The House of Riley: Texas...a quick refresher!

Since we just passed Texas' Independence Day last week, I thought we might talk a little Texas.

Lot's of people say they know their Texas history. If you grew up in Texas, while cruising through the 7th Grade you took Texas History and learned all about the Alamo, Santa Anna and why we have Six Flags. You may also remember that we're the only state to have been a country (Republic of Texas), complete with a capital in Houston, a president and an army. But if you didn't grow up in Texas or you slept through the 7th Grade history class dreaming of the cute girl with blonde hair sitting in front of you, then here is a nice refresher of some basic Texas history and general information that every Texan should be able to recite upon request.

March 2, 1836 - Texas Independence Day
September 5, 1836 - Texas voters approve request for annexation from the United States only to be turned down due to politics of slavery
December 29, 1845 - Texas becomes the 28th U.S. State under a treaty instead of annexation - the only state to have entered statehood this way. This is the reason we still have the option to secede should we choose.
Texas fought in the Civil War as part of the Confederacy although only a few battles were fought in the state.
Texas' first capital was in Columbia, Texas
Texas state flower is the Bluebonnet
Texas state Tree is the Pecan Tree
Texas state bird is the Mockingbird
Texas state song is Texas, our Texas
Texas state animal is the Nine-banded Armadillo
Texas' tallest building is the JPMorganChase Building in downtown Houston at 75-stories
Texas' longest river is the Rio Grande
The last place John F. Kennedy slept was the Rice Hotel in Houston.
Texas is bigger than Iraq, Afghanistan and France. Twice the size of Italy and Germany. And three times the size of the UK and North Korea.
The King Ranch in South-Texas is bigger than the State of Rhode Island
If you enter Texas from Louisiana on I-10, the mileage to El Paso is 862 miles. When you get to El Paso, you are half way to Los Angeles, CA.
The first word spoken from the moon was Houston.
Dr Pepper was invented in Waco, Texas in 1885. There is no period after Dr in Dr Pepper.
The six flags that have flown over Texas: Spain, France, Mexico, Republic of Texas, United States, Confederate States.

That's enough info to keep everybody busy yakking about Texas history at cocktail parties. It will also help you represent our great state should you ever have to leave. Those outside the territory will never quite understand, but you can now surely provide some education.