While Texas is most closely associated with cowboys and cattle - a colleague of the Brave Astronaut brought to my attention that Texas has a lot of wildlife to contend with. After the recent flooding and heavy rains earlier this month in Houston, a woman came home to find a 6-foot alligator in her garage. Read more here.
Texas has a very checkered Presidential History. Dwight David Eisenhower was born in Denison, Texas, but was raised in Kansas, which is where his Presidential Library is located. There are of course the tragic events of November 22, 1963, which took place in Dallas. Texas however is mostly about Lyndon. Almost as big as the state itself, Lyndon Baines Johnson was born in Johnson City, Texas. His Presidential Library may be found in the state capital, Austin. Both of the Bushes are from the Northeast, born in Connecticut, but spent their adult years in Texas and both have established their libraries in Texas. George HW's library is in College Station (on the campus of Texas A&M) and George W's is located on the campus of Southern Methodist University near Dallas.
The current Governor of Texas is . . . wait, don't tell me . . . it'll come to me . . . Oh, yeah, Rick Perry. Oops. Both of the Senators from Texas are Republican - Kay Bailey Hutchinson, who is retiring at the end of this Senate term and John Cornyn. There are 32 members of the Texas Congressional delegation, 9 Democrats and 23 Republicans.
- 1st District - Louie Gohmert (R)
- 2nd District - Ted Poe (R)
- 3rd District - Sam Johnson (R)
- 4th District - Ralph Hall (R)
- 5th District - Jeb Hensarling (R)
- 6th District - Joe Barton (R)
- 7th District - John Culberson (R)
- 8th District - Kevin Brady (R)
- 9th District - Al Green (D) - no not that one.
- 10th District - Michael T. McCaul (R)
- 11th District - Mike Conaway (R)
- 12th District - Kay Granger (R)
- 13th District - Mac Thornberry (R)
- 14th District - Ron Paul (R) - yes that Ron Paul
- 15th District - Ruben Hinojosa (D)
- 16th District - Silvestre Reyes (D)
- 17th District - Bill Flores (R)
- 18th District - Sheila Jackson Lee (D)
- 19th District - Randy Neugebauer (R)
- 20th District - Charlie A. Gonzalez (D)
- 21st District - Lamar Smith (R)
- 22nd District - Pete Olson (R)
- 23rd District - Francisco Canseco (R)
- 24th District - Kenny Marchant (R)
- 25th District - Lloyd Doggett (R)
- 26th District - Michael Burgess (R)
- 27th District - Blake Farenthold (R)
- 28th District - Henry Cuellar (D)
- 29th District - Gene Green (D)
- 30th District - Eddie Bernice Johnson (D)
- 31st District - John Carter (R) - no not this guy.
- 32nd District - Pete Sessions (R)
- State Capital - Austin
- Largest city - Houston
- Date of Admission - December 29, 1845
- Area - 268,581sq mi (2nd)
- Population (2011 est.) - 25,674,681 (also 2nd)
- State Motto - "Friendship" (really? Evidently Texas means "friends")
- State Nickname - The Lone Star State
- State mammal - the Longhorn
- State bird - mockingbird
- State flower - bluebonnet
- State tree - pecan
- State University - The University of Texas
- State Archives - Texas State Library and Archives Commission
- The State Historical Society of Texas - Texas State Historical Association
- texas.gov - the Official Website of the State of Texas
- The Texas Tourism site - TravelTex
- Wikipedia
- 50states.com entry for Texas
- InfoPlease entry for Texas
- Texas Fact Sheet from the USDA
- Extreme firefighter Red Adair
- Choreographer Alvin Ailey
- Makeup entrepreneur Mary Kay Ash
- Stephen Austin (duh, the capital's named for him)
- Gene Autry - America's favorite singing cowboy
- Actress Kathy Baker
- Bonnie and Clyde
- Jim Bowie (born in Kentucky, but one of those killed at the Alamo)
- Carol Burnett
- Unlike her husband, Laura Bush was actually born in Texas
- Cyd Charisse
- Former Governor (and passenger in the car with JFK) John B. Connally
- Heart Surgeon Denton Cooley
- Joan Crawford
- Inventor of RAM Robert Dennard
- A. J. Foyt, racecar driver
- "Mr. Speaker" - John Nance Garner
- The first Secretary of the Department of Health Education and Welfare, Oveta Culp Hobby
- Ben Hogan
- Buddy Holly
- Sam Houston (born in Virginia - but also considered a son of Texas)
- Howard Hughes
- Boxer Jack Johnson
- Olympian Michael Johnson
- Country Music Star George Jones
- Actor Tommy Lee Jones
- Janis Joplin
- Scott Joplin
- The first Texas Officer to die in World War I and a football All-American, Louis Jordan
- Trini Lopez
- Actress and original Peter Pan, Mary Martin (and Larry Hagman's mother, who knew?)
- Little Rascal actor Spanky McFarland
- Singer Roger Miller, "King of the Road" is a popular selection on the Brave Astronaut's iPod
- Audie Murphy
- Willie Nelson
- US Navy Admiral Chester Nimitz
- Oliver North
- Former Supreme Court Justice and first woman to be named to the Supreme Court Sandra Day O'Connor
- Roy Orbison
- H. Ross Perot
- Katherine Anne Porter
- Wiley Post
- Dan Rather
- Artist Robert Rauschenberg
- Tex Ritter (duh, he's got "Tex" for his first name)
- "Speaker Sam" Sam Rayburn
- Gene Roddenberry
- Thomas Jefferson Rusk - leader in the Republic of Texas and first US Senator
- Former Smith College President and former Brown University President Ruth Simmons
- My aforementioned colleague Carrie T.
- Actor Rip Torn
- Tommy Tune, dancer, choreographer
- Babe Didrikson Zaharias, athlete, golfer
2 comments:
Somehow, I think the 5th from the bottom is for me and your mom...
C - You think?
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