Timeline of historical events of Houston, Texas, United States:
1800-1899 1836 August 26: Elizabeth and T. F. L. Parrott sell the southern half of the eastern half of the John Austin Survey to the Allen brothers. August 30: Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen place their first advertisement for the proposed "Town of Houston". December 15: Congress selects Houston as the provisional capitol; President Houston signs the bill. The Allen Brothers, John Kirby and Augustus Chapman, co-found Houston. First cemetery is established as "City Cemetery". It stills stands today as Founders Memorial Cemetery. 1837 January 1: Twelve people live in town, and there is a single log cabin. Mid January: Laura arrives, the first steamboat in Houston, sometime around January 21. April 16: Thomas William Ward begins construction on the capitol building.Winkler (1906), p. 170. April 26: Sam Houston arrives at his namesake town. He estimates 1500 people and 100 houses were there when he arrived. Late April: John James Audubon and his son John visit Houston. May 1: Legislature meets in Houston. June 5: The city gets a city charter from the Congress of the Republic of Texas and James Holman becomes the first mayor of Houston. August 28: James Holman sworn in as mayor of Houston.McComb (1981), p. 51. 1839 The capital of the Republic moves to Austin, causing a dispute over state records. The City of Houston adopts a sidewalk ordinance.McComb (1981), p. 25. 1848 - Houston Lyceum incorporated. January 1, 1853 - Paul Bremond breaks ground on the Houston and Texas Central Railway.McComb (1981), p. 27. 1856 April 7: Construction begins on the seven-mile Houston Tap Road. August: Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado Railway completed from Harrisburg, Texas to the Brazos River. October: The Houston Tap Road is finished to Pierce Junction. July, 1858 - Main Street is paved with shells. 1860 - The U.S. Census lists 4,845 inhabitants in the town, including 1,069 enslaved. September, 1863 - Houston saloon keeper Dick Dowling leads 44 Houston dockworkers to a stunning victory over 5,000 troops at the battle of Sabine Pass. Dowling becomes the city's first nationally known person. June 19, 1865 - Juneteenth is an American holiday that commemorates the June 19, 1865 announcement of the abolition of slavery in the U.S. state of Texas. 1892 - First annual road race of the Magnolia Cycling Club was held on shelled roads in the Houston Heights.McComb (1981), p. 71. Mid February, 1895 - Houston is slammed by its heaviest snowfall on record in mid-February. Over 20 inches buries the city and does not melt for days.
1900–1949 1900s - Oil is discovered in Texas, from which a new industry will start. 1900 Population: 44,633. September: Major hurricane strikes nearby Galveston, leading to development shifting north to Houston. 1902 - President Theodore Roosevelt approves a one-million dollar fund for the construction of the Houston Ship Channel. 1904 - Houston Lyceum and Carnegie Library opens, later known as Houston Public Library. 1910 – Population: 78,800. 1912 J.J. Pastoriza introduces his Houston Single Tax Plan. September: The Rice Institute opens, later known as Rice University. 1914 April 1: The first jaywalking ordinance goes into effect.McComb (1981), p. 72. November 10: President Woodrow Wilson opens the Houston Ship Channel, part of the Port of Houston.McComb (1981), p. 67. 1920s - The Texas oil boom causes people to move into the city, causing its first growth spurt. 1920 – Population: 138,276. 1925 - KPRC radio begins broadcasting. 1927 - Houston Junior College opens its doors as part of Houston Independent School District. 1930 – Population: 292,352. 1934 - Houston Junior College becomes a four-year institution and changes its name to the University of Houston. 1935 - A massive flood inundates Houston, killing eight people; the Harris County Flood Control District is created in the aftermath. 1937 - Houston Municipal Airport, which would later become William P. Hobby Airport, is opened. 1939 - The University of Houston moves to its permanent location, southeast of Downtown. 1940 Houston dismantles the last of its streetcar system. Population: 384,514. September 18, 1942 - Robertson Stadium opens as Houston Public School Stadium. 1945 - The University of Houston separates from HISD and becomes a private university. 1947 Houston voters defeat the first-ever referendum for citywide zoning. The predecessor to Texas Southern University, Texas State College for Negroes, a historically black college (HBCU) is the first state university in the Houston area. Its name was changed in 1951. 1948 - The Gulf Freeway, Texas' first freeway, opens as U.S. Highway 75, signalling the beginning of freeway construction in the city.
1950–1999 1950 - KPRC-TV (television) begins broadcasting. 1958 - Zapata Petroleum in business. November 1, 1961 - NASA selects Houston for the location for its Manned Spacecraft Center. September 14, 1961 - Sharpstown Mall opens and is the first indoor air-conditioned mall in the world. 1962 - Houston voters defeat a referendum for zoning for a second time. 1963 The University of Houston ends its status as a private institution and becomes a state university. It enters the Texas State System of Higher Education, after a long battle with opponents from other state universities blocking the change. The Manned Spacecraft Center, which would become the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, opens on land donated by Rice University. The Humble Building is completed, then the tallest building west of the Mississippi River. April 9, 1965 - The Astrodome opens. At the same time, the Houston Colt .45s are rechristened as the Houston Astros. 1969 - Houston Intercontinental Airport, now named George Bush Intercontinental Airport, is opened to the public. July 20, 1969 - "Houston" becomes the first word spoken from the Moon, by astronaut Neil Armstrong of the Apollo 11 mission. 1970s - The Arab Oil Embargo causes demand for Texas oil to boom. People from the "Rust Belt" states such as New York and Pennsylvania migrate to Houston for jobs. 1972 - Leonel Castillo is elected City Comptroller. First minority to hold a position in city government. 1976 Houston Metropolitan Research Center is established. May 11: A tanker truck of ammonia crashes at Interstate 610 and U.S. Highway 59 in the Galleria area, resulting in the deaths of 7 people. 1977 Houston Area Women's Center founded. National Women's Conference held in city. The University of Houston celebrates its 50th anniversary as the Texas Legislature establishes the University of Houston System—a state system of higher education that includes and governs four universities. 1978 - The headquarters of Continental Airlines moves to Houston after buying out Texas International. 1978-1980 - Traffic signals at major intersections were improved. Houston is the first in the nation to modernize their signage, which is still done to this present day. 1979 - a portion of the master-planned community of "Clear Lake City" that is in Houston's extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) and an area east of Missouri City in Fort Bend County are annexed into the corporate limits of Houston. 1980s - The end of the Embargo causes the Houston growth bubble to burst. 1981 - Kathryn J. Whitmire is elected as the first woman mayor. She would appoint Lee P. Brown as the first African-American police chief. 1982 - Texas Commerce Bank Tower is completed in Downtown Houston, making it the tallest building west of the Mississippi until the late 1980s. It is the tallest five-sided building in the world. August 1983 - The University of Houston changes its name to "University of Houston–University Park" to separate its identity and rectify confusions with other universities in the University of Houston System. April 5, 1986 - City takes part in celebration of the Texas Sesquicentennial, 25th Anniversary of NASA, and the Houston International Festival with Rendez-vous Houston concert. At the time it is the largest outdoor concert in history and is entered into the Guinness Book of World Records. June 1, 1987 - The former Shamrock Hilton hotel is demolished as part of the Texas Medical Center expansion efforts despite protests from historical preservationists. 1989 Outer Belt Drive (a major thoroughfare that serves Hermann Park and Ben Taub Hospital in the Texas Medical Center) is renamed North MacGregor Way; a section of North MacGregor between Outer Belt and Holcombe Boulevard is renamed North Braeswood. In 2014, the section of Outer Belt Drive was renamed Cambridge Boulevard right after a viaduct was completed over Brays Bayou connecting the southern section of Cambridge Blvd to the Texas Medical Center. Houston Press newspaper begins publication. 1990 - Population: 1,630,553. July 9–11, 1990 - Houston hosts the 16th G7 Summit. 1991 August: The University of Houston–University Park reverts to its original name "University of Houston" after controversy and resistance within the university community regarding the name change. November: Elected positions within the City of Houston (the mayor, city council, and controller) were given term limits, which passed by a referendum vote. The term-limit referendum amended the current city charter. 1993 April: The Westheimer Colony Art Festival is held on a stretch of Calhoun Road (now St. Joseph Parkway) in Downtown Houston; it was the first time the art festival was not held in Montrose. After 1996, the festival was renamed the Bayou City Art Festival. November: Houston voters defeated a zoning referendum for the third time in almost 50 years. October 1994 - Great Flood of 1994, highest waters recorded for the San Jacinto Watershed (higher levels than the later Allison storm), a 100-year flood from the remnants of Hurricane Rosa. 1994 - Houston Rockets win the NBA Championship, and won 58 games, setting a franchise record. 1995 Houston Rockets win the NBA Championship again, back-to-back. City website online (approximate date). 1996 - The master-planned community of Kingwood is annexed by the city of Houston. November 1997 - Former Houston Police Chief Lee P. Brown is elected as Houston's first African-American mayor; at the same time, Annise Parker is the first openly gay or lesbian city council member.
2000-present 2000s May 6-May 7, 2000 - After 27 years of holding the Westheimer Street Festival in Montrose, the festival was held in Eleanor Tinsley Park west of Downtown Houston. Promoters of the festival were denied a street closure permit back in January 2000 under a revised festival ordinance in which public hearings are held. Attendance figures declined. June 5-June 9, 2001 - Tropical Storm Allison devastates the Houston area. It floods much of the city, including the Central Business District, several cultural institutions, and major hospitals and research facilities in the Texas Medical Center. The storm is called a 500-year event. November 2001 - Enron is found to have accounting scandals. The company goes bankrupt. 2002 University of Houston celebrates its 75th anniversary with an enrollment of 34,443 that fall semester. At the same time, the University of Houston System celebrates its 25th anniversary with an enrollment of over 54,000. Baitus Samee Mosque (Houston) built. November 5 - Houston City Controller Sylvia R. Garcia (in her third term) successfully campaigns for Harris County Commissioner Precinct 2. She becomes the first Hispanic female to hold office in the Harris County Commissioners Court. After Garcia's victory, the Houston City Council appoints Judy Gray Johnson to fill her unexpired term until the November 2003 elections. May 2003 - For the first time, the Houston Art Car Parade is not held on the same weekend as the Houston International Festival.