Here are some little known facts about Texas:

1. Beaumont to El Paso: 742 miles

2. Beaumont to Chicago: 770 miles

3. El Paso is closer to California than to Dallas

4. World's first rodeo was in Pecos, July 4, 1883.

5. The Flagship Hotel in Galveston is the only hotel in North America built over water.

6. The Heisman Trophy was named after John William Heisman who was the first full-time coach for Rice University in Houston.

7. Brazoria County has more species of birds than any other area in North America.

8. Aransas Wildlife Refuge is the winter home of North America's only
remaining flock of whooping cranes.

9. Jalapeno jelly originated in Lake Jackson (that's the name of the town) in 1978.

10. The worst natural disaster in U.S. history was in 1900 caused by a hurricane in which over 8000 lives were lost on Galveston Island.

11. The first word spoken from the moon, July 20, 1969, was "Houston.."

12. King Ranch in South Texas is larger than Rhode Island.

13. Tropical Storm Claudette brought a US rainfall record of 43" in 24 hours in and around Alvin in July 1979.

14. Texas is the only state to enter the U.S. by TREATY (known as Constitution of 1845 by 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 may divide into 5 States.

15. A Live Oak tree near Fulton is estimated to be 1500 years old.

16. Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in the state.

17. Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885. There is no period after Dr in Dr Pepper.

18. Texas has had six capital cities:

1. Washington-on-the-Brazos
2. Harrisburg
3. Galveston
4. Velasco
5. West Columbia
6. Austin

19. The Capitol Dome in Austin is the only dome in the U.S which is taller than the Capitol Building in Washington DC (by 7 feet).

20. The name Texas comes from the Hasini Indian word "tejas" meaning friends. Tejas is not Spanish for Texas.

21. The State animal is the Armadillo. (An interesting bit of trivia about the armadillo is they always have four babies! They have one egg, which splits into four, and they either have four males or four females. Well, I thought it was interesting anyway).

22. The first domed stadium in the U.S. was the Astrodome in Houston.