Today in History: May 15

By | May 15, 2016
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Every
Year
May 15 is the 135th day of the year (136th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 230 days remaining until the end of the year.
1755 Laredo, Texas was founded by Don Tomás Sánchez.

Don Tomás Sánchez founded the Spanish colonial settlement of Villa de San Agustin de Laredo on May 15, 1755 in the Nuevo Santander region of New Spain. It was named after Laredo, Cantabria, Spain and in honor of Saint Augustine of Hippo.

From January 17 to November 6, 1840, Laredo was the capital of the newly independent Republic of the Rio Grande, set up in opposition to the Mexican goverment, but was brought back into Mexico by military force.

When Mexican–American War ended on February 2, 1848 with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Laredo was ceded to the U.S. A referendum was taken in the town, which voted to petition the American military government to return the town to Mexico. When their petition was rejected, on May 15, 1848, most of the population, who were Tejano and had been in the area for generations, moved across the river into Mexican territory, where they founded Nuevo Laredo.

Laredo is one of the oldest U.S.–Mexico border crossing points and the United States’ largest inland port of entry.

1848 Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, México was founded by families leaving Loredo, Texas, United States after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ceded Loredo to the U.S.—93 years to the day after Loredo was founded.
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