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ASU Magazine
Member, Texas Tech University System The Princeton Review - 373 Best Colleges, 2011 Edition

A Whirlwind Lesson on the Top 15 Events in Texas History

Dr. Arnoldo De Le�nby ASU History Professor Arnoldo De León

  1. Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca in 1528 was among the first Europeans to step foot on Texas soil.  He and other survivors of a failed expedition landed on Galveston Island and spent several years there until four of them made their way into the interior of Mexico.  Cabeza de Vaca left a description of Native Americans living in the Texas lands he crossed. 
  2. In 1716 Nacogdoches became the first permanent Spanish settlement in Texas.  It was founded by Capt. Domingo Ramón as Spain needed to shield East Texas from possible French attacks.  The settlement took its name from a community of Native Americans (the Nacogdoche) then living in the vicinity of the missions and presidio established there.
  3. Stephen F. Austin led the first Anglo-Americans that settled legally in Texas. Austin inherited a contract from his father, Moses, who in January 1821 had negotiated with Spain to bring several families from the United States.  When Moses died in 1821, his son Stephen pledged to fulfill his father’s contract.  Other empresarios (immigration agents) settled more Americans in Texas during the 1820s and 1830s. 
  4. The Republic of Texas was established when Texans won independence from Mexico, following the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836.  For nine years, Texas remained an independent country in the middle of the North American continent.  Sam Houston served two terms as president during the Republic’s life span. 
  5. Texas was annexed into the United States on Dec. 29, 1845, after nine years as an independent country. The event occurred at a time when Americans believed it was their manifest destiny to expand from the Atlantic to the Pacific.  The Republic entered the union through joint resolution, or by a majority vote of both houses of Congress.
  6. Juneteenth was the name given to the date June 19, 1865, when Gen. Gordan Granger landed in Galveston and proclaimed slavery terminated in Texas.  Though the Civil War had ended in April of that year, Texans still practiced slavery, for no authority existed to enforce its abolition.  Federal troops now insured the institution’s demise.
  7. Texans ratified the Constitution of 1876.  The constitution reflected the Texas experience following Radical Reconstruction.  Among other things, Texans resented encroachment on states’ rights, the power of strong government and high taxes imposed upon them by the Radical Republicans.  The Constitution of 1876, which reacted to those perceived excesses, has since governed the state.
  8. Wildcatters on Jan. 10, 1901, found oil at Spindletop, a site near Beaumont.  The strike convinced oil men to drill in other parts of East Texas, if not across the state.  New oil finds catapulted Texas into the modern age.  With the state connected to the international oil and petrochemical industry, Houston thrived.
  9. Heman Marion Sweatt integrated the University of Texas School of Law in 1950.  In accordance with Jim Crow laws and segregationist traditions, the University of Texas prohibited African-American student enrollment.  With support from the NAACP, Sweatt took his case to the legal system.  In Sweatt v. Painter (1950), the U. S. Supreme Court ordered the law school to permit the enrollment of African-Americans.
  10. Working for Texas Instruments in Arlington, Jack Kilby developed in 1958 the integrated circuit that ushered in a revolution in computer technology.  Kilby found a practical means by which electronic units could store huge amounts of memory in a silicon chip smaller than a dime.  Today, Kilby’s invention is a mainstay in calculators, watches, cell phones, laptops, automobile guidance systems and other electronic devices. 
  11. Henry B. González became the first Mexican American from Texas to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1961.  From a prominent San Antonio family, González served in several posts at the city level before winning election to a seat in the Texas Senate in 1956.  As a candidate for governor in 1958, González established a record (not eclipsed until 2002) of winning the most votes by a Mexican-American running for governor.  Since then, other Tejanos have served in the U.S. House of Representatives.
  12. The Astrodome, a sports stadium featuring a dome for all-weather activities, opened for business as the “Eighth Wonder of the World” in 1965.  It became the baseball home for the Houston Colt .45s (and later the Houston Astros), but also served as the scene for music concerts and sporting extravaganzas.  Other cities in the nation copied the concept of a domed sporting arena.
  13. Republican Bill Clements won election in 1978 as the first Republican governor of Texas since E.J. Davis (1870-1874).  Clements’ election subsequently produced a series of Republican victories across the state and within the next two decades, the Republican Party came to dominate almost all state-wide elective offices.
  14. In the case of Plyler v. Doe, the United States Supreme Court in 1982 ruled that a public school education ought not be denied to the children of immigrants.  The case originated in response to a law passed in 1975 by the Texas Legislature, mandating that non-citizens must pay for their public schooling.  But lawyers representing immigrant children argued the legislation violated the equal protection guarantees in the Constitution.  The Supreme Court agreed with a lower court’s rulings.
  15. The 10 Percent Plan guaranteed that anyone in Texas ranking in the top 10 percent of their high school graduating class can unconditionally enroll in any state institution of higher education.  The plan had its origins following the Hopwood case (1996) wherein the courts ruled that race could not be used as a criterion for admission into the U.T. Law School.  The 10 Percent Plan visualized a policy of non-discrimination toward minority students.