November 8, 1924: Texas' Memorial Stadium Opens

November 8, 1924, 100 years ago: War Memorial Stadium opens on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin. Surprisingly, the Longhorns lose to Baylor University, 28-10.

It was renamed simply Memorial Stadium in 1948, Texas Memorial Stadium in 1977, and Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in 1995, after the coach who led the Longhorns to the 1963, 1969 and 1970 National Championships. It is known as "DKR" for short. Longhorn fans have not given it any other nicknames, either cutesy or tough.

It opened with a capacity of 27,000. It was raised to 40,000 in 1926, 60,000 in 1948, 66,000 in 1968, 78,000 in 1971, and its current 100,119 in 2009. On September 10, 2022, for Texas' 20-19 loss to Alabama, it attracted a record crowd of 105,213. The field was converted to AstroTurf in 1969, back to natural grass in 1996, and to FieldTurf in 2009.

Following the 3 National Championships won under Royal, the Longhorns won a 4th under Mack Brown in 2005. Since the stadium's opening, they've won 26 Conference Championships. In the old Southwest Conference, they won in 1928, '30, '42, '43, '45, '50, '52, '53, '59, '61, '62, '63, '68, '69, '70, '71, '72, '73, '75, '77, '83, '90, '94, '95 and '96. In the Big Twelve Conference, they've won in 2005 and 2009. (UPDATE: They won the Big 12 again in 2023, but are moving to the Southeastern Conference for 2024.)

They've had 2 Heisman Trophy winners: Running backs Earl Campbell in 1977 and Ricky Williams in 1998. Other notable Longhorns include 1940s quarterback Bobby Layne, 1960s linebacker Tommy Nobis, 1980s defensive tackle Kenneth Sims, and 2000s quarterbacks Vince Young and Colt McCoy.

In 1971, the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and Museum opened, almost right across Robert Dedman Drive from the stadium's east stand. Although he wasn't a UT graduate, it was pretty savvy of LBJ to put his Presidential Library across from, aside from the State Capitol, the Alamo and the Cotton Bowl, the most famous building in Texas.