TEXAS -- Here it is: Part III of the article that keeps you laughing, pondering and embracing your Texas heritage!
~Fort Worth experienced the most expensive hail storm the United States has seen. In May of 1995, there were 109 injuries and more than $2 billion in damages. Reports were made that fist-sized hail fell from the sky at 80 mph.
~On average, one person per year is killed while painting stripes on Texas roadways.
~Patrick Scott Patterson of Denton is the official world champion of 1985's classic video game Mario Bros. He racked up 1,077,100 points.
~Texas is the only state to have flown the flags of six nations: Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, Confederate States and the United States.
~After wrecking in the 1965 race at Riverside International Speedway in Cali., AJ Floyt was declared dead on the scene, but fellow driver Parnelli Jones revived him.
~While working as a deejay and singing in bars in Forth Worth, Willie Nelson sold his song Family Bible to a guitar teacher for $50. Little did he know, the song would become a huge Claude Gray hit in 1960.
~Before she became an actress, Sissy Spacek tried a career in music. She recorded a country song under the name Rainbo- You've gone too far this time, John -about John Lennon.
~Elvis Presley once called Vernon's Roy Orbison "the greatest singer in the world."
~Although they only grow to be 36 inches tall, the Harvard oak trees in Monahans Sandhills State Park have roots that grow up to 90 feet deep.
~The Texas State Bird, the Northern Mockingbird, repeats up to 30 songs over its lifetime.
~The oldest tree in Texas has been standing for more than 1,500 years. It is a coast live oak tree near Fulton.
~ Austonio is not between Austin and San Antonio; it is between Austin and Dallas.
~El Paso is closer to Calif. than it is to Dallas.
~In 2006, 14-year-old Casey Pernsteiner of Gonzales was clocked as solving a Rubik's Cube puzzle in 20.77 seconds at the International Rubik's Cube Competition.
~More pickup trucks are sold in Texas than in any other state.
~Dallas Cowboys Quarterback Troy Aikman had to wear a plaster cast to correct a clubfoot until he was 18 months old.
~It is illegal to buy or sell an eye, kidney or pancreas in Texas.
~Lubbock County records show it is against the law to drive within an arm's length of alcohol, even if that alcohol is in the belly of the person sitting next to you.
