Texas Trivia & Tidbits - Page 18

Looking for Texas trivia? Try our list Texas little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

Bessie Coleman, a native of Atlanta (pop. 5,745), was the first woman to earn an International Aviation License and the world’s first licensed black aviator. Coleman attended a flying school in France because schools in the United States would not accept a woman and an African-American. She received her license in 1921.

first appeared: 11/3/2002

A forest of Sabal Palm trees, once common throughout the Rio Grande Valley, is protected at the Sabal Palm Audubon Center and Sanctuary. The state Audubon Society operates the 527-acre sanctuary near Brownsville.

first appeared: 10/27/2002

The first flight of an American military aircraft took place at Fort Sam Houston on March 2, 1910. Lt. Benjamin D. Foulois climbed into a Wright Bros. biplane for a flight that lasted little more than seven minutes.

first appeared: 10/20/2002

The late Roy Orbison (1936-88) was a native of Vernon (pop. 11,660). He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. The singer, songwriter, and guitarist is best known for his hit, Oh, Pretty Woman.

first appeared: 10/20/2002

The world’s first indoor rodeo was held in Fort Worth in 1918. It was held inside the Northside Coliseum in north Fort Worth in conjunction with the Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show.

first appeared: 10/13/2002

Monahans Sandhills State Park contains 3,840 acres covered with sand dunes reaching up to 70 feet in height and is part of a 200-mile dune field.

first appeared: 10/13/2002

Charles Campbell, a doctor and bacteriologist, launched a grassroots campaign to boost bat populations as a way to control malaria-carrying mosquitoes in 1918. Campbell pushed building homes for hungry bats. One of the bat towers, authorized by San Antonio Mayor Albert Steves at his summer home near Comfort (pop. 2,358), is still home to a bat population.

first appeared: 10/6/2002

The Presidential Museum, which opened in 1964 in Odessa, displays artifacts collected from various administrations, as well as material relating to first ladies and presidential campaigns. The museum started as a room in the Ector County Library but now occupies more than 13,000 square feet. Besides memorabilia and documents of U.S. presidents, the library has items related to the presidents of the Republic of Texas and the Confederate States of America.

first appeared: 10/6/2002

A group of Texans unhappy with Mexican rule decided to form their own republic in 1840, with Laredo as their capital. Skirmishes with the Mexican army brought an end to the Republic of the Rio Grande in just 283 days, though. Laredo residents chose to remain citizens of Mexico rather than join the Republic of Texas, which had won its independence in 1836, but Laredo finally became part of Texas under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848.

first appeared: 9/29/2002

Replicas of two of Columbus’ ships, the Pinta and Santa Maria, are moored at the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History and are open for tours. The ships were built by Spain to mark the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ voyage. After their tour of American ports, Corpus Christi became their permanent home in 1993. A replica of the Nina is not open to the public.

first appeared: 9/22/2002

One story says Langtry (pop. 30), established in 1881, owes its name to the admiration of a famous judge for a famous actress. Judge Roy Bean, the “Law West of the Pecos,” insisted he named the Langtry saloon where he often held court the Jersey Lily and the town itself after Lillie Langtry, a popular English actress. Another story says the town was named for a civil engineer named George Langtry who directed a group of Chinese railroad laborers.

first appeared: 9/15/2002

The man who invented condensed milk also helped lay out the city of Houston. Gail Borden Jr., who lived in Galveston for more than a decade, surveyed and mapped out the streets for Houston after Augustus and John Allen bought the town site in 1836.

first appeared: 9/8/2002

In Fredericksburg (pop. 8,911), the hillsides come alive with fires attributed to the Easter Bunny. When the town was founded in 1846, Chief Santana and John Meusebach were negotiating a peace treaty on behalf of American Indians and settlers. When negotiators lighted a fire to signal that an agreement had been reached, mothers told their children the fires were the work of the Easter Bunny, who was boiling eggs for delivery the next morning. The fires are now an annual tradition.

first appeared: 9/1/2002

The post office in Keene (pop. 5,003) is open on Sunday. Keene’s population is mostly Seventh Day Adventists, so most businesses are closed on Saturday, but open Sunday—including the post office.

first appeared: 8/25/2002

The world’s only museum dedicated to the cowgirl can be found in Fort Worth. The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame honors women who have advanced the pioneering spirit, including Dale Evans, Georgia O’Keeffe, and rodeo stars such as Tad Lucas.

first appeared: 8/18/2002

A historical marker in Pittsburg (pop. 4,347) claims the Rev. Burrell Cannon’s “Ezekiel Airship” made a brief flight in 1902, a year before the Wright brothers’ 1903 flight at Kitty Hawk, N.C. Cannon’s flying machine was based on a description found in the Bible (Ezekiel 1:19). The marker says the machine was destroyed in a storm while being shipped to St. Louis for display. Cannon gave up when a second craft crashed after a brief flight.

first appeared: 8/11/2002

A 425-foot tall dome of pink granite known as Enchanted Rock rises up from the plains of central Texas. The rock is one of the largest batholiths in the country (a batholith refers to underground rock formations exposed by years of erosion). Enchanted Rock is a National Natural Landmark and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

first appeared: 8/4/2002

The family that founded the oldest licensed winery in Texas more than 100 years ago still operates it. Frank Qualia founded The Val Verde Winery in Del Rio (pop. 33,867) in 1883. The winery operated even during Prohibition by selling wine for medicinal purposes.

first appeared: 7/28/2002

Fort Clark near Brackettville (pop. 1,876), built in 1852, helped defend settlers against American Indian raids. Closed by the government in 1944, the fort was purchased in 1971 by a private company. Today, it is the heart of a 2,700-acre recreation community where visitors can stay in the old stone barracks that once housed soldiers, or dine in a refurbished Officer’s Club.

first appeared: 7/21/2002

The Mustangs of Las Colinas are the world’s largest equestrian sculpture. The nine bronze horses—each 1.5 times life-size and weighing about two tons each—run across a granite stream at Irving’s Williams Square. The sculpture was created in 1984 by African wildlife artist Robert Glen.

first appeared: 7/14/2002

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