Lifestyle (Page 48)

1968: Hero from Rio Grande valley dies in Vietnam On this day in 1968, Marine sergeant Alfredo Gonzalez died near Thua Thein, Vietnam, after action that earned him the Medal of Honor. On January 31 the native of Edinburg was commanding a platoon in a truck convoy formed to relieveContinue Reading

1896: Coastal brewery serves up a cold one On this day in 1896, the Galveston Brewing Company began operations. St. Louis brewers Adolphus Busch and William J. Lemp were major stockholders. By this time Texas boasted more than fifty years of brewing history that began with small home operations andContinue Reading

1874: Ursuline Academy founded in Dallas On this date in 1874, the Ursuline Sisters started their academy in Dallas. The Ursulines, founded in Italy in 1535, came to Quebec in 1639, New Orleans in 1727, Galveston in 1847, and San Antonio in 1851. Their academies welcome girls of all denominationsContinue Reading

1933: United States and Mexico sign Rio Grande Rectification Treaty On this day in 1933, the United States and Mexico signed the Rio Grande Rectification Treaty, which called for construction of a 590-foot-wide floodway and 66-foot-wide normal flow channel along a stretch of the river from Cordova Island to belowContinue Reading

1872: Grand jury indicts governor over disputed election results On this day in 1872, a Reconstruction-era grand jury indicted Republican governor E. J. Davis for “willfully, unlawfully and feloniously [making] a false and untrue tabular statement” of the election results for the Third District congressional seat. Dewitt Clinton Giddings, theContinue Reading

1840: Englishman and future critic arrives in Texas On this day in 1840, British lawyer and writer Nicholas Maillard arrived in Texas. He settled in Richmond, where he acquired a reputation as a mixer of excellent drinks and became coeditor of the Richmond Telescope. In May and June 1840 he made severalContinue Reading

1881: Rangers ambush Apaches at Hueco Tanks On this day in 1881, a company of Texas Rangers ambushed a group of fugitive Guadalupe Apaches at Hueco Tanks, thirty miles east of El Paso. Hueco, Spanish for “hollow,” refers to the hollows in the rocks that collect rainwater, which has long been oneContinue Reading

1836: Italian hero of San Jacinto arrives in Texas On this day in 1836, Prospero Bernardi arrived in Texas aboard the schooner Pennsylvania as a member of Capt. Amasa Turner’s volunteer company, raised in New Orleans. Bernardi was born in Italy in 1794 and was a notary by trade. He enlisted inContinue Reading

1939: Texas Memorial Museum opens On this day in 1939, the Texas Memorial Museum opened on the University of Texas campus in Austin. The museum was established as part of the Texas Centennial Celebration Bill of 1935, in which funds amounting to $225,000 were allocated for “gathering and preparing materialsContinue Reading