Texas Independence Day

Texas Independence is March 2. Here are a few interesting facts about the great state of Texas.

• El Paso is closer to California than to Dallas.
• World’s first rodeo was in Pecos, Texas, July 4, 1883.
• The Flagship Hotel in Galveston is the only hotel in North America built over water. It was destroyed by Hurricane Ike in 2008.
• Brazoria County, Texas 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.
• Jalapeno jelly originated in Lake Jackson, Texas in 1978.
• 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 word spoken from the moon on July 20, 1969 was “Houston,” but the Space Center was actually in Clear Lake City at the time.
• The King Ranch in South Texas is larger than Rhode Island.
• Texas is the only state to enter the US by treaty, (known as the Constitution of 1845 by the Republic of Texas to enter the Union) instead of by annexation. This allows the Texas Flag to fly at the same height as the US Flag, and Texas may choose to divide into five states.
• Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885. There is no period in Dr Pepper.
• The Capitol Dome in Austin is the only dome in the US which is taller than the Capitol Building in Washington, DC (by 7 feet).
• The name ‘Texas’ comes from the Hasini Indian word ‘tejas’ meaning 'friends'. Tejas is not Spanish for Texas.