THE CONCEPTION OF THE ASTRODOME (FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS)

Major League Baseball expanded to Houston in 1960 when the National League agreed to add two teams. The Houston Colt .45s (renamed the Astros in 1965) were to begin play in 1962, along with their expansion brethren New York Mets. Roy Hofheinz, a former mayor of Houston, and his group were granted the franchise after they promised to build a covered stadium. It was thought a covered stadium was a must for a major league team to be viable in Houston due to the area’s subtropical climate and hot summers. Game-time temperatures are usually above 97 °F (36 °C) in July and August, with high humidity and a likelihood of rain. Hofheinz claimed inspiration for what became the Astrodome from a tour of Rome, where he learned that the builders of the ancient Colosseum installed giant velaria to shield spectators from the sun.

The Astrodome was conceived by Hofheinz as early as 1952, when he and his daughter Dene were rained out once too often at Buffalo Stadium, home of Houston’s minor league baseball team, the Houston Buffs. Hofheinz abandoned his interest in the world’s first air-conditioned shopping mall, The Galleria, and set his sights on bringing major league baseball to Houston.

1020s

• DIED 1024: POPE BENEDICT VIII

1100s

• 1105: GREAT BRITAIN’S KING HENRY I WAS REPRIMANDED IN CHURCH FOR HIS LONG HAIR

1680s

• 1682: EXPLORER LA SALLE CLAIMED THE MISSISSIPPI BASIN FOR FRANCE, CALLING IT LOUISIANA

1790s

• BORN 1794: THEOBALD BOEHM (INVENTOR AND MUSICIAN, WHO PERFECTED THE MODERN FLUTE)

1830s

• BORN 1830: EADWEARD MUYBRIDGE (PHOTOGRAPHER, MOTION PICTURE PIONEER)
• 1833: FIRST TAX-SUPPORTED U.S. PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDED, PETERBOROUGH, NEW HAMPSHIRE

1860s

• 1865: CONFEDERATE GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE SURRENDERED TO UNION GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT AT APPOMATTOX COURT HOUSE, VIRGINIA

1880s

• 1882: JUMBO THE CIRCUS ELEPHANT ARRIVED IN THE U.S.

1900s

• 1905: AERIAL FERRY BRIDGE OPENED IN DULUTH, MINNESOTA

1910s

• 1912: THE BOSTON RED SOX PLAYED HARVARD UNIVERSITY IN THE FIRST OFFICIAL BASEBALL GAME AT FENWAY PARK. (THE SOX WON 2-0.)

1920s

• BORN 1926: HUGH HEFNER (EDITOR & PUBLISHER)

1930s

• BORN 1932: CARL PERKINS (MUSICIAN)

1950s

• BORN 1954: DENNIS QUAID (ACTOR)
• BORN 1957: SEVE BALLESTEROS (GOLFER)
• DIED 1959: FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT (ARCHITECT)
• 1959: NASA INTRODUCED FIRST SEVEN ASTRONAUTS TO PRESS
• 1959: THE BOSTON CELTICS BECAME THE FIRST NBA TEAM TO SWEEP AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

1960s

• 1962: GOLFER ARNOLD PALMER WON HIS THIRD MASTERS TOURNAMENT
• 1963: SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL PROCLAIMED AN HONORARY U.S. CITIZEN
• 1965: FIRST BASEBALL GAME IN INDOOR STADIUM, HOUSTON, TEXAS
• BORN 1966: CYNTHIA NIXON (ACTRESS)

1970s

• BORN 1979: KESHIA KNIGHT PULLIAM (ACTRESS)

1980s

• 1981: NATURE MAGAZINE PUBLISHED THE LONGEST KNOWN SCIENTIFIC NAME, WHICH WAS ABOUT 207,000 LETTERS
• BORN 1987: JESSE MCCARTNEY (ACTOR & SINGER)

1990s

• BORN 1990: KRISTEN STEWART (ACTRESS)
• BORN 1998: ELLE FANNING (ACTRESS)

2000s

• DIED 2004: HARRY BABBITT (SANG WITH THE KAY KYSER BIG BAND ON SUCH HITS AS “THE WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER” AND VOICED THE LAUGH OF WOODY WOODPECKER)
• 2005: PRINCE CHARLES MARRIED CAMILLA PARKER BOWLES

2010s

• 2014: RARE BACTRIAN CAMEL BORN AT BUDAPEST ZOO.

COURTESY www.almanac.com