164 Fun Facts About Texas

Which city serves as the capital of Texas?

Austin has been the capital since it was chosen for the Republic in 1839, and stayed so after annexation to the U.S.

Who was the first elected president of the Republic of Texas?

Sam Houston won the vote on September 5, 1836, and later served a second, non-consecutive term.

What is the official state flower of Texas?

The Bluebonnet became the state flower on March 7, 1901; the native lupine blankets Texas roadsides every spring.

How many different national flags have historically flown over Texas?

Six: Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the Confederate States and the United States, hence 'Six Flags over Texas'.

What is the official state motto of Texas, adopted in 1930?

The official state motto of Texas is 'Friendship,' stemming from the Caddo Native American word 'tayshas' or 'tejas,' meaning friends or allies, which is also the origin of the state's name.

What is the official nickname of Texas?

The Lone Star State takes the name from the single star on its flag, symbolising independent spirit; the nickname became official in 2015.

Which of these is the official state snack of Texas?

Tortilla Chips and Salsa won the title by House Concurrent Resolution in 2003, recognising their deep roots in Texas tradition.

What is the official state fruit of Texas?

Ruby Red Grapefruit, formally the Texas red grapefruit, was named state fruit by the 73rd Legislature in 1993; it is grown mainly in the Rio Grande Valley.

Which bird is the official state bird of Texas?

The Northern Mockingbird was adopted as the state bird in 1927; it is also the state bird of Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi and Tennessee.

Which animal is recognized as the official small mammal of Texas?

The armadillo got the title in 1995; nine-banded armadillos almost always give birth to identical quadruplets.

Which shipwrecked Spaniard became the first European to explore the interior of Texas, between 1528 and 1535?

Cabeza de Vaca and three other survivors of the Narváez expedition lived among native peoples as slaves and traders for years before reaching Spanish Mexico in 1536.

What was La Salle actually looking for when he mistakenly planted a Texas colony in 1685?

La Salle meant to settle at the mouth of the Mississippi, but bad maps and Gulf currents put Fort Saint Louis on Matagorda Bay instead; the Karankawa destroyed it within a few years.

Mexico's 1824 constitution merged Texas with which neighbour into a single state?

The 1824 constitution joined Texas with Coahuila as the state of Coahuila y Tejas, with Congress promising Texas separate statehood 'as soon as it feels capable of doing so'.

Stephen F. Austin's first colonists, settled along the Brazos River in 1822, are known as what?

The Old Three Hundred were the families who took up Austin's original land grant, first made to his father Moses Austin under Spanish rule.

The Texas Revolution began on October 2, 1835, at Gonzales, when Texans refused to hand back what?

A small cannon, lent by the Mexican army to the town for defence against raids, gave rise to the 'Come and Take It' flag.

Where was the Texas Declaration of Independence signed on March 2, 1836?

Delegates meeting in an unfinished building at Washington-on-the-Brazos adopted the declaration on March 2, 1836, the date celebrated as Texas Independence Day.

How long did the siege of the Alamo last before Santa Anna's final assault?

The siege lasted 13 days, from February 23 to the final assault on the morning of March 6, 1836, when roughly 200 defenders were overwhelmed.

Which frontiersman and ex-Tennessee congressman arrived at the Alamo with volunteers in February 1836?

David Crockett, a three-term congressman from Tennessee, died in the March 6 assault; Disney's 1950s miniseries and John Wayne's 1960 film later made him the face of the battle.

At Goliad in March 1836, Mexican forces executed roughly how many Texian prisoners of war?

Roughly 300 men (most counts say 342) of James Fannin's surrendered command were shot on Santa Anna's orders on March 27, 1836; 'Remember Goliad!' became a battle cry weeks later.

What name is given to the panicked flight of Texas settlers eastward ahead of Santa Anna?

The Runaway Scrape emptied settlements from Gonzales toward the Sabine in March and April 1836; many of the fleeing men rejoined Sam Houston's army for San Jacinto.

How long did the decisive Battle of San Jacinto last on April 21, 1836?

The fighting took about 18 minutes: Houston's men swarmed the Mexican breastworks after a single volley, shouting 'Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad!'

What was Santa Anna wearing when he was captured the day after San Jacinto?

Santa Anna had swapped his finery for a private's uniform jacket, but the disguise failed when other Mexican prisoners cried out in recognition of their commander.

Two cannon that opened the Battle of San Jacinto, a gift from Cincinnati, were nicknamed what?

The Twin Sisters, two six-pounder cannon donated by citizens of Cincinnati, opened fire about 4:30 in the afternoon while much of the Mexican camp was resting.

The treaties Santa Anna signed to end the war are named after which coastal town?

The Treaties of Velasco, signed May 14, 1836 near the mouth of the Brazos, were repudiated by Mexico's Congress because Santa Anna had signed as a prisoner.

What nickname did the Republic of Texas's paper money earn from its ink?

Redbacks, named for the red ink on their reverse, were issued from 1839 and had fallen to a small fraction of face value by 1842.

The "Father of Texas" died in December 1836 after just two months in which office?

Stephen F. Austin had been Secretary of State of the Republic since October 1836 when pneumonia killed him on December 27; Waterloo was renamed Austin in his honour in 1839.

Which president of the Republic of Texas moved the capital to the new town of Austin in 1839?

Mirabeau B. Lamar, president 1838–41, chose the frontier site of Austin over Houston; he also backed the disastrous 1841 Santa Fe Expedition.

The Republic's first flag, a single gold star on a blue field, was named for which official?

The Burnet Flag, proposed by interim president David Burnet, was adopted in December 1836; the red, white and blue Lone Star Flag replaced it in 1839.

Which European power was the first to formally recognise the Republic of Texas, in September 1839?

France signed a treaty of amity with Texas on September 25, 1839; its legation, built in Austin in 1841, is the city's oldest frame building.

Texas entered the Union as which numbered state?

Texas became the 28th state when annexation took effect on December 29, 1845, skipping the territorial stage entirely.

Which US president signed the annexation bill on March 1, 1845, days before leaving office?

John Tyler signed the joint resolution three days before leaving office; the Senate had rejected his 1844 treaty, so he used a resolution needing only simple majorities.

Who was the last president of the Republic of Texas?

Anson Jones, president from 1844, lowered the Republic's flag at the annexation ceremony in February 1846; he had signed Baylor University's charter in 1845.

Under the Compromise of 1850, Texas gave up land now in five other states in exchange for how much money?

Texas received $10 million in federal bonds, which paid off the old republic's debts; the ceded land is now in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Wyoming.

Which river did Mexico insist was Texas's true southern border, in the dispute that led to war?

Mexico held that the Nueces, not the Rio Grande, bounded Texas; the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo fixed the border at the Rio Grande.

Texas declared secession from the Union on which date?

A state convention voted 166–8 for secession on February 1, 1861; the ordinance took effect March 2, the 25th anniversary of Texas independence.

Where in Texas was the last land battle of the Civil War fought on May 12, 1865?

Palmito Ranch, near Brownsville, saw a Confederate victory on May 12–13, 1865, more than a month after Appomattox; the Union's 2nd Texas Cavalry took part.

Juneteenth commemorates General Gordon Granger's 1865 emancipation announcement in which Texas port city?

Granger's General Order No. 3 was read in Galveston on June 19, 1865, nearly two and a half years after Lincoln's proclamation; Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021.

Which African American from the island port city rose to chair the Texas Republican Party in the 1880s?

Norris Wright Cuney, a Galveston alderman and later customs collector, chaired the Texas Republican Party from 1886 to 1896, when Black Texans made up most of its membership.

What is the most cited death toll of the 1900 Galveston hurricane, the deadliest US natural disaster?

The most cited figure is 8,000 dead, within estimates of 6,000 to 12,000; Galveston rebuilt behind a seawall while Houston's ship channel took over as the region's main port.

The Spindletop gusher that started the Texas oil boom in January 1901 was near which city?

The Lucas gusher on Spindletop Hill, just south of Beaumont, blew for nine days from January 10, 1901; Gulf Oil and Texaco were both founded to develop the field.

Which mining engineer drilled the Spindletop discovery well?

Higgins had the idea and the salt-dome hunch; Lucas, the country's leading salt-dome expert, drilled it.

The East Texas Oil Field, the largest reservoir in the lower 48, was discovered in which year?

Dad Joiner's Daisy Bradford No. 3 well struck oil in October 1930, turning Kilgore into a boomtown at the start of the Depression.

Whose 1823 call to arms do the Texas Rangers trace their unofficial founding to?

Stephen F. Austin called in 1823 for ten men 'to act as rangers' for the colony's defence; the force was formally constituted in 1835 and later hunted Sam Bass and John Wesley Hardin.

The Comanche empire that dominated Texas from the 1750s to the 1850s was known by what name?

Comancheria stretched from Kansas into northern Mexico; its population of perhaps 20,000 fell to a few thousand by the 1870s through epidemics and war with settlers, Rangers and the Army.

Which trail carried Texas cattle to the Kansas railhead at Abilene after 1867?

The Chisholm Trail ran from South Texas through Indian Territory to Abilene, Kansas, where Joseph McCoy opened stockyards in 1867; millions of head walked it before the mid-1880s.

Which town near modern El Paso was the first European settlement in Texas, in the 1680s?

Ysleta, now within El Paso, was founded in the early 1680s by Spaniards and Tigua Pueblo people fleeing New Mexico's 1680 Pueblo Revolt.

How many sites served as temporary capitals of Texas in 1836 alone?

Washington-on-the-Brazos, Harrisburg, Galveston, Velasco and Columbia all had a turn before Houston in 1837.

Which Texas governor was wounded in the same car as Kennedy in Dallas in 1963?

Connally survived and later led a major expansion of the state's university system.

NASA's Houston centre for human spaceflight was renamed in 1973 in honour of which president?

Lyndon B. Johnson's name went on the Houston centre by act of Congress in February 1973; it has run Mission Control for every crewed flight since Gemini 4 in 1965.

What do the three colours of the Texas flag officially represent?

The 1933 Texas Flag Code defines the colours as bravery, purity and loyalty: red for bravery, white for purity and blue for loyalty.

What is Texas's approximate total area, second only to Alaska?

Texas covers 268,596 square miles including inland water; only Alaska, at about 665,000 square miles, is larger.

Which Texas city is home to the headquarters of Dell Technologies?

Dell Technologies has been headquartered in Round Rock, north of Austin, since 1994; Michael Dell founded the company in his University of Texas dorm room in 1984.

Which geological feature gives Texas much of its landscape diversity?

The Balcones Fault zone, running from Del Rio through San Antonio and Austin, separates the low coastal plains from the higher Hill Country and Edwards Plateau.

The Spanish applied the name Tejas to which Caddo confederacy?

The Hasinai, a Caddo confederacy of East Texas, greeted the Spanish with táyshaʼ, 'friend', which the Spanish rendered as Tejas and used as the group's name.

Which Native people lived along Texas's central Gulf coast when Europeans arrived?

The Karankawa held the coast from Galveston Bay to Corpus Christi Bay; the Atakapan Akokisa and Bidai lived farther northeast.

Which Spanish explorer created the first Texas-related document, a 1519 Gulf Coast map?

Alonso Álvarez de Pineda sailed the Gulf coast in 1519 and drew the first map showing Texas; Cabeza de Vaca explored the interior a decade later.

In what year was the New Spain-US boundary set at the Sabine River?

The 1819 Adams–Onís Treaty between Spain and the United States fixed the boundary at the Sabine, which remains the Texas–Louisiana line.

Counting assumed claims, what did the US pay Mexico in 1848 for Texas and the Cession?

The total was $18.25 million: $15 million in cash under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo plus $3.25 million in US citizens' claims against Mexico that Washington assumed.

Which president ordered General Zachary Taylor to the Rio Grande in January 1846?

James K. Polk, in office since March 1845, sent Taylor's army to the Rio Grande in January 1846; Mexico claimed the Nueces as the border, and the clash there began the war.

What did Sam Houston refuse to do in 1861, leading to his removal as governor?

Houston refused to swear allegiance to the Confederacy on March 16, 1861 and was declared removed; he also declined Lincoln's offer of Union troops to keep him in office.

Which crop was Texas's leading cash crop in the late 19th century?

Cotton dominated Texas farming after the Civil War; by the 1880s Texas was the nation's leading cotton producer, a position it held for most of the next century.

Texas oil production peaked at roughly how many barrels a day in 1972?

Texas crude output peaked in 1972 at roughly 3 million barrels a day (about 3.4 million), then fell for decades until the Permian shale boom after 2010 reversed it.

Who was the first woman elected governor of Texas, in 1924?

Miriam 'Ma' Ferguson, wife of impeached governor James Ferguson, won in 1924 and served two terms, 1925–27 and 1933–35.

Roughly how many Texans left for military service in World War II?

About 750,000 Texans served in uniform during the war; federal money poured into the state for bases, shipyards, aircraft plants and hospitals.

Which waterway forms Texas's natural border with Oklahoma and Arkansas?

The Red River forms most of the Oklahoma line and the short Arkansas border; the Sabine separates Texas from Louisiana.

How many named streams does Texas have?

Texas has about 3,700 named streams and 15 major rivers, the Rio Grande being the longest.

Which presidential spouse drew attention to Texas wildflowers such as the bluebonnet?

Lady Bird Johnson championed the 1965 Highway Beautification Act and founded the National Wildflower Research Center in Austin in 1982; bluebonnets line Texas highways each spring.

How many tornadoes does Texas average per year, the most of any state?

Texas averages about 139 tornadoes a year, ahead of Kansas and Oklahoma; most strike North Texas and the Panhandle between April and June.

Which Texas port town was destroyed by hurricanes in 1875 and 1886 and never rebuilt?

Indianola, on Matagorda Bay, was Texas's second-busiest port before the 1875 storm; the August 1886 hurricane finished it and the town was abandoned.

Where did Hurricane Harvey make landfall in 2017 as a Category 4 storm?

Harvey came ashore near Rockport on August 25, 2017 with 130 mph winds, then stalled over Houston and dropped more than 60 inches of rain in places.

How much annual rainfall does El Paso average?

El Paso averages about 8.7 inches of rain a year in the Chihuahuan Desert; parts of southeast Texas get as much as 64 inches.

Which three interstates define the 'Texas Urban Triangle'?

I-35, I-45 and I-10 form the Texas Triangle, linking Dallas–Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio and Houston, home to most of the state's population.

How many counties does Texas have, more than any other state?

Texas has 254 counties, from Brewster County, larger than Connecticut, to Rockwall County, the smallest at under 150 square miles.

Which group replaced non-Hispanic whites as Texas's largest population share as of 2022?

Hispanics and Latinos reached 40.2 percent of Texans in 2022 census estimates, edging past non-Hispanic whites at 39.8 percent; Mexican Americans alone make up about a third.

Other than Mexican, what was the largest self-reported ancestry in Texas in 2022?

German was the largest, claimed by roughly one in ten Texans and reflecting 19th-century settlement of the Hill Country; English and Irish followed.

Which is the first and oldest Latin Church diocese in Texas?

The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston began as the Diocese of Galveston in 1847, the first diocese in Texas; it was raised to an archdiocese in 2004.

Texas's 2025 gross state product of $2.9 trillion exceeds the GDP of which country?

Brazil's GDP was roughly $2.2 trillion in 2025, well under Texas's $2.9 trillion; only California among US states has a larger economy.

What single segment makes up the largest share of Texas agricultural receipts?

Beef cattle bring in the largest share of Texas farm receipts, around half in most years; cotton is the state's most valuable crop.

Which West Texas city at the heart of the Permian Basin is nicknamed the 'Tall City'?

Midland, the Permian Basin's oil-office hub, earned the nickname Tall City for downtown towers rising from flat plains; George W. Bush grew up there.

Which state body, oddly named, regulates the oil and gas industry?

The Railroad Commission, created in 1891 to regulate railways, took on oil and gas after 1917; through prorationing it effectively set petroleum prices until the early 1970s.

Which 1923 well on University lands began the Permanent University Fund's oil income?

Santa Rita No. 1 struck oil on May 28, 1923 in Reagan County on University lands, opening the Big Lake field; its royalties flowed into the Permanent University Fund.

Most of the state runs on its own power grid, managed by which council?

ERCOT manages it and declared an emergency during the 2021 winter storm.

Which town lends its name to the 781.5 MW wind farm, the world's largest in 2009?

The Roscoe Wind Farm, completed in 2009 with 627 turbines across Nolan and neighbouring counties, was then the largest in the world at 781.5 MW.

The Austin area is nicknamed what, in a nod to its tech industry?

Silicon Hills, coined in the 1990s, plays on the Hill Country setting of Austin-area tech employers such as Dell and Samsung's chip fab.

Which fighter jets has Lockheed Martin built at its Fort Worth plant?

Fort Worth's Air Force Plant 4 built F-16s from the 1970s until the line moved to South Carolina in 2019, and has been the main F-35 assembly site since the first one flew there in 2006.

DFW Airport ranks where among US airports by land area?

Its 18,076 acres make it fourth largest in the world.

The Port of Houston is the busiest US port by what measure?

The Port of Houston handles more foreign waterborne tonnage than any other US port, mostly petroleum and petrochemicals moving along its channel to the Gulf.

In what year did the Houston Ship Channel open to deep-water traffic?

The Houston Ship Channel opened on November 10, 1914, when President Wilson fired a ceremonial cannon by remote telegraph from Washington.

The slogan 'Don't Mess with Texas' began as what kind of campaign?

The Texas Department of Transportation launched 'Don't Mess with Texas' in 1986 as an anti-littering campaign aimed at young men; its first TV spot aired during that year's Cotton Bowl.

Which Texas town claims to have hosted the world's first rodeo, in 1883?

Pecos claims the world's first rodeo, a July 4, 1883 roping and riding contest between cowboys from local ranches; the West of the Pecos Rodeo continues the tradition.

Along with the Longhorns and Aggies, which two schools claim national football titles?

TCU claims the 1935 and 1938 national titles and SMU claims 1935; Texas A&M counts 1939 and Texas has four, most recently 2005.

Which school houses the George W. Bush Presidential Library?

The George W. Bush Presidential Center opened at Southern Methodist University in Dallas in 2013; his father's library is at Texas A&M and LBJ's at UT Austin.

At which Houston hospital did Denton Cooley implant the first total artificial heart in 1969?

Denton Cooley implanted the Liotta total artificial heart at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, home of his Texas Heart Institute, on April 4, 1969 as a bridge to transplant.

Through the 2024 elections, when had Texans last elected a Democrat to statewide office?

Democrats last won statewide in 1994, when Bob Bullock, Dan Morales, John Sharp and Garry Mauro kept their offices; no Democrat won statewide from 1996 through 2024.

What is the height of Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas?

Guadalupe Peak rises 8,751 feet in Guadalupe Mountains National Park; neighbouring El Capitan guided Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoaches.

Big Bend National Park, named for a bend in the Rio Grande, is the largest US protected area of which desert?

Chihuahuan Desert topography and ecology fill the park, which takes its name from a large bend in the Rio Grande, or Río Bravo.

Which mountain range lies entirely within Big Bend National Park?

The Chisos Mountains, topping out at Emory Peak near 7,800 feet, are the only range contained entirely within a US national park; the park hosts over 450 bird species.

How tall is the Texas State Capitol?

At 302.64 feet the Texas Capitol is the sixth-tallest state capitol and taller than the US Capitol in Washington, which stands 288 feet.

The Capitol Syndicate was paid for the Capitol with Panhandle land that became which vast cattle spread?

The XIT Ranch's three million Panhandle acres paid the Chicago syndicate that built the Capitol; at its peak it was the largest fenced ranch in the world.

The pink 'sunset red' granite of the Texas Capitol came from a mountain near which town?

Granite Mountain, just west of Marble Falls, supplied the stone; a rail spur was built to haul it to Austin for the 1888 building.

Which pharmacist created Dr Pepper in Waco in the 1880s?

Charles Alderton, a young pharmacist at Morrison's Old Corner Drug Store, mixed the formula in 1885; the drink went national at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.

Dr Pepper's commercial debut in 1885 preceded which rival by one year?

Dr Pepper was first served in Waco in 1885; Coca-Cola followed in Atlanta in 1886, making Dr Pepper the older of the two.

Whataburger opened its first restaurant in 1950 in which Texas city?

Harmon Dobson and Paul Burton opened the first Whataburger, a small stand on Ayers Street in Corpus Christi, on August 8, 1950.

Buc-ee's is headquartered in which Texas city?

Buc-ee's has been based in Lake Jackson, south of Houston, since Arch 'Beaver' Aplin opened the first store there in 1982; its first travel center opened in Luling in 2003.

Which vehicles has Buc-ee's never permitted at its stores?

Buc-ee's bans 18-wheelers because its lots and fuel lanes were never designed for big rigs, a policy it kept as it expanded beyond Texas from 2019.

Blue Bell Creameries was founded in 1907 in which small Texas town?

Blue Bell began in 1907 as the Brenham Creamery Company, making butter before ice cream; the Kruse family has run it since E.F. Kruse took over in 1919.

H-E-B was founded in 1905 in Kerrville by whom?

Florence Butt opened the C.C. Butt Grocery Store in Kerrville in 1905 with $60; her son Howard later built it into H-E-B.

How tall is Big Tex, the State Fair of Texas icon?

Big Tex stands 55 feet tall in the version unveiled in 2013, three feet taller than the original that greeted fairgoers from 1952 until a 2012 fire.

What was Big Tex originally built as in Kerens, Texas in 1949?

An electrical fire destroyed him in 2012.

How many Cadillacs are buried nose-first at Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo?

Ten Cadillacs, from a 1949 to a 1963 model, are half-buried nose-down at the angle of the Great Pyramid; Ant Farm built it in 1974 for Stanley Marsh 3.

Which artist duo created the Prada Marfa installation in 2005?

Elmgreen & Dragset, the Berlin-based Scandinavian duo, built the sealed fake boutique in 2005 near Valentine, about 26 miles from Marfa.

Caddo Lake straddles Texas's border with which state?

Caddo Lake spans the Texas–Louisiana line between Marshall and Shreveport; it holds one of the largest flooded bald-cypress forests in the US.

Enchanted Rock is the largest US monadnock made of what?

Enchanted Rock's pink granite dome, part of a billion-year-old batholith, rises about 425 feet above the surrounding terrain north of Fredericksburg.

Austin's Congress Avenue Bridge was renamed in 2006 for which governor?

The bridge was renamed for Ann Richards, governor from 1991 to 1995, after her death in 2006; its colony of Mexican free-tailed bats draws crowds at dusk.

Roughly how many Mexican free-tailed bats summer in Bracken Cave near San Antonio?

Bracken Cave hosts up to 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats each summer, the largest known concentration of mammals in the world; Bat Conservation International owns the site.

The Astrodome's record attendance of 68,266 was set by which performer in 2002?

George Strait drew 68,266 on March 3, 2002 at the last Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo held in the Astrodome, which had opened in 1965 as the first domed stadium.

Which Houston mayor drove development of the Astrodome?

Roy Hofheinz, Houston's mayor in the mid-1950s, led the Houston Sports Association that built the Astrodome; construction began in 1963 and it opened in April 1965.

Which city owns the Cowboys' home stadium?

The City of Arlington owns the facility, which also hosts concerts, rodeos, motocross and professional wrestling.

How long is the Circuit of the Americas track in Austin?

The Circuit of the Americas lap measures 3.426 miles (5.513 km) over 20 turns; it has hosted Formula One's United States Grand Prix since opening in 2012.

Roughly how many acres does the King Ranch cover?

King Ranch covers about 825,000 acres, more than Rhode Island; Captain Richard King and Gideon Lewis founded it in 1853 on Santa Gertrudis Creek.

Six Flags Over Texas opened between Dallas and Fort Worth in what year?

Six Flags Over Texas opened in Arlington on August 5, 1961, developed by Angus G. Wynne Jr. at a cost of about $10 million.

In what year was South by Southwest founded?

South by Southwest began in March 1987 as a music festival organised by Austin Chronicle staff; film and interactive tracks were added in 1994.

On leaving the Astrodome in 2003, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo moved where?

The rodeo moved to Reliant Stadium, the retractable-roof home of the Texans that opened next door in 2002; it was renamed NRG Stadium in 2014.

Johnson Space Center sits in which Houston-area community named for a lake?

Johnson Space Center lies in Houston's Clear Lake area, which grew up around it after NASA chose the site in 1961; Clear Lake City was built for its workers.

Where are the Dallas Cowboys headquartered?

They joined the NFL as an expansion team in 1960.

What were the Astros originally called when they entered the National League in 1962?

Houston entered the National League in 1962 as the Colt .45s and became the Astros on moving into the Astrodome in 1965.

What is the name of the University of Texas's live Longhorn steer mascot?

Bevo, a live Texas Longhorn steer, has served as the University of Texas mascot since the first one appeared at a 1916 football game.

How high can a frightened nine-banded armadillo jump straight up?

A startled nine-banded armadillo springs 3 to 4 feet straight up, a reflex that sends it into car undercarriages and makes it a frequent roadkill victim.

In what year did the pecan become the official state tree of Texas?

The Legislature named the pecan state tree in 1919, inspired by Governor James Hogg's wish to have a pecan planted at his grave in place of a headstone.

Texas barbecue traces its origins to meat-smoking traditions brought by which settlers?

Butchers smoked unsold meat so it would keep.

Which spice, introduced by Spanish immigrants to Texas, is common in Tex-Mex but less so in Mexico?

Cumin came with Canary Islanders who settled San Antonio in 1731 and became a Tex-Mex signature in chili con carne, while interior Mexican cooking uses it sparingly.

Which blues guitarist starred in the first 'Don't Mess with Texas' TV ad in 1986?

Stevie Ray Vaughan played 'The Eyes of Texas' in the first spot, aired during the 1986 Cotton Bowl; Willie Nelson appeared in later ads.

Which Texian leader took San Antonio in December 1835 and was killed in the fighting?

Ben Milam rallied volunteers with 'Who will go with old Ben Milam into San Antonio?' and was killed by a sniper on December 7, 1835, days before General Cos surrendered the town.

In what year was 'Texas, Our Texas' adopted as the official state song?

The Legislature adopted 'Texas, Our Texas' in 1929 after a statewide contest; Liverpool-born William J. Marsh and Gladys Yoakum Wright wrote it in 1924.

What is the official state dish of Texas?

Chili became the official state dish in 1977; the Legislature's resolution credited Texas as the birthplace of the 'bowl of red'.

Along with Texas, which other state flag once served as a national flag?

Hawaii's flag flew over the Kingdom of Hawaii before annexation, just as the Lone Star Flag flew over the Republic of Texas from 1839 to 1845.

Whom has the Texas Legislature credited with designing or drawing the Lone Star Flag?

Charles B. Stewart of Montgomery is credited on the strength of a drawing attributed to him; a legislative resolution later named Montgomery the flag's birthplace.

Between which years did France's flag fly over Texas?

France's claim ran from La Salle's landing at Matagorda Bay in 1685 until his Fort Saint Louis colony was wiped out by 1690; Spain ruled before and after.

How many days did the 1993 Waco siege last?

The siege lasted 51 days, from the ATF raid on February 28, 1993 to the fire that ended it on April 19.

The Dallas plaza where JFK was shot is named after which local figure?

George Dealey, longtime publisher of the Dallas Morning News, gave his name to the plaza, completed in 1940 on the site of John Neely Bryan's first settlement.

The Sixth Floor Museum occupies which former building?

The Texas School Book Depository, from whose sixth floor Oswald fired, became the Dallas County Administration Building; the museum opened there in 1989.

What Spanish nickname do the Texas Rangers carry?

Mexican soldiers and civilians called the Rangers 'Diablos Tejanos', Texan Devils, for their ferocity during the Mexican-American War of 1846–48.

Selena married which guitarist from her band in 1992?

Selena eloped with Chris Pérez, guitarist in Selena y Los Dinos, on April 2, 1992, over her father's initial objections.

What nickname did media give Selena for her clothing choices?

Writers called Selena the 'Tejano Madonna' for her bustiers and tight outfits; she was better known as the Queen of Tejano Music.

At which Austin venue did Willie Nelson frequently perform after moving there in 1972?

Willie Nelson's shows at the Armadillo World Headquarters, a converted armory open from 1970 to 1980, helped fuse hippies and rednecks into Austin's outlaw-country scene.

Which of these standards did Willie Nelson write?

Willie Nelson wrote 'Crazy' in 1961 and Patsy Cline made it a hit; 'Funny How Time Slips Away' and 'Hello Walls' were his too.

Buddy Holly was born in 1936 in which Texas city?

Buddy Holly was born Charles Hardin Holley in Lubbock on September 7, 1936; he formed the duo Buddy and Bob with friend Bob Montgomery in 1953.

Lyndon Johnson was born near which Texas town on the Pedernales River?

Lyndon Johnson was born on August 27, 1908 in a farmhouse near Stonewall; the family later moved to Johnson City, where he finished high school in 1924.

San Antonio was named in 1691 in honour of which figure?

A Spanish expedition reached the river on June 13, 1691, the feast day of Saint Anthony of Padua, and named it San Antonio in his honour.

Austin ranks as which most populous US state capital?

Only Phoenix is bigger.

Fort Worth was established in 1849 as what?

Fort Worth began in June 1849 as an army outpost, Camp Worth, named for General William Jenkins Worth on a bluff above the Trinity River.

Galveston is named after which 18th-century Spanish leader?

Bernardo de Gálvez, the Spanish governor of Louisiana who fought the British during the American Revolution, was made Count of Gálvez and honoured in the bay's name in the 1780s.

El Paso sits across the border from which Mexican city?

Ciudad Juárez, across the Rio Grande in Chihuahua, forms with El Paso one of the largest binational metro areas on the US–Mexico border.

The Rio Grande ranks where among US rivers by main-stem length?

It runs 1,896 miles from Colorado to the Gulf.

In which year did Texas overtake California as the top US state for wind power capacity?

Texas passed California in installed wind capacity in 2006, helped by a 1999 deregulation law that set renewable targets; most turbines stand in West Texas and along the coast.

The Permian Basin produced how much crude oil per day on average in 2019?

The Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico averaged about 4.2 million barrels a day in 2019, more than any other US field, after the shale boom that began around 2010.

The Guadalupe bass, Texas's state fish, is found only in which region?

The Guadalupe bass lives only in the clear, spring-fed streams of the Edwards Plateau, such as the Guadalupe, San Marcos and Llano rivers; it became state fish in 1989.

Which Bavarian-born brewmaster bought the Shiner brewery in 1915 and gave it his name?

Kosmos Spoetzl, trained in Bavaria, bought the Shiner Brewing Association in 1915 and renamed it; his daughter Cecilie later ran the brewery.

Since 1981 the castle-like Old Lone Star Brewery building has housed what?

The San Antonio Museum of Art opened in 1981 in the former Lone Star Brewery, a castle-like complex built between 1895 and 1904 on the river north of downtown.

In 2021 Texas A&M claimed what distinction among US universities?

Texas A&M reported the largest student body in the US in fall 2021, about 73,000 students; it opened in 1876 as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas.

Houston's premier private university was established in 1912 following what event?

Rice Institute opened in 1912 after the 1900 murder of its namesake, William Marsh Rice, poisoned by his valet in a scheme to forge his will; his estate then funded the school.

What was Amarillo originally named?

The settlement was called Oneida when founded in 1887 and soon renamed Amarillo, Spanish for 'yellow', after the yellow soil along Amarillo Creek.

Marfa in West Texas was founded in the early 1880s as what?

It is now a centre for minimalist art and the Chinati Foundation.

Which city hosts the Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show, held since 1896?

Fort Worth's Stock Show began in 1896 beside the stockyards and staged the world's first indoor rodeo in 1918; Dallas instead hosts the State Fair of Texas at Fair Park.