- True or turkey? Spanish settlers arriving in the future Texas reportedly gave thanks to El Paso-area Native Americans in 1598—23 years before Plymouth Plantation in 1621.
- Six flags have flown over the Lone Star State, but there have been eight changes of government: Spain (1519-1685 and 1690-1821); France (1685-1690); Mexico (1821-1836); Republic of Texas (1836-1845); Confederate States (1861-1865); and the United States of America (1845-1861 and1865-present).
- Sixty percent of America’s paper money is printed at the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing Western Currency Facility in Fort Worth. Tours are available.
- Now an Austin tradition, Willie Nelson’s first Fourth of July picnic in 1973 drew more than 40,000 people.
- “Best barbecue” is not the only unresolved feud in Texas. While Nacogdoches in East Texas remains the front-runner, Presidio and Ysleta, today part of El Paso, are among locales that compete for “oldest town in Texas” honors.
