Texas Fun Facts and Trivia

Texas Facts...
World's first rodeo was in Pecos, TX July 4, 1883.
The Flagship Hotel in Galveston is the only hotel in North America built over water.
The Heisman Trophy was named after John William Heisman who was the first full time coach for Rice University, Houston.
Brazoria County has more species of birds than any other area in North America.
Jalapeno Jelly originated in Lake Jackson, TX in 1978.
The worst natural disaster in U.S. history was in 1900 caused by a
hurricane in which over 8000 lives were lost (Galveston,TX).
The first word spoken from the moon, July 20, 1969 was "Houston".
El Paso, TX is closer to California than it is to Dallas.
Laredo, TX is the worlds largest inland port.
Tyler Municipal Rose Garden is the world's largest rose garden with over
38,000 bushes with 500 varieties on 22 acres.
The Texas State Shell is the Lightning Whelk.
The King Ranch is larger than Rhode Island.
July 1979 Tropical Storm Claudette brought a U.S. rainfall record of 43"
in 24 hours in and around Alvin, TX.
A Live Oak tree near Fulton is estimated to be 1500 years old.
Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in the state.
Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885. There is no period after Dr in Dr Pepper.
Texas has had six capital cities....
1. Washington-on-the-Brazos
2. Harrisburg
3. Galveston
4. Velasco
5. West Columbia
6. Austin
The Capitol Dome in Austin is the only dome in the U.S. which is taller
than the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. (by 7 feet).
The name Texas comes from the Hasini indian word "tejas" meaning
friends.
The Texas State animal is the Armadillo.
The first domed stadium in the U.S. was the Astrodome in Houston.
The 2nd capital of Texas is Harrisburg. That was a city founded by John
Harris back when Texas was still a part of Mexico. During the Texas Revolution,
Santa Anna burned the city to the ground but it resurfaced after the battle of
San Jacinto. The capital of the new Republic of Texas was moved to Harrisburg
from Washington-on-the-Brazos because of the railroad hooking up to Galveston.
Back before the Civil War, Galveston was the richest port in the Gulf of
Mexico. During the Civil War, the town was again burned to the ground,
only to resurrect once again and extend its railroad to San Antonio. But the
town was never really the same after that second fire.
Houston was a growing city just to the north of Harrisburg and in 1926
it was annexed by the city of Houston.
Harris county was named after John Harris and the importance he played in
the early development of this area of Texas.
Texas is the only state to enter the U.S. by treaty instead of by annexation.
The reason that Texas became a state through treaty rather than annexation
was because it was an independent nation when Congress offered it statehood.
All other states were first territories of the United States (either bought
from other countries -- like the Louisiana Purchase -- or won through wars)
and then were annexed according to the rules of Article IV section III in
the U.S. Constitution.
Because Texas is unique on how it entered the U.S. it also can leave the
union whenever it wants (at least theoretically) and there have been some
attempts to do that since we seceded with the Confederate states back in
1861. The most recent serious debate on secession was in the 1970s during
the energy crisis when President Carter was forcing Texas to sell its gas
and oil to the northern states at discounted prices. There were bumper
stickers on virtually every truck in Texas at that time saying "Let the
Bastards Freeze in the Dark". Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and we
did not leave the U.S. If we had, our country would have had the 5th highest
GNP in the world because of our energy driven economy and OPEC (that coalition
of Arabic nations) was driving prices of oil incredibly high by cutting off
supply. Of course, when OPEC resumed supplying the world with energy, Texas
would have been a struggling third world nation (remember how the economy
bottomed out in 1980s?) Some scholars think that although Texas does have
a provision in its current state constitution for secession, the legality
of such an act would ultimately be a decision for the U.S. Supreme Court.