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T XA
T IV A
HISTORY:
The name Texas comes from the Hasini Indian word "tejas" meaning friends. Tejas is not Mexican for Texas.
Texas has had six capital cities (in chronological order):
1. Washington-on-the-Brazos
2. Harrisburg (former name of Houston)
3. Galveston
4. Velasco
5. West Columbia
6. Austin
The "Six Flags" amusement park takes its name from the six flags that have flown over Texas which are, in order:
Spain
France
Mexico
Republic of Texas
Confederate States
of America
United States
of America
Texas won its independence from Mexico on April, 21, 1836 and was an independent nation until choosing to join the US on Dec. 28, 1845.
Texas is the only state to enter the U.S. by TREATY, instead of by annexation, thus allowing the Texas flag to fly at the same height as the United
States’ flag.
SIZE:
Land area is 261,797 square miles (421,321 kilometers).
Distance from north to south (Dalhart to Brownsville) is 760 miles (1,223 kilometers).
Distance from east (Beaumont) to west (El Paso) is 742 miles (1,194 km) as compared to
distance from Beaumont to Chicago, Illinois - 770 miles (1,239 km).
El Paso is closer to California than to Dallas.
The King Ranch is larger than the state of Rhode Island.
Laredo is the world's largest inland port.
FIRSTS:
Texas is the only state in the US to have been an independent nation (April 1836 - December 1845).
World's first rodeo was in Pecos, Texas on July 4, 1883.
The first word spoken from the moon, July 20, 1969, was "Houston."
The worst natural disaster in U.S. history was in 1900 caused by a hurricane in which over 8,000 lives were lost on Galveston Island.
The first Jalapeno jelly was created in Lake Jackson in 1978.
The Battleship TEXAS was the first U.S. battleship to mount anti-aircraft guns, use commercial radar and launch a
plane from its deck.
The first domed stadium in the U.S. was the Astrodome in Houston.
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 or 2.1 meters).
Texas' largest and quite possibly oldest Live Oak tree (over 1,000 years old) possesses a circumference of over 35 feet
(10.6 meters) and a crown spread of 90 feet (27.4 meters).
The San Jacinto Monument (567 feet or 172.9 meters tall) is located where Texas won the final battle in its fight for independence against Mexico,
is an obelisk copied after the Washington Monument, and is 12 feet (3.7 meters) taller because of the Texas star on top.
San Jacinto Monument
Washington Monument
Brazoria County has more species of birds than any other area in North America.
Aransas Wildlife Refuge is the winter home of North America's only remaining flock of whooping cranes.
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 in
Houston.
TRIVIA:
flag is the “Lone Star”
official sport is rodeo
state bird is the mockingbird
largest city is Houston
(An interesting bit of trivia about
the armadillo is that they always
have four babies! They have one
egg which splits into four and they
either have four males or four
females.)
official dish is chili
(made with chili peppers)
shell is Lightning Whelk
state mammal is the armadillo
Tropical Storm Claudette brought a U.S. rainfall record of 43" in 24 hours in and around Alvin in July 1979.
Where did the “ten-gallon hat” get its name? Not because it held that much. The word gallon was originally "gal’n"
which meant braid or fringe, and the high crown of the cowboy hat meant that a lot of braid could be put on the hat, maybe
even ten braids.
Tyler Municipal Rose Garden is the nation’s largest rose garden with over 40,000 bushes exhibiting 500
varieties on 22 acres where over one-half of the nation's rose bushes are packaged and shipped.
The two largest bat colonies in the US are in Texas
(outside San Antonio and outside Concan).
The underside of the Congress Avenue bridge in Austin, Texas is
home to the nation's largest urban colony of bats (Mexican Freetails).
Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in the state.
The Dr Pepper soft drink was invented in Waco in 1885. There is no period after Dr in Dr Pepper.