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micki76
11-13-2003, 10:17 PM
I found some interesting facts about Texas. I just learned a lot of this. What about your state/province?

Official State Symbols

Nickname: The Lone Star State
Food: Chili
Tree: Pecan
Insect: Monarch Butterfy
Folk Dance: Square Dance
Motto: Friendship
Song: "Texas, Our Texas"
Bird: Mockingbird
Sport: Rodeo
Fiber & Fabric: Cotton

Geography, Population, and Weather

The total area of Texas is 266,807 square miles, or 7.4% of the total land area in the U.S.; 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.

The King Ranch in Texas is bigger than the state of Rhode Island.

Texas has more counties than any other state. Forty-one counties in Texas are each larger than the state of Rhode Island.

The Dallas/Ft. Worth airport is larger than New York City's Manhattan Island.

Texas ranks first in the U.S. in highway mileage, with over 70,000 miles; and first in railroad mileage and number of airports.

Three of the largest cities in the United States are located in Texas: Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio.

El Paso, Texas is closer to Los Angeles on the Pacific Coast than it is to Port Arthur on the Gulf Coast of Texas. Port Arthur, on the other hand, is closer to Jacksonville, Florida on the Atlantic Coast than it is to El Paso.

An average of 123 tornadoes touch down in Texas each year, and 5,281 tornadoes were recorded between 1951 and 1993
Average annual precipitation ranges from 60 inches at Caddo Lake to 8.8 inches in El Paso.

The highest recorded temperature in Texas was 120 degrees Fahrenheit and the lowest was -23 degrees Fahrenheit.

The largest city in Texas and the fourth largest in the United States is Houston with a population of 1,953,631 and over 4,000,000 in the metro area.

There are 6,736 lakes in Texas, giving it 4,959 square miles of inland water, first in the 48 contiguous states.

Political and Historical

When Texas was annexed in 1845 it retained the right to fly its flag at the same height as the national flag.

The resolution that admitted Texas into the Union in 1845 stated that Texas had the right to divide into 4 states in addition to the original Texas. That legal right still remains.

Texas is the only state to have the flags of six different nations fly over it. They are: Kingdom of Spain, Kingdom of France, Republic of Mexico, Republic of Texas, Confederate States of America, and the United States.

Texas comes from the Hasinai Indian word tejas, meaning friends or allies.

First, Biggest, etc.

Texas ranks number one in the United States in production of oil, natural gas, cattle, sheep, wool, rice, watermelon, and cotton.

Texas is one of the top producers of forest products in the United States, with the second most forested acreage in the South.

The largest military base in the world, Fort Hood, is located in Killeen, in central Texas

Two of the three largest universities in the United States are in Texas; Texas A&M University at College Station and the University of Texas at Austin.

Texas leads the nation in the sale of pick-up trucks.

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

The first rodeo in history took place in 1881 in Pecos.

Texas has more churches than any state in the union, with 16,969.

The dome of the Capitol Building, in Austin, stands seven feet higher than that of the nation's Capitol in Washington, D.C

Shelteez2
11-13-2003, 10:42 PM
Here are some more things I bet you didn't know about Texas ;):D

http://www.dumblaws.com/states/states.php?State=Texas

aly
11-13-2003, 10:52 PM
Originally posted by Shelteez2
Here are some more things I bet you didn't know about Texas ;):D

http://www.dumblaws.com/states/states.php?State=Texas

I knew those!!!!!!! :D :D I love that site.

Shelteez2
11-13-2003, 11:03 PM
Originally posted by aly
I knew those!!!!!!! :D :D I love that site.

Me too! They don't have much for where I'm from though.

LoudLou
11-13-2003, 11:15 PM
Capital City: Olympia
Admission to Statehood: November 11, 1889
Bird: Willow Goldfinch
Flower: Pink Rhododendron
Motto: Alki
Bye and Bye
Nickname: The Evergreen State
Song: Washington, My Home
Tree: Western Hemlock
Insect: Green Darner Dragonfly.

Washington is the only state to be named after a U. S. president.

Seattle is home to the first revolving restaurant, 1961.

Washington state's capitol building was the last state capitol building to be built with a rotunda.

King county the largest county in Washington was originally named after William R. King, Vice President under Franklin Pierce; it was renamed in 1986, after civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Before it became a state, the territory was called Columbia (named after the Columbia River). When it was granted statehood, the name was changed to Washington, supposedly so people wouldn't confuse it with The District of Columbia.

The highest point in Washington is Mount Rainier. It was named after Peter Rainier, a British soldier who fought against the Americans in the Revolutionary War.

The world's first soft-serve ice cream machine was located in an Olympia Dairy Queen.

Kater
11-13-2003, 11:28 PM
HawaiŽi facts:

* HawaiŽi's `Iolani Palace is the only royal residence in the United States of America.
* HawaiŽi is considered the nation's (USA) endangered species capitol. :(
* HawaiŽi is the most isolated population center on the face of the earth: 2,390 miles from California; 3,850 miles from Japan; 4,900 miles from China; 5,280 miles from the Philippines.
*There are only 12 letters in the Hawaiian Alphabet.
Vowels: A, E, I, O, U
Consonants: H, K, L, M, N, P, W
* HawaiŽi is the only state where coffee is commercially grown.
* From east to west HawaiŽi is the widest state in the United States.
* HawaiŽi has its own time zone (HawaiŽi Standard Time). There is no daylight savings time. The time runs two hours behind Pacific Standard Time and five hours behind Eastern Standard Time.
* HawaiŽi has the most advanced telecommunications system in the world. The state is one of only five states in the U.S. with 100 percent digital switching for telephones and more fiber optic cable per mile, per capita than any other state.
* There are no racial or ethnic majorities in HawaiŽi. Everyone is a minority. Caucasians constitute about 34%; Japanese-American about 32%; Filipino-American about 16% and Chinese-American about 5%. It is very difficult to determine racial identification as most of the population has some mixture of ethnicities. :D :D :D
* Honolulu is the nation's 11th largest metropolitan area.
* The largest single mountain mass in the world is also located on the island of HawaiŽi. While the bulk of its girth is below sea level and not readily visible,the active volcano Mauna Loa has a body mass about 100 times greater than Mt. Shasta in North America, or Mount Fuji in Japan. LITTLE KNOWN FACT! :)
* The wettest spot in the world is located on the island of Kauai. Mt. Waialeale consistently records rainfall at the rate of nearly 500 inches per year.
* HawaiŽi is the largest consumer of Spam in the United States. Last estimates site over 10,000 cans of Spam are consumed everyday in Hawaii.
* The only reported wild Kangaroos in the U.S. are found in HawaiŽi. Descendants of an escaped pair of wallabies continue to flourish in the mountains behind Honolulu. WHEN I WORKED AT THE HAWAIIAN HUMANE SOCIETY I SAW ONE OF THESE SUBSPECIES OF HAWAIIAN WALLABIES THAT HAD BEEN IN SOMEONES YARD! SO CUTE! :D
* HawaiŽi has no snakes, seagulls, rabies OR billboards!

micki76
11-14-2003, 08:11 AM
Originally posted by Kater

* HawaiŽi is the largest consumer of Spam in the United States. Last estimates site over 10,000 cans of Spam are consumed everyday in Hawaii.

:eek: Ew. :p

PJ's Mom
11-14-2003, 02:18 PM
Originally posted by micki76
The Dallas/Ft. Worth airport is larger than New York City's Manhattan Island.

Having been lost at DFW twice, I can vouch for that. :eek: :D

Gosh, I miss Dallas/Ft. Worth. :(

RICHARD
11-14-2003, 02:40 PM
CALIFORNIA....


LOL,

What don't you know about it already???

:eek:

mahayana
11-15-2003, 07:04 AM
When we drive from our place in Tennessee to our place in Texas it takes about 16 hours. When we cross into Texas we are less than halfway there.

Like the old hobo song-

"the sun is riz, the sun is set, here I is, in Texas yet..."

The local wildlife includes roadrunners, jackrabbits, armadillos, rattlesnakes, horny toads, mountain lions, black widow spiders, scissor-tailed flycatchers, coyotes, and wild pigs!

Our county bills itself as "Quail Capitol of the USA".

Then there is the weather here...don't get me started!

Kater
11-15-2003, 07:12 AM
Originally posted by micki76
:eek: Ew. :p

Heehee. I know!!! ;)