Origin of state's name: Based on a word used by Caddo Indians meaning
"friends"
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The flag was adopted as the state flag when Texas became the
28th state in 1845. As with the flag of the United States, the
blue stands for loyalty, the white represents strength, and the
red is for bravery.
Pineda sailed along the Texas coast in 1519; Cabeza de Vaca and Coronado visited the interior in 1541. Spaniards made the first settlement at Ysleta, near El Paso in 1682. Americans moved into the land early in the 19th century. Mexico, of which Texas was a part, won independence from Spain in 1821; Santa Anna became dictator in 1835. Texans rebelled; Santa Anna wiped out defenders of the Alamo in 1836. Sam Houston's Texans defeated Santa Anna at San Jacinto, and independence was proclaimed the same year. In 1845, Texas was admitted to the Union.
Lake Sam Rayburn is Texas's biggest lake.
You can see the LBJ ranch from Ranch Road No. 1 near Stonewall, Texas.
There are more than 3,700 rivers and streams in Texas.
An average of 123 tornadoes touch down in Texas each year,
and 5,281 tornadoes were recorded between 1951 and 1993
The largest military base in the world, Fort Hood, is
located in Killeen, in central Texas
The statue of Lady Liberty atop the state capitol dome
in Austin was placed facing south, "forever turning her
back on the North" following the Civil War; for the
same reason, Confederate monuments on courthouse
lawns across the state similarly face south
Texas ranks first in the U.S in highway mileage, with over
70,000 miles
Texas leads the nation in the sale of pick-up
trucks
Texas is as large as all of New
England, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio,
and Illinois combined; It is 801 miles across
Texas from north to south, and 773 miles
from east to west
Corpus Christi de la Isleta, established near El Paso in 1682, was the first
Spanish mission and pueblo in Texas.
The last president of the Republic of Texas was Anson Jones (1844-1846),
and the first governor of the state was James Pinckney Henderson
(1846-1847).
The dome of the Capitol Building, in Austin, stands seven feet higher than that of the nation's
Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Jane Long (1798-1880), known as the "Mother of Texas," was a pioneer
Anglo American woman settler in Texas.
There were more than 70 World War II prisoner-of-war camps in Texas,
more than in any other state. Primarily housing German soldiers from the
famed Afrika Korps, the Texas camps also held Italian and Japanese
prisoners.
In 1989, the state recognized the Confederate Air Force as the official Air Force of Texas.
Four fire ant species are found in Texas, three of which are native to the state. The tropical Solenopsis geminata Fabricus and southern Solenopsis xyloni McCook are the most common.
Side oats grama is the official state grass of Texas.
When Texas joined the Union the first time, a clause was included that allowed the state to secede at any time, but since it joined the Confederacy during the Civil War and was defeated it is considered conquered territory and lost its right to secede.
WACO is the only raido station in the United States that spells out it's location city.
