his support"; the govt. sticks to the 3-shot lone gunman theory from the get-go despite 58 of 90 witnesses interviewed (out of 400 total), incl. William Eugene "Bill" Newman and his wife Frances Gayle Newman, who are interviewed by WFAA-TV Channel 8 by 6'9" actor-journalist-organist Theodore Crawford "Ted" Cassidy (1932-79) (later Lurch in "The Addams Family"), claiming they thought the shots came from between the Depository and Grassy Knoll, and medical student Evalea Glanges (1940-99) claiming to see a bullet hole in the front windshield, and Earl Jack "Jay" Watson (1926-2001), mgr. of WFAA-AM, who was in the Book Depository and saw a man run out of the bldg. shortly after the shooting, then hiked back to the station, becoming the first to break the news of the assassination (but was snubbed by the police?); Orville Nix Sr. (1920-88) takes a 24.5 sec. video of the assassination from the far side at the corner of Main and Houston Sts., and the first public viewing isn't until the year 2000; Dallas Jewish dress manufacturer Abraham Zapruder (1905-70) (whose office is in the Dal-Tex Bldg.) takes an 8mm color home movie of the final moments from the Grassy Knoll side using a 1962 Model 414 Bell & Howell Zoomatic and Kodak Kodachrome II film, showing JFK's head exploding out the front, spewing a halo of vaporizing brain tissue as his body lurches back sharply and to the left at 2g acceleration, even though no witnesses in Dealey Plaza reported the body motion, and a motorcycle cop to the left rear was hit by his brains wich such force that he thought he himself had been shot; instead of showing the film, small-time Tex. newscaster Dan Rather (1931-) describes the film on CBS-TV, brazenly lying that JFK's head jerked forward rather than backward, after which he makes a meotoric rise at CBS, while the film is purchased for $150K by Time-Life and kept from the public for 14 years; how convenient that Clare Boothe Luce (1903-87), wife of Time and Life magazine founder Henry Robinson Luce (1898-1967) was not only a supporter of the anti-Castro movement, but a friend of suspected JFK assassination plotters David Atlee Phillips and Gen. Edward Lansdale? (see below); some later find evidence that the Zapruder film was faked or altered or manufactured to bolster the lone gunman theory; spectator (USAF vet) James Thomas "Jim" Tague (1936-) is struck on the right cheek by a bullet ricochet from the curb 23.5 ft. from the E edge of the Triple Underpass railroad bridge, after which an unidentified man in a suit is seen picking up a bullet in the grass on Elm St. in the company of deputy sheriff Eddy Raymond "Buddy" Walthers (1929-) and Dallas policeman Joe W. Foster; after they can't coverup Tague's story, the problem of too many bullets causes the Magic (Single) Bullet Theory (bullet CE399) to later be manufactured, calling this the 2nd bullet, although later investigators suspect it came from the 2nd floor of the Dal-Tex Bldg.; too bad, there is also a large oak tree in the way that makes shooting at JFK from the Depository difficult for the first two shots; on the S side of Dealey Plaza is the white 5-story U.S. Post Office Terminal Annex Bldg. (built 1937), where Oswald rented P.O. Box 6225 on Nov. 1; to the W of Dealey Plaza is parking lot and a railroad tower, where signalman Lee Edward Bowers Jr. (1925-66) is working, later testifying to seeing two men behind the stockade fence W of the Grassy Knoll, along with a flash of light and smoke, after which on Aug. 9, 1966 his new car crashes into a bridge in Midlothian, Tex., killing him (drugged?); Norma Jean Lollis Hill (1931-2000) (AKA "the Lady in Red" because of her long red raincoat) stands next to JFK's car during the assassination, and later claims to see a white man in a brown overcoat and hat running W from the Depository toward the railroad tracks, IDing him as Jack Ruby; Hill stands with friend Mary Ann Moorman (1932-), who takes a photograph of the Badge Man behind the Grassy Knoll less than 1/6 sec. after JFK's head exploded; is Badge Man none other than J.D. Tippit, making the reason he ends up assassinated later clear, to cover the tracks to the DPD?; across from the Grassy Knoll "Umbrella Man" Louie Steven Witt stands at the curb in Dealey Plaza holding an opened umbrella, which he later claims is a protest against JFK's appeasement of Commies, mimicking umbrella-loving Neville Chamberlain; it's really a parting message to JFK from the CIA that they're getting even for him not providing an umbrella of protection at the Bay of Pigs?; a fake Secret Service agent is seen on the Grass Knoll by DPD officer Seymour Weitzman (who discovers the rifle in the Depository, calling it a 7.65 Mauser before changing his story to the official version), who later IDs him as Bernard Leon Barker (1917-2009), a former member of the Batista Cuban secret police, who was later one of the 1972 Watergate burglars, incl. Eugenio R. "Musculito" Martinez (1924-) (Cuban), Frank Anthony Sturgis (Frank Angelo Fiorini) (1924-93) (Va.-born Am. who worked in Cuba), and Virgilio R. Gonzalez (1926-) (Cuban); three tramps are taken out of one of the three railroad cars on the nearby tracks after the shooting, and photographed being led around by police in Dealey Plaza, two of them resembling E. Howard Hunt and Frank Sturgis; the bums later turn out to really be bums named Harold Doyle, Gus Abrams, and John Forrester Gedney?; some witnesses later claim to see known CIA operative Gerald Patrick "Gerry" Hemming (1937-) carrying a rifle case near the scene; meanwhile after all the careful solo planning, hiding plenty of ammo and weapons in his nest for days in advance, then shooting at JFK while he's heading straight at him so that he can get him right between the eyes, and having an easy time shooting the driver first to stop the car, then taking out LBJ's driver, LBJ, a bunch of Secret Service agents and a few cops, maybe Connally for extra points, plus that French Marie Antoinette bitch in the pillbox hat, er, taking out LBJ since he's the right-winger not JFK, or maybe waiting until they swing around and start heading toward the freeway, leaving JFK alone and losing him behind the big oak tree, then finally getting a good shot at LBJ, er, after killing them all, lone gunman Oswald, knowing he will be made in minutes because of his background and job there goes on to take several hostages and hole-up in the Depository, demanding a press interview, where he crows that he did it in the name of Communism to prove that Capitalism is weak and Marx rocks, and demands a plane to Cuba, where he will be welcomed as a hero, er, 74-90 sec. after the assassination Dallas motorcycle cop Marion L. Baker sees Oswald in the 2nd floor lunchroom drinking a Coke, where he is ID'd by bldg. suptd. Roy S. Truly, the same man who had hired him, who later testifies he is "calm, cool, normal and not out of breath in any way", after which Oswald quietly leaves the bldg. at 12:33 through the front door carrying the Coke bottle, then boards a bus at Field St. and Elm St. to his rooming house, later switching to a taxi; Oswald actually made his getaway from the Depository in a light-colored Rambler station wagon belonging to Ruth Hyde Paine?; meanwhile a police search of the Depository finds three spent shells lying in a row by the open window on the SE corner, a paper bag containing a pop bottle and chicken bones, and a 7.65 Mauser bolt-action rifle hidden among the book boxes at the head of the stairs, which later turns into a British Lee Enfield .303 Rifle (Tom Whelan on NBC-TV), and finally a Carcano; initially David Brinkley of NBC-TV reported that the rifle has no fingerprints; three days later a photo of the 6th floor window from the inside shows cartons piled up to look like a sniper's nest, although they are piled differently on the day of the assassination, arranged to block access so that nobody could have fired shots from the window?; two black men are looking out of a window on the 5th floor right beneath the Oswald window, incl. Harold "Hank" Norman (1938-), who claims to hear the three shots being fired plus the bolt working and the shells hitting the floor, along with James "Junior" Jarman Jr. (1930-), while Bonnie Ray Williams (1944-) (who ate his chicken, Fritos and Dr. Pepper lunch on the 6th floor at 12:10-12:15) is looking out an adjacent window, after which they all run up to see who did the shooting, er, go down and exit the building; "The second and the third shot was closer together than the first shot and the second shot... And it sounded, it even shook the building, the side we were on cement fell on my head" (Williams); deputy sheriff Harry Weatherford, best shot in the dept., who was assigned to the top of the County Records bldg. claims to see pigeons fly from the top of the Depository bldg. after the first shot, a muzzle flash from the 2nd shot, and to have fired at Oswald's window a microsecond before the 3rd shot, causing it to go high over Jackie and hit the curb on the S side of Elm St.; he was the real assassin?; Billy Lovelady, AKA Doorway Man is photographed standing on the ground floor of the Depository during the shooting wearing a plaid shirt and V-necked undershirt remarkably similar to that being worn by Oswald that day; at 12:45 after the genius police take a statement from eyewitness steamfitter Howard L. Brennan (1919-83), who claims to have seen Oswald in the Depository window from across the street, without knowing his name, and put two and two together at jet speed, a description is broadcast on the police radio, "Attention all squads, the suspect in the shooting at Elm and Houston is reported to be an unknown white male approximately 30, slender build, thought to be armed with anything but a 30-caliber rifle, no further description or information") (a description matching thousands of men, despite Oswald being the only Depository worker to flee and was duly reported by his boss?), after which no police are dispatched to any specific location other than Parkland Hospital and Dealey Plaza, and there is no manhunt or roundup?; the witnesses claiming to see him in the Depository window claim he has light colored hair and shirt, when Oswald has brown hair and is wearing a rust-brown shirt); at 1:00 p.m. Kennedy is pronounced dead in Trauma Room 1 of Parkland Memorial Hospital, given last rites by Roman Catholic priest Oscar L. Huber (1910-75), and after a confrontation at 2:00 between Dallas police and Secret Service agents, where Dallas County coroner Earl Rose attempts to enforce a state-mandated autopsy law, only to be overruled by district atty. Henry Wade, at 2:08 the corpse is whisked to Air Force One (so that the corpse of J.D. Tippit can be whisked in?); meanwhile a bullet is found in the hospital, and later U.S. rear adm. David P. Osborne (retired surgeon) claims that he saw a bullet roll out of sheets wrapping JFK's body at the military autopsy in Bethesda, Md., and handled it; surgical intern Charles Andrew Crenshaw (1933-2001), who placed JFK in a coffin later claims that he had four gunshot wounds, incl. one-two from the front, and that the neck wound was later tampered with (via a tracheotomy on a non-breathing corpse?) to make it look like an exit wound; in 1998 testimony to the Warren Commission is first released that a 2nd set of photos was taken at the military autopsy at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Md. and covered-up; the military autopsy is performed at 8 p.m. to midnight by Navy chief pathologist James J. Humes (1925-99), who burns his autopsy notes in his fireplace on Nov. 24 then makes up new improved ones, claiming that "the bullet penetrated the rear of the president's head and exited through a large wound on the right side of his head"; in 1973 the federal govt. purchases Trauma Room 1 and places it in a locked vault in Ft. Worth; at 1:00 p.m. neighbors near Red Bird Airport (later Dallas Executive Airport) in the Dallas suburb of Richardson 6 mi. SW of downtown Dallas call police to report a noisy twin-engine Comanche-type airplane revving its engines at the end of the airstrip on a grassy area near a fence, with airport employee Louis Gaudin reporting that about 2:00 p.m. three men in business suits boarded it, and it took off then returned with two passengers, being met by DPD officer ? Haake; J.D. Tippit is killed near R.L. Thornton Freeway, the route to the airport; that was where Oswald was headed to fly to Houston, where David Ferrie would fly them to Mexico then South Africa, which has no extradition treaty with the U.S.?; at 1:03 or 1:04 p.m. after arriving at his rooming house at 1026 N. Beckley St. in Oak Cliff (W of Dealey Plaza), Oswald Wabbit is seen leaving fast by diabetic widowed landlady Earlene Roberts (-1966), who says there was a mysterious police car parked outside on the street with two cops in it, which honks its horn twice and drives away first (Tippit's car, and if so, who is the other guy, Tippit's killer?); at 1:07 p.m. Dallas police officer (JFK lookalike?) J.D. Tippit (b. 1924) is murdered at E 10th St. and Patton Ave. in the Oak Cliff area 3/4-mi. from his rooming house by Oswald or somebody in front of several conflicting witnesses, incl. Acquilla Clemmons, who told police that she saw two men, a short heavy gunman and a tall thin man in khaki trousers and white shirt, and cop favorite Mrs. Helen Markham, who claimed to see the whole thing, and later IDs him in a lineup after seeing him on TV, but later goofed up when being interviewed by Mark Lane, describing him as "short", "a little on the heavy side", with "somewhat bushy hair", and makes other mistakes; at 1:16 civilian Domingo Benavides, who claims to see Oswald kill Tippit while driving in his pickup stops and uses Tippit's police car radio to call it in; R.C. Nelson is the only other officer assigned to the southwest Dallas area that day, and Tippett has Oak Cliff all to himself; after JFK dies at 1:00, his asst. press secy. Malcolm MacGregor "Mac" Kilduff Jr. (1927-2003) walks up to LBJ and addresses him as "Mr. President", causing Lady Bird Johnson to utter a short scream, after which LBJ tells him not to announce it until he leaves the hospital, later saying "I asked that the announcement be made after we left the room... so that if it were an international conspiracy... they would destroy us all"; shortly after JFK's death, John Connally's wife Nellie Connally hands a note from her hubby to his press secy. Julian Read to give to Jackie at Parkland Hospital, reading: "My thoughts have been with you constantly since being told the full truth today. I am overwhelmed beyond words. Nellie and I grieve for you and your children and pray that God will sustain you and give all of us the courage and wisdom we need in this dark hour in our nation's history"; at 1:33 Kilduff announced the death of JFK to the press in the Nurse's Room, with the soundbyte "President John F. Kennedy died at approximately 1:00 CST today here in Dallas. He died of a gunshot wound in the brain. Dr. Berkeley tells me that it was a simple matter of a bullet right through the head. I have no other details regarding the assassination of the president""; at 1:50-55 (51 min. after the assassination?) suspected not single but double assassin Lee Harvey Oswald (b. 1939) is arrested with mucho publicity in the Texas Theater at 232 W. Jefferson after he sneaks in without paying the 90-cent admission and Johnny Calvin Brewer, asst. mgr. of Hardy's Shoe Store made him from a radio description, alerts the ticket clerk Julia Postal (who is distracted by passing police sirens, and claims that Oswald had a panicked look on his face), then waits at the back and points him out for the cops after the lights are turned on; the theater is showing the 1963 B&W Korean War film "War is Hell", dir. by Burt Topper (one of two B war movies on the bill), and it had just started when Oswald is arrested amid the sound of onscreen gunfire, shouting "Well, it's all over now", then punching in the nose and pointing his .38 pistol at officer Nick McDonald (1928-2005), who catches the hammer in the web of his fingers, after which police detective Paul Bentley (1921-2008) jumps over several rows and arrests him, cutting Oswald's eye with his Masonic ring, causing him to cry police brutality; (JFK is dead for 2 hours, and the patsy is already in jail while the real culprit is making his getaway in Air Force One?) at 2:05 Oswald arrives at the police station in the custody of five DPD officers, and takes Dallas Police Mugshot #54018; at 2:30 p.m. he is interviewed in the office of DPD homicide and robbery chief Capt. John Will Fritz by Dallas FBI agent James P. Hosty (1928-), who had visited his wife Marina on Nov. 1 and Nov. 5, after which Oswald walked into his FBI office on Nov. 12 and gave a note to him, which he later claims is a complaint about the harassment but he conveniently destroyed, the secret taking until 1975 to come out, which Hosty pub. a book about in 1996; at 2:05 as Oswald is being brought in, Hosty tells the DPD criminal intel squad chief, lt. Jack Revill that he knew that known Commie Oswald is a likely candidate for a pres. assassination, which the DPD later twists into he was capable of committing the assassination, which Hosty later hotly denies, thinking the DPD is trying to blame the FBI for it; Marina Oswald (1941-) is taken into custody by the Secret Service and held at the Inn of the Six Flags in Arlington (near Ft. Worth), Tex. for 2 mo., during which time she is probably threatened with deportation if she doesn't cooperate by regurgitating the coverstories they're feeding her, after which she claims to have locked her hubby in the bathroom once to keep him from shooting Richard Nixon, although it locks from the inside; at 2:18 Jackie Kennedy arrives on Air Force One (Boeing 737) in her blood-soaked pink dress, which Lady Bird Johnson suggests she change out of, to which she replies "No, I want them to see what they have done to Jack"; at 2:38 p.m. 6'2" Tex.-born horse-trading backroom-dealing super-politician (obsessively watches the evening news on multiple TVs, has a button panel installed in the Oval Office reading "Coffee, Tea, Coke, Fresca", and enjoys high speed drives around his Texas ranch) Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-73) (who did-I-mention rode in the limo behind JFK's and didn't get a scratch?) becomes the 36th U.S. pres. (until 1969) in the 52nd U.S. Pres. Inauguration as federal judge (1961-82) Sarah Tilghman Hughes (1896-1985) (first woman to do it) gives him the oath of office before takeoff on a Roman Catholic missal found in near JFK's bed on the plane, with grief-stricken Jackie Kennedy standing at his left, becoming the first U.S. pres. sworn-in on a Catholic missal, after which there is a rumor that it was Hughes' personal Bible, or that it was lost or stolen by LBJ; she mistakenly makes him add "so help me God" to the oath; Kilduff makes the only audio recording of the event using a Dictabelt Dictaphone from JFK's desk on the plane; future House speaker (1971-77) Carl Bert Albert (1908-2000) winks at smiling LBJ after he is sworn-in; JFK's classmate Theodore Harold White (1915-86) gets an exclusive interview with stoic Jackie shortly after the assassination, and becomes the first to compare JFK's short-lived presidency with the British legend of Camelot; Jackie Kennedy comments: "He couldn't even have the satisfaction of being killed for civil rights... it had to be some silly little Communist"; Jack Valenti (1921-2007), who rode in the motorcade ends up with LBJ on the plane, and becomes his advisor; First Lady is Claudia "Lady Bird" Alta Taylor Johnson (1912-2007) (Secret Service codename: Victoria), who utters the soundbyte "I feel like I am suddenly onstage for a part I never rehearsed"; LBJ, known for his in-your-face intimidating Johnson Style soon becomes known for sleeping through most movies shown in the White House (his mental movies being far more interesting?); William Allen Harper finds a piece of JFK's skull, which the govt. denies is from the lower occipital (back) area, later losing it; Oswald is interrogated for approx. 12 hours by 11:15 a.m. on Nov. 24; CBS reporter Bob Schieffer (1937-) drives Oswald's mother Marguerite Claverie Oswald (1907-81) to see him in jail, where he is not permitted to talk to him, claiming an FBI man threatened to kill him, after which he says the JFK affair "turned us into a cynical people"; there is worldwide mourning, with writer John Steinbeck (1902-68), in Poland on a cultural mission for the State Dept. comments that he'd never seen so much mourning; the Dow Jones Industrial Avg. drops 21 points (3%), then recovers within a week; at 7:05 p.m. Oswald is charged with Tippit's murder by known corrupt justice-for-the-police Dallas DA (1951-87) Henry Menasco Wade (1914-2001), and at 7:55 p.m. he is trotted out bearing bruises and cuts in front of TV cameras by Texas lawmen wearing Stetson hats, giving him his big chance, where he utters the immortal soundbyte "I'm a Communist, and I killed your president all by myself, despite all your Dallas Police, FBI, Secret Service, CIA and military could do, which proves that your degenerate system is weak and Khrushchev and Castro rock, and that's why I did it, to make myself a big man and win one for Marx and Lenin, eat me", er, "They're taking me in because of the fact I lived in the Soviet Union", and "I'm just a patsy", and "I didn't shoot anybody, no sir"; he is then is told by a reporter that he's being charged with JFK's murder too, which seems to surprise him, and he is officially charged at 11:26 p.m. (state charges only, since it's not a federal offense to kill a U.S. pres. yet); after Dallas police put out an APB on a '57 Ford, Donald Wayne House (1941-) of Ranger, Tex. is arrested in Ft. Worth (30 mi. W of Dallas) 90 min. after the assassination, then after he says he didn't do it he is released, although the TV reporter slips and says that Tippit was shot by a man in a car; Mormon missionary Robert Earl Croft of Denver, Colo. takes four photos of the assassination, which the FBI and Secret Service later claim had a malfunction on the frame coinciding with the head shot; at 8:15 after JFK's body is delivered to Bethesda Naval Hospital in two different caskets at two different times (6:35 p.m. in a body bag in a plain shipping casket, and 8:00 p.m. in white sheets in a bronze casket), the military autopsy of JFK begins; as JFK is being assassinated, his press secy. Pierre Salinger is on a plane to Tokyo with six of nine cabinet members incl. state secy. Dean Rusk to set up an economic conference next Feb., which would make JFK the first U.S. pres. to visit Japan since WWII; LBJ retains Salinger as his press secy., after which which he serves as Dem. Calif. Sen. from Aug. 4-Dec. 31, 1964, then becomes RFK's pres. campaign mgr., witnesses his assassination, and moves to France to become a correspondent for L'Express. On Nov. 22, 1963 (afternoon) Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. (1954-) was picked up early from Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., and told about what happened to Uncle Jack, while Justice Dept. atty. Dean Markham picked up his little brother David at Our Lady of Victory and did ditto. RFK Jr. later blames right-wingers for the assassination. JFK was really assassinated for having too much interest in UFOs? :)

On Nov. 24, 1963 (Sun.) one of the greatest high school football games in yee-haw-we-killed-JFK Texas history is played between Lee and Brackenridge in San Antonio as running back Linus Baer leads Lee in a last-second 55-48 win over Brackenridge and future U. of Houston star Warren Douglas McVea (1946-).

On Feb. 12, 1964 Brooklyn, N.Y.-born Swedish descent Texas Instruments co-founder John Erik Jonsson (1901-95) becomes Dem. mayor of Dallas, Tex. #49 (until 1971), going on to push through a $175M bond for his Goals for Dallas Initiative, which finances the new Dallas City Hall, the Dallas Convention Center, the New Museum of Fine Arts, the Dallas Central Library, and the U. of Tex. at Dallas, along with public school kindergartens and family planning, and lead the development of the Dallas/Fort Worth Internat. Airport.

In Dec. 1964 after giving his seat to J.P. "the Big Bopper" Richardson on the Day the Music Died, former bass player for Buddy Holly, Littlefield, Tex.-born Waylon Arnold Jennings (1937-2002), known for adopting the Lubbock Sound of Buddy Holly and the Red Dirt sound of Stillwater, Okla. releases his debut album Waylon at JD's. In 1969 he marries country singer Jessi Colter. In 1971 he releases the album Cedartown, Georgia, which features Cedartown, Georgia (#14 country). In Feb. 1972 after going outlaw, he releases the album Good Hearted Woman (RCA Records), which features Good Hearted Woman (co-written by Willie Nelson), followed in 1972 by Ladies Love Outlaws (RCA Records) (#11 country), coining the term outlaw for country music; it features Under Your Spell Again (w/Jessi Colter) (#39 country). In July 1973 he releases the album Honky Tonk Heroes (#14 country), with almost all of the songs co-written by Billy Joe Shaver, injecting a rock & roll attitude into Nashvilly honky tonk music; it features You Ask Me To (#8 country), and We Had It All (#28 country). Album #22 Dreaming My Dreams (June 1975) (#1 country) features Dreaming My Dreams with You (by Allen Reynolds) (#10 country), and Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way (#1 country). On Jan. 12, 1976 he releases the album Wanted! The Outlaws with Willie Nelson, Jessi Colter, and Tompall Glaser, reaching #1 on the country charts and #10 on the pop charts, becoming the first platinum country music album, featuring the singles Suspicious Minds (#2) and Good Hearted Woman (#1). In Jan. 1978 he and Willie Nelson release the album Waylon & Willie (#1 country) (#12 in the U.S.), which features Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys (#1 country), Lookin' for a Feeling (#1 country), I Can Get Off on You (#1 country), The Wurlitzer Prize (I Don't Want to Get Over You) (#1 country), and If You Can Touch Her At All (#5 country). In Sept. 1978 he releases the album I've Always Been Crazy (#1 country) (#48 in the U.S.), which features I've Always Been Crazy.

In 1964 AstroTurf is invented by employees of Monsanto Co., and patented in 1967 as a Monofilament ribbon pile product, and called Chemgrass until its first publicized use at the Houston Astrodome, after which it beats out over 20 synthetic turf competitors; Indiana State U. at Terre Haute becomes the first outdoor field to be surfaced with it; too bad, it turns into a nightmare for football players, leading to needless injuries as cleats catch in it and won't allow sliding, stressing joints. On Apr. 9, 1965 the $35M Houston Astrodome in Houston, Tex. (the first covered stadium) hosts its first ML baseball game between the Houston Astros and New York Yankees; the Astros win by 2-1 after Mickey Mantle hits the first indoor homer; on Apr. 19 the ceiling is painted (cost $20K) to reduce Sun glare, causing the grass to die, leading to the installation of AstroTurf.

On Sept. 16, 1965 (Thur.) the Western color series Laredo debuts on NBC-TV for 56 episodes (until Apr. 7, 1967) as a spinoff from "The Virginian", set in Laredo, Tex., starring Lawrence Neville Brand (1920-92) as Texas Ranger Reese Bennett, Peter Brown (Pierre Lind de Lappe) (1935-) as Texas Ranger Chad Cooper, 6'2" bodybuilder William Smith (1933-) as Texas Ranger Joe Riley, and Eugene Joseph "Philip" Carey (1925-2009) as Capt. Edward Parmalee; 14-y.-o. Kurt Russell appears in an episode as Indian boy Grey Smoke.

On May 31, 1966 Fielder Cook's A Big Hand for the Little Lady (Big Deal at Dodge City) debuts, based on the TV play "Big Deal in Laredo" by Sidney Carroll, starring Joanne Woodward and Henry Fonda as married travellers Mary and Meredith, who happen into a high-stakes poker game in Sam's Saloon in 1880s Laredo, Tex., and get in over their heads, causing them to go to local banker C.P. Ballinger (Paul Ford) to back them with their hand as their only collateral, winning a fortune, after which it is revealed they're all in cahoots and are all prof. gamblers, even their little kid Jackie (Jean-Michel Michenaud), and the doctor Joseph "Doc" Scully (Burgess Meredith), who deals the final hand; Ballinger turns out to be Mary's beau.

On July 31, 1966 Lake Worth, Fla.-born architectural engineering student and former U.S. Marine Corps sharpshooter (discharged Dec. 1964) Charles Joseph Whitman (b. 1941) kills his mother and wife, then on Aug. 1 (11:48 a.m. - 1:24 p.m.) terrorizes the U. of Texas campus in Austin from the clock tower of its 27-story 307-ft. main bldg., killing three in the tower followed by 11 from the 28th floor observation deck, wounding 31 before officers break in and kill him - after waiting until he is out of ammo?

On Oct. 19-Nov. 2, 1966 Pres. Johnson visits Southeast Asia, incl. New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, South Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and South Korea; on Oct. 24-25 the Manila Summit Conference in Philippines of seven nations headed by Johnson, incl. allies Australia, Philippines, Thailand, New Zealand, South Korea, and South Vietnam pledges to withdraw from Vietnam within 6 mo. if North Vietnam withdraws from the south, and to support Johnson's war otherwise. On Oct. 26 Pres. Johnson visits U.S. troops at the deepwater Cam Ranh Bay (finest deepwater shelter in SE Asia) in South Vietnam 180 mi. NE of Saigon, becoming his first of two pres. visits to the country; too bad, he gets his old buddies Brown and Root (founded 1910) of Houston, Tex. billions of dollars in contracts to dredge the bay as part of a 4-co. consortium that builds 85% of the infrastructure needed by the Navy for the Vietnam War, causing anti-Vietnam War protesters to call it "Burn and Loot".

In 1966 Brownsville, Tex.-born Rhodes scholar, Columbia Studios janitor, and commercial heli pilot Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson (1936-) releases his first successful single Viet Nam Blues. In 1970 after he can't make it as a singer but sells several songs to other artists, he releases his debut album Kristofferson (#10 country) (#43 in the U.S.), which is re-released in 1971 under the title "Me and Bobby McGee" after his babe Janis Joplin's cover becomes a big hit; it features Me and Bobby McGee, Help Me Make It Through the Night, For the Good Times, and Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down. Album #2 The Silver Tongued Devil and I (1971) (#4 country) (#21 in the U.S.) features Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again) (#4 country) (#26 in the U.S.), and The Pilgrim, Chapter 33 ("He's a prophet, he's a pusher, partly truth and partly fiction, a walking contradiction"), which is featured in the 1976 film "Taxi Driver". In 1973 after marrying Rita Coolidge in 1972, they release the duet album Full Moon, the first of three.

In 1966 El Dorado, Ark.-born Charles McColl Portis (1933-) pub. his first novel Norwood, about ex-Marine Norwood Pratt of Ralph, Tex. In 1968 he pub. True Grit; 14-y.-o. Mattie Ross searches for a man with you know what to find her daddy's killer in the Old West; filmed in 1969 starring John Wayne. In 1979 he pub. The Dog of the South; Ray Midge; "My wife Norma had run off with Guy Dupree and I was waiting around for the credit card billings to come in so I could see where they had gone." In 1985 he pub. Masters of Atlantis. In 1991 he pub. Gringos.

On Jan. 3, 1967 after defeating Dem. Frank Briscoe, cousin of future gov. Dolph Briscoe Jr., Milton, Mass.-born Repub. WWII Navy vet George Herbert Walker Bush (1924-), son of U.S. Sen. (R-Conn.) (1952-63) Prescott Sheldon Bush Sr. (1895-1972) becomes the U.S. rep for the Texas' 7th District (until Jan. 3, 1971), becoming the first Repub. from Houston, Tex. (where he lives in the Tanglewood neighborhood) in the U.S. House, going on to vote for the 1968 U.S. Civil Rights Act, support the Nixon admin.'s Vietnam policies, and support birth control, rising to the House Ways and Means Committee, where he votes to abolish the draft; in 1970 after Pres. Nixon talks him into it, he resigns from the House to run for the Senate, losing to Dem. Lloyd Bentsen, after which Nixon appoints him as U.S. ambassador #10 to the U.N. on Mar. 1, 1971 to Jan. 18, 1973; on Jan. 19, 1973 to Sept. 16, 1974 he becomes Repub. Nat. Committee (RNC) chmn. #49; on Jan. 30, 1976 to Jan 20, 1977 he becomes CIA dir. #11.

On Feb. 1, 1967 after promising new owners that a future merger with the NBA will double their investments, the Am. Basketball Assoc. (ABA) is founded, with George Miken as pres. #1, playing their first game on Oct. 13, with the Oakland Oaks defeating the Anaheim Amigos by 134-129; the 11 original teams incl. the Anaheim Amigos, Dallas Chaparrals, Houston Mavericks, Indiana Pacers, Denver Larks/Rockets, Kentucky Colonels, Minnesota Muskies, New Orleans Buccaneers, Oakland Americans/Oaks, and Pittsburgh Pipers; the ABA goes on to experiment with new ideas to make the game more flashy incl. red-white-blue basketballs, a slam-dunk contest, 30-sec. (vs. 24 in the NBA) shot clock, and the 3-point shot, growing to 11 teams; in 1976 they merge with the NBA, with all teams except the New York Nets, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, and San Antonio Spurs disbanding; the NBA doesn't adopt the 3-pointer until 1979, the rookie season of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.

On Sept. 8, 1967 (Fri.) the hour-long legal drama series Judd for the Defense debuts on ABC-TV for episodes (until Sept. 19, 1969), starring Carl Lawrence Betz (1921-78) as flamboyant Houston, Tex. atty. Clinton Judd, Stephen Young (Levy) (1931-) as his asst. Ben Caldwell, exploring yet more liberal causes incl. homosexuality, the Hollywood Blacklist, and draft dodgers, turning viewers off, causing it to be abruptly cancelled after two seasons despite an attempt to combine it with "Felony Squad" cast members on the Jan. 31, 1969 episode, after which it also gets abruptly cancelled.

In 1967 the San Diego Rockets NBA team is founded, nicknamed after the Atlas missile of Gen. Dynamics Corp., with Jack McMahon as coach #1; the first draft pick is Pat Riley; too bad, they lose a record 70 games their first (1967-8) season; in the 1968 draft they draft 6'9" Elvin Ernest Hayes (1945-) of the U. of Houston (#44), who leads them to their first playoff appearance in 1969, losing the semi-finals to the Atlanta Hawks by 4-2; in 1970 they draft 5'9" expert baton twirler Calvin Jerome Murphy (1948-) (#23) and 6'8" forward Rudolph "Rudy T." Tomjanovich Jr. (1948-) (#45); in 1971 they move to Houston as the Houston Rocket, becoming the first NBA team in Tex., and a perfect match with the Rockets name.

In 1967 Dublin, Tex.-born Johnny Richard Duncan (1938-2006) (cousin of Dan Seals, and Jimmy Seals of Seals & Crofts) releases his debut single Hard Luck Joe (#54 country) (Columbia Records), followed by Jackson Ain't a Very Big Town (w/June Stearns) (1968) (#21 country), When She Touches Me (1969) (#30 country), Let Me Go (Set Me Free) (1970) (#27 country), Baby's Smile, Woman's Kiss (1971) (#12 country), Fools (1972) (#19 country), Sweet Country Woman (1973) (#6 country), Talkin' with My Lady (1973) (#18 country), Stranger (w/Janie Fricke) (1976) (#4 country), Thinkin' of a Rendezvous (w/Janie Fricke) (1976) (#1 country), It Couldn't Have Been any Better (w/Janie Fricke) (1977) (#1 country), Come a Little Bit Closer (w/Janie Fricke) (1977) (#4 country), A Song in the Night (1977) (#5 country), She Can Put Her Shoes Under My Bed (Anytime) (1978) (#1 country), Hello Mexico (And Adios Baby to You) (#4 country), Slow Dancing (1979) (#6 country), and The Lady in the Blue Mercedes (1979) (#9 country). He goes on to release 14 studio albums and 30 singles incl. three #1s.

In Nov. 1968 after her 1953 teenie debut single Too Old for Toys, Too Young for Boys (Abbot Records) flops, Beaumont, Tex.-born Billie Jo (Jean) Spears (Moore) (1937-2011) releases her debut album The Voice of Billie Jo Spears (Capitol Records), a non-charter, which features Harper Valley PTA (beaten to the market by Jeannie C. Riley's version, killing sales), Easy to Be Evil, and He's Got More Love on His Little Finger (#48 country). Album #2 Mr. Walker, It's All Over (May 1969) (#26 country) features Mr. Walker, It's All Over (#4 country) (#80 in the U.S.). Album #3 Miss Sincerity (Nov. 1969) (#41 country) features Stepchild (#43 country). Album #7 Blanket on the Ground (Feb. 1975) (#4 country) (United Artists) features Blanket on the Ground (#1 country) (#78 in the U.S.). Album #8 Billie Jo (Oct. 1975) (#45 country) features Stay Away from the Apple Tree (#20 country), and Silver Wings and Golden Rings (#20 country). Album #9 What I've Got in Mind (June 1976) (#7 country) (#46 in the U.S.) features What I've Got in Mind (#5 country), and Misty Blue (#5 country). Album #10 I'm Not Easy (Nov. 1976) (#36 country) features I'm Not Easy (#11 country), and Never Did Like Whiskey (#18 country). Album #11 If You Want Me (June 1977) (#39 country) features If You Want Me (#8 country), and Too Much Is Not Enough (#18 country). Album #12 Lonely Hearts Club (Feb. 1978) (#46 country) features Lonely Hearts Club (#18 country), I've Got to Go (#17 country), and '57 Chevrolet (#16 country). Album #13 Love Ain't Gonna Wait for Us (Oct. 1978) features Love Ain't Gonna Wait for Us (#24 country). Album #14 I Will Survive (May 1979) features I Will Survive (#21 country), Rainy Days and Stormy Nights (#21 country), and Livin' Our Love Together (#23 country). Album #15 Standing Tall (May 1980) (#70 country) (Liberty Records) features Standing Tall, and Natural Attraction (#39 country). Album #16 Only the Hits (Feb. 1981) features Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad (#13 country). She goes on to release 18 studio albums and 46 singles incl. one #1.

In 1968 Oneonta, N.Y.-born country music singer-songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker (Ronald Clyde Crosby) (1942-) releases his first charting single Mr. Bojangles (#77 in the U.S.), about a tap-dancing homeless white man he met in a New Orleans jail ("I knew a man Bojangles and he'd dance for you in worn-out shoes/ Silver hair, ragged shirt and baggy pants, that old soft shoe/ He'd jump so high, he'd jump so high, then he lightly touched down/ Mr. Bojangles, Mr. Bojangles, dance"), after which the hit covers by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Tom T. Hall, Sammy Davis Jr. et al. turn him into a living legend, allowing him to set up shop in Austin Tex. He follows with Jaded Lover (1975) (#54 country), Leavin' Texas (1977) (#10 country), I Feel Like Hank Williams Tonight (1989) (#70 country) (Tried and True Records), and Trashy Women (1989) (#63 country) ("I like my women just a tad on the trashy side").

In 1968 Stamford, Tex.-born 1-hit wonder Jeannie C. Riley (Jeanne Carolyn Stephenson) (1945-) releases Harper Valley PTA (#1 country) (#1 in the U.S.) (#12 in the U.K.) (6M copies), written by Olive Hill, Ky.-born Thomas "Tom" T. Hall (1936-), "the Storyteller", who arrived in Nashville in 1964 with $46 and a geetar, and uses the fame to begin releasing his own songs, incl. Ballad of Forty Dollars (1968) (#4 country), A Week in a Country Jail (1969) (#1 country), Homecoming (1969) (#5 country), Shoeshine Man (1970) (#8 country), Salute to a Switchblade (1970) (#8 country), The Year Clayton Delaney Died (1971) (#1 country) (#42 in the U.S.), The Monkey That Became President (1972) (#11 country), Me and Jesus (1972) (#8 country) (#98 in the U.S.), (Old Dogs, Children And) Watermelon Wine (1972) (#1 country), Ravishing Ruby (1973) (#3 country), I Love (1973) (#1 country) (#12 in the U.S.), That Song Is Driving Me Crazy (1974) (#2 country) (#63 in the U.S.), Country Is (1974) (#1 country), I Care (1974) (#1 country), Faster Horses (The Cowboy and the Poet) (1975) (#1 country), I Like Beer (1975) (#4 country), Your Man Loves You Honey (1977) (#4 country), May the Force Be with You Always (1977) (#13 country), What Have You Got to Lose (1978) (#9 country), and The Old Side of Town (1980) (#9 country). Hall goes on to release 27 studio albums and 52 singles incl. seven #1s.

On Jan. 21, 1969 after defeating Don Yarborough in the Dem. primary, Tex. lt. gov. #35 (since Jan. 15, 1963) Preston Earnest Smith (1912-2003) (movie theater owner) becomes Dem. Tex. gov. #40 (until Jan. 16, 1973), with his inauguration having "the flavor of the South Plains", featuring the marching band of his alma maters Tex. Tech U. and Lamesa H.S., becoming the first to be televised; after being reelected in 1968 and 1970, he goes on to support Ronald Reagan for U.S. pres. in 1980; in 2004 Lubbock Preston Smith Internat. Airport is named in his honor.

On Jan. 30, 1969 after releasing their Yellow Submarine album (#10) on Jan. 17, the Beatles give their last public perf. on the roof of Apple Records in London, stopping traffic on the street while they make a great video of Get Back (the first single release in true stereo in the U.S.) (originally a response to Enoch Powell's Apr. 20, 1968 Rivers of Blood Speech, with an early version having the line "Don't dig no Pakistanis taking all the people's jobs"); black Houston, Tex.-born Afro-wearing "5th Beatle" organist William Evertt "Billy" Preston (1946-2006) (hired on Jan. 22) accompanies them; the London bobbies end up shutting them down in the middle of "Let It Be"; on Sept. 26 Preston releases the album That's the Way God Planned It on the Apple label, featuring the track That's the Way God Planned It.

On May 2, 1969 Tex. Highway Patrol officer James Kenneth Crone (1941-2011) is kidnapped by recently paroled Robert "Bobby" Dent (1947-69) and Ila Fae Holiday (1948-92) and taken on a wild wide across S Tex. incl. Sugar Land, Tex., becoming the subject of Steven Spielberg's first feature film "The Sugarland Express" (1974).

On May 25, 1969 John Schlesinger's X-rated Midnight Cowboy debuts, written by formerly blacklisted screenwriter Morton Salt, er, Waldo Miller Salt (1914-87) based on the 1965 novel by James Leo Herlihy (1927-93), starring Jonathan Vincent "Jon" Voight (1938-) as Tex. dishwasher Joe Buck, who dresses up as a cowboy, heads for New York City on a bus, and tries to hustle his flowing angelic jolly milk machine to lonely rich women, but ends up selling it to deadbeat teenie homos like Bob Balaban in theaters while sliding ever lower into the depths of the Big Apple with seedy crippled derelict Enrico "Ratso" Rizzo, played a little too well by Dustin Hoffman; Brenda Vaccaro plays his best $20 customer Shirley; first X-rated film to receive a best picture Oscar (until ?); #3 grossing film of 1969 ($44.7M).

In June 1969 Houston Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Tex. opens, becoming the 2nd busiest aiport in Tex. after the Dallas/Fort Worth Internat. Airport; in Apr. 1997 it is renamed the George Bush Intercontinental Aiport after Pres. George H.W. Bush.

In 1969 Tex.-born St. Louis Cardinals black centerfielder Curtis Charles "Curt" Flood (1938-97) is traded to the Philadelphia Phillies at the end of the regular season, but refuses to report, challenging the so-called "reserve clause" that since 1879 gives ML cubs complete ownership of their players, claiming that he is "the rightful proprietor of my own person and my own talents", and challenging the immunity against anti-trust action granted by Congress to ML baseball in 1922; on June 19, 1972 the U.S. Supreme (Burger) Court rules 5-3 in Flood v. Kuhn to refuse to lift the immunity from antitrust laws granted to ML baseball by Congress in 1922; Justice Harry Blackmun writes a 7-page intro. titled "The Game", giving a tribute to the game's history with a lengthy listing of 83 baseball stars, becoming one of his claims to fame along with his opinion in Roe v. Wade (1973).

The YMCA/YWCA gets jets? On Apr. 13-18, 1970 2.5K delegates attend the 25th 25th YWCA Triennial Nat. Convention in Houston, Tex., voting to make the elimination of racism its top goal, and passing resolutions calling for the abolition of nukes, a clean environment, a change in society's expectations for women, and the involvement of youth in leadership and decision-making; on May 22 the YMCA Nat. Council holds its annual meeting in Pittsburgh, Penn., and elects its first black pres., Donald Milford Payne (1934-2012) of Newark, N.J. (in 1989 he becomes the first black N.J. congressman); the Canadian and U.S. YMCA had earlier agreed to begin administering internat. programs separately after 80 years of joint sponsorship.

On May 10, 1970 after writing hit songs "In the Ghetto", "Memories" et al., Lubbock, Tex. singer-songwriter Morris Mac Davis (1942-) releases his debut album Song Painter (#35 country) (#182 in the U.S.), which features Whoever Finds This, I Love You (#43 country) (#53 in the U.S.). Album #2 I Believe in Music (May 10, 1971) (#160 in the U.S.) features I Believe in Music (#117 in the U.S.). Album #3 Baby, Don't Get Hooked on Me (1972) (his breakthrough album) features Baby, Don't Get Hooked On Me (#26 country) (#1 in the U.S.).

On May 22, 1970 Pres. Nixon's hatchet man Vice-Pres. Spiro Theodore "Ted" Agnew (1918-96) gives a speech in Houston, Tex., with the soundbyte: "The young... at the zenith of physical power and sensitivity, overwhelm themselves with drugs and artificial stimulants... Education is being redfined at the demand of the uneducated to suit the ideas of the uneducated. The student now goes to college to proclaim, rather than to learn. The lessons of the past are ignored and obliterated in a contemporary antagonism known as the generation gap. A spirit of national masochism prevails, encouraged by an effete corps of impudent snobs who characterize themselves as intellectuals"; on Sept. 11 he tells an audience at the Repub. State Convention in San Diego, Calif.: "We have more than our share of the nattering nabobs of negativism"; both of the clever characterizations of the press corps were written for him by etymology-loving speechwriter William Lewis Safire (1929-2009), who goes on to add alliterative phrases like "pusillanimous pussyfooting" and "hopeless hysterical hypochrondriacs of history" along with fellow speechwriter Pat Buchanan.

On Aug. 7, 1970 Armadillo World HQ in Austin, Tex. opens in an old rented Nat. Guard armory, rented by Eddie Wilson after his flagship rock music venue the Vulcan Gas Co. closes, becoming the center of the Austin hippie culture complete with toleration of marijuana use and huge Lone Star beer sales, launching the Austin Sound AKA Redneck Rock AKA Cosmic Cowboy, with acts incl. The Lost Gonzo Band, Michael Martin Murphy, and Jerry Jeff Walker; it goes bankrupt in 1977, and holds its last concert on New Year's Eve (Dec. 31), 1980, featuring Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen, and Asleep at the Wheel; the music scene it created helps launch PBS-TVs "Austin City Limits"; in 1976 the first annual Armadillo Christmas Bazaar is held, becoming a top national arts and crafts show.

On Dec. 16, 1970 Arthur Hiller's Love Story (Paramount) debuts, written by Erich Wolf Segal (1937-), starring Romeo, er, Charles Patrick Ryan O'Neal (1941-) as rich Harvard student Oliver Barrett IV, and Alice "Ali" McGraw (1938-) as poor Juliet, er, Jenny Cavilleri, jerking big tears with her pathetic death, woo-woo-woo; the novel is later written from the script; the film debut of San Saba, Tex.-born real Harvard U. student (roommate of Al Gore) Tommy Lee Jones (1946-) as Hank Simpson; features the song Where Do I Begin? (Love Story); #1 grossing film of 1970 ($106.3M); the word cancer is never mentioned in the film; using bubblebrain McGraw to portray a brainy Radcliffe babe is outrageous miscasting, but perfect for the crowds who only want to see her bod? - brilliant?

On Jan. 3, 1971 Mission, Tex.-born former U.S. Rep. (1948-55) Lloyd Millard Bentsen Jr. (1921-2006), son of "Big Lloyd" Bentsen Sr., owner of the Arrowhead Ranch (sold in 1997 for $6M) becomes Dem. U.S. Sen. from Tex. (until Jan. 20, 1993), working up to chmn. of the Senate Finance Committee on Jan. 20, 1993, going on to run for U.S. pres. in 1976 and U.S. vice-pres in 1988 before becoming U.S. treasury secy. #69 on Jan. 20, 1993-Dec. 22, 1994.

On Apr. 9, 1971 the NBC Evening News, hosted by Frank McGee issues the soundbyte that Tex. is experiencing its worst drought since the 1950s.

On Oct. 22, 1971 Peter Bogdanovich's B&W The Last Picture Show debuts, based on the 1966 Larry McMurtry novel, starring Cybill Lynne Shepherd (1950-) as hot promiscuous virgin Jacy Farrow, Jeff Bridges as her impotent beau Duane Jackson, Ben Johnson as business owner Sam the Lion, Timothy Bottoms as Duane's friend Sonny Crawford, Cloris Leachman as his ever-crying older lover Ruth Popper, and Ellyn Burstyn as Jacy's mother Lois Farrow in the dying early 1950s rural Tex. town of Anarene (based on Abilene in Howard Hawks' 1948 film "Red River") where the teenies like to go skinny-dipping and the males like getting a piece of ass, drawing Bogdanovich comparisons with "Citizen Kane"; Shepherd (who hooks up offscreen with Bogdanovich?) is built-up as the ultimate piece by showing other women nude, but her only topless; the theater's name is the Royal; does $29.1M box office on a $1.3M budget.

In 1971 after he swindles Strake Jesuit College Preparatory out of $6M, the Sharpstown Scandal begins in Houston, Tex. as a stock fraud case involving Frank Wesley Sharp (1906-93), mgr. of the Sharpstown State Bank and the Nat. Bankers Life Insurance Corp., which involves former Tex. atty. gen. Waggoner Carr, former Tex. insurance commissioner John Osorio, Tex. house speaker Gus Mutscher Jr., state Dem. Party chmn. Tommy Shannon, Tex. banking board member Elmer Baum, Tex. lt. gov. Ben Barnes, and Tex. gov. Preston Smith; after the Dirty Thirty in the Tex. House of Reps unite to expose them, the SEC indicts Shannon, Mutscher, and his aide Rush McGinty for taking bribes from Sharp, and they are found guilty in Abilene, Tex. in 1972, and sentenced to five years' probation, while Sharp is sentenced to three years' probation and a $5K fine, after which a series of financial disclosure laws are passed in 1973.

In 1971 JFK-killer Dallas, Tex. is awarded the "All-American City" award by Look mag. and the Nat. Municipal League.

In 1971 the ML baseball Washington Senators move from Washington, D.C. to Arlington, Tex., becoming the Texas Rangers.

On May 25, 1972 after modest success with the Trinity River Boys and the Lewis & Clarke Expedition, writing the song What Am I Doing Hanging' Round (along with Owen Castleman) for his friend Michael Nesmith of The Monkees, Dallas, Tex.-born pop-outlaw country singer-songwriter-musician Michael Martin Murphey (1945-) releases his debut album Geronimo's Cadillac (A&M Records) (#160 in the U.S.), which features Geronimo's Cadillac (#37 in the U.S.), which becomes the anthem of the Am. Indian Movement (AIM). Album #2 Cosmic Cowboy Souvenir (1973) (#196 in the U.S.) features Cosmic Cowboy. Album #3 Michael Murphey (1973) (Epic Records) features Holy Roller, and Fort Worth I Love You. Album #4 Blue Sky - Night Thunder (1975) (#18 in the U.S.) features Wildfire (#3 in the U.S.), and Carolina in the Pines (#21 in the U.S.). Album #5 Swans Against the Sun (1976) (#47 country) (#44 in the U.S.) features Renegade (#39 in the U.S.), A Mansion on the Hill (w/John Denver) (#36 country), and Rhythm on the Road. Album #6 Flowing Free Forever (1976) (#130 in the U.S.) features Cherokee Fiddle (#58 country). Album #7 Lone Wolf (1978) (#99 in the U.S.) features Nothing Is Your Own, and Paradise Tonight. Album #8 Peaks, Valley, Honky Tonks & Alleys (1979) (#206 in the U.S.) features Chain Gang (#93 country), and Backslider's Wine (#92 country). Album #9 Hard Country Soundtrack (1981) features Take It As It Comes (W/Katy Moffatt) (#83 country). In 1982 he shifts to pure country. Album #10 Michael Martin Murphey (1982) (#14 country) (#69 in the U.S.) (Liberty Records) features What's Forever For (#1 country) (#19 in the U.S.), Still Taking Chances (#3 country) (#76 in the U.S.), Love Affairs (#11 country), and The Two-Step Is Easy (#44 country). Album #11 The Heart Never Lies (1983) (#27 country) (#187 in the U.S.) features The Heart Never Lies. His compilation album The Best of Michael Martin Murphey (1984) (#20 country) features What She Wants (#8 country). Album #12 Tonight We Ride (1986) (#46 country) (Warner Bros. Records) features Tonight We Ride (#26 country), Rollin' Nowhere (#15 country), and Fiddlin' Man (#40 country). Album #13 Americana (1987) (#32 country) features A Face in the Crowd (w/Holly Dunn) (#4 country), and A Long Line of Love (#1 country). Album #14 River of Time (1988) (#11 country) features I'm Gonna Miss You, Girl (#3 country), From the Word Go (#3 country), Talkin' to the Wrong Man (w/Ryan Murphey) (#4 country), and Pilgrims on the Way (Matthew's Song) (#29 country). Album #15 Land of Enchantment (1989) (#33 country) features Land of Enchantment (which becomes the state song of N.M.), Never Givin' Up on Love (#9 country), Family Tree (#48 country), and Route 66 (#67 country). Album #16 Cowboy Songs (1990) (#25 country) (500K copies) (first cowboy music album to achieve gold status since Marty Robbins' 1959 "Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs") features Cowboy Logic (#52 country), and Let the Cowboy Dance (#74 country). Album #28 Buckaroo Blue Grass (Feb. 10, 2009) is his first bluegrass album. Album #33 Red River Drifter (2013) (#48 country) features Red River Drifter. He goes on to release 33 studio albums and 43 singles incl. two country #1s.

On Sept. 22, 1972 Bob Einstein's Another Nice Mess debuts, starring Rich Little as Richard Nixon, and Herb Voland as Spiro Agnew, who are portrayed as Laurel and Hardy; the film debut of Waco, Tex.-born Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin (1945-) as Hippy.

In 1972 the Kimbell Art Museum in Ft. Worth, Tex. (just down Camp Bowie Blvd. from the Amon Carter Museum), designed by Louis I. Kahn is founded to house the collection of old Euro masters of late industrialist Kay Kimbell (1886-1964).

In 1972 Amarillo, Tex.-born Lubbock, Tex.-raised country singer Earl R. "Joe" Ely (1947-) and his band The Flatlanders, incl. Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock release their debut album All American Music under the name Jimmie Dale & The Flatlanders, which comes out only on 8-track tape and flops, causing them to disband in 1973; it is re-released in 1990 under the title More a Legend than a Band; it features Dallas (by Jimmie Dale Gilmore), You've Never Seen Me Cry (by Butch Hancock), Bhagavan Decreed (by Ed Vizard), One Day at a Time (by Willie Nelson), and The Heart You Left Behind (by Angeli Strehli). In 1977 Ely releases his debut solo album Joe Ely, which features All My Love (#89 country). Album #2 Honky Tonk Masquerade (1978) features Honky Tonk Masquerade, and Boxcars (by Butch Hancock). In 1992 Ely and Buzzin' Cousins release Sweet Suzanne (#68 country), from the film Falling from Grace. In 1998 the Mexican-Am. supergroup Los Super Seven, incl. Joe Ely, Freddy Fender, David Hidalgo (Los Lobos), Cesar Rosas (Los Lobos) et al. is formed, releasing their 1999 debut album Los Super Seven, which features Let Her Dance. In 1998 The Flatlanders are featured in the film The Horse Whisperer, and in 2002 release album #2 Now Again, followed by album #3 Wheels of Fortune (2004), and album #4 Hills & Valleys (2009).

In 1972 Detroit, Mich.-born Amarillo, Tex.-raised country-pop singer-songwriter John David Souther (1945-) releases his debut album John David Souther (Elektra Records), which features How Long. He then forms the country rock supergroup Souther-Hillman-Furay Band with Chris Hillman (The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers) and Richie Furay (Buffalo Springfield and Poco), who release their debut album The Souther-Hillman-Furay-Band (1974) (#11 in the U.S.) (500K copies), which features Fallin' in Love (#27 in the U.S.), followed by album #2 Trouble in Paradise (1975) (#39 in the U.S.). Souther's album #2 Black Rose (1976) (#85 in the U.S.) (Elektra Records) features Faithless Love. Album #3 You're Only Lonely (1979) features You're Only Lonely (w/Jackson Browne) (Columbia Records) (#60 country) (#7 in the U.S.), and White Rhythm and Blues (#105 in the U.S.). In 1981 he and James Taylor release Her Town Too (#11 in the U.S.). In 1982 he and his babe Linda Ronstadt release Sometimes You Just Can't Win (#27 country). Album #4 Home by Dawn (Warner Bros. Records) (1984) (#203 in the U.S.) features Home by Dawn, and Go Ahead and Rain (#104 in the U.S.). Souther goes on to compose hit songs for the Eagles, incl. "Best of My Love", "Victim of Love", "Heartache Tonight", "New Kid in Town", and "How Long".

In 1972 Seminole, Tex.-born outlaw country singer Tanya Denise Tucker (1958-) releases her first hit Delta Dawn (by Larry Collins) (#6 country) (#72 in the U.S.), followed by What's Your Mama's Name (Feb. 1973) (#1 country) (#86 in the U.S.), Blood Red and Goin' Down (1973) (#1 country) (#74 in the U.S.), Would You Lay with Me (In a Field of Stone) (by David Allan Coe) (1974) (#1 country) (#46 in the U.S.), The Man That Turned My Mama On (1974) (#4 country) (#86 in the U.S.), and Lizzie and the Rainman (1975) (#1 country) (#37 in the U.S.). Too bad, she hooks up with Merle Haggard, Don Johnson, Andy Gibb, and Glen Campbell (1981-2) while getting hooked on alcohol and cocaine, causing her career to slide, then rebounds, releasing I Won't Take Less Than Your Love (w/Paul Davis and Paul Overstreet) (Oct. 1987) (#1 country), If It Don't Come Easy (Feb. 1988) (#1 country), and Strong Enough to Bend (June 1988) (#1 country).

In 1972 Groveton, Tex.-born honky tonk country singer Jacky Ward (1946-) releases his debut single Big Blue Diamond (#39 country), followed by Stealin' (1975) (#50 country) (Mercury Records), Dance Her by Me (One More Time) (1975) (#38 country), I Never Said It Would Be Easy (1976) (#24 country), Texas Angel (1977) (#31 country), Fools Fall in Love (1977) (#9 country), A Lover's Question (by Brook Benton and Jimmy T. Williams) (1977) (#3 country), Three Sheets in the Wind/ I'd Really Love to See You Tonight (w/Reba McEntire) (1978) (#20 country), I Want to Be in Love (1978) (#24 country), Rhythm of the Rain (by The Cascades) (1978) (#11 country), Wisdom of a Fool (1979) (#8 country), That Makes Two of Us (w/Reba McEntire) (1979) (#26 country), You're My Kind of Woman (1979) (#14 country), Save Your Heart for Me (1980) (#8 country), That's the Way a Cowboy Rocks and Rolls (1980) (#7 country), Somethin' on the Radio (1981) (#13 country), and Travelin' Man (by Jerry Fuller) (1982) (#32 country) (Asylum Records).

In 1972 Fort Worth, Tex.-based country-bluegrass vocal group The Whites, incl. Sharon White, Cheryl White (1955-), and daddy Buck White (1930-) release their debut album Buck White & Down Home Folks (County Records), which is a non-charter. In Aug. 1981 Sharon White marries Ricky Skaggs (1954-). In 1981 they release the single Send Me the Pillow That You Dream On (#66 country). Album #6 Old Familiar Feeling (1983) (#22 country) (Warner Bros. Records) features Give Me Back That Old Familiar Feeling (#10 country), You Put the Blue in Me (#10 country), Hangin' Around (#9 country), I Wonder Who's Holding My Baby Tonight (#9 country), When the New Wears Off of Our Love (#25 country). Album #7 Forever You (1984) (#37 country) features Forever You (#14 country), and Pins and Needles (#10 country), Album #8 Whole New World (1985) (MCA Records) (#42 country) features If It Ain't Love (Let's Leave It Alone) (#12 country), Hometown Gossip (#27 country), and I Don't Want to Get Over You (#33 country). Their compilation album Greatest Hits (1986) features Love Won't Wait (#36 country). Album #9 Ain't No Binds (1986) (#37 country) features There Ain't No Binds (#58 country), and It Should Have Been Easy (#30 country). In 1987 Sharon White and Ricky Skaggs release the single Love Can't Ever Get Better Than This. Album #13 Salt of the Earth (w/Ricky Skaggs) (Sept. 25, 2007) (#45 country) features Love Will Be Enough (by Janis Ian and Paul Overstreet), Homesick for Heaven (by Kelly Willard), Farther Along (by J.R. Baxter), This Old House (by Stuart Hamblen), and Wings of a Dove (by Bob Ferguson).

On Jan. 16, 1973 after the Sharpstown Scandal brings down Tex. gov. (since Jan. 21, 1969) Preston Smith, Uvalde, Tex.-born rancher Dolph Briscoe Jr. (1923-2010) (largest landowner in Tex., elected as pres. of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Assoc. in 1960 and raising $3M to launch a screwworm eradication program) becomes Dem. Tex. gov. #41 (until Jan. 16, 1979), becoming the first to serve a 4-year term.

On Jan. 22, 1973 (Roe v. Wade Day) Lyndon B. Johnson (b. 1908) dies of heart disease at his Stonewall, Tex. ranch at age 64, leaving Nixon as the only living U.S. pres. - good, he likes to do his paranoid things alone?

On Mar. 21, 1973 the U.S. Supreme (Burger) Court rules 6-3 in San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez that local property taxes may be used to finance a public school system, even though it can lead to wealth-based discrimination, because there is no fundamental Constitutional right to education; new Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. is the swing vote.

In June 1973 after moving to Nashville in 1960 and recording his first album in 1962, then signing with RCA Victor and joining the Grand Ole Opry in 1965, then moving to Austin, Tex. in 1973 and signing with Atlantic Records, Abbott, Tex.-born ("Red Headed Stranger") Willie Hugh Nelson (1933-) releases his breakthrough album Shotgun Willie (#1 in the U.S.), marking his transition to Outlaw Country Music, which isn't popular with the country music market yet, but gains mainstream acceptance; it features Shotgun Willie (#60 in the U.S.), and Stay All Night (Stay a Little Longer) (#22 in the U.S.). In May 1975 after switching to Columbia Records, he releases his album The Red Headed Stranger (#1 country), which features Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain (#1 country) (#21 in the U.S.), and Remember Me (#2 country) (#67 in the U.S.). On July 18, 1980 he releases the Honeysuckle Rose Soundtrack album (#1 country) (#11 in the U.S.), which features On the Road Again. In 1983 he and Merle Haggard release Pancho & Lefty (by Townes Van Zandt) (#1 country). In 1984 he and Julio Iglesias release To All the Girls I've Loved Before (#1 country) (#5 in the U.S.). Too bad, in 1990 the IRS seizes his assets, claiming he owes them $16M, causing him to release the double album The IRS Tapes: Who'll Buy My Memories? in 1992 to pay them back.

On Aug. 8, 1973 the Houston Mass Murders in Tex. of 27+ boys ages 9-27 is discovered after electrician and former candymaker (known as the Candy Man and the Pied Piper) Dean Arnold Corll (b. 1939) is killed by his 17-y.-o. accomplice Elmer Wayne Henley Jr. (1956-), who calls police and tells how he and 15-y.-o. David Brooks had helped lure them for $200 "per head", after which they were raped and tortured first, becoming the worst U.S. serial murder case so far.

On Sept. 20-23, 1973 the Dallas/Fort Worth Internat. Airport (Dallas/Fort Worth Regional Airport until 1985) in Tex. is dedicated, featuring the first U.S. landing of a supersonic Air France Concorde aircraft en route from Caracas to Paris; attendees incl. Tex. gov John Connally, U.S. transportation secy. Claude Brinegar, U.S. Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, and Tex. gov. Dolph Briscoe; it opens for commercial service on Jan. 13, 1974.

In 1973 after poor attendance in Dalsas, the Texas (formerly Dallas) Chaparrals of the ABA move to San Antonio, Tex. as the San Antonio Spurs (team colors black, silver, and white), joining the NBA in 1976, after which the NBA adds the expansion team Dallas Mavericks in 1980.

In 1973 Seminole, Tex.-born Glen Campbell wannabe Larry Wayne Gatlin (1948-) and the Gatlin Brothers release their debut album The Pilgrim (#33 country), which features Sweet Becky Walker (#40 country). In 1974 they release album #2 Rain Rainbow (#37 country), which features Delta Dirt (#14 country) (#84 in the U.S.). Album #3 High Time (#14 country) (1975) features Broken Lady (#5 country), and Statues Without Hearts (#5 country). Album #5 Love Is Just a Game (1977) (#7 country) features Love Is Just a Game (#3 country), I Just Wish You Were Someone I Love (#1 country), and I Don't Wanna Cry (#3 country). Album #6 Oh! Brother (1978) (#7 country) features I've Done Enough Dyin' Today (#7 country), and Night Time Magic (#2 country). Album #7 Straight Ahead (1979) (#7 country) features All the Gold in California (#1 country), and Taking Somebody with Me When I Fall (#12 country) (#108 in the U.S.). Album #11 Houston to Denver (1984) (#9 country) features Houston (Means I'm One Day Closer to You) (#1 country), Denver (#7 country), and The Lady Takes the Cowboy Everytime (#3 country). Album #13 Partners (1987) (#13 country) features She Used to Be Somebody's Baby (#2 country), and Talkin' to the Moon (#4 country). Album #14 Alive and Well... Livin' in the Land of Dreams (1988) (#46 country) features Love of a Lifetime (#4 country). They go on to release 20+ albums and 39 singles incl. five country #1s.

On Apr. 5, 1974 Steven Spielberg's The Sugarland Express (Universal Pictures) (first feature film by Spielberg) debuts, filmed in Sugar Land, Tex., based on the true 1969 story of Robert "Bobby" Dent (1947-69) and Ila Fae Holiday (1948-92) starring Goldie Hawn as Lou Jean Poplin, William Atherton as Clovis Michael Poplin, and Ben Johnson as Capt. Harlin Tanner; does $12.8M box office on a $3M budget.

On Oct. 1, 1974 Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Bryanston Pictures) debuts, loosely based on the true story of necrophiliac murderer Ed Gein (1906-84), thrilling movie audiences with its new anti-hero Leatherface (played by Gunnar Hansen), pioneering the use of power tools in the slasher gentre; so gross it's good, getting banned in the U.K. and Germany, making it more popular?; #10 grossing film of 1974 ($30.8M) - fear of the German sausage-making lobby?

On Oct. 3, 1974 Beaumont, Tex.-born Frank Robinson Jr. (1935-), 5-season mgr. in the Puerto Rican Winter League is named ML baseball's first black mgr. (Cleveland Indians), drawing a congratulatory telegram from Pres. Ford; on opening day 1975 his wife Rachel utters the soundbyte: "I hope this is the beginning of a lot more black players being moved into front office and managerial positions and not just having their talents exploited on the field"; in Apr. 1975 his team scores its first V against the New York Yankees in the season opener, in which he hits a 1st-inning homer in his first at-bat, after which his team finishes the year 79-80, followed by 81-78 next year (first winning season for the Indians since 1968); too bad, after a bad season in 1977, he becomes the first African-Am. mgr. to be fired; his 1988 season as mgr. of the Baltimore Orioles opens with 21 straight and 107 total losses; he retires in Oct. 2006 with 2,943 hits, .294 batting avg., 586 homers (#4) and 1,829 RBIs (#10) as a player, and after becoming the first African-Am. player to manage a team in each major league, and to be named mgr. of the year in each league; too bad, color-line-breaking player Jackie Robinson dies in 1972 before he can see any of it.

In 1974 after leaving the Pozo-Seco Singers (founded 1964) and going solo, Floydada, Tex.-born "the Gentle Giant" Donald "Don" Williams (1939-2017) releases his debut single The Shelter of Your Eyes (#14 country), followed by We Should Be Together (by Allen Reynolds) (1974) (#5 country), I Wouldn't Want to Live if You Didn't Love Me (1974) (#1 country), The Ties That Bind (1974) (#4 country), You're My Best Friend (1975) (#1 country), (Turn Out the Light And) Love Me Tonight (1975) (#1 country), 'Till the Rivers All Run Dry (1975) (#1 country), Say It Again (1976) (#1 country), She Never Knew Me (1976) (#2 country), Some Broken Hearts Never Mend (1977) (#1 country), I'm Just a Country Boy (1977) (#1 country), Tulsa Time (1978) (#1 country), It Must Be Love (1979) (#1 country), Love Me Over Again (1979) (#1 country), I Believe in You (by Roger Cook and Sam Hogin) (1980) (#1 country) (#24 in the U.S.), Good Ole Boys Like Me (1980) (#2 country), Lord, I Hope This Day Is Good (1981) (#1 country), Listen to the Radio (1982) (#3 country), Mistakes (1982) (#3 country), If Hollywood Don't Need You (Honey I Still Do) (1982) (#1 country), Love Is on a Roll (1983) (#1 country), Stay Young (1983) (#1 country), Nobody But You (1983) (#2 country), That's the Thing About Love (1984) (#1 country), Walkin' a Broken Heart (1984) (#2 country), Heartbeat in the Darkness (1986) (#1 country), Back in My Younger Days (1990) (#2 country), and True Love (1991) (#4 country). He goes on to release 29 studio albums and 55 singles incl. 21 #1s.

On Sept. 5, 1975 (Fri.) Charles Manson disciple (who lived with him during the 1969 murders, and carved an X in her forehead with other supporters during his trial) Lynette Alice "Squeaky" Fromme (1948-) pulls a .45-cal. pistol from a thigh holster and attempts to assassinate Pres. Ford as he approaches the Calif. State Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., pointing but not firing because it has four bullets in the magazine but no bullet in the chamber; after a zany trial where she tries to represent herself, tries to call Charles Manson as a witness, throws an apple at the judge and is removed for violent outburst, she is convicted on Nov. 26, and sentenced to life on Dec. 17 in Sacramento federal court, then paroled from a Tex. prison on Aug. 14, 2009; in 1987 she escapes from a low security woman's prison in Alderwon, W. Va. to be closer to her Charley, but is recaptured two days later.

On Dec. 22, 1975 after the 1973-4 oil embargo finally makes Congress see the light despite calls for it since 1944, Pres. Ford signs the U.S. Energy Policy and Conservation Act, setting gasoline mileage standards for automobiles and authorizing the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve at four underground salt caverns on the Gulf of Mexico (Bryan Mound in Freeport, Tx., Big Hill in Winnie, Tex., West Hackberry in Lake Charles, La., Bayou Choctaw in Baton Rouge, La.) to provide a guaranteed domestic supply, storing 727M barrels (about a 1 mo. supply, or 110 days of imported oil); the Weeks Island cavern in Iberia Parish, La., formerly owned by Morton Salt is decommissioned in 1999 after a fresh water sinkhole forms; a 5th facility in Richton, Miss. is announced in Feb. 2007.

In 1975 Austin, Tex.-based country band Asleep at the Wheel, formed in Paw Paw, W. Va. by Ray Benson and Lucky Oceans (Reuben Gosfield) releases their 1-hit wonder The Letter That Johnny Walker Read (#10 country), followed by House of Blue Lights (1987) (#17 country).

In 1975 Monahans, Tex.-born Outlaw country singer-songwriter Guy Charles Clark (1941-) releases his debut album Old No. 1 (#41 country) (RCA Records), which features L.A. Freeway, and Desperados Waiting for the Train. Album #2 Texas Cookin (1976) (#48 country) features Texas Cookin', Broken Hearted People, and The Last Gunfighter Ballad. Album #4 The South Coast of Texas (1981) (Warner) features The Partner Nobody Chose (co-written by Rodney Crowell) (#38 country), Heartbroke (later covered by Ricky Skaggs), and She's Crazy for Leavin' (later covered by Rodney Crowell). Album #5 Better Days (1983) (#48 country) features Blowin' Like a Bandit, Uncertain Texas (co-written by Rodney Crowell), and No Deal (by Townes Van Zandt). His Nashville home becomes a mecca for up-and-coming Outlaw singers incl. Steve Earle and Rodney Crowell.

On Apr. 3, 1976 Pittsburgh, Penn.-born Ronald Earnest "Ron" Paul (1942-) becomes a Repub. U.S. rep. from Tex. (until Jan. 3, 1977), going on to be sworn-in again on Jan. 3, 1979 (until Jan. 3, 1985) and Jan. 3, 1997 (until Jan. 3, 2013), switching to the Libertarian Party in 1987 and running for U.S. pres. in 1988, 2008, and 2012 on a platform of abolishing the Federal Reserve, Military-Industrial Complex, and War on Drugs. On Dec. 9, 2009 a 1983 proposal to audit the Federal Reserve by Ron Paul (1942-) (R-Tex.) is voted on in the U.S. House.

On Aug. 2, 1976 after megamillionaire Tex. oilman Thomas "T." Cullen Davis (1933-) is ordered to pay his ex-wife Priscilla Davis (1943-) $5K/ mo. in living expenses plus $52K for bills and legal expenses, that night Priscilla and her boyfriend Stan Farr and their 12-y.-o. daughter Andrea Wilborn are attacked in their kitchen by a man dressed in black with a long black wig, killing Andrea and Stan and injuring Priscilla, causing Thomas to be arrested on Aug. 3, becoming the wealthiest man to stand trial for murder in U.S. history (until ?); too bad, his fancy lawyers gets him off because he's so rich he coulda hired a hit man and that provides reasonable doubt, and he goes on to become a born-again Christian and supporter of the right-wing John Birch Society et al. and go broke.

In 1976 Mickey Gilley's associate, Alta Loma, Tex.-born Johnny Lee (John Lee Ham) (1946-) releases his debut country single Sometimes (#59 country), followed by (1976) Red Sails in the Sunset (#22 country), Ramblin' Rose (1977) (#37 country), Country Party (by Ricky Nelson) (1977) (#15 country), Dear Alice (1977) (#58 country), This Time (1978) (#43 country), Lookin' for Love (by Wanda Mallette, Bob Morrison, and Patty Ryan) (1980) (#1 country) (#5 in the U.S.), One in a Million (1980) (#1 country) (#102 in the U.S.), Pickin' Up Strangers (by Byron Hill) (1981) (#3 country), Prisoner of Hope (1981) (#3 country), Bet Your Heart on Me (1981) (#1 country) (#54 in the U.S.), Be There for Me Baby (#10 country), When You Fall in Love (1982) (#14 country), Cherokee Fiddle (1982) (#10 country), Sounds Like Love (1983) (#6 country), Hey Bartender (1983) (#2 country), My Baby Don't Slow Dance (1983) (#23 country), The Yellow Rose of Texas (w/Lane Brody) (1984) (#1 country), You Could've Heard a Heart Break (1984) (#1 country), Rollin' Lonely (1984) (#9 country), Save the Last Chance (1985) (#12 country), and The Loneliness in Lucy's Eyes (The Life Sue Ellen Is Living) (from the album "Dallas: The Music Story") (1986) (#56 country). In 1982-4 he marries "Dallas" star Charlene Tilton (b. 1958), who bears son Johnny Lee Jr. (1990-2014).

In 1976 Ellis County, Tex.-born USAF pilot Boxcar Willie (Lecil Travis Martin) (1931-99) releases his debut album Boxcar Willie, followed by 11 more by 2004, getting inducted into the Grand Ole Opry 1981 as member #60. In 1980 he releases the single Train Medley (#95 country) (#61 country in 1983), followed by Bad News (1982) (#36 country), We Made Memories (w/Penny DeHaven) (1982) (#77 country), Last Train to Heaven (1982) (#80 country), Keep On Rollin' Down the Line (1982) (#70 country), Country Music Nightmare (1983) (#76 country), The Man I Used to Be (1983) (#44 country), Not on the Bottom Yet (1984) (#87 country), Luther (1984) (#69 country), The Wreck of Ole 97 (?), and Wabash Cannonball (?). He goes on to sell 100M+ records, using his money to open the Boxcar Willie Theater at 76 Country Music Blvd. in Branson, Mo., paving the way for other country stars.

In 1976 Austin City Limits debuts on PBS-TV station KLRN at the U. of Tex., featuring the music of Texas incl. progressive country; in 1977 London Homesick Blues by Gary P. Nunn, performed by the Lost Gonzo Band becomes the theme song.

On Nov. 18-21, 1977 after state conventions in Feb.-July that are attended by 130K, the Nat. Women's Conference in Houston, Tex. is attended by 2K delegates and 20K observers of all genders and political affiliations, becoming the first federally-sponsored ($5M) conference on women's issues, and first nat. women's rights convention since Seneca Falls, N.Y. in 1848; attendees incl. Nancy Reagan.

In 1977 Sullivan County, Tex.-born bluegrass-gospel musician Doyle Lawson (1944-) releases his debut album Tennessee Dream (Rebel Records), which features Georgia Cracker, Reminiscing, and Five Miles to Winchester. In 1980 after forming the new band Quicksilver he releases album #2 Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver (Sugar Hill Records), which features Album #5 Rock My Soul (1981), making him a star with his own blend of bluegrass and gospel; it features Rock My Soul, On the Sea of Life, Just Over Yonder, and Sweet Chariot. Album #19 There's a Light Guiding Me features Since Jesus Came Into My Heart, Let Me Tell You About Jesus, and There Is A God. He goes on to release 40+ albums and host the annual Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver Festival in Denton, N.C.

In 1977 Austin, Tex.-born Michael Bruce Sterling (1954-) ("Chmn. Bruce") (AKA Vincent Omniveritas) pub. his first novel Involution Ocean; Moby Dick in space? In 1985 he pub. Schismatrix, about the Shaper/Mechanist universe. In 1986 he pub. Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology, which helps define the cyberpunk genre. In 1990 he and William Gibson (1948-) pub. The Difference Engine, about an alternate Victorian Britain in which Charles Babbage succeeded in building a mechanical computer.

On Apr. 2, 1978 (Sun.) the super-popular CBS-TV evening soap opera series Dallas debuts for 357 episodes on CBS-TV (until May 3, 1991) becoming a hit in 90 of 91 countries (exception: Japan) with its portrayal of rich and beautiful people who have as many if not more problems than ordinary folk, starring Larry Martin Hagman (1931-2012) as mean slimy Texas oilman John Ross "J.R." Ewing Jr., Linda Gray (1940-) as his alcoholic former Miss Texas wife Sue Ellen, Patrick Duffy (1949-) as his good brother Bobby, Victoria Principal (1950-) as Bobby's wife Pamela Barnes Ewing (Romeo and Juliet?), Jim Davis (1909-81) as patriarch Jock Ewing, Barbara Bel Geddes (1922-2005) as his wife Miss Ellie, Keenan Wynn (1916-86) as Jock's alcoholic ex-partner Digger Barnes, Ted Shackelford (1946-) as Jock's misfit 3rd son Gary, Charlene Tilton (1959-) as Jock's vixen daughter Lucy, Steve Kanaly (1946-) as ranch foreman and everhard stud Ray Krebbs, and Ken Kercheval (1935-) as Pam's brother Cliff Barnes, who spends his life trying to get J.R. for what he did to his daddy Digger; when Davis dies suddenly in 1981, he is portrayed as dying in a plane crash in South Am.; Hagman holds out for more money in 1981, and wins after Robert Culp and Robert Colbert are suggested as his replacements in vain.

On June 19, 1978 Larry L. King (1929-2012), Peter Masterson (1934-), and Carol Hall (1936-) debut their musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas at the 46th St. Theater in New York) (1,584 perf.), based on a Playboy mag. story by Larry L. King about the closing of the Chicken Ranch in La Grange, Tex.; filmed in 1982; features The Aggie Song.

On Aug. 1, 1978 Houston, Tex.-born Barbara Ann Mandrell (1948-) (former steel guitar player for Patsy Cline) releases her first hit country single Sleeping Single in a Double Bed (#1 country), followed by (If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right (1978) (#1 country) (#31 in the U.S.), Years (Dec. 7, 1979) (#1 country), Crackers (June 16, 1980) (#3 country), I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool (Apr. 16, 1981) (#1 country), Wish You Were Here (Aug. 31, 1981) (#2 country) (#40 in the U.S.), Till You're Gone (Apr. 8, 1982) (#1 country) (#25 in the U.S.), In Times Like These (Apr. 1983) (#4 country), and One of a Kind Pair of Fools (July 1983) (#1 country). On Nov. 18, 1980 Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters debuts on NBC-TV for 35 episodes (until 1982), featuring Tex.-born country singer sisters Barbara Ann Mandrell (1948-), Thelma Louise Mandrell (1954-) and Ellen Irlene Mandrell (1956-); despite good ratings, the show is discontinued because Barbara suffers from exhaustion. In 1980 she becomes the 3rd woman to win the best entertainer of the year award from the Country Music Assoc.; in 1981 she becomes the first to win 2x; too bad, on Sept. 11, 1984 she has an automobile accident, causing her take off 18 mo. for rehabilitation; she retires in Nov. 1997.

In Aug. 1978 after being discovered by Jerry Reed, playing in Emmylou Harris's backing band The Hot Band, and forming The Cherry Bombs in 1977 with Vince Gill, Tony Brown et al., Crosby, Tex.-born Rodney Crowell (1950-) releases his debut album Ain't Living Long Like This, which features Elvira (#95 country), Baby, Better Start Turnin' 'Em Down (#38 country), and (Now and Then, There's) A Fool Such As I (#90 country). In 1979 he marries Johnny Cash's daughter Rosanne Cash (until 1992). Album #2 But What Will the Neighbors Think (1980) (#64 country) (#155 in the U.S.) features Ashes by Now (#78 country) (#37 in the U.S.), Ain't No Money, and Here Come the 80's. Album #3 Rodney Crowell (1983) (#47 country) (#105 in the U.S.) features Stars on the Water (#30 country) (#105 in the U.S.), and Victim or a Fool (#34 country). Album #4 Street Language (#38 country) (#177 in the U.S.) features Let Freedom Ring, When I'm Free Again (#38 country), and Looking for You (co-written by Rosanne Cash) (#59 country). Album #5 Diamonds & Dirt (Mar. 30, 1988) (#8 country) (500K copies), his breakthrough album features It's Such a Small World (w/Rosanne Cash) (#1 country), I Couldn't Leave You If I Tried (#1 country), She's Crazy for Leaving (#1 country), After All This Time (#1 country), Above and Beyond (The Call of Love) (by Buck Owens) (#1 country), setting the record for most #1 country hits from a single album. Album #6 Keys to the Highway (Oct. 10, 1989) (#15 country) (#180 in the U.S.) features Many a Long and Lonesome Highway (#3 country), If Looks Could Kill (#6 country), My Past Is Present (#22 country), and Now That We're Alone (#17 country). Album #7 Life Is Messy (May 19, 1992) (#30 country) (#155 in the U.S.) features Lovin' All Night (#10 country), and What Kind of Love (#11 country).

On Jan. 3, 1979 Fort Benning, Ga.-born William Philip "Phil" Gramm (1942-) becomes a U.S. Dem. Tex. rep. (until Jan. 3, 1985), switching to the Repub. Party in 1983 and becoming a U.S. Repub. sen. (until Nov. 30, 2002).

On Jan. 16, 1979 wealthy Dallas, Tex.-born oilman William Perry "Bill" Clements (1917-2011) becomes Repub. Tex. gov. #42 (until Jan. 18, 1983); becoming the first Repub. Tex. gov. since Reconstruction; on Jan. 16, 1979 he becomes the first Tex. gov. to be elected to multiple terms since the 1972 change in the Tex. Constitution to extend terms to four years, serving as gov. #44 until Jan. 15, 1991; too bad, in 1987 he is involved in the payment of players during the SMU (Southern Methodist U.) Mustangs Football Scandal, leading to the NCAA giving the death penalty to the program and univ.

On Jan. 29, 1979 Pres. Carter formally welcomes 5'0" Chinese vice-PM Deng Xiaoping (1904-97) to the White House, after which he travels to Tex. and dons a 10-gal. hat for a rodeo, and visits the NASA Space Center in Houston, Tex. trying out a flight simulator, becoming the first visit of a Chinese head of state to the barbaric U.S. before returning to China and cracking down on dissidents who got ideas; the real goal is to open the U.S. to Chinese exports and set it up for a titanic invasion of cheap products that made the old days of Japanese imports look like nothing? - I like Chinese take-out?

In Jan. 1979 JFK assassination survivor John B. Connally of Tex. announces his candidacy for U.S. pres. as a Repub. candidate; too bad, although he raises the most money of any candidate, he can't overtake frontrunner Ronald Reagan, and withdraws after losing S.C. by 55%-30% and obtaining only the support of one delegate, Mrs. Ada Mills of Ark., who becomes known as the "$11 million delegate" since that's how much he spent; he then endorses Reagan and helps him defeat George H.W. Bush in Tex.

On Apr. 10, 1979 (Terrible Tues.) a F4 tornado in Wichita Falls, Tex. kills 42 and damages 2K bldgs.; there are 26 tornadoes that day in Tex. and Okla., which kill 60, injure 900, and cause $400M damage.

On Nov. 1, 1979 (a.m.) the tanker M/T Burmah Agate collides with outbound freighter Mimosa off Galveston Bay, Tex., killing 33 of 37 crew and spilling 62K barrels (2.6M gal.) of oil, becoming the worst Tex. oil spill until 1990.

On Nov. 18-21, 1979 after state conventions in Feb.-July that are attended by 130K, the Nat. Women's Conference in Houston, Tex. is attended by 2K delegates and 20K observers of all genders and political affiliations, becoming the first federally-sponsored ($5M) conference on women's issues, and first nat. women's rights convention since Seneca Falls, N.Y. in 1848; attendees incl. Nancy Reagan.

In Dec. 1979 San Antonio, Tex.-born Christopher Cross (Christopher Charles Geppert) (1951-) releases is debut album Christopher Cross, which receives five Grammys, incl. best record, song, album (beating Pink Floyd's "The Wall"), and new artist (1st time until ?); it features Sailing, Ride Like the Wind, and Never Be the Same. In 1981 Arthur's Theme (Best You Can Do) from the 1981 film "Arthur" goes #1 in the U.S., winning best original song Oscar.

In 1979 Herbert Allen (1907-) of Tex. invents the Screwpull Corkscrew, with a Teflon-coated screw that allows the cork to be removed without leaving bits in the bottle.

In 1979 Nashville, Tenn.-born Loretta Lynn "Lorrie" Morgan (1959-) (daughter of George Morgan) releases her first country single Two People in Love (#75 country), followed by I'm Completely Satisfied with You (w/George Morgan) (#93 country), Out of Your Shoes (1989) (#2 country), Dear Me (1989) (#9 country), Five Minutes (1990) (#1 country), He Talks to Me (1990) (#4 country), Til a Tear Becomes a Rose (w/Keith Whitley) (1990) (#13 country), We Both Walk (1991) (#3 country), Except for Monday (1991) (#4 country), What Part of No (1992) (#1 country), Watch Me (1992) (#2 country), I Don't Know My Own Strength (1995) (#1 country), Back in Your Arms Again (1995) (#4 country), Go Away (1997) (#3 country), Good As I Was to You (1997) (#4 country), and He Drinks Tequila (w/Sammy Kershaw) (#39 country). She ends up married 6x, incl. Ron Gaddis (1979-80), Keith Whitley (1986-9), Brad Thompson (1991-3), Jon Randall (1996-9), Sammy Kershaw (2001-7), and Randy White (2010), hooking up with Dallas Cowboys QB Troy Aikman in 1990, and politician-actor Fred Thompson in 1994-6. She goes on to release 15+ albums and 25+ singles incl. three #1s.

On Mar. 27, 1980 (Silver Thur.) after peaking at $54 early in the year, the silver bubble collapses as the price of silver plummets 50% in one day from $21.62 to $10.80 an oz.; in Aug. 1988 the Hunt Brothers (Nelson Bunker Hunt, William Herbert Hunt, Lamar Hunt) of Tex. are convicted of conspiring to manipulate the market - not of conspirating to assassinate JFK?

On Apr. 28, 1980 $27M Reunion Arena in Dallas, Tex. opens as the home of the NBA Dallas Mavericks (cap. 18,187) and NHL Dallas Stars (cap. 17,001); it closes on June 30, 2008.

On May 1, 1980 the NBA expands to 23 teams as the Dallas Mavericks (Mavs) team is founded by Don Carter, and named after the 1957-62 TV series "Maverick", with Dick Motta as head coach #1; Kiki Vandeweghe of UCLA is their first pick, but he holds out for the Denver Nuggets; 6'3" guard Bradley Ernest "Brad" Davis (1955-) (#15) from the CBA is signed in Dec.; the debut game in the new Reunion Arena (opened Apr. 28; closed June 30, 2008) sees the Mavericks defeat the Spurs by 103-92, but their first season starts 6-40 and ends 15-67; in 1981 they draft 6'6" forward Mark Anthony Aguirre (1959-) (#24), Panamanian-born 6'6" guard Rolando Antonio Blackman (1959-) (#22), and 6'7" forward Jay Fletcher Vincent (1959-) (#31).

On May 3, 1980 after her 13-y.-o. daughter Cari Lightner is killed by repeat drunk driver Clarence Busch (b. 1934) in Fair Oaks, Calif., who gets a light sentence, Candace Lynne "Candy" Lightner (nee Dodderidge) (1946-) founds Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) (originally Drunk Drivers) in Irving, Tex.; after it becomes too prohibitionist for her taste, advocating a 21-y.-o. legal drinking age et al., she leaves in 1985.

On June 6, 1980 James Bridges' Urban Cowboy (Paramount Pictures) debuts, starring John Travolta as W Tex. hunk Buford Uan "Bud" Davis, who moves in with Uncle Bob (Barry Corbin) in Pasadena (near Houston) for a better job, and spends his spare time at Gilley's (a real-life bar in Pasadena, Tex. owned by Mickey Gilley, with the world's largest indoor bar), hooking up with Sissy (Debra Winger) and fighting with Wes Hightower (Scott Glenn) when he's not riding a mechanical bull; "Hard hat days and honky-tonk nights"; features country singers Mickey Gilley, Johnny Lee, Charlie Daniels, and Bonnie Raitt; does $53.3M box office; the Urban Cowboy Soundtrack album features Lookin' for Love (written by Wanda Mallette, Bob Morrison, and Patty Ryan) by Johnny Lee (#1 country) (#5 in the U.S.), Stand by Me by Mickey Gilley, The Devil Went Down to Georgia by the Charlie Daniels Band, Look What You've Done to Me by Boz Scaggs, Hearts Against the Wind (written by J.D. Souther) by Linda Ronstadt and J.D. Souther, Could I Have This Dance by Anne Murray, and Love the World Away by Kenny Rogers, launching the Urban Cowboy (Neo-Country) (Hill Boogie) Movement in pop-country music.

On July 27, 1980 after watching a CBS-TV special with Dan Rather in a stripper-filled hot tub at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, and hearing that Soviet troops have been booby-trapping children's toys with explosives in Afghanistan (and worrying about the Soviet Union gaining access to the Persian Gulf), well-positioned Trinity, Tex.-born U.S. rep. (D-Tex.) (1973-97) Charles Nesbitt "Charlie" Wilson (1933-2010), member of the House Appropriations Committee (a womanizing boozer AKA Good Time Charlie, whose all-female staff is called Charlie's Angels) gets religion, visits refugee camps in Pakistan in fall 1982, survives a federal investigation into cocaine drug use in summer 1983, and with the help of Houston, Tex. lobbyist Joanne King Herring (1929-) (Zsa-Zsa Gabor lookalike?) and U.S. rep. (D-Md.) (1963-85) Clarence Dickinson "Doc" Long (1908-94), chmn. of the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations of the House Appropriations Committee begins pumping up funding for the CIA operation in Afghanistan, starting with $40M in 1983, fighting CIA reluctance to get the U.S. into a war with the Soviets, and going on to funnel $1B into the mujahideen war against the Soviets, getting Pres. Reagan in spring 1986 to overrule the Joint Chiefs of Staff and release 35-lb. shoulder-mounted heat-seeking Raytheon FIM-92 Stinger missiles to shoot down Soviet Mi-24 Hind helis to mujahideen leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar (1947-), 1977 founder of the Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin (HIG), and issuing the soundbyte "The U.S. had nothing whatsoever to do with these people's decision to fight... but we'll be damned by history if we let them fight with stones"; on Sept. 26, 1986 the first three Hinds are shot down, and the Stingers turn the tide, causing the helis to have to raise their ceiling, and after 100+ helis are shot down the Soviets finally pull out on Feb. 15, 1989 after 10 years; too bad, the U.S. leaves the devastated Afghanis unsupported with economic or military aid, causing the Muslim fundamentalists to take over, later using the training and weapons against the U.S., causing Charlie to issue the soundbyte "These things happened and they were glorious, but we fucked up the endgame"; Hekmatyar goes on to become PM of Afghanistan in 1993-4 and 1996, then after aiding al-Qaida he is designated an internat. terrorist on Feb. 19, 2003 by the U.S. State Dept.

On July 31-Aug. 11, 1980 Category 5 (190 mph) Hurricane Allen (strongest since Hurricane Camille in 1969) starts in Cape Verde, batters the S peninsula of Haiti on Aug. 5, killing 200, then goes on to hit Brownsville, Tex. as a Category 3 storm on Aug. 10, causing $2.6B in damage, becoming the worst hurricane of the year and 5th worse Atlantic hurricane since the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane.

On Sept. 20, 1980 Whole Foods Market is founded in Austin, Tex. by John Mackey (1953-) et al. with $45K to sell organic food, growing to 479 stores and 91K employees by 2018; on Aug. 28, 2017 it merges with Amazon.com.

Rock River flows for you, Mr. President? On Nov. 4, 1980 the 1980 U.S. Pres. Election sees Repubs. Ronald Wilson Reagan (1911-2004) of Calif. and George Herbert Walker Bush (1924-) of Tex. defeat Dems. Jimmy Carter and Walter F. Mondale after the Iran Hostage Crisis and the misery index are blamed on the Dems.

On Dec. 8, 1980 (Mon.) (12-8-80) (10:49 p.m.) after a nude photoshoot and a recording session for Yoko Ono's "Walking on Thin Ice", former Beatle John Winston Ono Lennon (b. 1940) was shot 4x in the back, side, and shoulder with a Charter Arms .38 Special Undercover snub-nosed revolver firing five hollow point "dum-dum" bullets, and kills outside the Dakota Apt. Bldg. in New York City's Upper West Side on W 72nd St. (6 blocks from 66th St.) (a reputed home for witches, famous as the setting for "Rosemary's Baby") by deranged eyeglasses-wearing Fort Worth, Tex.-born "Catcher in the Rye"-loving fan and Honolulu security guard Mark David Chapman (1955-), who got his autograph earlier in the day, and stayed on the scene reading his novel, then called out "Mr. Lennon" and drops to a combat stance before firing, and later told police "I'm sure the large part of me is Holden Caulfield, who is the main person in the book - the small part of me must be the Devil". Lennon is hit in the aorta and collapses to the floor, dropping cassettes of "Walking on Thin Ice", then struggling to the lobby shouting "I'm shot! I'm shot!", and arrived DOA at the hospital, and is pronounced dead at 11:07 p.m. Chapman remained on the scene, letting his smoking gun drop on top of Lennon's bloodstained eyeglasses, and not resisting arrest, telling them "I acted alone" and "Lennon have to die"; uture rock star Madonna (1958-), who have just moves to the Big Apple is walking a few blocks away at the time, and joins the crowd outside the Dakota; singer Neil Diamond was also in town for the debut of his movie "The Jazz Singer". Howard Cosell announces Lennon's death on Monday Night Football during a game between the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots, with the soundbyte "This, we have to say it, remember this is just a football game, no matter who wins or loses. An unspeakable tragedy, confirmed to us by ABC News in New York City. John Lennon, outside of his apartment building on the West Side of New York City, the most famous, perhaps, of all the Beatles, shot twice in the back, rushed to the Roosevelt Hospital, dead on arrival." After the usual calls for more gun control laws, Pres. Reagan said they wouldn't have prevented the shooting. On Dec. 14 fans around the world paid tribute to the brainy Beatle in a memorial service in Central Park across the street from the Dakota, where the Strawberry Fields Memorial (design by Yoko Ono) is erected, complete with the word "Imagine" (dedicated on Oct. 9, 1985). Fidel Castro commemorated a statue to this "revolutionary hero". Before he died, John arranged a dog for his 5-y.-o. son Sean Ono Lennon (1975-), which arrived on Dec. 25 and was named "Merry Christmas". One month after the murder, Yoko Ono releases "Walking on Thin Ice (for John), her first charting single, peaking at #58. Lennon is awarded a posthumous album of the year at the 1982 Grammy Awards; Chapman toyed with an insanity defense then pled guilty, and on Aug. 24, 1981 wass sentenced to 20-life, ending up in Attica Correctional Facility in Buffalo, N.Y. The hit is really ordered by the CIA? The senseless death ended the endless dreams of Beatle fans for a reunion, and seemed to cause them all to fade away. In 1988 Albert Goldman (1927-94) pub. The Lives of John Lennon, which portrays him as meagerly talented, violent, drugged-out, neurotic, dyslexic, schizophrenic, and anti-Semitic, and claims he have a gay affair with mgr. Brian Epstein along with boy hos in Thailand, pissing-off Yoko Ono and Paul McCartney, despite Ono in 1981 calling him a "closet fag" who liked her because she looked "like a bloke in drag"; also accuses him of killing a sailor in Hamburg, causing the death of Beatle Stuart Sutcliffe by kicking him in the head during a drunken rage, and killing Yoko's unborn baby in 1968 by kicking her in the belly; also claims that there is no 5-year "house-husband" phase in 1975-80; in 2015 Yoko admits that John have a desire for sex with men but never acted on it, and that Epstein "made a move" but Lennon didn't go all the way.

In 1980 the Islamic Society of Denton is founded in "Best Small Town in America" Denton, Tex.; its imam is Mohamed Fouad; on June 28, 2016 member Peshwaz Azad Waise (1991-) makes terroristic threats at a local courthouse and hospital in Denton, Tex., ordering them to accept his free Qurans or die. Watch video.

In 1980 after disbanding the soft rock duo England Dan and John Ford Coley, McCamey, Tex.-born Danny Wayland "Dan" Seals (1948-2009) (brother of Seals & Crofts member Jim Seals) releases his debut album Stones (Atlantic Records), which features Stones (Dig a Little Deeper), and Late at Night (#57 in the U.S.). Album #2 Harbinger (1982) features Can't Get You Out of My Mind (#110 in the U.S.). Album #3 Rebel Heart (1983) (#40 country) (Liberty Records) features Everybody's Dream Girl (#18 country), After You (#28 country), You Really Go for the Heart (#37 country), and God Must Be a Cowboy (#10 country). Album #4 San Antone (1984) (EMI Records) (#24 country) features (You Bring Out) The Wild Side of Me (#9 country), My Baby's Got Good Timing (#2 country), and My Old Yellow Car (#9 country). Album #5 Won't Be Blue Anymore (1985) (#1 country) (#59 in the U.S.) (500K copies) features Meet Me in Montana (w/Marie Osmond) (#1 country), Bop (#1 country) (#42 in the U.S.), and Everything That Glitters (Is Not Gold) (#1 country). Album #6 On the Front Line (1986) (#12 country) features You Still Move Me (#1 country), I Will Be There (#1 country), and Three Time Loser (#1 country). The compilation album The Best (Oct. 20, 1987) (#7 country) (Capitol Records) (1M copies) features One Friend (#1 country). Album #7 Rage On (June 29, 1988) (Capitol Records) (#6 country) features Addicted (#1 country), Big Wheels in the Moonlight (#1 country), and They Rage On (#5 country). Album #8 On Arrival (Feb. 28, 1990) (#13 country) features Love on Arrival (#1 country), and Good Times (#1 country). He goes on to release 13 studio albums and 35 singles incl. 11 #1s.

On Jan. 20, 1981 70-y.-o. Tampico, Ill.-born Rock River bodyguard (saved 77 people), Eureka College (Disciples of Christ) grad., radio announcer, male model and Hollywood B-movie actor Ronald Wilson "Dutch" Reagan (1911-2004) ("the Great Communicator") becomes the Biblical Number 40th (until 1989) U.S. pres. (oldest person elected pres. so far) (first divorced pres.) in the 58th U.S. Pres. Inauguration (Secret Service codename: Rawhide); warmest (55F) inauguration day until ?; the 5th lefty U.S. pres. (last Ford, next G.H.W. Bush); 2nd to skip using his middle name in the oath (1st Jimmy Carter); George Herbert Walker Bush (1924-) becomes the 43rd U.S. vice-pres. (Secret Service codename: Tumbler); First Lady is Anne Francis "Nancy" Robbins Davis Reagan (1921-2016) (Secret Service codename: Rainbow); Reagan places a standing order for 720 1-lb. bags of Jelly Belly brand jelly beans (306,070 beans) each month, costing $2,880, later uttering the soundbyte: "You can tell a lot about a fellow's character by his way of eating jelly beans"; Second Lady is Barbara Bush (nee Pierce) (1925-); Reagan's First Inaugural Address (held for the first time on the terrace of the West Front of the Capitol) contains the soundbyte: "Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem"; minutes after he is sworn-in, Iran releases the U.S. hostages, and they are flown to Algiers after 444 days in captivity, in return for which the U.S. unblocks some Iranian funds and Iran agrees to repay U.S. bank loans.

On Mar. 3, 1981 the U.S. discloses that they released zinc cadmium sulfate into the atmosphere from two F-105 jet fights around Victoria, Tex. on July 11-Aug. 9, 1966.

On Apr. 23, 1981 Poteet, Tex.-born George Harvey Strait (1952-) (known for a super-thin waist with jeans and giant belt buckle) releases his first single for MCA Records, Unwound (written by Dean Dillon and Frank Dycus) (#6 country), followed on Sept. 4 by his debut album Strait Country, which features If You're Thinking You Want a Stranger (There's One Coming Home) (#3 country), launching his record-setting career as "the King of Country" and "King George". Album #2 Strait from the Heart (June 3, 1982) (#18 country), which features Fool Hearted Memory (by Byron Hill) (#1 country), Marina del Rey (#6 country), Amarillo by Morning (#4 country), and A Fire I Can't Put Out (#1 country). Album #3 Right or Wrong (Oct. 6, 1983) (#1 country) features Right or Wrong (#1 country), You Look So Good in Love (#1 country), and Let's Fall to Pieces Together (#1 country). Album #4 Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind (Sept. 26, 1984) (#1 country) (#150 in the U.S.) (1M copies) features The Cowboy Rides Away (#5 country), and The Fireman (#5 country). Album #5 Something Special (Aug. 29, 1985) (#1 country) features The Chair (by Hank Cochran and Dean Dillon) (#1 country), and You're Something Special to Me (#4 country). Album #6 (#7 counting his greatest hits album) #7 (May 14, 1986) (#1 country) (#127 in the U.S.) features Nobody in His Right Mind Would've Left Her (#1 country), and It Ain't Cool to be Crazy About You (#1 country). Album #7 Ocean Front Property (Jan. 12, 1987) (#1 country) (#117 in the U.S.) (2M copies) (first album to debut at #1 on the Billboard country albums chart) features Ocean Front Property (by Hank Cochran, Dean Dillon, and Royce Porter) (#1 country), and All My Ex's Live in Texas (by Sander D. Shafer and Lyndia J. Shafer) (#1 country). Album #8 If You Ain't Lovin' You Ain't Livin' (Feb. 22, 1988) (#1 country) (#87 in the U.S.) (1M copies) features If You Ain't Lovin' (You Ain't Livin') (#1 country), Famous Last Words of a Fool (#1 country), Baby Blue (#1 country). Album #9 Beyond the Blue Neon (Feb. 6, 1989) (#1 country) (#92 in the U.S.) (1M copies) features Baby's Gotten Good at Goodbye (#1 country), What's Going On in Your World (#1 country), and Overnight Success (#8 country). Album #10 Livin' It Up (May 15, 1990) (#1 country) (#35 in the U.S.) (1M copies) features Love Without End, Amen (#1 country), I've Come to Expect it from You (#1 country), and Drinking Champagne (#4 country). On Sept. 15, 1992 he releases the album Pure Country Soundtrack (#1 country) (6M copies). He goes on to surpass Conway Twitty's record 40 Billboard country #1 singles in 2009 with 44, ramping up to 60+ and selling 100M records.

On May 1, 1981 Henry Gabriel Cisneros (1947-) becomes the first Mexican-Am. elected mayor of a major U.S. city, San Antonio, Tex. (until June 1, 1989) - the toilets all flush now?

On May 13, 1981 James Szalapski's Heartworn Highways (Warner Bros.) debuts, documenting the Outlaw Country movement in Nashville in late 1975 and early 1976, incl. David Allan Coe, Guy Clark, Rodney Crowell, Charlie Daniels, Steve Earle, Gamble Rogers, Larry Jon Wilson, Steve Young, and esp. Fort Worth, Tex.-born drugged-out genius John Townes Van Zandt (1944-97).

On May 25, 1981 (Memorial Day) daredevil Daniel "Dan" Goodwin (1955-), wearing a Spiderman costume scales the outside of Chicago's 110-story Sears Tower in 7.5 hours in an attempt to prove that people trapped in the Nov. 21, 1980 burning MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas could have been rescued, causing the press to dub him Spider Dan; on Nov. 7 despite police interference he climbs the 56-story Renaissance Tower in Dallas, Tex., and on Nov. 11 he climbs the 100-story John Hancock Center in Chicago, Ill.; on May 30 (Memorial Day), 1983 he climbs the North Tower of the WTC in New York Center, and finishes on June 26, 1986 by scaling the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada.

On July 27, 1981 7-y.-o. toy lover Adam John Walsh (b. 1974) is abducted from a Sears store in Hollywood Mall, Fla. after he becomes separated from his mother, hooks up with older boys playing a video game, and a security guard asks them to leave, and 14 days later on Aug. 10 his severed head is found in a drainage canal 100 mi. away in Vero Beach (the rest of the body is never recovered), causing his father John Edward Walsh Jr. (1945-) to become a crusader, pushing for the creation of the U.S. Missing Children Act of 1982, the U.S. Missing Children's Assistance Act of 1984, and the U.S. Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006; on Feb. 7, 1988 he becomes host of the Fox-TV series America's Most Wanted, which spotlights wanted suspects and coordinates a nationwide search, celebrating its 1000th caught crook in Dec. 2008; prime suspect Ottis Elwood Toole (1947-96) (didn't I see him in "Deliverance"?) is arrested, confesses, recants, is never charged, and dies of liver failure in prison, but on Dec. 16, 2008 the police finally say they can prove he did it; meanwhile Toole's gay lover-partner, Blacksburg, Va.-born Henry Lee Lucas (1936-2001) is arrested in Tex. on June 11, 1983, then confesses to hundreds of unsolved murders, getting convicted for 157; after newspapers lampoon the convictions as made-up, his death sentence is commuted to life in 1998, and he dies of heart failure in prison in Huntsville, Tex. on Mar. 12, 2001.; on Sept. 24, 1986 John McNaughton releases the film Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, starring Michael Rooker as Henry and Tom Towles as Otis, getting rated X by the MPAA.

On Jan. 20, 1982 after he began throwing meat at the audience during his Diary of A Madman Tour, causing fans to start throwing stuff back, British shock rocker John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (1948-) bites the head off a bat in Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Des Moines, Iowa, later claiming he thought it was fake, then getting rabies shots; the fan who threw it on stage later claims it was already dead; in Mar. guitarist Randy Rhoads dies while flying a stolen airplane over the tour bus, after which he is replaced by Bernie Torme then Brad Gillis; in 1982 Ozzy gets banned from San Antonio, Tex. for a decade for urinating on the Alamo while wearing future wife-mgr. Sharon's dress, and in 1989 he tries to strangle her after getting too drunk.

On Mar. 15, 1982 Fort Worth, Tex.-born countrypolitan singer Gary Gwyn Morris (1948-) releases his debut album Gary Morris (Warner Bros. Records) (#39 country), which features Headed for a Heartache (#8 country), Don't Look Back (#12 country), and Dreams Die Hard (#15 country). Album #2 Why Lady Why (Aug. 17, 1983) (#6 country) (#174 in the U.S.) (500K copies) features Why Lady Why (#4 country), Velvet Chains (#9 country), The Love She Found in Me (#5 country), and The Wind Beneath My Wings (#4 country). In 1983 he and Lynn Anderson release You're Welcome to Tonight (#9 country). Album #3 Faded Blue (Apr. 12, 1984) (#12 country) features Between Two Fires (#7 country), Second Hand Heart (#7 country), and Baby Bye Bye (#1 country). Album #4 Anything Goes (July 15, 1985) (#1 country) features Anything Goes (#28 country), I'll Never Stop Loving You (#1 country), and 100% Chance of Rain (by Charlie Black and Austin Roberts) (#1 country). In 1985 he and Crystal Gayle release Makin' Up for Lost Time (The Dallas Lovers Song) (#1 country). Album #5 Plain Brown Wrapper (Aug. 18, 1986) (#9 country) features Plain Brown Wrapper (#9 country), Leave Me Lonely (#1 country), and Honeycomb (#27 country). Album #6 What If We Fall in Love? (w/Crystal Gale) (July 14, 1987) (#25 country) features Another World. Album #7 Stones (May 1, 1989) (#40 country) features Never Had a Love Song. He goes on to release nine studio albums and 27 singles incl. five #1s.

On July 23, 1982 Colin Higgins' The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (RKO Pictures) (Universal Pictures) debuts, based on the 1978 musical by Larry L. King, starring Dolly Parton as Mona Stangley, madame of the Chicken Ranch in Gilbert, Tex., Burt Reynolds as Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd, Jim Nabors as Deputy Fred, and Charles Durning as the governor; does $69.69M box office on a $20.5M budget.

In 1982 the Susan G. Komen for the Cure non-profit breast cancer research org. is founded in Dallas, Tex., becoming known for the annual Race for the Cure, held in the Mall of America on Mother's Day.

On Feb. 16, 1983 Rio Airways Dash 7 from Killeen, Tex. to Dallas, Tex. is hijacked by Iranian man Hussein Shey Kholya to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.

On July 10, 1983 the Nat. Women's Political Caucus holds a meeting in San Antonio, Tex. with 400 delegates wearing buttons saying "Jane Wyman was right" (to divorce Ronald Reagan), and "I'm a Republican woman and I want my party back".

On Oct. 2, 1983 (Sun.) the "Dallas"-wannabe TV series The Yellow Rose debuts on NBC-TV for 22 episodes (until May 12, 1984), about the Champion family of Tex. and their 200K-acre ranch, founded by dead Wade Chamion, starring David Soul (David Richard Solberg) (1943-) as son Roy Champion, Edward Albert (Edward Laurence Heimberger) (1951-2006) (son of Eddie Albert and Margo) as son Quisto Champion, Samuel Pack "Sam" Elliott 91944-) as Chance McKenzie, and Cybill Lynne Shepherd (1950-) as Wade's hot widow Colleen Champion; "The passionate saga of an American empire."

On Aug. 20-23, 1984 the 1984 Repub. Nat. Convention in Dallas, Tex. renominates Ronald Reagan and George Herbert Walker Bush; the slogan is "It's Morning Again for America"; on Aug. 23 Reagan's acceptance speech contains the soundbyte "In the party of Lincoln, there is no room for intolerance... Many people are welcome in our house, but not the bigots."

On Sept. 21, 1984 Robert Benton's Places in the Heart (TriStar Pictures) debuts, starring Sally Field as 1935 Waxahachie, Tex. widow Edna Spalding, who tries to save the family farm with the help of blind white man Mr. Will, played by John Gavin Malkovich (1953-) (feature film debut) and black drifter Moze (Danny Glover); features a performance by Western Swing fiddler Cliff Bruner; does $34.9M box office on a $9.5M budget.

In 1984 Dell Computer is founded by Jewish-Am. college student Michael Saul Dell (1965-) in dorm room #2713 of Dobie Center at the U. of Tex. at Austin, dropping out after his family gives him $300K; original name PCs Limited; by 1985 it introduces the Turbo PC for $795, and has sales of $34M, then goes public in June 1988; in 2004 it has sales of $49B and profits of $3B; in 1992 Dell becomes the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 co.; the PCs Limited prototype ends up in the Smithsonian Inst.

On Sept. 8, 1985 Michael Drummond (1960-90) undergoes an operation at the U. of Ariz. Medical Center in Tucson to replace his artificial heart with a real one from a donor in Tyler, Tex., becoming the first patient successfully given an artificial heart to buy time until he can receive a human one.

On Dec. 12, 1985 after the largest U.S. budget deficit in history, Pres. Reagan signs the U.S. Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, mandating congressional spending limits with the goal of eliminating the federal deficit by 1991; too bad, it doesn't work, causing the 1990 U.S. Budget Enforcement Act to be passed; it is sponsored by U.S. Sens. William Philip "Phil" Gramm (1942-) (R-Tex.). Warren Bruce Rudman (1930-2012) (R-N.H.), and Ernest Frederick "Fritz" Hollings (1922-) (D-S.C.).

In 1985 Archer City, Tex.-born Larry Jeff McMurtry (1936-) pub. Lonesome Dove (Pulitzer Prize); retired Texas Rangers Capt. Augustus "Gus" McCrae and Capt. Woodrow F. Call run the Hat Creek Cattle Co. and Livery Emporium in the Tex. border down of Lonesome Dove decide to drive a herd of cattle to begin the first cattle ranch N of the Yellowstone River and visit Gus' sweetheart Clara on the Platte River near Ogallala Neb.; based on the cattle drive of Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving, where Loving is attacked by Indians and dies of blood poisoning; turned into a TV miniseries in 1989 starring Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones; followed by "Streets of Laredo", "Dead Man's Walk", and "Comanche Moon".

In 1985 Doylestown, Penn.-born James Albert Michener (1907-97) pub. Texas; hundreds of years of Tex. history; turned into a TV miniseries in 1994 dir. by Richard Lang, starring Stacy Keach, Benjamin Bratt, Rick Schroder, and Patrick Duffy.

On Dec. 8, 1986 House Dems. select majority leader James Claude "Jim" Wright Jr. (1922-2015) (D-Tex., 1955-89) to be House Speaker #56 (until June 6, 1989), succeeding Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill.

In 1986 San Antonio, Tex.-born Holly Dunn (1957-), sister of country songwriter Chris Waters (Dunn) releases her debut album Holly Dunn (MTM Records) (#29 country), which features Daddy's Hands (#7 country). Album #2 Cornerstone (1987) (#22 country) features Love Someone Like Me (#2 country), Only When I Love (#4 country), and Strangers Again (#7 country). In 1987 she and Michael Martin Murphey release A Face in the Crowd (#4 country). Album #3 Across the Rio Grande (1988) (#26 country) features That's What Your Love Does to Me (#5 country), and (It's Always Gonna Be) Someday (#11 country). Album #4 The Blue Rose of Texas (July 10, 1989) (Warner Bros. Records) (#30 country) features Are You Ever Gonna Love Me (#1 country), There Goes My Heart Again (#4 country). Album #5 Heart Full of Love (May 10, 1990)(#47 country) features Heart Full of Love (#19 country), and You Really Had Me Going (#1 country). In 1990 she and Kenny Rogers release Maybe (#25 country). The compilation album Milestones: Greatest Hits (July 23, 1991) (#25 country) (#162 in the U.S.) (500K copies) features Maybe I Mean Yes (#48 country). Album #6 Getting It Dunn (June 16, 1992) features Golden Years (#51 country), No Love Have I (#67 country), and As Long As You Belong to Me (#68 country). Album #7 Life and Love and All the Stages (Apr. 18, 1995) (River North Records) features I Am Who I Am (#56 country), and Cowboys Are My Weakness. She goes on to release nine studio albums before retiring in 2003 to become an artist.

In 1986 Klein, Tex.-born Lyle Pearce Lovett (1957-) releases his debut album Lyle Lovett (#14 country), which features Cowboy Man (#10 country). In 1988 he releases album #2 Pontiac (#12 country). On Jan. 25, 1989 he releases album #3 Lyle Lovett and His Large Band (#10 country), which features Stand By Your Man (by Tammy Wynette) (#82 country), which is incl. in the soundtrack of the 1993 film "The Crying Game". Album #4 Joshua Judges Ruth (Mar. 31, 1992) (#57 in the U.S.) features You've Been So Good Up to Now (#36 in the U.S.). In June 1993 he marries actress Julia Roberts in Marion, Ind., and divorces her in Mar. 1995. Album #5 I Love Everybody (Sept. 27, 1994) (#26 in the U.S.) (#54 in the U.K.) features They Don't Like Me, Penguins, and Creeps Like Me. Album #6 The Road to Ensenada (June 18, 1996) (#4 country) (#24 in the U.S.) (#62 in the U.K.) features That's Right (You're Not from Texas). Album #7 Step Inside This House (double album) (Sept. 22, 1998) (#9 country) (#55 in the U.S.) (#190 in the U.K.) features If I Needed You (by Townes Van Zandt). He goes on to release 13 albums and 21 singles.

On Feb. 26, 1987 the Tower Commission (U.S. Tex. Repub. Sen. John Tower, former U.S. secy. of state Edmund Muskie, former nat. security advisor Brent Scowcroft) (commissioned by Pres. Reagan on Dec. 1, 1986) releases the Tower Commission Report, providing official confirmation of the NSC's arms-for-hostages policy.

On May 22, 1987 a deadly tornado devastates the small W Tex. town of Saragosa, Tex., killing 30 and injuring 162.

On July 2, 1987 18 illegal immigrants are found dead inside a locked boxcar near Sierra Blanca, Tex. in a botched smuggling attempt; a 19th man survives.

On July 18-21, 1988 the 1988 Dem. Nat. Convention in Atlanta, Ga. chooses Mass. Gov. Michael Stanley Dukakis (1933-) (du Cock Kisser?) and running mate Lloyd Millard Bentsen (1921-2006) of Tex.; Arab-Ams., encouraged by Jesse Jackson's candidacy participate in a major way for the first time; on July 18 Tex. treasurer (later 1-term gov.) Ann Richards (1933-2006) delivers the keynote address, with the soundbytes: "Poor George, he can't help it, he was born with a silver foot in his mouth", and "Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did, she just did it in high heels and going backwards"; on July 21 Dukakis gives his acceptance speech, with the soundbyte "Yes, my friends, it's time for wonderful new beginnings... A new administration. A new era of greatness for America." On Aug. 13 George H.W. Bush contemplates a list of potential running mates as Repubs. gather in New Orleans, La. for the 1988 Repub. Nat. Convention, held on Aug. 15-18; on Aug. 18 Bush picks Ind. Sen. (since Jan. 3, 1977) James Danforth "Dan" Quayle (1947-) as his running mate, and gives his acceptance speech, with the soundbytes "And this has been called the American Century, because in it we were the dominant force for good in the world. We saved Europe, cured polio, we went to the Moon, and lit the world with our culture. And now we are on the verge of a new century, and what country's name will it bear? I say it will be another American century", and "Read my lips: no new taxes"; Quayle's service record in the Ind. Nat. Guard during the Vietnam War is immediately called into question; the 1988 Repub. Party Platform promises "no new taxes". On Oct. 5 Ind. Repub. Dan Quayle and Tex. Dem. Lloyd Bentsen clash in Omaha, Neb. in the only vice-pres. debate of the 1988 campaign; after a dull hour warm-up, Quayle remarks "I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the presidency", causing Bentsen to utter his famous perfect put-down: "Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy."

On Nov. 10, 1988 the U.S. Dept. of Energy announces that Bushorado, er, Texas has been chosen as the home of the $4.4B atom-smashing Superconducting Super Collider AKA the Desertron; Congress kills it in Oct. 1993.

On Nov. 22, 1988 Americans honor Pres. Kennedy on the 25th anniv. of his assassination, with 2.5K people turning out in Dallas, Tex. and visitors stopping by his gravesite at Arlington Nat. Cemetery.

On Jan. 25, 1989 the Senate Armed Services Committee opens confirmation hearings on the nomination of former U.S. Sen. (R-Tex.) (1961-85) John Goodwin Tower (1925-91) (chmn. of the Senate Armed Services Committee in 1981-5) to be secy. of defense; on Feb. 23 it votes against recommending him, after which on Mar. 8 four undecided Senate Dems. announce that they have decided against him, and on Mar. 9 the Senate rejects President Bush's nomination of John Tower for defense secy. by a vote of 53-47, becoming the first cabinet nominee of a newly-elected U.S. pres. to be rejected; on Mar. 10 Bush announces the nomination of Wyoming Rep. Dick Cheney, who is unanimously confirmed on Mar. 17.

On May 2, 1989 Long Branch, N.J.-born, Katy, Tex.-raised black cowboy hat-loving Clint Patrick Black (1962-) releases his debut album Killin' Time (#1 country) (#31 in the U.S.) (3M copies), which features #1 country hits Killin' Time, A Better Man, Nobody's Home, and Walkin' Away, and #3 country hit Nothing's News. Album #2 Put Yourself in My Shoes (Nov. 27, 1990) (#1 country) (#18 in the U.S.) (3M copies) features Put Yourself in My Shoes (#4 country), Loving Blind (#1 country), Where Are You Now (#1 country), and One More Payment (#7 country). Album #3 The Hard Way (July 14, 1992) (#2 country) (#8 in the U.S.) (1M copies) features When My Ship Comes In (#1 country), We Tell Ourselves (#2 country), and Burn One Down (#4 country). Album #4 No Time to Kill (July 13, 1993) (#2 country) (#14 in the U.S.) (1M copies) features A Good Run of Bad Luck (#1 country), State of Mind (#2 country), A Bad Goodbye (w/Wynonna Judd) (#2 country), No Time to Kill (#3 country), and Half the Man (#4 country). Album #5 One Emotion (Oct. 4, 1994) (#8 country) (#37 in the U.S.) (1M copies) features One Emotion (#2 country), Summer's Comin' (#1 country), Wherever You Go (#3 country), Life Gets Away (#4 country), and Untanglin' My Mind (#4 country). He goes on to release nine albums and score 30 top-10 and 22 #1 country hits.

On Aug. 7, 1989 a small plane carrying U.S. Rep. (D-Tex.) (since Jan. 3, 1979) George Thomas "Mickey" Leland III (b. 1944) and 15 others disappears during a flight in Ethiopia; the wreckage of the plane is found six days later; there are no survivors.

On Sept. 21, 1989 in Alton, Tex. 21 students drown and 60 are injured when their school bus collides with a Dr. Pepper soda pop truck and falls into a water-filled gravel pit; subject of the 1991 Russell Banks novel "The Sweet Hereafter", which is filmed in 1997 by Atom Egoyan.

In 1990 the Twenty-First (21st) (1990) U.S. Census reports the total pop. as 248,718,301 (9.8% increase) (70.6 per sq. mi.); white pop. 83.9%; birth/death rate per thousand 16.6/8.6; legal immigration 1981-1990 7,338,062 (1,090,924 in 1989, 1,536,483 in 1990); Hispanics overtake blacks in Tex. to become the largest minority group.

On Apr. 10, 1990 Abilene, Tex.-born Lee Roy Parnell (1956-) releases his debut album Lee Roy Parnell, which doesn't chart. Album #2 Love Without Mercy (Apr. 28, 1992) (#66 country) features What Kind of Fool Do You Think I Am (#2 country), Tender Moment (#2 country), Love Without Mercy, and The Rock. Album #3 On the Road (Oct. 26, 1993) (#59 country) features On the Road (#6 country), I'm Holding My Own (#3 country), and Take These Chains from My Heart (by Hank Williams Sr.) (#17 country). Album #4 We All Get Lucky Sometimes (Aug. 1, 1995) (#26 country) (#173 in the U.S.) features We All Get Lucky Sometimes (#46 country), A Little Bit of You (#2 country), Heart's Desire (#3 country), When a Woman Loves a Man (#12 country), and Givin' Water to a Drowning Man (#12 country). Album #5 Ever Night's a Saturday Night (June 17, 1997) (#53 country) features Lucky Me, Lucky You (#35 country), and You Can't Get There from Here (#39 country).

On June 8, 1990 (11:30 p.m.) a 500K gal. oil spill by the Norwegian oil tanker Mega Borg in Galveston Bay, Tex. 50 mi. off the coast becomes the worst in Tex. until 2010.

On June 22, 1990 the president's son George W. Bush, a dir. of Tex. oil co. Harken Energy Corp. sells 212,140 shares at $4 per share just before huge losses are reported, causing accusations of insider trading and influence peddling; too bad, no wrongdoing is found by authorities.

On July 7, 1990 Pres. George H.W. Bush welcomes fellow leaders of the Group of Seven countries in sweating hot Houston, Tex. for their 16th annual economic summit, calling on Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to accept Western aid.

On July 31, 1990 Refugio, Tex.-born Lynn Nolan Ryan Jr. (1947-) ("the Ryan Express") of the Texas Rangers, who at age 43 threw a no-hitter on June 11 becomes the 20th major leaguer to win 300 games as he leads his team to a V over the Milwaukee Brewers 11-3. On May 1, 1991 he throws his record 7th and last no-hitter as a Texas Ranger, striking out 16 in a 3-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

On Sept. 14, 1990 after his 1988 debut album Doing My Country Thing (Axbar Records) fails to chart, Beaumont, Tex.-born Mark Nelson Chesnutt (1963-) releases album #2 Too Cold at Home (MCA Records) (#12 country) (#132 in the U.S.) (1M copies), which features Too Cold at Home (#3 country), Brother Jukebox (by Keith Whitley) (#1 country), Blame It on Texas (#5 country), Your Love Is a Miracle (#3 country), Broken Promise Land (by Waylon Jennings) (#10 country), and Friends in Low Places. Album #3 Longnecks & Short Stories (Mar. 21, 1992) (#9 country) (#68 in the U.S.) (1M copies) features Old Flames Have New Names (#5 country), I'll Think of Something (#1 country), Bubba Shot the Jukebox (#4 country), and Ol' Country (#4 country). Album #4 Almost Goodbye (June 22, 1993) (#6 country) (#43 in the U.S.) (1M copies) features It Sure Is Monday (#19 country), Almost Goodbye (#1 country), I Just Wanted You to Know (#1 country), and Woman, Sensuous Woman (#21 country). Album #5 What a Way to Live (Sept. 13, 1994) (#15 country) (#98 in the U.S.) (500K copies) features She Dreams (#6 country), Goin' Through the Big D (#2 country), Gonna Get a Life (#1 country), and Down in Tennessee (#23 country). Album #6 Wings (Oct. 3, 1995) (#24 country) (#116 in the U.S.) features Trouble (#7 country), It Wouldn't Hurt to Have Wings and Wrong Place, Wrong Time (#37 country). His first Greatest Hits album (Nov. 19, 1996) (#18 country) (#130 in the U.S.) features It's a Little Too Late (#1 country), and Let It Rain (#8 country). Album #7 Thank God for Believers (Sept. 23, 1997) (#25 country) (#165 in the U.S.) features Thank God for Believers (#2 country), It's Not Over (w/Alison Krauss and Vince Gill) (#34 country), I Might Even Quit Lovin' You (#18 country), and Wherever You Are (#45 country). Album #8 I Don't Want to Miss a Thing (Feb. 9, 1999) (#6 country) (#65 in the U.S.) features I Don't Want to Miss a Thing (#1 country), and This Heartache Never Sleeps (#17 country). Album #13 Rollin' with the Flow (June 24, 2008) (#35 country) features Rollin' with the Flow (by Charlie Rich) (#25 country), and She Never Got Me Over You (by Keith Whitley) (#49 country). Album #14 Outlaw (June 22, 2010) (#42 country) features Lovin' Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again). He goes on to release 13 studio albums and 40 singles incl. nine #1s, and sell 10M records worldwide.

In Oct. 1990 the first swarm of Africanized killer bees is detected in Hidalgo, Tex.

In Oct. 1990 31-y.-o. meat packer Diana Lumbrera (1959-) is tried in the same courtroom in Garden City, Kan. as "In Cold Blood" murderers Perry Smith and Richard Hickock for seven murders, and is convicted on Oct. 6 of smothering her 4-y.-o. son Jose to death while lying in his bed with his teddy bear on May 1, the last of six brothers and sisters who all died before reaching age five from 1976-84 when she lived in the Tex. panhandle, which are only discovered after her arrest in Kan.; a 7th child under her care died in 1980; the prosecution claims she has Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, despite receiving $15K in insurance claims; she is later tried in Tex. for the other counts and convicted - I know today's your birthday, and I did not find no rose, but I wrote this song instead, Popsicle Toes?

On Nov. 6, 1990 U.S. Dems. increase their congressional voting strength in midterm elections; Lakeview, Tex.-born quick-quipping outspoken feminist Texas-twanging Dem. Dorothy Ann Willis Richards (1933-2006), elected as state treasurer in 1982 after treatment for alcoholism in 1980 is elected Texas gov. #45 (until Jan. 17, 1995) (2nd female Texas gov. after Ma Ferguson in 1925), and is sworn-in on Jan. 15 next year in Austin, going on to fulfill campaign vows to create a "New Texas" and "open government to everyone" by appointing women and minorities, reforming the prison system and streamlining govt. and regulatory agencies, reversing a downturn in the economy and sponsoring the Texas Lottery then purchasing the first ticket on May 29, 1992; she appoints state rep. Lena Guerrero Aguirre (1957-2008) of Austin to the Tex. Railroad Commission, becoming the first non-Anglo; too bad, in 1992 she is fired over a falsified resume.

On Nov. 20, 1990 after opening for Charley Pride, Jacksonville, Tex.-born Neal McCoy (Hubert Neal McGaughey Jr.) (1958-) (formerly Neal McGoy) (Irish-Am. father, Filipino-Am. mother) releases his debut album At This Moment (Atlantic Records), which is a non-charter; it features At This Moment, If I Built You a Fire (#47 country), and This Time I've Hurt Her More (Than She Loves Me) (#50 country). Album #2 Where Forever Begins (June 2, 1992) (#58 country) features Where Forever Begins (#40 country), There Ain't Nothin' I Don't Like About You (#57 country), and Now I Pray for Rain (#26 country). Album #3 No Doubt About It (Feb. 8, 1994) (#13 country) (#84 in the U.S.) (1M copies) features No Doubt About It (#1 country) (#75 in the U.S.), That Wink (#1 country) (#91 in the U.S.), and The City Put the Country Back in Me (#5 country). Album #4 You Gotta Love That (Jan. 24, 1995) (#10 country) (#68 in the U.S.) (1M copies) features For a Change (#3 country) (#108 in the U.S.), They're Playin' Our Song (#3 country), If I Was a Drinkin' Man (#16 country), and You Gotta Love That (#3 country). Album #5 Neal McCoy (June 4, 1996) (#7 country) (#61 in the U.S.) (500K copies) features Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye (#4 country) (#107 in the U.S.), Going, Going, Gone (#35 country), That Woman of Mine (#35 country). His compilation album Greatest Hits (June 10, 1997) (#5 country) (#55 in the U.S.) features The Shake (#5 country). Album #6 Be Good At It (Oct. 28, 1997) (#23 country) (#135 in the U.S.) features If You Can't Be Good (Be Good at It) (#22 country), Party On (#50 country), and Love Happens Like That (#29 country). Album #7 The Life of the Party (Jan. 19, 1999) (#24 country) features I Was (#37 country), and The Girls of Summer (#42 country). Album #8 24-7-365 (Aug. 22, 2000) (#28 country) (Giant Records) features Forever Works for Me (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) (#38 country), Every Man for Himself (#37 country), and Beatin' It In (#41 country). Album #9 The Luckiest Man in the World (Warner Bros. Records) (unreleased) features Put Your Best Dress On (#46 country). Album #10 That's Life (Aug. 23, 2005) (#8 country) (#32 in the U.S.) (903 Music) features Billy's Got His Beer Goggles On (#10 country) (#75 in the U.S.), and The Last of a Dying Breed (#35 country).

In Dec. 1990 former Tex. gov. John B. Connally Jr., along with Coastal Oil Corp. chmn. Oscar Wyatt meet with Iraqi pres. Saddam Hussein, and persuade him to release his "guests", foreign hostages held at strategic military sites.

In 1990 New York City-born Vanity Fair ed. Harry Gerard "H.G." "Buzz" Bissinger III (1954-) pub. Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, and A Dream; bestseller (2M copies) about the ill-fated 1988 Permian Panthers of Odessa, Tex., who lose the state 5A football title to the Dallas Carter Cowboys by 14-9, after which on June 20, 1989 two Carter players are arrested for robbing video stores starting five days after the game, leading to 21 robberies by 15 teenies incl. six players getting uncovered, causing the title to be stripped in Jan. 1991; filmed in 2004 starring Billy Bob Thornton.

On May 21, 1991 liberal Greenville, Tex.-born Norvell Kay Granger (nee Mullendore) (1943-) becomes nonpartisan mayor #21 of Fort Worth, Tex. (until Dec. 19, 1995) (first woman), going on to become a Repub. U.S. rep. on Jan. 3, 1997 (until ?) (first Repub. woman from Tex. in the U.S. House); in 2016 she joins a long list of Repubs. opposing Repub. U.S. pres. nominee Donald Trump.

On Aug. 13, 1991 the country music duo Brooks and Dunn incl. Shreveport, La.-born black cowboy hat-loving Leon Eric "Kix" Brooks III (1955-) (dark hair) and Coleman, Tex.-born Ronnie Gene Dunn (1953-) (blonde hair) release their debut album Brand New Man (#3 country) (#10 in the U.S.) (6M copies), which features Brand New Man (#1 country), My Next Broken Heart (#1 country), Neon Moon (#1 country), Boot Scootin' Boogie (#1 country) (#50 in the U.S.), and Lost and Found (#6 country). Album #2 Hard Workin' Man (Feb. 23, 1993) (#2 country) (#9 in the U.S.) features Hard Workin' Man (#4 country), She Used to Be Mine (#1 country), That Ain't No Way to Go (#1 country), We'll Burn That Bridge (#2 country), and Rock My World (Little Country Girl) (#2 country) (#97 in the U.S.). Album #3 Waitin' on Sundown (Sept. 27, 1994) (#1 country) (#15 in the U.S.) features She's Not the Cheatin' Kind (#1 country), I'll Never Forgive My Heart (#6 country), Little Miss Honky Tonk (#1 country), You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone (#1 country), and Whiskey Under the Bridge (#5 country). Album #4 Borderline (Apr. 16, 1996) (#1 country) (#5 in the U.S.) features My Maria (#1 country) (#79 in the U.S.), A Man This Lonely (#1 country) (#124 in the U.S.), I Am That Man (#2 country), Why Should I Say Goodbye (#8 country), and Mama Don't Get Dressed Up for Nothing (#13 country). Their first compilation album The Greatest Hits Collection (Sept. 16, 1997) (#2 country) (#4 in the U.S.) features He's Got You (#2 country), and Honky Tonk Truth (#3 country). Album #5 If You See Her (June 2, 1998) (#4 country) (#11 in the U.S.) features If You See Him/If You See Her (w/Reba McEntire) (#1 country), How Long Gone (#1 country), Husbands and Wives (#1 country) (#36 in the U.S.), and I Can't Get Over You (#5 country) (#51 in the U.S.). Album #7 Steers & Stripes (Apr. 17, 2001) (#1 country) (#4 in the U.S.) features Ain't Nothing 'Bout You (#1 country) (#25 in the U.S.), Only in America (#1 country) (#33 in the U.S.), The Long Goodbye (#1 country) (#39 in the U.S.), My Heart Is Lost to You (#5 country) (#48 in the U.S.), and Every River (#12 country) (#75 in the U.S.). Album #8 Red Dirt Road (July 15, 2003) (#1 country) (#4 in the U.S.) (1M copies) features Red Dirt Road (#1 country) (#25 in the U.S.), You Can't Take the Honky Tonk Out of the Girl (#3 country) (#39 in the U.S.), and That's What She Gets for Loving Me (#6 country) (#53 in the U.S.). Album #9 Hillbilly Deluxe (Aug. 30, 2005) (#1 country) (#3 in the U.S.) features Hillbilly Deluxe (#16 country) (#86 in the U.S.), Play Something Country (#1 country) (#37 in the U.S.), Building Bridges (#4 country) (#66 in the U.S.), and Believe (#16 country) (#86 in the U.S.). Album #10 (last) Cowboy Town (Oct. 2, 2007) (#4 country) (#13 in the U.S.) (400K copies) features Proud of the House We Built (#4 country) (#57 in the U.S.), God Must Be Busy (#11 country) (#78 in the U.S.), Put A Girl in It (#3 country) (#54 in the U.S.), and Cowgirls Don't Cry (w/Reba McEntire) (#2 country) (#44 in the U.S.) (their 41st and last top-10 country hit, and Reba's record 56th, passing Dolly Parton). They go on to release 10 studio albums and 50 singles incl. 20 #1s and 19 top-10s.

On Nov. 12, 1991 Atlanta, Tex.-born Tracy Lawrence (1968-) releases his debut album Sticks and Stones (#10 country) (#71 in the U.S.), which features Sticks and Stones (#1 country), Today's Lonely Fool (#3 country), Runnin' Behind (#4 country), and Somebody Paints the Wall (#8 country). Album #2 Alibis (Mar. 9, 1993) (#5 country) (#25 in the U.S.) (2M copies) features Alibis (#1 country), Can't Break It to My Heart (#1 country), My Second Home (#1 country), If the Good Die Young (#1 country). Album #3 I See It Now (Sept. 20, 1994) (#3 country) (#28 in the U.S.). features I See It Now (#2 country), Texas Tornado (#1 country), If the World Had a Front Porch (#2 country), and As Any Fool Can See (#2 country). Album #4 Time Marches On (Jan. 23, 1996) (#4 country) (#25 in the U.S.) features Time Marches On (#1 country), Is That a Tear (#5 country), If You Loved Me (#5 country), and Stars Over Texas (#5 country). Album #5 The Coast Is Clear (Mar. 18, 1997) (#4 country) (#45 in the U.S.) features How a Cowgirl Says Goodbye (#2 country), Better Man, Better Off (#4 country). Album #6 Lessons Learned (Feb. 1, 2000) (#9 country) (#69 in the U.S.) features Lessons Learned (#3 country), and Lonely (#18 country). Album #7 Tracy Lawrence (Oct. 23, 2001) (#13 country) (#136 in the U.S.) features Life Don't Have to Be So Hard. Album #8 Strong (Mar. 30, 2004) (#2 country) (#17 in the U.S.) features Paint Me a Birmingham. Album #9 For the Love (Jan. 30, 2007) (#6 country) (#53 in the U.S.) features Find Out Who Your Friends Are (by Casey Beathard and Ed Hill) (#1 country) (#61 in the U.S.), Til I Was a Daddy Too (#32 country), and You Can't Hide Redneck.

In Jan. 1992 United We Stand America third party (Libertarian) candidate, Texarkana, Tex.-born self-made, self-nominated, and self-financed billionaire Henry Ross Perot (b. 1930), 1962 founder of Electronic Data Systems (EDS) enters the U.S. pres. race (smelling of a setup by the Dems. to outmaneuver Bush, but nobody can prove it?) claiming that the ballooning nat. debt needs his folksy common sense simplistic approach as a magic bullet (even though he made his fortune with govt. manpower and welfare check processing contracts?); his running mate is decorated Vietnam War vet vice-adm. James Bond Stockdale (1923-2005), who begins his debate with Quayle and Gore by asking the audience "Who am I? Why am I here?", which makes him the butt of jokes even though he only meant to present himself as a philosopher?; after firing his prof. advisors who wanted Stockdale out, Perot suddenly drops out in July, only to reenter in Oct., costing him millions of followers, who quit believing in his decisiveness?

On Apr. 27, 1993 Vidor, Tex.-born neotraditionalist country singer Tracy Lynn Byrd (1966-) releases his debut album Tracy Byrd (#24 country) (#115 in the U.S.) (MCA Records) (500K copies), which features Holdin' Heaven (#1 country), That's the Thing About A Memory (#71 country), Someone to Give My Love To (by Johnny Paycheck) (#42 country), and Why Don't That Telephone Ring (#39 country). Album #2 No Ordinary Man (June 7, 1994) (#3 country) (#20 in the U.S.) (2M copies) features The First Step (#5 country), Lifestyles of the Not So Rich and Famous (#4 country) (#115 in the U.S.), Watermelon Crawl (#4 country) (#81 in the U.S.), and The Keeper of the Stars (#2 country) (#68 in the U.S.). Album #3 Love Lessons (July 18, 1995) (#6 country) (#44 in the U.S.) (500K copies) features Love Lessons (#9 country) (#119 in the U.S.), Walking to Jerusalem (#15 country) (#92 in the U.S.), 4 to 1 in Atlanta (#21 country), and Heaven in My Woman's Eyes (#14 country). Album #4 Big Love (Oct. 22, 1996) (#12 country) (#106 in the U.S.) (500K copies) features Big Love (#3 country), (Don't Take Her) She's All I Got (by Johnny Paycheck) (#4 country), Don't Love Make a Diamond Shine (#17 country), and Good Ol' Fashioned Love (#47 country). Album #5 I'm from the Country (May 12, 1998) (#8 country) (#58 in the U.S.) features I'm from the Country (#3 country) (#63 in the U.S.), and I Wanna Feel That Way Again (#9 country). Album #6 It's About Time (Nov. 2, 1999) (#20 country) (#174 in the U.S.) (RCA Records) features Put Your Hand in Mine (co-written by Jimmy Wayne) (#11 country) (#76 in the U.S.), Love, You Ain't Seen the Last of Me (#44 country), and Take Me with You When You Go (#43 country). Album #7 Ten Rounds (July 24, 2001) (#12 country) (#119 in the U.S.) features Ten Rounds with Jose Cuervo (by Casey Beathard, Michael P. Henney, and Marla Cannon-Goodman) (#1 country) (#26 in the U.S.), A Good Way to Get on My Bad Side (w/Mark Chestnutt) (#21 country) (#121 in the U.S.), and Just Let Me Be in Love (#9 country) (#64 in the U.S.). Album #8 The Truth About Men (July 1, 2003) (#5 country) (#33 in the U.S.) features The Truth About Men (#13 country) (#77 in the U.S.), Drinkin' Bone (#7 country) (#60 in the U.S.), How'd I Wind Up in Jamaica (#53 country). His Greatest Hits (Feb. 8, 2005) album (#14 country) (#61 in the U.S.) features Revenge of a Middle-Aged Woman (#34 country). Album #9 Different Things (Sept. 26, 2006) (#36 country) (#165 in the U.S.), released on his own Blind Mule label features Cheapest Motel (#55 country), and Better Places Than This. He goes on to release nine studio albums and 34 singles incl. three #1s.

On May 15, 1993 the $186M Alamodome in San Antonio, Tex. opens, putting the city on the ML baseball map; on Sept. 10 78K fans fill the dome to watch Julio Cesar Chavez win a 12-round decision against Pernell Whitaker, for the largest indoor boxing audience in history.

On June 10, 1993 shortly after her election, Dem. Travis County D.A. Ronald Dale "Ronnie" Earle (1942-) indicts new U.S. Repub. Tex. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (Kathryn Ann Bailey) (1943-) (Tex. state treasurer since Jan. 15, 1991) (first female U.S. Tex. sen.) on trumped-up charges of using state property to help with her campaign, admitting that he wants her job; in Sept. she is indicted by a grand jury, and in Feb. 1994 Tex. district John Onion acquits her and bars any further prosecution; she is reelected in 1994, 2000 and 2005, becoming the #4 ranking Repub. in the Senate; in the 2000 election she becomes the first non-pres. candidate in Tex. history to receive 4M votes; she serves until Jan. 3, 2013, and on Aug. 28, 2017 after being appointed by Pres. Trump she becomes U.S. NATO rep #22 (until ?).

On Aug. 3, 1993 black cowboy hat-loving Beaumont, Tex.-born country singer Ernest Clayton "Clay" Walker (1969-) releases his debut album Clay Walker (#8 country) (#52 in the U.S.) (1M copies), which features What's It to You (co-written by Robert Ellis Orrall) (#1 country) (#73 in the U.S.), Live Until I Die (#1 country) (#107 in the U.S.), Dreaming with My Eyes Open (#1 country), and Where Do I Fit in the Picture (311 country). Album #2 If I Could Make a Living (Sept. 27, 1994) (#4 country) (#42 in the U.S.) (1M copies) features If I Could Make a Living (#1 country) (#121 in the U.S.), This Woman and This Man (#1 country), and My Heart Will Never Know (#16 country). Album #3 Hypnotize the Moon (Oct. 17, 1995) (#10 country) (#57 in the U.S.) (1M copies) features Hypnotize the Moon (#2 country) (#105 in the U.S.), Only on Days That End in 'Y' (#5 country), and Bury the Shovel (#18 country). Album #4 Rumor Has It (Apr. 8, 1997) (#4 country) (#32 in the U.S.) (1M copies) features Rumor Has It (#1 country), Then What? (#2 country) (#65 in the U.S.), Watch This (#4 country), and One, Two, I Love You (#18 country). His compilation album Greatest Hits (June 9, 1998) (#9 country) (#41 in the U.S.) (500K copies) features You're Beginning to Get to Me (#2 country) (#39 in the U.S.), and Ordinary People (#35 country) (#120 in the U.S.). Album #5 Live, Laugh, Love (Aug. 24, 1999) (#5 country) (#55 in the U.S.) (500K copies) features Live, Laugh, Love (#11 country) (#65 in the U.S.), The Chain of Love (#3 country) (#40 in the U.S.), She's Always Right (#16 country) (#74 in the U.S.), and Once in a Lifetime Love (#50 country). Album #6 Say No More (Mar. 27, 2001) (#14 country) (#129 in the U.S.) features Say No More (#33 country), and If You Ever Feel Like Lovin' Me Again (#27 country). Album #7 A Few Questions (Sept. 9, 2003) (#3 country) (#23 in the U.S.) features A Few Questions (#9 country) (#55 in the U.S.), I Can't Sleep (#9 country) (#61 in the U.S.), and Jesus Was A Country Boy (#31 country). Album #8 Fall (Apr. 17, 2007) (#5 country) (#15 in the U.S.) features Fall (#5 country) (#56 in the U.S.), 'Fore She Was Mama (#21 country) (#116 in the U.S.), and She Likes It in the Morning (#43 country). Album #9 She Won't Be Lonely Long (June 8, 2010) (#5 country) (#16 in the U.S.) features She Won't Be Lonely Long (#4 country) (#53 in the U.S.), Where Do I Go from Loving You (#26 country), Like We Never Said Goodbye (#46 country), and Jesse James (#57 country). He goes on to release nine studio albums and 31 singles incl. six #1s.

On Sept. 25, 1993 Leslie Greif's and Paul Haggis' Walker, Texas Ranger debuts on CBS-TV for 203 episodes (until May 19, 2001), inspired by the 1983 film "Lone Wolf McQuade", starring Chuck Norris as decorated Vietnam War vet (USMC) Sgt. Cordell Walker, who uses martial arts for law enforcement while preaching Just Say No to Drugs and community service, Clarence Gillard as his partner Sgt. James "Jimmy" Trivette, and Sheree J. Wilson as Tarrant County DA Alexandra "Alex" Cahill, who eventually marries Walker.

On Jan. 3, 1995 Queens, N.Y.-born Sheila Jackson Lee (1950-) becomes U.S. Dem. Rep. from Tex. (until ?), going on to join the House Subcommittee on Space Policy of the House Science Committee; on Dec. 18, 2017 she gets passenger Jean-Marie Simon of Washington, D.C. bumped from a United Airlines flight from Houston, Tex. to Washington, D.C., causing a pissing contest, with Lee pulling out the race car.

On Jan. 17, 1995 Texas Rangers ML baseball team co-owner George Walker Bush (1946-) AKA Dubya becomes Repub. Tex. gov. #46 (until Dec. 21, 2000).

On Mar. 31, 1995 Lake Jackson, Tex.-born Tejana crossover singing star Selena Quintanilla-Perez (Quintanilla-Pérez) (b. 1971) is shot in the back and murdered by Yolanda Saldivar (1960-), pres. of her fan club in Corpus Christi, Tex. during an argument where Selena accused her of embezzlement and fired her; Saldivar gets life in priz; on Apr. 12 Tex. gov. George W. Bush declares her birthday Apr. 16 "Selena Day" in Tex.

On Sept. 4, 1995 the New Zealand-based TV series Xena: Warrior Princess debuts for 134 episodes (until June 18, 2001) as a spinoff of "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" and set in ancient Greece, starring Kiwi-born manly woman Lucille Frances "Lucy" Lawless (nee Ryan) (1968-) (with more black hair dye on her head than Elvis?) enthralls millions of women's libbers with its vision of a self-sufficient woman who can kick 10 mens' butts at the same time, has a lesbian-curious girlfriend named Gabriel, played by Katy, Tex.-born Evelyn Renee O'Connor (1971-), and has never heard of Islam or purdah - as long as you pretend not to notice the hidden wires?

On Sept. 30, 1995 The Woodlands, Tex.-born country singer Jack Owen Ingram (1970-) releases his debut album Jack Ingram (Crystal Clear Records), which is a non-charter, along with album #2 (1995). Album #3 Livin' or Dyin' (Mar. 25, 1997) (Rising Tide Records) features his first charter Flutter (#51 country). Album #5 Electric (June 4, 2002) (#34 country) (Lucky Dog Records) features One Thing. His live album Live: Wherever You Are (Jan. 10, 2006) (#33 country) (#9 in the U.S.) (Big Machine Records) features Wherever You Are (#1) (#63 in the U.S.), and Love You (#12 country) (#87 in the U.S.). Album #6 This Is It (Mar. 27, 2007) (#4 country) (Big Machine Records) features Lips of an Angel (by Hinder) (#16 country) (#77 in the U.S.), Measure of a Man (co-written by Radney Foster) (#18 country) (#108 in the U.S.), and Maybe She'll Get Lonely (#24 country). On May 19, 2008 he wins the Academy of Country Music Award for best new male vocalist. Album #7 Big Dreams & High Hopes (Aug. 25, 2009) (#21 country) features Big Dreams & High Hopes (co-written by Gary Burr), That's a Man (#18 country) (#104 in the U.S.), Barefoot and Crazy (#10 country) (#64 in the U.S.), Free (#42 country), Seeing Stars (co-written by Chris Tompkins) (w/Patty Griffin) (#54 country), Barbie Doll (co-written by Todd Snider) (#56 country). On Aug. 26, 2009 he sets a Guinness world record for most radio interviews in one day (215).

On Dec. 10, 1995 San Antonio, Tex.-born country singer Patrick Craven "Pat" Green (1972-) releases his debut album Dancehall Dreamer, which is a non-charter, as are the next two albums (1997, 2000). Album #4 Three Days (Oct. 16, 2001) (#7 country) (#86 in the U.S.) features Three Days (#36 country), Texas on My Mind (w/Cory Morrow) (#60 country), and Carry On (#35 country). Album #5 Wave on Wave (July 15, 2003) (#2 country) (#10 in the U.S.) (500K copies) features Wave on Wave (#3 country) (#39 in the U.S.), and Guy Like Me (#31 country). Album #6 Lucky Ones (Oct. 19, 2004) (#6 country) (#28 in the U.S.) features Don't Break My Heart Again (#21 country) (#116 in the U.S.), Baby Doll (#21 country) (#124 in the U.S.), and Somewhere Between Texas Mexico (#42 country). Album #7 Cannonball (Aug. 22, 2006) (#2 country) (#20 in the U.S.) features Feels Just Like It Should (#13 country) (#80 in the U.S.), Dixie Lullaby (#24 country), and Way Back Texas (#28 country). Album #8 What I'm For (Jan. 27, 2009) (#2 country) (#18 in the U.S.) features What I'm For (#28 country), Let Me (#12 country) (#81 in the U.S.), and Country Star (#32 country). Album #9 Songs We Wish We'd Written II (May 8, 2012) (#15 country) (#59 in the U.S.) features Austin, and Even the Losers. In 2014 he releases Girls from Texas (w/Lyle Lovett).

In 1995 Curves Internat. is founded as a women-only circuit-training fitness franchise in Waco, Tex. by Gary Heavin and Diane Heavin, growing to 10K worldwide locations and 4M members by 2006.

In 1995 Waco, Tex.-born, Nolanville, Tex.-braid Jennifer Love Hewitt (1979-) gets her big break on the Fox TV series Party of Five (ends 1999) as Sarah Reeves Merrin, going on to become a movie star with the 1997 film "I Know What You Did Last Summer", achieving a Q-rating of 37 in 2000, making her the most popular actress on TV.

On Jan. 13, 1996 the disappearance of Amber Renee Hagerman (1986-96) in Arlington, Tex. causes the establishment of the AMBER Alerts (Child Abduction Emergency) system in the U.S. for missing children.

On Aug. 12-15, 1996 the 1996 Repub. Nat. Convention in Houston, Tex. nominates Kans. Sen. Robert "Bob" Dole for pres., and New York rep., former Bush housing secy. and Buffalo Bills pro football player Jack French Kemp Jr. (1935-2009) for vice-pres.; on Aug. 26-30 the 1996 Dem. Nat. Convention in Chicago, Ill. renominates Pres. Bill Clinton and vice-pres. Al Gore; Clinton's campaign slogan is "Building a bridge to the 21st century"; up-and-coming Ind. gov. (1989-97) Birch Evans "Evan" Bayh III (1955-) gives the keynote address; on Aug. 17 the Reform Party Convention in Valley Forge, Penn. nominates 66-y.-o. Tex. billionaire H. Ross Perot for pres., saying that it will rely on mail and telephone votes; the economic boom being enjoyed by the U.S. causes Clinton's popularity to soar, while the Repubs. cause boredom with the usual drivel about tax cuts for the rich - welcome to my home, and I married a princess?

On Aug. 16, 1996 41-y.-o. female lezzie USAF major Debra L. Meeks (1955-) is acquitted of charges of sodomy and conduct unbecoming an officer by a 17-member jury at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Tex., becoming the first test of the Clinton admin. "don't ask don't tell" policy for queers - all that comes out of Texas are steers and queers, and I don't see any horns?

In 1996 Dallas, Tex.-born libertarian radio host Alexander Emerick "Alex" Jones (1974-) debuts his show The Final Edition on KJFK-FM radio, going on to claim that the 1995 Okla. City bombing and the 9/11 attack were U.S. govt. false flag operations, launching the Web site Infowars.com, which gets 10M visits/mo.

On Feb. 4, 1997 Pres. Clinton delivers his 1997 State of the Union Address, talking about a "detailed plan to balance the budget by 2002", and covering welfare, crime, the environment, relations with NATO and China, and the ISS, asking that top priority be given to education; meanwhile the bans on affirmative action in Calif. and Tex. cause minority enrollments in law schools to drop towards zilch, and on Apr. 5 a Harvard U. report reveals that for the 1991-4 period the U.S. has experienced "the largest backward movement toward segregation" since the 1954 Brown v. Board of Ed. U.S. Supreme Court decision.

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the greatest star of all? On Mar. 26, 1997 as the approach of Comet Hale-Bopp stirs the world's imagination (incl. a rash of Hollywood movies, all making money from Millennium Fever), police discover the Heaven's Gate cult mass suicide in San Diego, Calif. via phenolbarbitol, vodka, and plastic bags on their heads; these 39 castrated web designers (18 women, 21 men) (all dressed alike, with close-cropped hair), led by zany Spur, Tex.-born Marshall Herff "Bo" "Do" Applewhite Jr. (b. 1931) believed that their spirits will meet ETs in the comet after leaving their "vehicles"; they made their dough by designing Web sites under the name Higher Source, and ran their own cool Heaven's Gate Web Site.

On May 13, 1997 Jacksonville, Tex.-born country singer-songwriter Lee Ann Womack (1966-) releases her debut album Lee Ann Womack (#9 country) (#106 in the U.S.) (1M copies), which features The Fool (#2 country), You've Got to Talk to Me (#2 country), Buckaroo (#27 country), and Never Again, Again (#23 country). Album #2 Some Things I Know (Sept. 22, 1998) (#20 country) (#136 in the U.S.) features A Little Past Little Rock (#2 country), and I'll Think of a Reason Later (#2 country). Album #3 I Hope You Dance (May 23, 2000) (#1 country) (#16 in the U.S.) features I Hope You Dance (#1 country), Ashes by Now, Why They Call It Falling, and Does My Ring Burn Your Finger. Album #4 Something Worth Leaving Behind (Aug. 20, 2002) (#2 country) (#16 in the U.S.) is dissed by Brian Mansfield of USA Today, with the soundbyte: "Womack's ill-advised crossover ploy and a makeover that made her look like Britney Spears' mother made one of Nashville's most respected singers the butt of jokes"; it features Something Worth Leaving Behind (#20 country), and Forever Everyday. Album #5 There's More Where That Came From (Feb. 8, 2005) (#3 country) (#12 in the U.S.) (500K copies) features I May Hate Myself in the Morning (w/Jason Sellers) (#10 country), He Oughta Know That by Now (#22 country), and Twenty Years and Two Husbands Ago (#32 country). Album #6 Call Me Crazy (Oct. 21, 2008) (#4 country) (#23 in the U.S.) features Last Call (#14 country) (#77 in the U.S.), and Solitary Thinkin' (#39 country).

On May 14, 1997 Atom Egoyan's The Sweet Hereafter debuts, based on the 1991 Russell Banks novel about the Sept. 21, 1989 Alton, Tex. accident, starring Ian Holm as a slick city lawyer who approaches grieving parents after a school bus accident in upstate N.Y. about a class action suit, and sees it blown by a student who lies and claims the bus driver was speeding.

On Nov. 5, 1997 top Enron Corp. officials in Houston, Tex. approve a mgt. scheme to avoid U.S. taxes through hundreds of offshore partnerships via loan guarantees to the outside Chewco partnership (named after the "Star Wars" char. Chewbacca), which owns a $383M share in Enron's JEDI limited partnership; the net effect inflates Enron's earnings and hides billions of dollars in debts - can I have a turkey sandwich? coming right up?

In 1997 Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Tex. opens, hosting the Lone Star Million Day each Memorial Day, with six stakes races offering a total of $1M.

On Jan. 2, 1998 Dr. (Ph.D in criminology) Lee Patrick Brown (1937-), the city's first black police chief (1982-90) is sworn-in as the first black mayor (#59) of Houston, Tex. (until Jan. 2, 2004).

On Feb. 3, 1998 Tex. under Gov. George W. Bush becomes the first U.S. state to execute a woman since the U.S. Civil War, born-again (good idea?) Christian Karla Faye Tucker (b. 1959), who has been on death row for 15 years, becoming the 2nd woman executed in the U.S. since resumption of capital punishment in 1977 - you know the rest, chicken fingers?

On June 27, 1998 the Dallas, Tex.-based alternative country music band Dixie Chicks (formed in 1989), incl. Natalie Maines (Natalie Louise Maines Pasdar) (1974-), Emily Robinson (Emily Burns Erwin) (1972-), and Martie Erwin Maguire (Martha Elenor Erwin) (1969-) (violin) release their breakthrough album #4 Wide Open Spaces, (#1 country) (#4 in the U.S.) (14M copies), which features Wide Open Spaces (#1 country) (#41 in the U.S.), There's Trouble (#1 country) (#36 in the U.S.), You Were Mine (#1 country) (#34 in the U.S.), Tonight the Heartache's on Me (#6 country) (#46 in the U.S.), and I Can Love You Better (#7 country) (#77 in the U.S.). On Mar. 10, 2013 9 days before the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, Maines tells an audience in London: "We don't want this war, this violence, and we're ashamed that the president of the United States is from Texas", pissing-off Americans, who boycott them for years even though Maines apologizes on Mar. 14. They go on to sell 30M+ albums worldwide.

On Oct. 16-21, 1998 15.66 in. of rain falls in central Tex. (the Hill Country and counties S and E of San Antonio) in six hours, flooding 60 counties, causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damages and killing 25, becoming the most rain in the area until July 2002 (16.14 in.).

On May 2-8, 1999 the 1999 Okla. Tornado Outbreak sees 154 tornadoes touch down in Okla., Kan., Neb, Tex., Ark., and Canada, incl. 72 in Okla., culiminating with an F5 SE of Chickasha, Okla. that tears through Oklahoma City and its suburbs incl. unlucky Moore, Okla., killing 36, destroying 8K homes, and causing $1.5B damage; wind speeds set a record of 301 +/- 20 mph (484 +/- 32 km/h).

On July 13, 1999 after murdering up to 15 since 1991 while railroad-hopping between the U.S. and Mexico and being added to the FBI Ten Most Wanted List, Matamoros, Puebla, Mexico-born "Railroad/Railway/Railcar Killer" Angel Maturino Resendiz (Ángel Maturino Reséndiz) (Angel Leoncio Reyes Recendis) (1959-2006) (AKA Rafael Resendez-Ramirez, Angel Leoncio Reyes Recendis) is arrested on a bridge between El Paso, Tex. and Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, and convicted of only one murder, Baylor College neurologist Claudia Benton, then executed by lethal injection on June 27, 2006 in Huntsville, Tex.

On Sept. 15, 1999 Larry Gene Ashbrook (b. 1952) shoots up Wedgewood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Tex., killing seven and wounding seven during a concert by Christian rock group Forty Days before committing suicide.

In Oct. 1999 after giving up alcohol and marijuana and going on a spiritual search, Everett, Wash.-born white conservative Roman Catholic radio announcer Glenn Lee Beck (1964-) converts to the LDS Church, launching the Glenn Beck Radio Program in Jan. 2000 in Tampa, Fla., going into nat. syndication on Jan. 2, 2002, becoming the #3 radio program in the U.S. by 2009, combining flag-waving Am. patriotism with Mormonism and dissing Pres. Obama daily to make himself more popular; his TV show is launched in Jan. 2006-Oct. 2008 on HLN, followed by Fox News Channel on Jan. 2009-June 30, 2011, peaking in 2009 at 3.4M viewers; on Sept. 12, 2011 he launches the multimedia network TheBlaze in Irving, Tex.

On Feb. 17, 2000 meat cutters at Wal-Mart's in Jacksonville, Tex. vote to join an independent labor union, causing Wal-mart to fire them all and switch to a supplier of pre-packaged meat, resulting in awful meat?

In Apr. 2000 after U.S. Sen. (R-Minn.) (1995-2001) Rodney Dwight "Rod" Grams (1948-2013) introduces a bill on Oct. 21, 1997, the U.S. Treasury issues its first $100M worth of gold-tinted copper-brass-manganese Sacagawea Dollar Coins, circulating them through Wal-Mart stores and in 5K lucky boxes of Cheerios brand breakfast cereal; Lubbock, Tex.-born sculptor Glenna Maxey Goodacre (1939-) uses Shoshone student Randy'L He-Dow (Bannock "close to ground") Teton (1976-) (pr. "HEE-tho") as a model for the Shoshone guide's face; they tarnish easily, and soon turn into collector's items as nobody wants to circulate the suckers that are too small to seem like dollars?

On June 1, 2000 Tex. Gov. George W. Bush finally pardons a 78-y.-o. death row inmate after letting 130 executions go undisturbed.

On July 21, 2000 former U.S. Sen. (R-Mo.) John C. Danforth, special council for a team of 38 investigators and 16 attys. releases the Danforth Report on Waco, clearing U.S. atty.-gen. Janet Reno and the FBI of any wrongdoing in connection with the deaths of 76 Branch Davidians at Waco, Tex. in Apr. 1993 after a 10-mo. investigation, and claims there was no conspiracy or coverup, concluding "The blame rests squarely on the shoulders of David Koresh" - or, dead men tell no tales?

On Dec. 13, 2000 the Texas Seven (Joseph Christopher Garcia, Randy Ethan Halprin, Larry James Harper, Patrick Henry Murphy Jr., Donald Keith Newbury, George Angel Rivas Jr., and Michael Anthony Rodriguez) escape from prison in Kenedy, Tex., and begin a crime spree, robbing a sports store in Irving, Tex. on Dec. 24 and killing rookie police officer Aubrey Hawkins (b. 1971); they are not apprehended until Jan. 21 in an RV park in Woodland, Colo. posing as Christian missionaries after a segment on the TV show "America's Most Wanted"; Larry James Harper commits suicide to avoid capture; on Apr. 23-24 the last two are apprehended at a Holiday Inn in Colorado Springs, Colo.; all are convicted of murder and sentenced to death in Tex.

On Dec. 21, 2000 after George W. Bush resigns to become U.S. pres., Haskell, Tex.-born James Richard "Rick" Perry (1950-) becomes Repub. Tex. gov. #47 (until Jan. 20, 2015), becoming the longest-serving Tex. gov. (until ?).

On Jan. 20, 2001 New Haven, Conn.-born pickup truck-riding Tex. ranch owner, oilman, Yale and Harvard grad., F-102 pilot, and former Texas gov. George Walker "Dubya" Bush (1946-) (Secret Service codename: Tumbler/Trailblazer) becomes the 43rd U.S. pres. (until Jan. 20, 2009) in the 63rd U.S. Pres. Inauguration (2nd pres. son after J.Q. Adams to win the White House, and first pres. with an MBA degree), only this one goes two terms and becomes one of the most unpopular presidents in U.S. history; the first monkey pres.?; has and his daddy George H.W. Bush have a striking resemblance to British Queen Elizabeth II and/or Prince Charles?

On Jan. 22, 2001 police in Colorado Springs, Colo. catch four escaped Tex. convicts, while a 5th commits suicide; two more are caught two days later.

On Jan. 27, 2001 federal agents unearth the bones of Austin, Tex.-based Am. Atheists leader Madalyn Murray O'Hair (b. 1924), her son Jon Garth Murray, and granddaughter Robin Murray O'Hair (all missing since 1995) at a 5K-acre S Tex. ranch in Camp Wood, Tex.; O'Hair's office mgr. David Roland Waters (1947-2003) receives 60 years for embezzlement, then makes an agreement with prosecutors to lead investigators to the bones, which are charred and buried about 2.5 ft. down near a grove of live oaks.

The Devil Made Me Do It Defense is alive and well in Bush's Bible-thumping Texas? On June 20, 2001 Andrea Yates (nee Andrea Pia Kennedy) (1964-) of Houston, Tex. drowns her five children (6-mo.-o. Mary, 2-y.-o. Luke, 3-y.-o. Paul, 5-y.-o. John and 7-y.-o. Noah) in the bathtub; in 2002 she is found guilty of first degree murder and sentenced to life, but an appeal court throws out the conviction because of erroneous testimony from a prosecution pshrink, and a new trial results in her acquittal on July 26, 2006 on grounds of insanity, and she is committed to Vernon State Mental Hospital, moving to a low security mental hospital in Kerrville, Tex. in Jan. 2007; she had told psychiatrists that she was ordered by Satan to kill them.

On Oct. 5, 2001 (Fri.) the sitcom Reba debuts on The WB for ? episodes (until Feb. 18, 2007 after switching to The CW in 2006), starring country singer Reba Nell McEntire (1955-) as Houston, Tex. single mother Reba Nell Hart, whose hubby Brock (Christopher Rich) left her for young dental hygienist Barbara Jean (Melissa Peterman).

Enron execs are caught laying, cheating and skilling? On Dec. 2, 2001 Houston, Tex.-based energy-trading co. Enron Corp. (originally called Enteron until they discovered it means "intestine"), known for making large contributions to both nat. political parties and being real close to the oil-co.-loving Bush admin. announces that it is filing for bankruptcy; with assets of $63B and 11K employees, it is the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history, and leaves the employees in the lurch even though the execs cash out $500M in stock while lying to Wall St. about the corpse, er, corp.'s health; the corp. HQ in Houston, Tex. is sold for $55.5M; the accounting firm of Arthur Anderson is later convicted of obstructing justice in an SEC investigation; the Creative Accounting Scandal is left to be mopped-up by Congress with the 2002 U.S. McCain-Feingold Act (campaign financing bill) and the 2002 U.S. Corporate Responsibility Act; 16 Enron execs plead guilty to criminal charges, and on July 7, 2004 Ph.D. (Economics) founder (CEO in 1982-2002) Kenneth Lee "Ken" Lay (1942-2006) and CEO (Feb. 12-Aug. 14, 2001) Jeffrey Keith "Jeff" Skilling (1953-) are charged with conspiracy and fraud (7 counts for Lay, 31 for Skilling, incl. insider trading); after spending $30M on their defense, their 2006 trial results on May 25 in 6 guilty counts for Lay (165 years possible) and 19 for Skilling (185 years possible); in a separate trial, Lay is found guilty on four counts of personal banking fraud; 3 mo. before his sentencing date he has a heart attack (coronary artery disease) and dies in his Pabst Ranch 20 mi. from Aspen, Colo. on July 5, 2006; too bad, on June 25, 2010 the U.S. Supreme Court guts the Honest Services Law (making it a crime "to deprive another of the intangible right of honest services"), one of the favorite tools of federal prosecutors for pursuing corrupt politicians corp. execs, casting doubt on the convictions.

On Dec. 4, 2001 the Richardson, Tex.-based Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (originally Occupied Land Fund) (founded 1989), largest Muslim charity in the U.S. is shut down by the Bush admin. as an enemy of the state and terrorist group, accusing it of funneling money to Hamas, with the Treasury Dept. freezing its assets; on Nov. 24, 2008 five HLF leaders are convicted on 108 counts, and given 15-65 year sentences.

9/11 or no 9/11, they're not taking away Yankee football? On May 11, 2002 $325M Gillette Stadium in Foxborough (near Boston), Mass. opens on May 11 as the new home of the NFL New England Patriots; on July 28 $430M Qwest Field in Seattle, Wash. opens as the new home of the NFL Seattle Seahawks; in June 2011 it becomes CenturyLink Field; on Aug. 24 $352M Reliant Stadium in Houston, Tex. opens as the new home of the NFL Houston Texans; on Mar. 19, 2014 it is renamed the NRG Stadium after Reliant Energy's parent co. NRG Energy; on Aug. 24 $500M Ford Field in Detroit, Mich. opens as the new home of the NFL Detroit Lions.

In May 2002 U. of Wisc. student Lucas John "Luke" Helder (1981-) decides to plant pipe bombs in mailboxes across the U.S. in a smiley face shape, planting 18 bombs over 3.2K mi. in his black Honda Accord while wearing a Kurt Cobain t-shirt until he is caught; six are injured in in Neb., Colo., Tex., Ill., and Iowa; in Apr. 2004 he is found incompetent to stand trial and incarcerated in the Federal Medical Center in Rochester, Minn.

On Dec. 2, 2002 Houston, Tex.-born Tex. atty. gen. #49 (since Jan. 13, 1999) John Cornyn III (1952-) becomes a Repub. sen. from Tex. (until ?), rising to Senate minority whip on Jan. 3, 2013, and majority whip on Jan. 3, 2015.

In 2002 the Denton, Tex. (U. of North Tex.)-based band Eli Young Band, incl. Mike Eli (vocals, guitar), James Young (guitar), Jon Jones (bass), and Chris Thompson (drums) release their debut album Eli Young Band (Carnival Records), which doesn't chart. Album #2 Level (Apr. 5, 2005) is another non-charter; it features So Close Now. Album #3 Jet Black & Jealous (Sept. 16, 2008) (#5 country) (#30 in the U.S.) features Always the Love Songs (#11 country) (#69 in the U.S.) (500K copies), Radio Waves (#35 country), Guinevere (#45 country). Their first EP Crazy Girl (May 3, 2011) (#24 country) (#128 in the U.S.) features Crazy Girl (#1 country) (#30 in the U.S.) (2M copies). Album #4 Life at Best (Aug. 16, 2011) (#3 country) (#6 in the U.S.) features Even If It Breaks Your Heart (co-written by Eric Paslay) (#1 country) (#29 in the U.S.) (1M copies), and Say Goodnight (#31 country) (#110 in the U.S.). Album #5 10,000 Towns (Mar. 4, 2014) (#1 country) (#5 in the U.S.) features Drunk Last Night (#3 country) (#41 in the U.S.) (500K copies), and Dust (#19 country) (#79 in the U.S.).

In 2003 the Anglo pop. of Tex. drops below 50% for the first time since the 1800s.

On Feb. 1, 2003 (8:59 EST) NASA Space Shuttle Columbia, which lifted off on Jan. 16 breaks up during reentry and disintegrates 40 mi. up over Palestine, Tex. as it approaches the landing area, killing all seven aboard incl. cmdr. Rick Husband, pilot William McCool, payload cmdr. Michael Anderson, engineer Kalpana Chala, David Brown, Laurel Clark, and Ilan Ramon, all while millions watch the eerie execution on TV; Ramon is the first Israeli in space; giving conspiracy kooks hay to blame Iran, since it's the 24th anniv. of Ayatollah Khomeini's return to Iran, plus the embedded letters "Iran" in Ramon's name, and the coincidence of Palestine, Tex.; the breakup is caused by hot gases escaping through a 3-in. hole in the left wing created at liftoff by a piece of foam insulation breaking off from the external fuel tank, causing NASA to spend $200M to fix the problem before the next flight in 2005; much of the debris lands in Nacogdoches, Tex.

On May 14, 2003 S Texas "coyote" smugglers abandon more than 70 illegal immigrants in an airtight locked trailer at a Victoria, Tex. truck stop 100 mi. SW of Houston after they kick out a signal light to get attention; 19 die from heat prostration; 14 people, incl. Victor Sanchez Rodriguez and his wife Emma Sapata Rodriguez are indicted on conspiracy, smuggling, and other charges; the truck driver Tyrone Williams (1970-) is tried on charges that could bring the death penalty, and given life in priz on Jan. 18, 2007.

On June 26, 2003 the U.S. (Rehnquist) Supreme Court rules 6-3 in Lawrence v. Tex. that states can't enforce sodomy (gay sex) laws because they violate the Constitutional right to privacy first invented, er, enunciated in Griswold v. Conn. (1965), overturning Bowers v. Hardwick (1986); "The State cannot demean their existence or control their destiny by making their private sexual conduct a crime" (Anthony Kennedy) - so you like English muffins?

On Aug. 6, 2003 Saudi Arabian college student Mohammed Ali Alayed (1981-) attacks and kills his Moroccan Jewish friend Michel Sellouk in Houston, Tex. with a knife, slashing his throat and attempting to sever his head; the police attempt a coverup by claiming they see no connection to race or religion, despite it coming out that Alayed had a "religious experience" two years earlier and became a devout Muslim.

On Oct. 10, 2003 Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Volume 1 (A Band Apart) (Miramax Films) debuts, based on the 1973 Japanese film "Lady Snowblood", starring Uma Thurman as Kung Fu fighting "the Bride" "Black Mamba" Beatrix Kiddo, whose hubby "Snake Charmer" Bill (David Carradine) and his Deadly Viper Assassination Squad pop a cap in her crown at her wedding in El Paso, Tex., causing her to vow revenge and obtain a genuine Hanzo samurai sword from swordsmith Hattori Hanzo in Okinawa; also stars Vivica A. Fox as "Copperhead" Vernita Green , Darryl Hannah as 1-eyed "Calif. Mountain Snake" Elle Driver, Lucy Liu as "Cottonmouth" "Queen of the Tokyo Underworld" O-Ren Ishii, Michael Madsen as Bill's brother "Sidewinder" Budd, Sonny Chiba as Samurai swordswmith Hattori Hanzo, Chiaki Kuriyama as 17-y.-o. Kung Fu fighter Gogo Yubari, and Gordon Liu as all-white Kung Fu master Pai Mei, who knows the secret 5-Pointed Palm Exploding Heart Technique; Ellie Driver whistles a song from the 1969 British horror film "Twisted Nerve", composed by talented Bernard Herrmann to indicate she's about to kill Kiddo; grosses $70M in the U.S. and $181M worldwide on a $30M budget; features cool music by the Japanese group The 5, 6, 7, 8s (5.6.7.8's), who perform I Walk Like Jayne Mansfield, I'm Blue, and Woo Hoo (used in Vonage commercials) in the House of Blue Leaves; the sequel Kill Bill Volume 2 (Apr. 16, 2004) features Perla Haney-Jardine as Beatrix's daughter B.B.

On Oct. 11, 2003 18 doctors at Children's Medical Center in Dallas, Tex. begin a successful 34-hour separation surgery for 2-y.-o. conjoined twins from Egypt, and finish on Oct. 12.

In 2003 the 2003 Tex. Redistricting Plan, redistricting the state in favor of the Repubs., led by U.S. House Majority Leader (Repub.) Tom DeLay is passed by the Tex. legislature despite the Dem. Killer Ds fleeing the state to Ardmore, Okla. for the week of May 23, followed in Aug. by the Dem. Tex. Eleven fleeing the state to Albuquerque, N.M. for 46 days in an attempt to bust the quorum; on June 28, 2006 the U.S. Supreme Court upholds it except for the 23rd congressional district.

Sixty Minutes Too Much, or, Rathergate? On Sept. 8, 2004 after investigative work by CBS 60 Minutes II producer Mary Alice Mapes (1956-) (known for reporting the Abu Ghraib scandal), the Rathergate Scandal begins when Wharton, Tex.-born CBS Evening News anchor (since Mar. 19, 1981) Daniel Irvin "Dan" Rather Jr. (1931-) airs an investigation on 60 Minutes II (launched Jan. 13, 1999) into Pres. Bush's Air Nat. Guard service in Ala., claiming to have authenticated the Killian documents from Tex. Army Nat. Guard lt. col. Bill Burkett stating that Bush's squadron cmdr. lt. col. Jerry B. Killian believed that Bush had been shirking his duties and receiving preferential treatment; when the documents later turn out to be faked on a typewriter that didn't exist at the time, the fit hits the shan, and on Sept. 20 CBS apologizes for a "mistake in judgment" in airing a show that could influence the election in favor of Kerry; cries of conspiracy from Repubs. cause an independent panel chaired by former U.S. atty. gen. Dick Thornburgh and former AP pres. Louis Boccardi to be formed to investigate; Mapes is fired in Jan. 2005, and senior vice-pres. Betsy West and executive producer Josh Howard and his deputy Mary Murphy are asked to resign; Rather steps down as anchor of CBS Evening News on Mar. 9, 2005, suing unsuccessfully for breach of contract; after having its name changed to 60 Minutes Wed., it is cancelled on Sept. 2, 2005; the entire affair is portayed in the 2015 film The Truth starring Robert Redford as Rather and Cate Blanchett as Mapes, based on Mapes' 2005 book "Truth and Duty: The Press, the President, and the Privilege of Power".

On Sept. 30, 2004 arthritis drug Vioxx is withdrawn from the market by its manufacturer Merck & Co. after reports of it triggering heart attacks, plus a $253M award on Aug. 9 in Angleton, Tex.

In 2004 the Muslim Histories and Culture (MHC) Project is founded by the U. of Tex. at Austin and Aga Khan U. in Pakistan to create a Muslim-friendly curriculum for Tex. students.

On Feb. 3, 2005 San Antonio, Tex.-born, Humble, Tex.-raised, Harvard-educated Roman Catholic Alberto R. Gonzales (1955-), former head of the White House counsel's office is sworn-in as U.S. atty.-gen. #80 (until Sept. 17, 2007); although declaring his independence from Pres. Bush, he names three attys. from that office as his top aides - just wait?

On Mar. 15, 2005 after coming in 3rd in the 2003 Nashville Star, Longview, Tex.-born country singer Miranda Leigh Lambert (Lambert-Shelton) (1983-) releases her debut album Kerosene (#1 country) (#18 in the U.S.) (1M copies), featuring Kerosene (#15 country) (#61 in the U.S.), Me and Charlie Talking (#27 country), Bring Me Down(#32 country), and New Strings (#25 country). Album #2 Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (May 1, 2007) (#1 country) (#6 in the U.S.) features Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (#50 country), and Gunpowder & Lead (#7 country) (#52 in the U.S.). Album #3 Revolution (Sept. 29, 2009) (#1 country) (#8 in the U.S.) features The House That Built Me (#1 country) (#28 in the U.S.), Heart Like Mine (#1 country) (#44 in the U.S.), and White Liar (#2 country) (#38 in the U.S.). Album #4 Four the Record (Nov. 1, 2011) (#1 country) (#3 U.S.) features Over You (#1 country) (#35 in the U.S.), Mama's Broken Heart (by Brandy clark, Shane McAnally, and Kacey Musgraves) (#2 country) (#20 in the U.S.), Baggage Claim (#3 country) (#33 in the U.S.), and Fastest Girl in Town (#7 country) (#47 in the U.S.). Album #5 Platinum (June 3, 2014) (#1 country) (#1 in the U.S.) features Somethin' Bad (w/Carrie Underwood) (#1 country) (#19 in the U.S.), and Automatic (#4 country) (#35 in the U.S.).

On Mar. 23, 2005 a BP America refinery in Texas City, Tex. explodes, killing 15 and injuring 180+, becoming the worst gas and chemical industry accident since the Arco Chemical plant exploded in nearby Channelview in 1990, killing 17.

On Mar. 23, 2005 Pres. Bush holds the First North Am. Leaders Summit in Waco, Tex. near his Texas ranch to discuss progress on NAFTA with the presidents of Mexico and Canada, which becomes an annual affair; meanwhile the U.S. SAFETEA-LU Act (Safe Accountable Flexible Efficient Transportation Equity Act - a Legacy for Users) is passed to fund the NAFTA Superhighway, incl. tollways, tracks, FAST lanes, and giant inland shipping ports, incl. the $138B Trans Texas Corridor from Mexico to Canada, and the CANAMEX Corridor in the W U.S.; the whole plan stirs fears of an attempted merger of Canada, the U.S., and Mexico into a North Am. Union (NAU) patterned after the EU, with a "joint perimeter" around all three, and the inevitable short-circuiting of U.S. laws and constitutional guarantees, incl. the end of all efforts at stemming illegal immigration; on Mar. 23 the Security and Prosperity Partnership is signed in well-chosen Waco, Tex. by U.S. Pres. Bush, Mexican pres. Vicente Fox, and Canadian PM Paul Martin, calling for the establishment of a common security border perimeter around North Am. by 2010, along with free movement across boards of people, commerce and capital, facilitated by a North Am. Border Pass, which will replace a U.S. passport for travel to Canada and Mexico, with the soundbyte "Our security and prosperity are mutually dependent and complementary"; further goals of a North Am. court, inter-parliamentary group, executive commission, military defense command, development bank and customs office, piss-off Bible-thumpers and others, who call it an attempt to foist the feared North Am. Union on the U.S. and take away its sovereignty, with the sinister Council on Foreign Relations ruling all three countries in favor of multinat. corporate profits, causing the Bush admin. to pub. SPP Myths vs. Facts on its Web site www.spp.gov, saying that "no agreement was ever signed", and it is only a "dialog" to "enhance prosperity", only pissing-off the critics more as they point out massive activity going on in the NAFTA section of the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, and how the EU was incrementally foisted on Europe the same way, via incremental official denials until it was too late.

On May 23, 2005 the Gang of 14 U.S. Senators forges a compromise ending the blockage of an up-or-down vote on judicial nominees, with Repubs. threatening the "nuclear option" (majority vote instead of 60 votes to end a Dem. filibuster); on May 24 white Palacios, Tex.-born Tex. Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Richman Owen (1954-) wins Senate confirmation as a federal appeals judge after a bitter 4-year battle in which Pres. Bush compromises on current and future judicial nominees.

On June 15, 2005 former Baylor U. basketball player Carlton Eric Dotson Jr. (1982-) is sentenced to 35 years in prison in Waco, Tex. for the murder of his teammate and best friend Patrick James Dennehy (1982-2003), whose body was found in 2003 in a field after Dotson called police to say he was hearing voices saying he is Jesus Christ, and told them where to find the body, launching the Baylor U. Basketball Scandal, causing head basketball coach (since 1999) David Gregory "Dave" Bliss (1943-) to resign after he is exposed for paying Dennehy's tuition, not reporting failed drug tests, and asking players to lie about it; the team doesn't have another winning season until 2008.

On June 27, 2005 after arguments by Repub. Tex. atty. gen. #50 (since Dec. 2, 2002) Greg Abbott (future Tex. gov. #48 on Jan. 20, 2015), the U.S. Supreme (Rehnquist) rules 5-4 in Van Orden v. Perry that it's okay to display the Ten Commandments on govt. property at the Tex. State Capitol in Austin because it is a "passive monument"; meanwhile the same day the court rules 5-4 in McCreary County v. ACLU of Ky. to ban the same kind of display in Ky.; Stephen Breyer is the swing vote in both cases - just blank out the non-PC ones?

On Aug. 2, 2005 Pres. Bush tells a group of Tex. newspaper reporters that "both sides ought to be properly taught", referring to the theory of intelligent design.

On Sept. 21, 2005 Hurricane Rita (17th Atlantic Basin storm of the year) lashes the Fla. coast and heads into the Gulf of Mexico, where on Sept. 22 it becomes Category 5 (175 mph), heading towards Galveston, Tex., then slows down to Category 3 (126 mph) before hitting the Tex.-La. coast on Sept. 23; on Sept. 22 1.3M people in Tex. and La. are ordered to evacuate, and 3M end up evacuating; this time the Bush admin. is up to speed with advance preparations (probably because Tex. has more Repubs. than La.?); on Sept. 23 Bush goes to the 3-y.-o. Northcom observation center in Colorado Springs, Colo. to watch the storm's progress; on Sept. 23 23 elderly evacuees from Bellaire, Tex. (previously evacuated to Houston from New Orleans to Katrina) die in a charter bus near Dallas when their oxygen bottles feed a fire; on Sept. 28 bus driver Juan Robles Gutierrez (1970-) is taken into federal custody on an immigration violation, then on Oct. 17 charged with 23 counts of criminally negligent homicide; on Feb. 1, 2006 bus owner James H. "Butch" Maples (a former NFL player) is arrested on federal transportation charges, facing seven years and $1.35M in fines; the storm causes $5B in damage, and kills 10.

There was a lone cupcake with your name on it? On Sept. 28, 2005 Tex. Repub. House Majority Leader (since Jan. 3 2003) Thomas Dale "Tom the Hammer" DeLay (1947-) is indicted by a Tex. grand jury (on the last day of their term) for conspiring to violate political fundraising laws, causing him to step down from his GOP post; he becomes the highest ranking member of Congress to face criminal prosecution while in office; Mo. Rep. Roy Dean Blunt (1950-) (House Majority Whip since Jan. 3, 2003) is appointed to take over his leadership duties; the indictment alleges that DeLay's PAC Texans for a Repub. Majority accepted $155K from corps. in 2001-2 then used it to fund candidates for the Texas House in violation of Texas law; Dem. Travis County D.A. Ronald Dale "Ronnie" Earle (1942-) is behind the indictment; House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) jumps on the indictment, calling it "the latest example that Repubs. in Congress are plagued by a culture of corruption at the expense of the American people"; DeLay faces 6 mo. to two years and a $10K fine for criminal conspiracy on the charges, but in Oct. his attys. get the charges dismissed because the law alleged to have been broken was not in effect at the time of the alleged violation; this only causes Earle to get a 2nd grand jury to indict him on conspiracy and money laundering charges, which DeLay calls an "abomination of justice", turning himself into the Travis County sheriff's office on Oct. 20, 2006; on Apr. 3, 2006 he announces his decision to leave Congress in May-June; the grand jury dissolves on Aug. 16, 2010 without bringing charges, calling DeLay to bemoan the "criminalization of politics", telling reporters "It's no longer good enough to beat you on policy, they have to completely drown you and put you in prison and destroy your family and your reputation, your finances and then dance on your grave"; on Nov. 24, 2010 a Tex. jury convicts DeLay of illegally channeling $190K in corporate donations into 2002 Tex. legislative races through a money swap that DeLay argued was legal, and on Jan. 10 he is sentenced to three years in prison.

On Oct. 21, 2005 Beaumont, Tex.-born oil mogul Oscar Sherman Wyatt Jr. (1924-) (chmn. of Coastal Corp.) and two Swiss execs are charged with paying millions in kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's regime in the Oil-for-Food Scandal; in Oct. 2007 Wyatt pleads guilty, and receives a 1-year sentence in a minimum security prison in Beaumont.

On Oct. 30, 2005 Pastor Kyle Lake (b. 1972) is electrocuted while performing a baptism in the University Baptist Church in Waco, Tex. when he tries to adjust a microphone.

On Nov. 27, 2005 the Tex.-Okla. Wildfires of 2005-6 begin after a combo of high temps, drought, and high winds, with 22,564 wildfires burning 1,872,701 acres in the year as of Apr. 5, 2006.

On Dec. 19, 2005 TV "prosperity gospel" evangelist Joel Scott Hayley Osteen (1963-) of the giant Lakewood Church in the former Compac Center in Houston, Tex. (viewing audience 200M; church attendance 40K, income $55M a year) stinks himself up when his wife Victoria Iloff Osteen (1961-) is asked to leave Continental Airlines Flight 1602 (Houston to Vail, Colo.) after a dispute over a spill on her pull-down tray; she is later fined $3K.

Cheney's freeze-fame image is made for the administration that can't shoot straight? On Feb. 11, 2006 (5:30 p.m.) (Sat.) U.S. vice-pres. Dick Cheney accidentally shoots and wounds 78-y.-o. Henderson, Tex.-born companion Harry M. Whittington (1927-) (a millionaire atty. from Austin) in a weekend quail hunting trip near Corpus Christi in Kennedy County, Tex., spraying his face and chest with shotgun pellets, becoming the first shooting by a vice-pres. since Aaron Burr shot Alexander Hamilton in 1804; Whittington later has a heart attack in the hospital as a pellet lodges in his heart; on Feb. 16 Tex. authorities close the investigation without bringing charges, and Whittington goes on camera to apologize to Cheney; as late as 2009 he still has 30 pellets in his jaw and gums - how about shooting a certain lame duck?

On Mar. 7, 2006 11-term Texas Rep. Tom DeLay beats three Repub. rivals and is renominated for Congress despite the charges hanging over his head.

On Mar. 7, 2006 Pearson Educational Measurement in Austin, Tex. says that heavy rainy weather caused answer sheets to expand and its equipment that scans SAT college entrance exams to foul up and give lower scores (as much as 450 points) to 4,411 out of 495K taking the Oct. test, messing up the students' college entrance chances with such a late announcement after admissions are closed.

On Apr. 21, 2006 Dallas, Tex.-born Tara Elizabeth Conner (1985-) wins the Miss USA 2006 (55th) Pageant in 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, Md. in front of 7.8M viewers (2nd lowest ever); hosts are Nancy O'Dell and Drew Lachey; "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" star Carson Kressley provides commentary for the first time; too bad, after reports that she had been engaging in underage drinking and taking cocaine, heroin, and crystal meth, and has kissed Miss Teen USA Katie Blair, the PC press calls for her to be decrowned, but Donald Trump announces that he's giving her a second chance because "I believe in second chances, and sometimes it works when you give somebody a second chance" in an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, causing celeb and lesbian rights activist Roseann "Rosie" O'Donnell (1962-) to criticize him on The View, with the soundbyte: "[Trump] left the first wife, had an affair, left the second wife, had an affair. Had kids both times, but he's the moral compass for 20-year-olds in America. Donald, sit and spin, my friend", mocking his comb-over, then calling him a "snake oil salesman" and bringing up his bankruptcies, pissing Trump off and causing him to appear on several TV shows, with the soundbytes: "Rosie is a bully. I hit her between the eyes, she's worried about being sued, and her response today was nothing. She's not a very smart person, if you look at her IQ I guarantee you it's not up there", and "I guarantee I'll have a lot of Rosie's money right out of her big fat pocket. I'll have a lot of Rosie's money coming into my pocket. That's my prediction""; in an interview with People mag., he utters the soundbyte: "You can't make false statements. Rosie will rue the words she said. I'll most likely sue her for making those false statements... and it'l be fun. Rosie's a loser, a real loser. I look forward to taking lots of money from my nice fat little Rosie"; in an interview with Anderson Cooper of CNN, he utters the soundbyte: "If you looked like Rosie you'd be critical of beauty pageants, believe me. Rosie is a very unattractive woman, both inside and out. And as hard as it is to believe, inside is probably uglier than outside, and that's really saying something. But you have to understand, I know Rosie. Rosie's a loser. Rosie's been pulling the wool over people's eyes for a long time. She is a stone cold loser. What she is is a bully. Rosie says a lot of negative things about a lot of people. Nobody.. they don't do anything about it. I did something about it."

On Apr. 28, 2006 five members of the U.S. Congress incl. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.), Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), James McGovern (D-Mass.), John Oliver (D-Mass.), and Jim Moran (D-Va.) are arrested and led away in plastic handcuffs from the Sudanese Embassy in Washington, D.C. in protest of govt. atrocities in the Darfur region, along with six others; on Apr. 30 thousands attend a D.C. rally urging the U.S. govt. to end genocide in Sudan.

On May 1, 2006 A Day Without Immigrants (Un Dia Sin Inmigrantes) is staged in the U.S as 1M+ Hispanic immigrants walk off their jobs for one day to show gringos how much they're needed, incl. 400K in Chicago, 400K in Los Angeles, 75K in Denver, 50K in San Jose, Calif. and 20K in New York City; former Denver mayor (1983-91) Federico Fabian Pena (1947-), who grew up in Brownsville, Tex. speaks at the Denver rally, calling for a solution for all immigrants, not just Hispanic, dissing border fences and calling for amnesty after certain conditions are fulfilled - then the next group of ten jillion sneaks in, and?

On May 9, 2016 a widespread tornado outbreak sees two tornadoes sweep through N Tex., killing 3, injuring 10 and destroying 26 homes; on May 10 heavy storms rake Ark., topping trees.

On Oct. 3, 2006 (Tue.) the drama series Friday Night Lights, based on the 1990 book by H.G. Bissinger debuts on NBC-TV for 76 episodes (until Feb. 9, 2011), about the Dillon, Tex. Panthers H.S. football team coached by Eric Taylor, played by Kyle Martin Chandler (1965-), with an ensemble cast; too bad, although praised by critics, people not from Texas don't 'get' it, and it lingers at the bottom of the ratings until it is mercifully cancelled?

On Nov. 7, 2006 seven U.S. states pass constitutional amendments to ban gay marriage: Colo., Idaho, S.C., S.D., Tenn., Va., Wisc.; Ariz. defeats such an amendment; "Jewish cowboy" singer ("'Scuse Me While I Whip This Out") Kinky Friedman (1944-) comes in 4th in a 5-way race for gov. of Tex.

On Dec. 31, 2006 10-y.-o. Sergio Pelico in Webster, Tex. (near Houston) accidentally hangs himself from a bunk bed after watching a news report on Saddam's execution, tying a slipknot around his neck; other boys do it in Yemen, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, this time on purpose?

On Feb. 6, 2007 Houston, Tex.-born Youngsville, N.C.-raised country singer Jason Michael Carroll releases his debut album Waitin' in the Country (Arista Records) (#1 country) (#8 in the U.S.), which features Alyssa Lies (#5 country) (#58 in the U.S.), Livin' Our Love Song (#6 country) (#52 in the U.S.) (500K copies), and I Can Sleep When I'm Dead (#21 country) (#115 in the U.S.). Album #2 Growing Up Is Getting Old (Apr. 28, 2009) (#7 country) (#28 in the U.S.) features Where I'm From (#11 country) (#64 in the U.S.), and Hurry Home (#14 country) (#99 in the U.S.). Album #3 Numbers (July 26, 2011) (Cracker Barrel Records) (#33 country) (#198 in the U.S.) features Numbers (#60 country).

On Apr. 26, 2007 the first flight of NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) takes off from Waco, Tex.

On May 20-21, 2007 NATO secy.-gen. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer visits Pres. Bush at his ranch in Crawford, Tex.

On May 29, 2007 full-time anti-war protester mom Cindy Sheehan submits her resignation to the Am. people in her online blog, saying "Good-bye America... you are not the country that I love and I finally realized no matter how much I sacrifice, I can't make you be that country unless you want it. It's up to you now"; on the way from her property in Crawford, Tex. to the airport to return to native Calif., she tells the AP "I've been wondering why I'm killing myself and wondering why the Democrats caved in to George Bush"; in July she announces plans to seek House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's congressional seat in San Francisco unless she introduces articles of impeachment against Bush by July 23 - 12 months same as cash?

On June 11, 2007 three Nat. Guard members assigned to the Tex.-Mexico border are arraigned on federal charges of running an immigrant smuggling ring after 24 illegals are found in a van driven by Pfc. Jose Rodrigo Torres (1981-) of Laredo, Tex., along with cell phone text messages claiming he charges $150 a person.

On June 29, 2007 the 2017 Neola North Wildfire starts in Neola in NE Utah 100 mi. E of Salt Lake City, and grows until a federal firefighting team is called in to take over on July 1; meanwhile the Am. Great Plains incl. Tex., Kan., Mo., and Okla. receive drenching rains which cause flooding, and Dallas-Ft. Worth Internat. Airport receives over 11 in., 0.5 in. shy of the 1928 record.

On July 10, 2007 a USA Today/Gallup poll gives Pres. Bush a 29% approval rating, down from 33% a mo. earlier, with 62% of Americans saying he made a mistake sending U.S. troops to Iraq, and 70% favoring withdrawal of most forces by Apr.; meanwhile Bush says that the U.S. will be able to pull back troops "in a while", but asks Congress to wait until Sept. to pass judgment; meanwhile Bush nemesis Cindy Sheehan and supporters begin a 13-day caravan and walking tour starting at her war protest site near Pres. Bush's Crawford, Tex. ranch, arriving in Washington, D.C. on July 23, demanding Bush's impeachment, after which Sheehan quits the Dem. Party for caving in to him, and announces her candidacy as an independent for the San Francisco seat of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for not introducing articles of impeachment against the bum.

On Aug. 13, 2007 Hurricane Dean starts as a tropical storm off the W coast of Africa, hitting Jamaica on Aug. 19, threatening Tex. and Mexico with Category 5 175 mph winds, causing Space Shuttle Endeavour to land a day early on Aug. 21; by Aug. 27 it kills 45 and causes $1.66B in damage.

On Nov. 9, 2007 Ethan Coen's and Joel Coen's No Country for Old Men (Miramax Films) (Paramount Vantage) debuts, based on the 2005 Cormac McCarthy novel set in 1980 Sanderson, Tex., starring Josh Brolin as Vietnam vet and welder Llewelyn Moss, who comes upon a bad drug deal in the Tex. desert and steals a suitcase stuffed with $2M and a devilish transponder (which he is too dumb to find until it's way too late, yet seems to know about as he plays games with it in a motel air duct, one of many plot problems?); Spanish star Javier Bardem plays ultimate hired assassin Anton Chigurh, who wears a silly pageboy haircut and carries a bulky air gun (used in slaughterhouses) because it leaves no bullets behind (like nobody sees him carrying the equipment around?), and who channels the dark morality of the ancient Aztecs while ruthlessly hunting Moss, leaving a trail of corpses who called the coin flip wrong; Woody Harrelson stars as fallible white knight Carson Wells, and Tommy Lee Jones as old man sheriff Ed Tom Bell, who is caught in the middle and fails like an old man, while bad guy Bardem gets away with everything, modulo a few unlikely accidents?; Kelly Macdonald plays Brolin's innocent babe Carla Jean Moss, who is allowed to call heads or tails to save her life, and isn't resolved onscreen until Bardem leaves her and checks his boots for blood on her porch; Gene Jomes play gas station clerk Thomas Thayer, who calls it correctly; Beth Grant plays Carla's mother; the whole flick leaves an impression of an ancient morality play turned inside out?; does $171.6M box office on a $25M budget; "Some of the old-time sheriffs never even wore a gun, some folks find that hard to believe... You can't help but compare yourself against the old-timers"; "There are no laws left. You can't stop what's coming"; "There are no clean getaways"; watch trailer.

On Dec. 6, 2007 Moron, er, Mormon Repub. pres. candidate Mitt Romney does a JFK and gives a Religion-Qualifying Speech at the George Bush Pres. Library in Tex., saying "If I am fortunate to become your president, I will serve no religion, no one group, no one cause, and no one interest. A president must serve only the common cause of the people of the United States", but admitting "My convictions will indeed inform my presidency"; meanwhile a Pew Research Center poll shows that 31% of Americans don't think that Mormons are Christians, and another 17% don't know - the real question is, was Christ a Mormon?

On Dec. 21, 2007 Mike Nichols' Charlie Wilson's War (Relativity Media) (Universal Pictures) debuts, based on the 2003 book by George Crile III, staring Tom Hanks as U.S. rep. (D-Tex.) (1973-96) Charles Nesbitt "Charlie" Wilson (1933-), who funneled arms to Afghan guerrillas in 1987-7 via Operation Cyclone and broke the Soviets' backs, leading to the downfall of the Soviet Union, then watched helplessly as Afghanistan was taken over by the Taliban; also stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as a rogue Greek-extraction CIA agent, plus believable aging sex goddess Julia Roberts to sell tickets?; does $119M box office on a $75M budget.

On Feb. 29, 2008 John McCain slips at a rally in Tyler, Tex., saying "I'm a proud, conservative, liberal Repub...", immediately repeating it without the bad word "liberal".

On Mar. 3, 2008 Pres. Bush appoints Pakistan-born Tex.-based Muslim Sada Cumber (1951-) as the first U.S. ambassador to the Org. of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the Muslim U.N. (until Feb. 2010).

On Mar. 25, 2008 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules 6-3 in Medellin v. Tex. that an internat. treaty is not binding domestic law unless Congress enacts statutes implementing it or unless the treaty is self-xecuting; decisions of the Internat. Court of Justice are not binding domestic law, and without authority from Congress or the Constitution, the U.S. pres. lacks power to enforce internat. treaties or decisons of the Internat. Court of Justice.

The U.S. govt. never could stand Mormon polygamists, and love to stomp them like cockroaches like in Short Creek in 1953? On Apr. 7, 2008 after a phone call by "Sister" to Flora Jessop of the Child Protection Project in Phoenix Ariz. claiming she was sexually abused there, Tex. authorities take 416 children into custody from the Eldorado, Tex. Yearning for for Zion ranch of the polygamist slash pedophile Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints of Warren S. Jeffs, where every old billy goat is his own Elvis, with the right to mistreat women as bad as the Taliban and marry them at age 14; after each kid gets his own court-appointed atty., and the mothers show up wearing handmade 19th cent. prairie dresses with weird hairdoes caused by never cutting their hair (the height of the do indicating rank in the marriage), causing a hilarious courtroom fiasco, the puppet state district judge Barbara Walther refuses to release the children to their parents, instead ordering DNA testing, then putting the kids in foster homes, adding more kids after some are found posing as adults, incl. mothers, bringing the total to 440; meanwhile 33-y.-o. Rozita Swinton (1975-) is arrested in Colo. Springs, Colo. for filing a false police report and is suspected of faking the Sarah call; too bad, the five pregnant girls taken into custody who are under 17 give them the excuse to tear all of the kids from their mommies, who cares about the daddies either?; too bad, on May 23 the state appeals court orders the return of the children - call in Lexington Steele?

On July 20, 2008 Hurricane Dolly forms, killing 17 on July 21 in Guatemala, then hitting South Padre Island, Tex. on July 23 and doing $1.5B damage.

On Nov. 24, 2008 after it was designated by the U.S. govt. as a terrorist org. and shut down and stripped of assets, and a federal grand jury in Dallas, Tex. indicts it in 2004, causing the largest terrorism financing prosecution in U.S. history (until ?), Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (originally the Occupied Land Fund) (founded 1989) in Richardson, Tex., largest Muslim charity in the U.S. is convicted of funneling millions of dollars to Hamas in 2008-9, a rare V for the Bush admin, giving five officers sentences of 15-65 years in prison in 2009 for funneling $12M to Hamas.

On Apr. 15, 2009 (Tax Day) neo-Boston Tea Party Rallies are held in several U.S. cities, incl. Denver, Colo. against Obama's bailout policies, with some carrying signs calling him a traitor; Tex. Repub. gov. (since 2000) James Richard "Rick" Perry (1950-) tells a cheering crowd in Austin that the Obama admin. has abandoned the founding U.S. principles of limited govt., and strangled Americans with spending, debt, and taxation, and that if it keeps up the state of Texas might secede - who's had a Jimmy Dean breakfast this morning?

What was that about Mexico becoming a failed state, and going to the swine? On Apr. 24, 2009 the World Health Org. (WHO) convenes an emergency meeting after reports of a deadly outbreak of 800+ "influenza-like" cases in Mexico caused by a new strain of swine flu combined with bird flu and human flu from a U.S.-co.-owned pig farm near Veracruz that killed 16-60 late in the flu season, incl. some young strong victims, stirring fears of a super pandemic to beat all pandemics like in 1919; Maria Adela Gutierrez (b. 1969), who died Apr. 13 in Oaxaca becomes the first known Mexican swine flu victim; is this the apocalyptic World's Seventh Killer Plague?; on Apr. 26 after 20 cases are confirmed in the U.S., the U.S. govt. declares the 2009 Mexican (North American) H1N1 Swine Flu Outbreak a public health emergency; on Apr. 27 the first U.S. death is a 23-mo. infant in Houston, Tex., which is officially confirmed on Apr. 29; cases are reported in Canada, Britain, Germany, Spain, Israel, Austria and New Zealand, but no deaths (until ?); after the flu proves less virulent than expected, Mexico City lifts its office bldg. and market closures after five days, with the death toll at only 42; on Aug. 11 Costa Rican pres. Oscar Arias (1931-) becomes the first head of state to contract it; on Sept. 4 WHO declares a pandemic, even though the flu has killed only 2,837 and has not mutated yet; did WHO do it to make pharmaceutical cos. billions, or were the latter just lucky?

On May 2, 2009 the the indoor practice facility of the Dallas Cowboys in Irving, Tex. collapses in high winds, causing 12 to be hospitalized and permanently paralyzing scouting asst. On May 27 $1.3B Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Tex. opens as the home of the NFL Dallas Cowboys; the first pre-season home game is played on Aug. 21, and the first regular season home game on Sept. 20; on July 25, 2013 it is renamed AT&T Stadium.

On Nov. 4, 2009 22-y.-o. U.S.-born Muslim Abdul Walid Hamid (1987-) tears a crucifix from a shopper's neck at Stoneridge Shopping Center in Pleasanton, Calif. and shouts "Allah is power. Islam is great"; meanwhile on Nov. 3 hardcore Muslim extremist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan (1970-) goes to Stan's Shooting Range in Florence, Tex. for target practice for his big upcoming Yankee infidel safari. On Nov. 5, 2009 (Thur.) after visiting a 7-Eleven store wearing a traditional South Asian chalwar camise popular with al-Qaida in Pakistan and Afghanistan, devout Muslim Allah-Akbar-shouting U.S. Army psychiatrist (formerly working at Walter Reed Army Hospital counseling returnees from Iraq and Afghanistan) Nidal Malik Hasan (1970-) (son Palestinian immigrants, who was promoted to maj. from col. despite a poor performance review, and who closed his safety deposit box and handed out Qurans ahead of time) stages the Ft. Hood Massacre, pulling out two pistols and shooting 40x+ for 10 min., killing 13 unarmed fellow soldiers and wounding 30 at the Soldier Readiness Center at Ft. Hood, Tex., biggest military base in the world (53K soldiers) after being selected for deployment to Afghanistan before he is wounded and captured, becoming the worst shooting on a U.S. military base until ?; white female police officer Kimberly Denise "Kim" Munley (1974-) becomes an instant first U.S. military heroine as she is claimed to take him down with several shots, paralyzing him from the chest down and putting him into a coma, until it is revealed that Hasan took her down and seiously wounded her, and that it was her black male partner St. Mark Todd (1967-) who ended Hasan's rampage; the press and Pres. Obama purposely downplay if not attempt to coverup the jihadist angle, seeking to portray him as a victim of discrimination and even "pre-post-traumatic stress syndrome", with Obama uttering the soundbyte that "we cannot fully know" why Hasan did it, even after it is revealed that he worshipped at the Dar al-Hijra Mosque in Great Falls, Va. of radical pro-al-Qaida anti-U.S. "skirt-chasing mullah" imam Anwar al-Awlaki (1971-2011) (who fled to exile in Yemen) at the same time as two of the 9/11 terrorists, and exchanged emails with him in 2008-9, and later praises him and says "Fighting against the U.S. army is an Islamic duty today", and that U.S. intel agencies had been aware for months that he tried to electronically contact al-Qaida (hence the govt. is trying to keep them from being punished?); 18 mo. ago he warned senior Army physicians that the military should allow Muslim U.S. soldiers like him to be released as conscientious objectors instead of being sent to kill other Muslims to avoid "adverse events", and says "We love death more than you love life"; he gave a Power Point slide show titled "The Koranic World View as It Relates to Muslims in the U.S. Military", announcing his intentions of jihad in advance; he was recently spotted at the Starz strip club; his business card contains the legend SoA(SWT) (Soldier or Sword of Allah, Sharia Will Triumph); on May 20 he posted on the Internet the message: "Scholars have paralleled (a U.S. soldier's falling on a grenade to save surrounding troops) to suicide bombers whose intention, by sacrificing their lives, is to help save Muslims by killing enemy soldiers", and repeatedly asked his superiors to criminally prosecute U.S. soldiers he claimed had confessed to "war crimes" during his psychiatric counseling; U.S. Army Lt.Gen. Jerry Boykin later tells CBS that the Army knew that Hasan was an Islamic terrorist but was stopped from doing anything about him from the top, after which he is forced to retire; on Mar. 12, 2011 nine Army officers are reprimanded for failing to heed their own warnings about Hasan's behavior and judgment; the U.S. Defense Dept. under Pres. Obama's influence classifies the massacre as "workplace violence", causing U.S. Sen. Susan Collins to blast it on Dec. 8, 2011 for putting political correctness above nat. security; al-Awlaki issues the soundbyte: "Nidal Hasan is a hero. He is a man of conscience who could not bear living the contradiction of being a Muslim and serving in an army that is fighting against his own people... The U.S. is leading the war against terrorism which in reality is a war against Islam"; on Nov. 8 U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. George William Casey Jr. (1948-) stinks himself up with the soundbyte "What happened at Ft. Hood was a tragedy, but I believe it would be an even greater tragedy if our diversity becomes a casualty here", then later says he doen't rule out the possibility of terrorism, and calls for a "unified inquiry" into the Army's inability to recognize the warning signs of ticking time bomb Muslim jihadists in their ranks, and also calls it for it to be expanded "department-wide"; the U.S. Senate holds its first public hearing on the shooting on Nov. 19; in Oct. 2010 it is revealed that Pfc. Lance Aviles was ordered by his superior officer to destroy two videos he made of the shooting; Obama becomes the first U.S. pres. to be responsible for a jihadist attack on U.S. soil by his lax policy on Islam?; a clear warning of the dangers of allowing mass Muslim immigration?; there are more than 13K Muslims serving in the U.S. armed forces; on Nov. 8 Jewish U.S. Sen. (D-N.H.) Joe Lieberman, chmn. of the Senate Homeland Security Committee suggests that the Ft. Hood Massacre was an act of "Islamist extremism", drawing the PC police on him; if he had been outed as gay instead of radical Muslim he would have been removed from the military long before he could do it?; on Nov. 17 Pres. Obama asks Congress to slow down the investigation of the shootings, sparking denunciations from Repubs., who push to speed it up, and on Nov. 22 U.S. Rep. (R-Tex.) John Carter introduces legislation to declare that the soldiers at Ft. Hood were killed "in a combat zone as the result of an act of an enemy of the U.S."; on Nov. 10, 2011 80 victims and family members file a lawsuit seeking $750M from the U.S.Army for willful negligence; it takes until Jan. 15 for an Obama admin. official to officially label the Ft. Hood Massacre "an act of terrorism".

On Dec. 12, 2009 Houston, Tex. elects its first openly gay mayor Annise Danette Parker (1956-); she is sworn-in as Houston mayor #61 on Jan. 2, 2010 (until Jan. 2, 2016).

On Dec. 21, 2009 police in SW Houston, Tex. find an AT-4 shoulder-mounted rocket launcher in the apt. of Nabilaye I. Yansane along with Muslim jihadist writings, but decline to file charges, claiming no ties were found to terrorism and there was no threat found.

In 2009 mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto (1975-) of Japan invents Bitcoin electronic cryptocurrency, inventing the first blockchain database and releasing the source code; in 2010 it is first used for illegal drug purchases on the Internet by hallucogenic mushroom farmer Ross William Ulbricht (1984-) of Tex., who creates the online black market site Silk Road in Feb. 2011 under the name Dread Pirate Roberts, which is shut down by the FBI in Oct. 2013, after which on May 29, 2015 a federal judge sentences Ulbricht to life in prison without parole.

In 2010 world pop.: 6.8B, incl. 1.57B Muslims, 1.647M in Britain (2.7%), vs. 2.4% for Europe; U.S. pop.: 308,745,538 (9.7% increase since 2000); Tex. passes the 25M mark (25,145,561) (20.6% increase since 2000).

On Jan. 25, 2010 the worst Tex. oil spill since 1995 sees an 800-ft. tanker headed for an Exxon Mobil refinery in Beaumont, Tex. collide with another vessel, spilling 220K gal. of oil.

On Feb. 13, 2010 a Tex. highway is shut down for five hours overnight after two Muslims, Kimberly Suzanna (Asma) Al-Homsi (1964-) and Yasinul Alan Ansari (1991-) are arrested with a bomb in their truck; they are sentenced to 10 years in prison.

On Feb. 18, 2010 tax protester computer engineer Joseph Andrew Stack III (b. 1956) crashes his private plane into an IRS bldg. in Austin, Tex., killing two, while leaving an online manifesto explaining his reasons.

On Feb. 18, 2010 Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) posts an online message claiming that it has prepared "dozens" more bombs like the one used by Xmas Panty Bomber.

On Feb. 22, 2010 52 Turkish military cmdrs., incl. 21 gens. and adms. are arrested for allegedly planning to blow up mosques to precede a military overthrow of the Islamic-oriented govt., signalling a V against the secularist govt. founded by Kemal Ataturk in the 1920s, and which has ousted four govts. since 1960; 400 have been jailed since the July 2007 reelection of PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan, although nobody has been convicted.

On Mar. 21, 2010 Dallas, Tex. Muslim Javid Kamal sends emails to Kansas legislators with a "call to Islam", a traditional prelude to jihad, causing him to later be arrested, discovered to be an illegal alien, and deported.

In spring 2010 Garland, Tex.-born Am. Muslim convert U.S. Pfc. Naser Jason Abdo (1990-) (Am. Christian mother, Jordanian Muslim father) makes news for refusing to fight in Afghanistan, applying for conscientious objector status before deployment to Afghanistan, saying "I don't believe I can involve myself in an army that wages war against Muslims. I don't believe I could sleep at night if I take part, in any way, in the the killing of a Muslim", and "Islam is much more peaceful and tolerant religion than it is an aggressive religion. I don't believe that Islam allows me to operate in any kind of warfare"; too bad, in June child porno and bombmaking components are found in his belongings, causing him to go AWOL from Ft. Campbell, Ky. during the July 4 weekend; on July 28, 2011 he is caught trying to purchase guns in Killeen, Tex. near Ft. Hood, and is arrested for planning a jihadist attack on a restaurant near the base, being found with explosives; on May 24, 2012 he is convicted, and on July 29, 2012 as he is leaving the courtroom where he freely admits his guilt, he shouts "Nidal Hasan Ft. Hood 2009"; on Aug. 10, 2012 he is sentenced to two life terms plus 60 years.

On Dec. 9, 2010 Bahama Buck's in Lubbuck, er, Lubbock, Tex. makes the world's largest snow cone, 15 ft. tall and weighing 25,095 lbs.

In 2011 the 2011 Tex. wildfire sees 31,453 fires burning 4M acres, exacerbated by the 2010-13 Southern U.S. and Mexico Drought.

On Feb. 24, 2011 20-y.-o. Saudi Tex. student Khalid Aldawsari (1990-) is arrested on terrorism charges, incl. plans to build a bomb and target the Dallas residence of Pres. George W. Bush along with dams and nuclear power plants; meanwhile the FBI sends a warning letter to fertilizer stores.

On Mar. 9, 2011 the Peter King Hearings on Islamic Radicalization in the U.S. ("The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and That Community's Response"), chaired by U.S. Rep. (R-N.Y.) (1993-) Peter T. King (1944-) (a longtime supporter of the IRA) begin; Minn. Dem. Rep. (Muslim) Keith Ellison (known for support of the Nation of Islam and financing of a trip to Mecca by the Muslim Brotherhood) puts on a crying act at the injustice of singling out one group, which happens to be the group responsible for radical extremist Muslims, namely Muslims, American and not; Tex. Dem. Rep. (1995-) Sheila Jackson Lee (1950-) gives a long ranting speech mixing Islam up with the KKK et al., calling for the committee to take up "cold cases" from the civil rights era, and thumping the Constitution to try to stop the hearings.

On Mar. 30, 2011 U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Tex.) introduces legislation to order secy. of state Hillary Clinton to designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist orgs.

On Apr. 16, 2011 top U.S. congresswoman Kay Granger (R-Tex.) warns that if the Palestinians pursue a unilateral statehood declaration with the U.N. that the U.S. could reduce aid to both. On Apr. 16 a suicide bomber in an Afghan military uniform kills five NATO and four Afghan soldiers at

On Apr. 22-24, 2011 Tex. Gov. Rick Perry declares Days of Prayer for Rain in Tex.

On May 10, 2011 Pres. Obama visits El Paso, Tex., becoming his first visit to the U.S.-Mexican border since being elected with 67% of the Hispanic vote, and brags about cracking down on illegal immigration, calling for Repubs. to join him in legalizing border-crossers; he makes fun of Pres. Bush with the soundbyte: "All the stuff they (Repubs.) asked for, we've done... I suspect that there will be some who will try to move the goalposts on us... Or they'll want a higher fence. Maybe they'll need a moat. Maybe they'll want alligators in the moat. They'll never be satisfied"; Hispanic disillusionment with Obama causes Dem. Fernando Romero to found the Tequila Party, which holds is kickoff event on June 4 in Tucson, Ariz. meanwhile on May 10 the Tex. legislature passes a law that restricts cities providing sanctuary to illegal immigrants.

On July 26, 2011 the U.S. returns 33 Mexican soldiers who accidentally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border over the Donna-Rio Bravo Internat. Bridge in S Tex.

On Oct. 20, 2011 five 20-something French Moroccan Muslims are arrested after breaking into the Bexar County Courthouse in San Antonio, Tex.

In Nov. 2011 Tex. Repub. Muslim activist Mohamed Elibiary, one of 26 members of the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security advisory council, and the only one given access to a classified database on terror watch lists and sensitive FBI reports leaks info. for Muslim political gain and to damage Tex. gov. Rick Perry, causing a firestorm of controversy.

In 2011 Beth Van Duyne becomes Repub. mayor of Irving, Tex., becoming known for opposing illegal immigration and Muslim Sharia, drawing the wrath of the insidious Hamas front CAIR; on May 8, 2017 she becomes the U.S. HUD regional administrator for Tex. and four surrounding states.

On May 10, 2012 the U.S. Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012 is introduced by U.S. Rep. (R-Tex.) (1995-) William McClellan "Mac" Thornberry (1958-) to amend the 1948 U.S. Smith-Mundt Act prohibiting the domestic dissemination of propaganda produced for foreign audiences; it passes on Dec. 28.

On Apr. 3, 2012 the Apr. 3, 2012 Tornado Outbreak hits the Dallas-Ft. Worth, Tex. area.

And you thought Obama has funny ears? On Jan. 3, 2013 Calgary, Alberta, Canada-born Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (1970-) (former domestic policy advisor to George W. Bush) becomes Repub. sen. from Tex. (until ?). On Sept. 24 U.S. Sen. (R-Tex.) (2013-) Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (1970-) begins a filibuster against Obamacare (Affordable Care Act), promising to keep speaking "until I am no longer able to stand"; he lasts 22 hours; on Sept. 27 the Senate by 79-19 incl. 25 Repubs. passes a spending bill with full funding for Obamacare; on Sept. 29 the House passes a bill keeping the govt. funded but delaying Obamacare one year; on Sept 30 the Senate votes 54-46 tables all proposals, holding firm to their demand to fund Obamacare.

On Feb. 2, 2013 Odessa, Tex.-born "American Sniper" Navy SEAL vet Christopher Scott "Chris Kyle" (b. 1974) (150+ kills) is killed in Erath County (near Chalk Mountain), Tex. on a shooting range along with Chad Littlefield by fellow Marine vet Eddie Ray Routh, who suffers from PTSD, and is charged with two counts of murder and given a life sentence without parole; subject of the 2014 film "American Sniper" dir. by Clint Eastwood, starring Bradley Cooper.

On Mar. 19, 2013 after releasing some non-charting albums and placing 7th on the 2007 Nashville Star, Mineola, Tex.-born country singer Kacey Lee Musgraves (1988-) releases album #5 Same Trailer Different Park (Mercury Records) (#1 country) (#2 in the U.S.) (#39 in the U.K.) (500K copies), which features Merry Go Round (#14 country) (#63 in the U.S.) (1M copies), Blowin' Smoke (#31 country) (#107 in the U.S.), and Follow Your Arrow (#10 country) (#60 in the U.S.).

On May 16, 2013 West Warwick, R.I.-born Dem. Tex. Sen. (2009-15) Wendy Russell Davis (nee Wendy Jean Russell) (1963-) holds a 13-hour filibuster to block Senate Bill 5, designed to tight abortion regulations, making her a nat. figure, leading to a failed run for Tex. gov. in 2014, losing to Greg Abbott by 59%-38%.

On May 17, 2013 a tornado in Tex. 70 mi. W of Dallas kills 6+.

On May 20, 2013 the CSCOPE curriculum system is ditched by Tex. after complaints that it's anti-Am. and pro-Islam.

On Sept. 16, 2013 (8:16 a.m.) African-Am. Navy reservist (Buddhist) Aaron Alexis (b. 1979) of Ft. Worth, Tex. enters the Naval Yard in Washington, D.C. near the White House and shoots and kills 12 employees and injures 3 with a Remington 870 12-gauge shotgun before being killed.

On Nov. 1, 2013 Jean-Marc Vallee's Dallas Buyers Club debuts, based on the true story of AIDS patient Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey), who smuggles unapproved drugs into Texas and distributes them to fellow patients; does $30M box office on a $5M budget.

On Feb. 4, 2014 Abilene, Tex.-born country singer-songwriter Eric Thomas Paslay (1983-) releases his debut album Eric Paslay (#4 country) (#31 in the U.S.) (EMI Records), which features Friday Night (#6 country) (#47 in the U.S.) (500K copies), Song About A Girl (#18 country) (#12 in the U.S.) (200K copies), and She Don't Love You.

In Feb. 2014 after receiving help from Tex. Muslim Asher Abid Khan and Australian Muslim Mohamed Zuhbi, Tex. Muslim Abdullah Ali (-2014) AKA SRG flies from Houston, Tex. to Syria via London and Turkey to fight for ISIS before being KIA by the end of the year.

On May 22, 2014 Jordanian-born Houston, Tex. Muslim Ali Mahwood-Awad Irsan (1957-) is charged with killing 30-y.-o. Iranian student Gelareh Bagherzadeh for helping his daughter convert to Christianity and find a non-Muslim boyfriend.

On May 28, 2014 the city council of Houston, Tex. pass an ordinance prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.

On June 17, 2014 U.S. Rep. (R-Tex.) Ted Cruz utters the soundbyte: "You cannot win a battle against radical Islamic terrorism if youre unwilling to utter the words"; meanwhile U.S. state secy. John Clueless, er, Kerry utters the soundbyte that "extreme poverty" breeds terrorism - he's got an extremely poor brain, he should know?

On June 18, 2014 after debuting in 2011 as the youngest player in the MLB, Dallas, Tex.-born lefty pitcher Clayton Edward Kershaw (1988-) of the Los Angeles Dodgers (#22) becomes the 22nd Dodger to pitch a no-hitter., going on to become the first-ever pitcher to lead the ML in ERA for four straight seasons (2011-14).

On July 20, 2014 Tex. Repub. gov. Rick Perry visits Clear Lake, Iowa, and utters the soundbyte that if the federal govt. doesn't send more troops to secure the U.S.-Mexico border, the state of Texas will.

On Aug. 28, 2014 U.S. Rep. (R-Tex.) Louie Gohmert calls for a "declaration of war against radical Islam".

In Aug. 2014 conservative Am. activist James E. O'Keefe III (1984-) crosses the U.S. border into Mexico wearing an Osama bin Laden disguise, then sneaks back into Tex.; too bad the Dept. of Homeland Security begins persecuting him, stopping him for questioning every time he tries to reenter the U.S.

On Sept. 3, 2014 after arriving in Mexico from Istanbul via Paris, four Turkish men are captured by the border patrol in Tex. while trying to cross the U.S. border; U.S. homeland secy. Jeh Johnson claims they are Kurdish resistance fighters not terrorists.

On Sept. 9-11 2014 the In Defense of Christians Conference in Washington, D.C. sees Eastern and Western church leaders bemoan the fate of Christians in the Middle East; too bad, one of the organizers is James Zogby, pres. of the Israel-hating Arab Am. Inst., and on Sept. 10 U.S. Rep. (R-Tex.) Ted Cruz is booed off the stage by anti-Israel elements of the audience, with the soundbytes: "Those who hate Israel hate America, and those who hate Jews hate Christians", "Christians "have no greater ally than Israel", and "Antisemitism is a corrosive evil, and it reared its ugly head tonight."

On Sept. 10, 2014 U.S. Rep. (D-Tex.) Beto O'Rourke tells the Homeland Security Committee that the U.S. is already at war with Iraq.

On Sept. 30, 2014 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) announce that the first case of Ebola has been diagnosed in the U.S., in Thomas Eric Duncan (b. 1972) of Dallas, Tex., who dies on Oct. 8; on Oct. 12 Dallas, Tex. nurse Nina Pham (1988-) becomes the first person to contract Ebola within U.S. borders, fanning the flames of an Ebola scare; on Oct. 14 Amber Joy Vinson becomes nurse #2.

On Nov. 11, 2014 Clint Eastwood's American Sniper (Warner Bros.) debuts, starring Bradley Cooper as Tex.-raised U.S. Navy SEAL sniper champ Chris Kyle (1974-2013); does $547.4M box office on a $58.8M budget.

On Dec. 17, 2014 (noon) Pres. Obama gives a Speech on Cuba, announcing a "new chapter" incl. reestablishment of diplomatic relations and relaxing restrictions, causing U.S. Sen. (R-Fla.) Marco Rubio (son of Cuban immigrants) to slam him, calling him "wilfully ignorant" and "the worst negotiator" the U.S. has had in decades; meanwhile Cuba releases Am. Jewish hostage Alan Gross (accused of bringing computers to Jews) after five years in jail in exchange for three hardened Cuban spies.

On Jan. 20, 2015 Wichita Falls, Tex.-born Tex. atty. gen. #50 (since Dec. 2, 2002) Gregory Wayne "Greg" Abbott (1957-) becomes Repub. Tex. gov. #48 (until ?); his Mexican-Am. wife Cecilia Phalen Abbott becomes the first Latina First Lady of Tex. On Jan. 8, 2019 after he makes a statement that Earth's climate is changing but he thinks that further study is required to determine the human role, 27 scientists send Abbott a letter, containing the soundbyte: "We, the undersigned, are climate scientists and experts, and can report to you that climate change is happening, it is primarily caused by humans, and it is having a devastating impact on Texas, including increasing deadly flooding resulting from Hurricane Harvey.”

On Feb. 2, 2015 the state of Tex. declares Chris Kyle Day, named after the Odessa, Tex.-born U.S. Navy Seal sniper hero Christopher Scott "Chris" Kyle (1974-2013), AKA the Devil of Ramadi.

On Feb. 16, 2015 Brownsville, Tex. U.S. federal judge Andrew Scott Hanen (1953-) halts Pres. Obama's deportation amnesty two days before applications are to be accepted by 4.3M illegal aliens, ruling that Obama is trying to give legal status to them when the law mandates that they be deported.

On Mar. 23, 2015 (10:00 A.M. ET) Calgary, Alberta, Canada-born conservative Tex. Repub. Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (1970-) becomes the first Repub. (first Hispanic Repub. ever) to announce his candidacy for U.S. pres. at Rev. Jerry Falwell's Liberty U. in Lynchburg, Va., promising an end to the IRS, gun control, and Obamacare, with the soundbyte: "God isn't done with America yet."

On Apr. 16, 2015 Cleveland, Ohio Muslim Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud (1991-), who returned in June 2014 from a visit to Syria where he was trained by Jabhat al-Nusrah is indicted for plotting to attack a military base in Tex. and kill 3-4 U.S. soldiers execution style.

On Apr. 19, 2015 (Sun.) the 50th Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards in AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Tex., hosted by Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton sets a world record attendance for an awards show of 78K; Luke Bryan wins entertainer of the year; Jason Aldean wins male vocalist of the year; Miranda Lambert sets the record for most wins for female vocalist of the year; Taylor Swift is presented with a milestone award although in Aug. she announced that she was going pop with her album "1989".

On Apr. 23, 2015 the inspector gen. of the Dept. of Homeland Security announces that the Secret Service left broken alarms at the Houston, Tex. home of former Pres. George H.W. Bush unrepaired for 13 mo., stinking it up more than ever.

The first ISIS attack in the U.S., or, Don't mess with Texas? On May 3, 2015 (6:50 p.m. local time) Jewish-Am. anti-jihad pro-Israel activist Pamela Geller (1958-) hosts the First Annual Muhammad Art Exhibit and Contest at Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Tex., with a $12.5K prize offered for the best caricature, won by ex-Muslim cartoonist Bosch Fawstin, which depicts Big M wielding a sword while saying "You can't draw me", and the artist's hand drawing a balloon saying "That's why I draw you"; too bad, at 6:36 P.M. CT two Muslims on jihad arrive and shoot security guard Bruce Joiner in the ankle, after which a police officer shoots and kills wounds them, after which a SWAT team arrives and kills them, becoming the 68th Islamist terrorist plot or attack against the U.S. since 9/11; one of them is later identified as Elton Simpson of Phoenix, Ariz., who was convicted of lying to federal agents about traveling to Africa in 2010, and his roommate Nadir Soofi, who ran a Twitter account called Shariah is Light, and tweeted about the attack in advance at 6:35 p.m. CT, with the hashtag "texasattack"; on May 5 ISIS tweets a death threat against Pamela Geller, with the soundbyte: "Our lions will achieve her slaughter"; on June 12 3rd Muslim suspect Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem (Decarus Thomas) (1971-) is arrested and charged with supplying weapons to the two shooters, claiming that he was also planning an attack on the Super Bowl; in Oct. 2017 David Wright (1979-) of Mass. is convicted of leading the plot, and on Dec. 19 is sentenced to 28 years in prison.

On May 7, 2015 the U.S. Senate votes 98-1 to force Pres. Obama to submit any nuclear deal he reaches with Iran to Congress; meanwhile a letter signed by 150 House Dems. led by Jan Schakowsky of Ill., Lloyd Doggett of Tex., and David Price of N.C. expresses support for sustaining an Obama veto of legislation disapproving a deal.

On May 17, 2015 (12:27 p.m.) the 2015 Waco, Tex. Shootout at Twin Peaks Restaurant between members of several motorcycle gangs incl. the Bandidos and Cossacks causes a police SWAT team to open fire, killing nine and injuring 18 before arresting 177.

On May 22, 2015 doctors at MD Anderson Cancer Center and Houston Methodist Hospital in Tex. perform the first skull and scalp transplant on 55-y.-o. software programmer Jim Boyson from Austin, Tex.

On May 22-26, 2015 the 2015 Texas-Okla. Flood and Tornado Outbreak sees a week of heavy rain incl. super rain on the nights of May 24-26 trigger record floods in Tex. and Okla., along with 75 EF3-max tornadoes incl. in Mexico, becoming the wettest mo. on record in Okla. (until ?), with Oklahoma City receiving 19.48 in.

On June 3-7, 2015 the insidious evil 57-member Org. of Islamic Cooperation (IOC) holds a Conference on Combatting Religious Intolerance and Discrimination in Jeddah, Saudia Aabia near the site where a blogger is being flogged for blasphemy; meanwhile U.S. Reps. Joseph Pitts (R-Penn.) and Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.) introduce a bill calling for the global repeal of blasphemy laws, with the soundbyte: "Saudi Arabia has used criminal charges of blasphemy to suppress discussion and debate and silence dissidents."

On June 13, 2015 (12:30 a.m.) a shootout at the Dallas Police Dept. HQ in Tex. starts after four suspicious bags are found, one is exploded by an explosive ordinance robot, and shooters arrive and begin firing, then escape; hours later a police sniper kills suspect James Boulware.

On July 13, 2015 28-y.-o. black woman Sandra Annette Bland (1987-) from Naperville (near Chicago), Ill. known for posting videos protesting police brutality against blacks and joining the Black Lives Matter movement is found hanged in a jail cell in Waller County, Tex. after alleged misconduct state trooper Brian Encinia at a traffic stop on July 10; the death is ruled a suicide by the county coroner; despite an outcry the pigs are never charged with a speck of dust, er, Encina is indicted for perjury and fired, then gets the charge dropped in June 2017 in return for not seeking to be rehired; in Sept. 2016 Bland's mother settles a wrongful death lawsuit agains the police dept. and county jail for $1.9M.

On July 18, 2015 after Ariz. Repub. Sen. John McCain calls Trump's Ariz. followers "crazies", causing him to call McCain a "dummy", Donald Trump tees off on McCain, with the soundbytes "He's not a war hero. He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured", mocking him for graduating at the bottom of his class at the U.S. Naval Academy and calling him a "loser" for failing in the 2008 U.S. pres. race, pissing-off Repubs., with former Tex. Gov. Rick Perry calling Trump "unfit to be commander-in-chief", and 2012 Repub. pres. nominee Mitt Romney tweeting: "The difference between @SenJohnMcCain and @realDonaldTrump: Trump shot himself down"; on July 20 after Trump refuses to apologize to him, McCain replies that Trump doesn't owe an apology to him, but "to the families of those who have sacrificed in conflict and those who've undergone the prison experience in certain countries".

On July 23, 2015 U.S. pres. candidate Donald Trump visits the U.S.-Mexico border at Laredo, Tex., refusing requests to apologize for claiming that many who have crossed the border illegally are rapists, saying "They weren't insulted because the press misinterprets my words", reiterating his call for a border wall, throwing hints out about "merit system", adding "The first thing we do is take the bad ones of which there are unfortunately quite a few, we take the bad ones and get 'em the hell out"; MSNBC-Telemundo anchor Jose Diaz Balart tells him: "Many feel that what you said, when you said that people that cross the border are rapists and murderers...", which Trump cuts off, responding: "No, no, we're talking about illegal immigration and everybody understands it. And you know what? That's a typical case of the press with misinterpretation. They take half a sentence, then they take a quarter of a sentence. They put it all together. It's a typical thing. You're with Telemundo and Telemundo should be ashamed", at which the crowd cheers approval; the Nat. Border Patrol Council Local 2455 Executive Board pulls out of a planned meeting with him at the airport; Trump answers more questions about a possible third party run, saying "I am a Republican. I'm a conservative. I want to run as a Republican. The best way to win is for me to get the nomination"; meanwhile former Tex. gov. Rick Perry (2% in the polls) calls a Trump "small-minded... a divisive figure... propelled by anger... appealing to the worse instincts in the human condition, a barking carnival act that can best be described as Trumpism, a toxic mix of demagoguery and mean-spiritedness and nonsense that will lead the Republican Party to perdition if pursued. Let no one be mistaken. Donald Trump's candidacy is a cancer on conservatism that must be diagnosed, excised, and discarded."

On Aug. 28, 2015 (8:30 p.m.) Harris County, Tex. sheriff's deputy Darren Goforth (b. 1968) is murdered at a Chevron gas station in Cypress, Tex. (25 mi. from Houston), by 30-y.-o. African-Am. Shannon Jaruay Miles (1985-), who shoots him in the back of the head execution-style than pumps 14 more shots into his back.

On Sept. 13, 2015 (2:00 p.m.) Tex. Muslim Rasheed Abdul Aziz (1975-) enters the Corinth Missionary Baptist Church in Bullard near Lake Palestine in Cherokee County, Tex. with a gun in his pocket and tells the congregation that Allah had told him to "slay infidels", changing his mind after the pastor Rev. John D. Johnson III talks him out of it and leaving before being arrested.

On Sept. 14, 2015 14-y.-o. 9th grader Am. Muslim "Clock Boy" Ahmed Mohamed (2001-) is arrested at his school in Irving, Tex. after he brings a homemade digital clock to school and the admins. call it into the police as a bomb threat hoax, and he refuses to tell them his engineering teacher had already seen it and told him not to carry it to other classes, after which he is released, and his publicity-hound daddy Elhassan goes to the PC police, who cause it to go viral, making him the poster boy for Islamophobia, earning him an invite to the White House science fair (Astronomy Night) on Oct. 19 and TV shows despite all kinds of kids arrested for toy guns etc. not being selected because they're not Muslim; h is father Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed is a Muslim activist who set it all up as a publicity stunt with the backing of the insidious Muslim Brotherhood front CAIR?; on Oct. 13 after visiting Saudi Arabia, Clock Boy visits Sudanese dictator Omar Hassan al-Bashir; on Oct. 19 (night) he meets with Pres. Obama in the White House, with his daddy Mohamed E. Mohad tweeting that this will help spread Islam in the U.S.; on Oct. 20 he announces that he's moving to Qatar.

On Oct. 28, 2015 officials of the Nat. Oceanic Atmospheric Admin. (NOAA) refuse to hand over records explaining why they suddenly decided to eliminate the 20-year global hiatus in global warming from the official climate record, pissing-off chmn. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), who utters the soundbyte: "It was inconvenient for this administration that climate data has clearly showed no warming for the past two decades. The American people have every right to be suspicious when NOAA alters data to get the politically correct results they want and then refuses to reveal how those decisions were made."

On Nov. 17, 2015 Obama's boy John Kerry stinks himself up with the soundbyte about the Charlie Hebdo Massacre that "there wasa sort of particularized focus and perhaps even a legitimacy in terms of - not a legitimacy, but a rationale that you could attach yourself to somehow and say, okay, they're really angry because of this and that", but not the Friday the Thirteenth Paris Massacre, which was "absolutely indiscriminate... They kill people because of who they are and they kill people because of what they believe", causing an outcry, with Tex. Repub. Sen. Ted Cruz uttering the soundbyte that Kerry should resign for being "apologists for radical Islamic terrorists" along with Pres. Obama and Hillary Clinton.

On Jan. 7, 2016 the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security announces that it has deported 77 of 121 illegal immigrants from Central Am. rounded up over the weekend in Tex., Ga., and N.C.

On Jan. 19, 2016 Arlington, Tex.-born Maren Larae Morris (1990-) releases her debut single My Church (w/busbee) (#50 in the U.S.) (#5 country), about driving down the highway playing her FM radio; on June 3, 2016 she releases her debut album Hero (#5 in the U.S.) (#1 country).

On Feb. 12/13, 2016 (night) Antonin Scalia (b. 1936), conservative pillar of the U.S. Supreme Court unexpectedly dies of a heart attack on a hunting trip in Tex., throwing conservatives into a panic and changing the stakes of the pres. election; he dies after attending a meeting of the secret Internat. Order of St. Hubertus linked to the all-male Bohemian Grove?; his death is a leftist conspiracy?

On Feb. 25, 2016 (eve.) the 14th 2016 Repub. Pres. Debate at the U. of Houston in Tex. sees Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz gang up on Donald Trump in a last-ditch effort to save their campaigns; Rubio criticizes Trump for hiring illegal aliens, causing Trump to respond: "You haven't hired anybody"; on Feb. 26 N.J. gov. Chris Christie endorses Trump, becoming his first major endorsement, with the soundbyte: "I've experienced that over my friendship with him, and what the American people and our allies around the world are going to understand is that Donald Trump is someone who keeps his word, and that means America will keep its word again."

On May 16, 2016 David Mackenzie's Hell or High Water (CBS Films) (Lionsgate) debuts, written by Taylor Sheridan, starrng Chris Pine and Ben Foster as West Tex. brothers Toby and Tanner Howard, who decide to become bank robbers, and Jeff Bridges as Texas Ranger Marcus Hamilton; does $31.9M box office on a $12M budget.

On July 7, 2016 (9:00 p.m.) amid nationwide Black Lives Matter protests against recent police murders of blacks, hours after Pres. Obama gives a speech on the police shootings in La. and Minn., white police officers in Dallas, Tex. are ambushed by black Nation of Islam member rooftop sniper (U.S. Army Afghanistan vet) Micah Xavier Johnson (b. 1991), who kills five (incl. a transit authority policeman) and injures nine, becoming the deadliest day for U.S. law enforcement since 9/11, causing Pres. Obama to break off in Warsaw, Poland to condemn the shooters, taking pains to lobby for gun control; three suspects are taken into custody; Johnson is cornered in El Centro College and killed at 2:30 a.m. with a bomb robot during negotiations after uttering the soundbyte "I want to kill white people."

On Aug. 15, 2016 the Obama admin. announces the transfer of 15 detainees from Gitmo to UAE, pissing-off Donald Trump and Repubs. incl. U.S. Rep. (R-Tex.) Michael McFaul and U.S. Sen. (R-Fla.) Marco Rubio; the Gitmo pop. has slid from 242 in 2009 to 61.

On Aug. 23, 2016 Hillary Clinton gives a speech, slamming Donald Trump's campaign as a haven for racism and bigotry, with the soundbytes: "A man with a long history of racial discrimination who traffics in dark conspiracy theories from the pages of supermarket tabloids and the far, dark reaches of the internet should never run our government or command our military", and "There's always been a paranoid fringe in our politics, a lot of it arising from racial resentment. But it's never had the nominee of a major party stoking it, encouraging it and giving it a national megaphone until now"; meanwhile on Aug. 23 after telling Sean Hannity of Fox News that he is open to "softening" his immigration stance, Donald Trump gives a speech in Austin, Tex., doubling down instead, with the soundbyte: "No citizenship. Let me go a step further. They'll pay back taxes, they have to pay taxes, there's no amnesty, as such, there's no amnesty, but we work with them. Now, everybody agrees we get the bad ones out," Trump said. "But when I go through and I meet thousands and thousands of people on this subject, and I've had very strong people come up to me, really great, great people come up to me, and they've said, 'Mr. Trump, I love you, but to take a person who's been here for 15 or 20 years and throw them and their family out, it's so tough, Mr. Trump,' I have it all the time! It's a very, very hard thing"; on Aug. 24 he speaks in Tampa, Fla., uttering the soundbyte: "I've been watching so carefully over the past month. Hillary Clinton doesn't do speeches, she doesn't do press conferences. It's been almost 300 days. She doesn't do rallies of any consequence. She doesn't do this kind of stuff"; he goes on to label Hillary Clinton a "bigot", with the soundbyte: "Hillary Clinton is a bigot who sees people of color only as votes, not as human beings worthy of a better future", pissing-off the PC media.

On Sept. 28, 2016 after U.S. Senate majority whip John Cornyn (R-Tex.) and #3 Dem. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), introduce the bill, the U.S. Congress overrides Pres. Obama's veto of their 9/11 Saudi lawsuit bill, with the Senate voting 97-1 (Dem. Harry Reid of Nev.), and the House voting 348-77 (incl. two-thirds of Dems.), becoming Obama's first.

In Sept. 2016 physicians at Baylor U. Medical Center in Dallas, Tex. perform the first living donor uterus transplants.

On Nov. 8, 2016 (Tues.) after most pollsters give Hillary Clinton a 90%+ chance of victory, and her people pop champagne corks in the morning, considering a win in the bag, the 2016 U.S. pres. election makes a monkey out of the shamelessly biased pro-Hillary pollsters, with maverick Repub. billionaire Donald John Trump (1946-) and running mate Michael Richard "Mike" Pence (1959-) defeating Dem. establishment candidate Hillary Clinton and running mate Tim Kaine by 306-232 electoral votes (59,131,310 votes to 59,293,071), winning every battleground state (Fla., Iowa, Mich., N.C., Ohio, Penn., Wisc.) and 3,084 of 3,141 U.S counties despite Hillary raising $521M and spending $237M on TV ads and $42M on hundreds of staffers, vs. $270M spent by Trump; Trump becomes the oldest person to be elected to a first term as U.S. pres. (vs. 69-y.-o. Ronald Reagan in 1980); the first time that three U.S. presidents are born the same year (Bill Clinton, George W. Bush); the 5th U.S. pres. born in New York (Martin Van Buren, Millard Fillmore, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt), and 2nd born in New York City (Theodore Roosevelt); 4th U.S. pres. to win despite losing his home state (James K. Polk, Woodrow Wilson, Richard Nixon); during the night of Nov. 8/9 the Canadian govt. immigration Web site crashes; the Repubs. gain control of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House along with the White House for the first time since 1929; no surprise, after the newly-exposed biased liberal media kept asking Trump if he would accept a win by Hillary, there are massive anti-Trump protests around the U.S. by diehard leftists, along with secession movements in Calif. and Tex., and petitions asking the Electoral College to pick Clinton anyway.

On Nov. 15, 2016 the U.S. Geological Survey announces the discovery of the Wolfcamp Shale in C Tex., with an estimated 20B barrels of oil and 1.6B barrels of natural gas, becoming the largest untapped oil reserves in the U.S.

On Dec. 19, 2016 after calls by the Dems. to ignore the vote counts and blame the Russians for rigging the election to vote for Hillary instead of Trump, the U.S. Electoral College votes for Trump anyway by 304 vs. 227 for Clinton; four electors in Wash. flop on Clinton, voting for Colin Powell, and one votes for environmental activist Faith Spotted Eagle of S.D.; two Repub. electors in Tex. flop on Trump; one Dem. elector in Hawaii flops on Clinton, voting for Bernie Sanders; one elector in Colo. tries to vote for John Kasich, but it backfires.

On May 7, 2017 Tex. gov. Greg Abbott signs SB4 banning sanctuary cities in the state, with a $25.5K/day fine for violations; on Mar. 13, 2018 the Tex. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upholds it.

On June 14, 2017 Tex. Gov. Greg Abbott signs the American Laws for American Courts (ALAC) AKA House Bill 45, prohibiting use of any foreign law in state courts, esp. in family cases.

In July 2017 the city of Farmersville, Tex. denies an application by the Islamic Assoc. of Collin County to build a cemetery, causing the U.S. Dept. of Justice to come down on them, forcing an agreement to build it anyway on Apr. 18, 2019. /p>

On Aug. 17, 2017 Category 4 (130 mph) Hurricane Harvey (wettest tropical cyclone until ?) starts E of the Lesser Antilles, crossing the Windward Islands on Aug. 18, then entering the Caribbean Sea after passing S of Barbados and skirting Saint Vincent, degenerating into a tropical wave N of Colombia on Aug. 19, then rapidly intensifying on Aug. 24, growing to Category 4 on Aug. 25 before making landfall near Rockport, Tex., stalling in Nederland, Tex. (near Houston) for six days and dropping a record 60.58 in. of rain, causing catastrophic flooding in Houston and turning it into the Great Houston Swamp, killing a total of 106 in the U.S. and one in Guyana and displacing 30K, causing $125B damage (tied as most costly hurricane with Hurricane Katrina in 2005), becoming the worst disaster in Tex. history, first major hurricane to hit the U.S. since Hurricane Wilma in 2005, first hurricane to hit Tex. since Hurricane Ike in 2008 and the strongest to hit Tex. since Hurricane Carla in 1961, also the strongest hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico since Hurricane Rita in 2005, and the strongest to make landfall in the U.S. since Hurricane Charley in 2004, joining Hurricane Matthew (2016) as the 2nd U.S. hurricane to cause tornado-like winds warnings to be issued; it was engineered and used as a weapon?

On Nov. 5, 2017 (11:30 a.m. local time) the Sutherland Springs Church Shooting in Sutherland Springs (30 mi. SE of San Antonio), Tex. sees shooter Devin Patrick Kelley (b. 1991) (dishonorably discharged from the USAF in 2013 before teaching at a Bible school) kill 24 aged 5-72 and injure 20+ church members at the First Baptist Church with a Ruger AR-15 rifle before being killed by rifle-toting area residents Johnnie Langendorff and Stephen Willeford after a chase, becoming the deadliest church shooting in modern U.S. history (until ?).

On Dec. 7/8, 2017 (night) a rare snowstorm in Houston, Tex. also blankets S Tex.

In 2017 after pressure by Dallas, Tex. imam Omar Suleiman (1986-), Google lowers the ranking of pages criticizing Islam, causing even former U.S. pres. Obama to mumble about them having too much power to shape political discourse; in Mar. ISIS called for Suleiman's death in their film "Kill the Apostate Imams" for calling for unity among Muslims and Christians.

On Jan. 9, 2018 the Tex. State U. Star student newspaper pub. an op-ed titled Your DNA is an abomination by Trump-hating Hispanic senior Rudy Martinez, causing a firestorm of controversy with soundbytes incl. "White death will mean liberation for all", [Whiteness is] "a construct used to perpetuate a system of racist power", "White is over! If you want it", "Whiteness will be over because we want it to be. And when it dies, there will be millions of cultural zombies aimlessly wandering across a vastly changed landscape", and "Until then, remember this: I hate you because you shouldn't exist. You are both the dominant apparatus on the planet and the void in which all other cultures, upon meeting you, die."

On Jan. 30, 2018 Am. Muslim teenie girl Maarib Al Hishmawi (2001-) is reporting missing after leaving Taft H.S. in Bexar County, Tex.; in Mar. she is located, revealing that her parents beat her with broomsticks and poured hot cooking oil on her for refusing a $20K arranged marriage.

On Feb. 13, 2018 Plano, Tex. city councilman Tom Harrison (Methodist) is attacked by local Muslim groups for calling for Islam to be banned from public schools in a Facebook post, with mayor Harry LaRosiliere calling on him to resign, after which he eats crow, with the soundbyte: "My intent on inputting this on my personal Facebook page was to emphasize that Christianity is not the only religion being targeted for exclusion in our public school"; part of a Muslim conspiracy to supplant Christianity in U.S. public schools?

On Mar. 8, 2018 Internat. Women's Day sees the Communist Rev. Student Front (RSF) vandalize the Littlefield WWI memorial fountain on the campus of the U. of Tex. at Austin.

The s in piss is Austin? On Mar. 19, 2018 a booby-trapped bomb goes off in Austin, Tex., injuring two, becoming the 4th in three weeks that killed two and injured three, all in black-Hispanic neighborhoods on the E side; on Mar. 21 (a.m.) the bomber Mark Anthony Conditt (b. 1994) blows himself up in his car after being cornered by police, leaving a 25-min recorded confession.

On Mar. 26, 2018 the stainless steel Cloud Column sculpture by British sculptor Sir Anish Kapoor (1954-) is unveiled in Houston, Tex., pissing-off rival Chicago, Ill., which hosts Kapoor's 2006 Cloud Gate (AKA The Bean), which lies on its side and doesn't stand upright like Houston's; meanwhile Houston gained 94,417 residents in 2017, while Chicago lost 13,286, putting Houston track to pass Chicago as the 3rd largest U.S. city in 10 years.

On Apr. 26, 2018 after being bombarded with scurrilous allegations of misconduct and mismanagement, Pres. Trump's Levelland, Tex.-born personal physician Rear Adm. Ronny Lynn Jackson (1967-) withdraws his nomination as secy. of the Veterans Admin., and soon resigns as Trump's official physician.

On Apr. 26, 2018 Muslim Guinea immigrants Mohamed Toure (1960-) and Denise Cros-Toure (1960-) of Southlake, Tex. are charged with forced labor after a 21-y.-o. woman escapes from their home and tells how she was kept as a slave from age 5, denying her education.

On May 17, 2018 (7:40 a.m.) 17-y.-o. student Dimitrios Pagourtzis shoots up Santa Fe H.S. in Santa Fe (20 mi. from Galveston), Tex., killing nine students and a teacher in an arts class and injuring 10 incl. two officers before being arrested, becoming the 3rd U.S. school shooting in eight days, and the 22nd of the year.

On June 21, 2018 First Lady Melania Trump visits some children's shelters at the U.S.-Mexico border in Tex. along with HHS secy. Alex Azar, paving the way for accelerated reunification with their families.

On July 27, 2018 Jordanian immigrant Muslim Ali Mahwood-Awad Irsan is convicted by a jury in Houston, Tex. of the honor killing of his daughter Nesreen Irsan's Am. husband Coty Beavers and Iranian women's rights activist Gelareh Bagherzadeh to prevent the daughter who ran away from home from marrying a Christian and converting to Christianity; Irsan's wife Shmou Alrawabdeh testifies against him after a plea bargain; Irsan's son Nasim Irsan is being held in jail on murder charges.

On Sept. 6, 2018 off-duty white police officer Amber Renee Guyer shoots and kills black man Botham Shem Jean (b. 1992) in his own 4th floor apt. in Dallas, Tex. after mistaking it for her own on the 3rd floor, causing a public outcry resulting in her arrest on Sept. 9 for manslaughter and a grand jury to decide if she should be charged with murder after her story is seen to be full of holes.

On Dec. 9, 2018 Houston, Tex. mayor Sylvester Turner proclaims CAIR-Tex., Houston Day, despite CAIR (Council on Am.-Islamic Relation) having connections with Hamas terror.

On Jan. 1, 2019 since 9/11 there have been a total of 72 jihadist attacks in the U.S., which killed 160 and wounded 502; the state with the most attacks is Tex. (9).

On Aug. 31, 2019 (3:15 p.m.) recently-fired Seth Ator (1983-) is stopped by police on I-20 in Midland, Tex., and begins a rampage, killing seven and injuring 20+ incl. three police officers before being killed by police at the Cinergy Movie Complex in Odessa, Tex.

On Apr. 11, 2019 after accompanying Pres. Trump during a visit to Tex. on Apr. 10, Rep. Tex. lt. gov. Dan Patrick utters the soundbyte that 1,671 bodies have been recovered inside the Tex. border with Mexico since 2011.

On Feb. 13-17, 2021Winter Storm Uri hits the S U.S.., moving to midwestern and NE states, placing 170M under winter weather alerts and causing blackouts for 9.7M customers incl. 4.7M in Mexico, killing 49+ and causing blackouts in Yee-Haw Tex., which are blamed on reliance on unwinterized wind turbines and fossil fuel power, caused by the Greenies diverting money to solar and wind that could have been used to winterize natural gas?; the system came within "seconds and minutes" of a total collapse.

On May 7, 2021 Houston, Tex.-based Colonial Pipeline, which supplies almost half of all fuel to the U.S. East Caost is hit by ransomware from DarkSide in Russia, taking it down and causing fuel shortages until service is restored on May 12 after paying a $5M bribe.

On Nov. 5, 2021 the (9:00 p.m.) the (Satanic?) Astroworld music festival in Houston, Tex. results in tragedy after the crowd begins pressing the stage, killing eight ages 14-27 and injuring dozens.

On Jan. 15, 2022 (10:40 a.m. local time) 44-y.-o. British Pakistani Muslim jihadist Malik Faisal Akram attacks Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville (near Ft. Worth), Tex. during morning Shabbat prayers, holding four hostages and demanding the release of Islamist terrorist Aafia Siddiqui for 10 hours until the hostages and escape and he is killed by police.

Cowards of the County, Biden. ed.? Or, a Biden false flag to trick law-abiding citizens into giving up their guns? Too bad, that would leave them all in the hands of govt. agents, yet here they show what ineffective boobs they really are, protecting their paychecks first? On May 24, 2022 the Robb Elementary School Massacre in Uvalde (90 mi. W of San Antonio), Tex. near the U.S.-Mexico border sees 18-y.-o. Hispanic cross-dressing non-student Salvador Rolando Ramos shoot his grandmother in the face, steal her pickup truck, run it into a ditch outside the school at 11:30 a.m. and fire at two people outside a nearby funeral home, then jump a fence and shoot into three classrooms before barging through a door recently propped open by a teacher into a 4th grade double classroom and kill 19 10-y.-o. students and 2 teachers with two AR-15 rifles at a 90% Hispanic school in an hour-long standoff behind a barricaded door before U.S. border patrol agent Raul Ortiz kills him at 12:51 p.m., becoming the 27th U.S. school shooting in 2022, the deadliest since Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 (28), the deadliest so far in Tex., and the deadliest in the U.S. since 1970; since May 9 Ramos had been in Internet contact with a 15-y.-o. girl in Frankfurt, Germany, sharing his intentions with her; DNA was needed to identify victims; on May 25 Pres. Biden stinks himself up with a speech blaming the Repubs. and their gun lobby, with the soundbyte: "We need to let you know that we will not forget"; perpetual extreme left Tex. candidate Beto O'Rourke stinks himself up by crashing a news conference chaired by Tex. Repub. Gov. Greg Abbott, with a security guard repeatedly yelling "You're out of line", and Uvalde mayor Don McLaughlin uttering the soundbyte: "I can't believe you're a sick son of a bitch who would come to a deal like this to make a political issue"; Abbott was shamelessly using the massacre for fundraising? on May 26 amid noontime ET nationwide protests against the NRA by Students Demand Action, footage surfaces of parents begging 19+ cowardly police to storm the school, who stand around in the hallway for 45 min. waiting for backup while the gunman is killing children, who are frantically calling 911 begging for help, and break into a sweat only to arrest parents who try to dash into the school to save their children, making the public question why it took 40+ min. to stop the shooter instead of just minutes; police chief Peter Arredondo is later identified as stopping 19 other officers from entering the school for up to an hour until border patrol agents ignore him and go for the shooter; one student later reports that the shooter said "What do I have here?" before opening fire on students, while another reports that he was playing somber "you're going to die" music; on May 27 the NRA convention in Houston, Tex. is headlined by former U.S. pres. Donald Trump, while several celebs and politicians bow out; on June 7 Uvalde native Hollyweird star Matthew McConaughey visits the Biden White House and gives a tear-filled speech to the press pushing for Biden's gun grab.

On June 27, 2022 officials discover an abandoned tractor-trailer in San Antonio, Tex. containing 46 dead and 15 live illegal immigrants who had inadequate ventilation and water; five more later die.

In 2040 a whopping 49.5% of the U.S. pop. lives in just eight states: Calif., Tex., Fla., N.Y., Penn., Ga., Ill., and N.C.; 69% live in 16 states.