On May 3rd in Texas history, a variety of significant events occurred throughout the years. In 1693, Gregorio de Salinas Varona set out on a relief expedition to deliver supplies to the troubled missions of East Texas. Over a century later in 1903, Corpus Christi native Robert B. Vandervoort performed his famed loop-the-loop for King Edward VII in London, using the stage name “Diavalo.”
In 1968, at St. Luke’s Hospital in Houston, Everett Thomas received the first heart transplant in the United States, living for 204 days following the surgery performed by Dr. Denton Cooley. Fast forward to 1976, Paul McCartney made his first American stage appearance in a decade, kicking off the “Wings Over America” tour in Ft. Worth, Texas.
In 1980, Ferguson Jenkins of the Texas Rangers made history by becoming the fourth player to win 100 games in both the American League and the National League. More recent events in Texas history include the surrender of the “Republic of Texas” in 1997, ending an armed standoff, and a tragic series of tornadoes in 1999 that resulted in about 49 deaths across multiple states.
This day in history also saw an alarming incident in 2015, when two men shot and wounded a security officer outside The Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas. The men were promptly killed by a police officer, following an event advertised as the “First Annual Muhammad Art Exhibit and Contest.”