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| William E. Allen |
William E. AllenOn February 10, 1919, William E. Allen of Texas began serving as Acting Director of the US Bureau of Investigation (BOI), a predecessor of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Before his appointment, Mr. Allen served as Assistant in War Matters to the Chief of the Bureau. Mr. Allen's resignation became effective June 30, 1919, when he was replaced by William J. Flynn.
Allen, William E.
Allen, William E.
February 10
February 10 is the 41st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 324 days remaining, 325 in leap years.
Events
- 1258 - Battle of Baghdad (1258) - Mongols overrun Baghdad, burning it to the ground and killing large numbers of citizens (estimates range from 10,000 to 800,000).
- 1542 - Queen Catherine Howard of England is confined in the Tower of London to be executed three days later for treason (adultery).
- 1635 - The Académie française in Paris is expanded to become a national academy for the artistic elite.
- 1763 - French and Indian War: The 1763 Treaty of Paris ends the war and France cedes Canada to Great Britain.
- 1814 - Battle of Champaubert occurs.
- 1840 - Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom marries Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
- 1846 - Many Mormons begin their migration west from Nauvoo, Illinois.
- 1863 - The world-famous dwarfs General Tom Thumb and Lavinia Warren get married in New York City.
- 1863 - Alanson Crane patents the fire extinguisher.
- 1870 - Anaheim, California is incorporated.
- 1870 - The YWCA is founded (New York City).
- 1920 - Jozef Haller de Hallenburg performs symbolic engagement of Poland with the sea, celebrating restitution of Polish access to open sea.
- 1931 - New Delhi becomes the capital of India.
- 1933 - The New York City-based Postal Telegraph Company introduces the first singing telegram.
- 1933 - In round 13 of a boxing match at New York City's Madison Square Garden, Primo Carnera knocks out Ernie Schaaf, killing him.
- 1947 - Italy cedes most of Venezia Giulia to Yugoslavia.
- 1949 - Death of a Salesman opens at the Morocco Theatre in New York City.
- 1954 - President Dwight Eisenhower warns against United States intervention in Vietnam.
- 1962 - Captured American spy pilot Francis Gary Powers is exchanged for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel.
- 1964 - The aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne collides with the HMAS Voyager off the south coast of New South Wales, Australia.
- 1967 - The 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified.
- 1981 - A fire at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino kills eight and injures 198.
- 1982 - The German movie Das Boot opens in United States theaters.
- 1989 - Ron Brown is elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee becoming the first African American to lead a major American political party.
- 1990 - South African President F.W. de Klerk announces that Nelson Mandela would be released the next day.
- 1992 - In Indianapolis, Indiana, boxer Mike Tyson is convicted of raping a Miss Black America contestant named Desiree Washington.
- 1996 - The IBM supercomputer Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov for the first time.
- 1996 - The World Trade Centre in London is partially destroyed by an PIRA bomb.
- 1997 - The United States Army suspends Sgt. Major Gene C. McKinney, its top-ranking enlisted soldier, after hearing allegations of sexual misconduct.
- 1998 - A college dropout becomes the first person to be convicted of a hate crime committed in cyberspace.
- 1998 - Voters in Maine repeal a gay rights law passed in 1997 becoming the first U.S. state to abandon such a law.
- 1999 - Avalanches in the French Alps near Geneva kill at least 10.
- 2003 - Hockey star Brett Hull scores his 700th NHL goal.
- 2005 - North Korea and weapons of mass destruction: North Korea suspends participation in multi-nation talks to discuss its arms program and officially admits to developing nuclear weapons.
Births
- 1499 - Thomas Platter, Swiss humanist (d. 1582)
- 1524 - Albrecht Giese IV, German politician and diplomat (d. 1580)
- 1609 - Sir John Suckling, English poet (d. 1642)
- 1685 - Aaron Hill, English writer (d. 1750)
- 1846 - Charles Beresford, British admiral and politician (d. 1919)
- 1887 - John Franklin Enders, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1985)
- 1890 - Boris Pasternak, Russian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (declined) (d. 1960)
- 1892 - Alan Hale Sr., American actor (d. 1950)
- 1893 - Jimmy Durante, American actor, singer, and comedian (d. 1980)
- 1893 - Bill Tilden, American tennis player (d. 1953)
- 1894 - Harold Macmillan, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1986)
- 1897 - Dame Judith Anderson, Australian actress (d. 1992)
- 1897 - John F. Enders, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1985)
- 1898 - Bertolt Brecht, German author (d. 1956)
- 1901 - Stella Adler, American actress (d. 1992)
- 1902 - Walter Houser Brattain, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987)
- 1904 - John Farrow, American film director (d. 1963)
- 1906 - Lon Chaney Jr., American actor (d. 1973)
- 1906 - Erik Rhodes, American actor (d. 1990)
- 1910 - Georges Pire, Belgian monk, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1969)
- 1914 - Larry Adler, American musician (d. 2001)
- 1920 - Alex Comfort, physician and writer (d. 2000)
- 1927 - Leontyne Price, American soprano
- 1929 - Jerry Goldsmith, American composer (d. 2004)
- 1930 - Robert Wagner, American actor
- 1931 - Thomas Bernhard, Austrian author (d. 1989)
- 1932 - Branko Lustig, Croatian film producer
- 1934 - Fleur Adcock, New Zealand poet
- 1939 - Adrienne Clarkson, 26th Governor General of Canada
- 1939 - Roberta Flack, American singer
- 1941 - Michael Apted, British director
- 1944 - Peter Allen, Australian singer and actor (d. 1992)
- 1944 - Frank Keating, American politician
- 1944 - Vernor Vinge, American novelist
- 1947 - Louise Arbour, Canadian judge
- 1948 - Luis Donaldo Colosio, Mexican politician (d. 1994)
- 1949 - Maxime Le Forestier, French singer
- 1949 - Harold Sylvester, American actor
- 1950 - Mark Spitz, American swimmer
- 1951 - Roxanne Pulitzer, American model
- 1954 - Margaret Anne Davis, American - Credit Union Executive & Leader
- 1955 - Greg Norman, Australian golfer
- 1960 - Robert Addie, British actor (d. 2003)
- 1961 - Alexander Payne, American film director
- 1961 - George Stephanopoulos, American political consultant and commentator
- 1962 - Cliff Burton, American musician (d. 1986)
- 1962 - Bobby Czyz, American boxer
- 1963 - Lenny Dykstra, baseball player
- 1967 - Laura Dern, American actress
- 1968 - Atika Suri, Indonesian television newscaster
- 1969 - Tim Clark, golfer
- 1969 - Joe Mangrum, American artist
- 1971 - Lisa Marie Varon, American professional wrestler
- 1976 - Lance Berkman, baseball player
- 1979 - Daryl Palumbo, American musician
- 1979 - Ross Powers, American snowboarder
- 1980 - César Izturis, baseball player
- 1985 - Anette Sagen, Norwegian ski jumper
- 1991 - Emma Roberts, American actress
- 1994 - Makenzie Vega, American actres
Deaths
- 1126 - William IX, Duke of Aquitaine, poet (b. 1071)
- 1162 - King Baldwin III of Jerusalem (b. 1130)
- 1242 - Emperor Shijo of Japan (b. 1231)
- 1278 - Margaret II of Flanders (b. 1202)
- 1576 - Guilielmus Xylander, German classical scholar (b. 1532)
- 1686 - William Dugdale, English antiquarian (b. 1605)
- 1722 - Bartholomew Roberts, English pirate
- 1755 - Montesquieu, French writer (b. 1689)
- 1758 - Thomas Ripley, English architect
- 1782 - Friedrich Christoph Oetinger, German theologian (b. 1702)
- 1829 - Pope Leo XII (b. 1760)
- 1837 - Aleksandr Pushkin, Russian poet and novelist (b. 1799)
- 1865 - Heinrich Lenz, German physicist (b. 1804)
- 1904 - John A. Roche, Mayor of Chicago (b. 1844)
- 1912 - Joseph Lister, British surgeon (b. 1827)
- 1917 - John William Waterhouse, Italian-born artist (b. 1849)
- 1918 - Abdul Hamid II Ottoman Sultan (b. 1842)
- 1918 - Ernesto Teodoro Moneta, Italian pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1833)
- 1923 - Wilhelm Röntgen, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1845)
- 1932 - Edgar Wallace, English novelist and screenwriter (b. 1875)
- 1939 - Pope Pius XI (b. 1857)
- 1950 - Marcel Mauss, French sociologist (b. 1872)
- 1957 - Laura Ingalls Wilder, American author (b. 1867)
- 1960 - Aloysius Stepinac, Croatian cardinal (b. 1898)
- 1964 - Eugen Sänger, Austrian aerospace engineer (b. 1905)
- 1966 - Billy Rose, American composer and band leader (b. 1899)
- 1985 - Johnny Mokan, baseball player (b. 1895)
- 1992 - Alex Haley, American author (b. 1921)
- 1993 - Fred Hollows, New Zealand ophthalmologist (b. 1929)
- 2000 - Jim Varney, American actor (b. 1949)
- 2001 - Abraham Beame, Mayor of New York City (b. 1906)
- 2002 - Harold Furth, Austrian-born physicist (b. 1939)
- 2003 - Edgar de Evia, American photographer (b. 1910)
- 2003 - Curt Hennig, American professional wrestler (b. 1958)
- 2003 - Clark MacGregor, U.S. Congressman (b. 1922)
- 2003 - Al Ruffo, Mayor of San Jose, California (b. 1908)
- 2003 - Ron Ziegler, American press secetary to Richard Nixon (b. 1939)
- 2005 - Arthur Miller, American playwright (b. 1915)
Holidays and observances
- Catholicism - St. Scholastica Day; World Marriage Day.
- Italy - National Memorial Day of the Exiles and Foibe to commemorate Italian Istrian and Dalmatian exiliee and Foiba massacres.
External links
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/10 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050210.html The New York Times: On This Day]
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February 9 - February 11 - January 10 - March 10 -- listing of all days
ko:2월 10일
ms:10 Februari
ja:2月10日
simple:February 10
th:10 กุมภาพันธ์
Texas
Texas is a state located in the United States of America. The 28th U.S. state, Texas joined the United States in 1845. Its postal abbreviation is TX.
The state name derives from a word in a Caddoan language of the Hasinai, táysha (or tejas, as the Spaniards spelled it), meaning friends or allies. Spanish explorers mistakenly applied the word to the people and their location.
With an area of 696,241 km2 and a population of 22.5 million, Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous 48 states in area. (Alaska is the largest U.S. state in area and California is the most populous.) Texas has historically had a "larger than life" reputation, especially in cowboy films.
History
Texas can claim that "Six Flags" have flown over its soil: the Fleur-de-lis of France, and the national flags of Spain, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the United States of America and the Confederate States of America.
Native American tribes that once lived inside the boundaries of present-day Texas include Apache, Atakapan, Bidai, Caddo, Comanche, Cherokee, Kiowa, Tonkawa, and Wichita. Currently, there are three federally recognized Native American tribes which reside in Texas: the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas, the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas, and the Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo of Texas.
On November 6, 1528 shipwrecked Spanish conquistador Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca became the first known European to set foot on Texas. A member of the Narváez expedition, he was later enslaved by a Native American tribe of the upper Gulf coast, and explored what are now the U.S. states of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona on foot from coastal Louisiana to Sinaloa, Mexico, over a period of roughly six years. He returned to Europe in 1537, where he wrote about his experiences in a work called La relación ("The Tale").
Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca]
Prior to 1821, Texas was part of the Spanish colony of New Spain. After Mexican independence in 1821, Texas became part of Mexico and in 1824 became the northern section of Coahuila y Tejas. On 3 January 1823, Stephen F. Austin began a colony of 300 American families along the Brazos River in present-day Fort Bend County and Brazoria County, centered primarily in the area of what is now Sugar Land. This group became known as the "Old Three Hundred." The "Conventions" of 1832 and 1833 responded to rising unrest at the policies of the ruling Mexican government. Policies that most irritated the Texians included the Mexican ban on slavery, the forcible disarmament of Texian settlers, and the expulsion of illegal immigrants from the United States of America. The example of the Centralista forces' suppression of dissidents in Zacatecas also inspired fear of the Mexican government.
Zacatecas
On March 2, 1836, the "Convention of 1836" signed the Texas "Declaration of Independence," declaring Texas an independent nation. On April 21, 1836 the Texans won their independence when they defeated the Mexican forces of Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto. Santa Anna himself passed into captivity, and on May 14, Republic of Texas officials and General Santa Anna signed the treaty of Velasco. The Republic of Texas included all the area now included in the state of Texas, although its self-proclaimed western and northwestern borders extended as far west as Santa Fe and as far northwest as present-day Wyoming, respectively.
In 1845, Texas was admitted to the United States as a constituent state of the Union. Annexation was mutually beneficial to Texas and the United States. Texas was in a very susceptible position following independence, with a weak government, little industry, and minimal infrastructure. The U.S. could not allow such a tenuous nation to sit right on its border. Texas also lay partially in the way of the U.S. expansion to the Pacific, and its "Manifest Destiny." The major stumbling block of annexation, besides the potential for war with Mexico, was the fact that Texas was a slave state and potentially would tip the balance between free and slave states due to its huge size. Some southerners were pushing for the ability to divide Texas into multiple states, thereby increasing the number of slave states even more. A compromise was reached in that if Texas were divided, any states north of the Missouri Compromise would be free states.
During the Civil War, Texas seceded from the Union and joined the Confederate States of America. In 1870, the United States Congress readmitted Texas into the Union.
Texas today is a state thoroughly steeped in tradition, yet equally embracing of new social and technological developments. From the state capital of Austin (also headquarters of Dell Computers and known as "Silicon Hills") to the cosmopolitan air of Dallas, to the oil-and-finance rich industry of Houston to the Latinesque cultures of San Antonio and El Paso, the state tourism slogan truly fits: "Texas: It's like a whole other country."
Geography
1870
Location
Texas borders New Mexico on the west, Oklahoma on the north (across the Red River), and Louisiana (across the Sabine River) and Arkansas on the east. To the southwest, across the Rio Grande, Texas borders the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas. To the southeast of Texas lies the Gulf of Mexico.
Texas lies in the south-central part of the United States of America. Texas is considered to form part of the US South and part of the U.S. Southwest. Some regions of Texas are associated with the Southwest more than the South, while other regions are associated with the South more than the Southwest. Texas shares some cultural elements with both regions, with more similarities with the South, especially Arkansas and Louisiana, in East Texas, and more similarities with the Southwest, especially Mexico and New Mexico, in West Texas and South Texas. Texas is so large in its east-west expanse that El Paso, in the western corner of the state, is closer to San Diego, California than to Beaumont, near the Louisiana state line; Beaumont, in turn is closer to Jacksonville, Florida than it is to El Paso. The north-south extent is similarly impressive; Dalhart, in the nortwestern corner of the state, is closer to the state capitals of Kansas,
Colorado, and Wyoming than it is to the Texas state capital (Austin).
Human Geography
Articles on Texas regions:
- Arklatex
- Big Bend
- Central Texas
- Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex
- Deep East Texas
- East Texas
- Edwards Plateau
- Greater Houston
- North Texas
- Northeast Texas
- Piney Woods
- Rio Grande Valley
- Texas Hill Country
- Texas Panhandle
- Llano Estacado
- Southeast Texas
- South Texas
- West Texas
For the 254 counties of Texas,
Natural Geography
counties]
counties]
counties]
Texas has five major topographic regions:
# The Coastal Plain, from the Gulf of Mexico inland to about San Antonio and just southeast of Austin
# The Hill Country and Edwards Plateau, a hilly rocky area in central Texas bordered on the east by the Balcones Fault zone and Blackland Prairie.
# The Great Plains region extends into northern Texas, including the Llano Estacado and the Panhandle High Plains
# The North Central Plains
# The Trans-Pecos Desert, a subdivision of the Chihuahuan Desert, in extreme western Texas, west of the Pecos River
Geology
Texas is the southernmost part of the Great Plains, which ends in the south against the folded Sierra Madre Oriental of Mexico. It is mostly sedimentary rocks, with east Texas underlain by a Cretaceous and younger sequence of sediments, the trace of ancient shorelines east and south until the active continental margin of the Gulf of Mexico is met. This sequence is built atop the subsided crest of the Appalachian Mountains–Ouachita Mountains–Marathon Mountains zone of Pennsylvanian continental collision, which collapsed when rifting in Jurassic time opened the Gulf. West from this orogenic crest, which is buried beneath the Dallas–Waco–Austin–San Antonio trend, the sediments are Permian and Triassic in age. Oil is found in the Cretaceous sediments in the east, the Permian sediments in the west, and along the Gulf coast and out on the Texas continental shelf. A few exposures of Precambrian igneous and metamorphic rocks are found in the central and western parts of the state, and Oligocene volcanic rocks are found in far west Texas, in the Big Bend area. A blanket of Miocene sediments known as the Ogallala formation in the western high plains region is an important aquifer. Texas has no active or dormant volcanoes and few earthquakes, being situated far from an active plate tectonic boundary.
Government and politics
State Law and Government
plate tectonic]
Austin is the capital of Texas. The State Capitol resembles the federal Capitol Building in Washington, DC, but is faced in pink granite and is topped by a statue of the "Goddess of Liberty" holding aloft a five-point Texas star. Like several other southern state capitols, it faces south instead of north. The capitol building is seven feet taller than the U.S. national capitol, but it is less massive.
Republican Rick Perry has served as Governor of Texas since December 2000 when George W. Bush vacated the office to assume the Presidency. Two Republicans represent Texas in the U.S. Senate: Kay Bailey Hutchison (since 1993) and John Cornyn (since 2002). Texas has 32 representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives: 21 Republicans and 11 Democrats.
The Texas Constitution, adopted in 1876, is the second longest in the nation. As with many state constitutions, it explicitly provides for the separation of powers and incorporates its bill of rights directly into the text of the constitution (as Article I). The bill of rights is considerably lengthier and more detailed than the federal Bill of Rights, and includes some provisions unique to Texas.
The executive branch consists of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Comptroller of Public Accounts, Land Commissioner, Attorney General, Agriculture Commissioner, the three-member Railroad Commission, the State Board of Education, and the Secretary of State. The Comptroller decides if expected state income is sufficient to cover the propsed state budget. Except for the Secretary of State—who is appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate—each of these officials is elected. There are also a large number of state agencies and numerous boards and commissions. Partly because of the large number of elected officials, the Governor's powers are quite limited in comparison to other state governors or the U.S. President. In popular lore and belief the Lieutenant Governor, who heads the Senate and appoints its committees, has more power than the Governor. The Governor commands the state militia and can veto bills passed by the Legislature and call special sessions of the Legislature. He or she also appoints members of various executive boards and fills judicial vacancies between elections.
The Legislature of Texas, like the legislature of every other state except Nebraska, is bicameral (that is, has two chambers). The House of Representatives has 150 members, while the Senate has 31. The speaker of the house, currently Tom Craddick (R-Midland) leads the House, and the Lieutenant Governor (currently Republican David Dewhurst) leads the State Senate. The Legislature meets in regular session only once every two years.
The judicial system of Texas has a reputation as one of the most complex in the United States—if not in the world—with many layers and many overlapping jurisdictions. Texas has two courts of last resort: the Texas Supreme Court—which hears civil cases—and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Except in the case of some municipal benches, partisan elections choose all of the judges at all levels of the judiciary; the Governor fills vacancies by appointment.
County Government
Texas has a total of 254 counties, by far the most counties of any state. Each county is run by a "commissioners court" consisting of four elected commissioners (one from each of four precincts drawn based on population) and a "county judge" elected from all the voters of the county. The county judge does not have authority to veto a decision of the commissioners court, s/he votes along with the commissioners. In smaller counties, the county judge actually does perform judicial duties, but in larger counties the judge's role is limited to serving on the commissioners court. Certain officials such as the sheriff and tax collector are elected separately by the voters and state law specifies their salaries, but the commissioners court determines their office budgets. Counties also have much less legal power than municipalities, for instance, counties in Texas do not have zoning power or eminent domain power (except in very rare circumstances).
Municipal Government
Texas does not have townships; areas within a county are either "incorporated" (i.e., part of a city, though the city may contract with the county for needed services) or "unincorporated" (i.e., not part of a city, in these areas the county has authority for law enforcement and road maintenance).
Cities are classified as either "general law" or "home rule". A city may elect "home rule" status (i.e., draft an independent city charter) once it exceeds 5,000 population and the voters agree to home rule. Otherwise, it is classified as "general law" and has very limited powers. One example of the difference in the two structures regards annexation. General law cities cannot annex adjacent unincorporated areas without the property owner's consent; home rule cities may annex without consent, but must provide essential services within a specified period of time or the property owner may file suit to be deannexed.
School and Special Districts
In addition to cities and counties, Texas has numerous "special districts". The most common is the independent school district, which (with one exception) has a board of trustees that is independent of any other governing authority. School district boundaries are not coaligned with city or county boundaries; it is not uncommon for a school district to cover one or more counties or for a large city to be served by several school districts.
Other special districts include water supply, public hospitals, and community colleges.
Politics
Texas politics are currently dominated by the Republican Party, which has strong majorities in the Texas Senate and House of Representatives. Every executive branch official elected statewide is Republican, as is every member of Texas's two courts of last resort; no Democrat has won a statewide election since 1994. The majority of the state's delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives is Republican, as are both U.S. Senators. A notable exception to this trend is the Travis County District Attorney, Ronnie Earle, a Democrat elected by the people of Austin who has served since 1978 with state-wide authority and responsibility for legally prosecuting political mischief. The position of Travis County DA is uniquely so-empowered by the Texas Constitution; most states grant this authority to the more broadly elected position of Attorney General. Note: the congressional districts in Texas were redrawn in 2003 by the Republican-dominated legislature. Districts are supposed to be drawn after the national census every 10 years, but an impasse in the Texas Legislature resulted in the districts being drawn by the courts. The legislature, with controversial help from U.S. Congressman Tom DeLay, redrew the districts after the Republicans gained a larger share of the legislature. A court challenge of the change was upheld by the Republican-dominated Texas Supreme Court.
Like other Southern states, Texas historically was a one-party state of the Democratic Party. The Democrats controlled a majority in the Texas House and in the state's Congressional delegation until the 2002 and 2004 elections, respectively. One of the most famous Texans was a Democrat: Lyndon Baines Johnson served in the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate, and as vice-president and president of the United States.
Economy
vice-president
Texas remained largely rural until World War II, with cattle ranching, oil, and agriculture as its main industries. Contrary to popular mythology, cattle ranching was never Texas's chief industry. Before the oil boom, back to the period of the first anglo settlers, this was cotton farming (as in most of the South).
In 1926 San Antonio had over 120,000 people, the largest population of any city in Texas. After World War II, Texas became increasingly industralized.
Its economy (circa 2000) relies largely on information technology, oil and natural gas, energy exploration and energy trading, agriculture, and manufacturing. The state has two major economic centers: the Greater Houston area and the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Houston stands at the center of the petrochemical and biomedical research trades while Dallas functions as the center of the agricultural and information technology labor market in Texas. Other major cities include San Antonio, Austin, Brownsville, Lubbock, Amarillo, Abilene, Beaumont, McAllen, Tyler, Odessa and Midland. Other important cities include Killeen, home to Fort Hood the largest military Post in the U.S., El Paso, Eagle Pass, and Laredo; these have particular significance due to their location on the border with Mexico, making them important trade points.
The state passed New York in the 1990s to become the second-largest U.S. state in population (after California). Texas had a gross state product of $764 billion, the third highest in America after California and New York respectively. Texas's growth is often attributed to the availability of jobs, the low cost of housing (housing values in the Dallas and Houston areas, while generally rising, have not risen at the astronomical rates of other areas such as San Francisco), the lack of a personal state income tax, low taxation of business, limited government (the state legislature of Texas meets only once every two years), and favorable climate.
Film and television
Texas is one of the top filmmaking states in the United States, just after California and New York. More than $1.2 billion has been spent in Texas just for filming since 1990.
The Texas Film Commission was founded for free services to filmmakers, from location research to traveling.
Demographics
The people of Texas, historically often known as Texians, are now generally referred to as Texans.
As of 2004, the state had a population of 22,490,022. The state has 3,450,500 foreign-born residents (15.6% of the state population), of which an estimated 1.2 million are illegal aliens (illegal aliens account for more than one-third of the foreign-born population in Texas and 5.4% of the total state population). The state's population grew 5.5 million between 1990 and 2004, a growth of 32.4%
Ethnic origins
More than one-third of Texas residents are of Hispanic origin and may be of any racial groups. Some are recent arrivals from Mexico, Central America, or South America, while others, known as Tejanos, have ancestors who have lived in Texas since before Texan independence, or at least for several generations. Tejanos are the largest ancestral group in southern Duval County. Perhaps numerically Mexican-Texans dominate south, south-central, and west Texas and are a significant part of the work force of cities of Dallas and Houston.
Other population groups in Texas also exhibit great diversity. Frontier Texas saw settlements of Germans, particularly in Fredericksburg and New Braunfels. In fact, the largest family in Texas today is of German descent. After the European revolutions of 1848, German, Polish, Swedish, Norwegian, Czech and French immigration grew, and continued until World War I. The influence of the diverse immigrants from Europe survives in the names of towns, styles of architecture, genres of music, and varieties of cuisine. Texans of German descent dominate much of central and southeast-central Texas and one county in the area, Lavaca, is predominately Czech.
In recent years, the Asian population in Texas has grown, especially in Houston and in Dallas. People from mainland China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia India, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Pakistan and other countries have settled in Texas.
In August 2005, it was announced by the United States Census that Texas has become the fourth minority-majority state in the nation (after Hawaii, New Mexico, and California). According to the Texas state Data Center, if current trends continue, Hispanics will become a majority in the state by 2030.
All data comes from the United States Census state population estimates.
The largest reported ancestry groups in Texas include: Mexican (24.3%), African American (11.5%), German (9.9%), American (7.2%), and Irish (7.2%).
Much of east, central, and north Texas is inhabited primarily by Texans of White Anglo Saxon Protestant heritage, primarily descended from the British Isles. African Americans, who historically made up one-third of the state population, are concentrated in those parts of East Texas where the ante-bellum cotton plantation culture was most prominent.
Census data reports 7.8% of Texas's population as under 5, 28.2% under 18, and 9.9% over 64 years. Females made up 50.4% of the population.
Cities and metropolitan areas
Largest cities
Roman Catholic]
Roman Catholic]
Roman Catholic]
Roman Catholic]
Roman Catholic]
Texas has two global cities as Houston and Dallas hold the title of "Gamma World City" by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group & Network (GaWC).
Ranked by population of cities (incorporated municipalities), the five largest cities in Texas are Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, and Fort Worth. Photographs of the downtowns of those five cities are displayed to the right, in order of each city's population according to 2004 U.S. Census estimates within city limits. Texas is the only state in the U.S.A. to have three cities with populations exceeding 1 million (California has two; no other state has more than one)--Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas, which are also among the 10 largest cities of the United States. Austin and Fort Worth are in the top 20 largest US cities.
Some cities not listed are still considered important on the basis of other factors and issues, including culture, economics, heritage, and politics.
Metropolitan areas
Texas has 25 metropolitan areas (MSAs) defined by the United States Census Bureau. The two largest are ranked among the top 10 United States metropolitan areas. In 2003, the U.S. Census introduced "metropolitan divisions" within some metropolitan areas. Texas has two metropolitan divisions within the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington MSA.
The following table lists population figures for those metropolitan areas, in rank of population. Population figures are as of the 2003 U.S. Census estimates.
Education and scientific research
Public schools
The public school systems are administered by the Texas Education Agency.
All but one of the school districts in Texas are separate from any form of municipal government, hence they are called "independent school districts," or "ISD" for short. School districts may cross city and county boundaries. School districts have the power to tax their residents and to use eminent domain.
The sole exception to this rule is Stafford Municipal School District, which serves all of the city of Stafford.
Texas has twenty Educational Service Center "regions" that serve the local school districts.
Colleges and universities
Stafford]
The University of Texas System, established by the Texas Constitution in 1876, consisted of nine academic universities, six health institutions, and UT System administration in 2004. UT System institutions enrolled a total of 182,752 students in fall 2004 making it one of the largest systems of higher education in the nation. In 2004, The University of Texas at Austin, which is the largest institution in the UT System and in the state of Texas, maintained an enrollment of 50,377 students.
The University of Texas at Austin was once the largest institution in the United States, but it is now one of the top 3 largest by population and is the world's 15th top ranking university. Seven doctoral programs at UT Austin rank in the top 10 in the nation and 22 degree programs rank in the top 25, according to a comprehensive study of the quality of graduate schools conducted by the United States National Research Council. Four of the seven medical schools of Texas are within the University of Texas System. In 2004, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas was ranked the 16th highest ranking medical school in the United States, with four of Texas' eleven Nobel laureates.
The Texas A&M University System is the second largest state university system of higher learning in Texas. Its flagship institution is Texas A&M University located in College Station and is the state's oldest public institution of higher education. Funded research generally exceeds that of all other Texas universities, and Texas A&M ranks among the top ten national universities in research. It is the second largest university in the state of Texas and also one of the top 10 largest schools in the nation.
The University of Houston System is the largest urban state system of higher education in the Gulf Coast, which has four universities with three located in Houston. Its flagship institution is the University of Houston, the only doctoral degree granting extensive research institution in Houston and is the third largest in the state of Texas with an enrollment of over 36,000. The interdisciplinary research conducted at UH breaks new ground in such vital areas as superconductivity, space commercialization, biomedical engineering, economics, education, petroleum exploration and management. UH is also home to over 40 research centers and institutes. Amongst the most prestigious of the University of Houston's colleges is the University of Houston Law Center (law school). The UH Law Center's Health Law and Policy Institute is ranked number one in the nation while the Intellectual Property Law Program is ranked fifth, according to U.S. News & World Report.
Houston is home to the Texas Medical Center, the world's largest concentration of research and healthcare institutions, such as Baylor College of Medicine, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, which now ranks as one of the world's most productive and highly regarded academic institutions devoted to cancer patient care, research, education, and prevention.
Houston is the location of a well known prestigious private institution of Rice University, which boasts one of the largest financial endowments of any university in the world. The small undergraduate student body is among the nation's most select and one of the highest percentages of National Merit Scholarship winners. Rice University maintains a variety of research facilities and laboratories. Rice is also associated with the Houston Area Research Center, a consortium supported by Rice, the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, and the University of Houston.
Houston is also home to Texas Southern University,the first Historically Black College and University (HBCU) to house a law school, and was also the first state-supported institution in the city of Houston. Over the years, the University's educational facilities and programs expanded, and many of its graduates began to achieve local, regional, and national recognition for their influence in politics, education, business, technology, medicine, and the arts. Its pioneering spirit continues today
San Antonio is home to many universities, such as the rapidly-growing UTSA, a branch of the University of Texas system, as well as Trinity University, St. Mary's University, and University of the Incarnate Word, and Our Lady of the Lake University.
Transportation
Interstate highway
- Interstate 10
- Interstate 20
- Interstate 27
- Interstate 30
- Interstate 35
- Interstate 37
- Interstate 40
- Interstate 44
- Interstate 45
- Interstate 69 (proposed extension)
- Interstate 410
- Interstate 610 (Texas)
- Interstate 635
- Interstate 820
United States highway
Professional sports teams
The Houston Oilers, formerly based in Texas, moved to Memphis and later to Nashville, Tennessee, and became the Tennessee Titans. Houston also formerly had the Arena Football League team Houston Thunderbears, and the Minor League Soccer team Houston Hotshots.
Miscellaneous information
Houston Hotshots.]]
- Four ships of the United States Navy have borne the name USS Texas in honor of the state.
- Famous for their role in the history of Texas law enforcement, the Texas Rangers continue today to provide special law enforcement services to the state.
- One state holiday, Juneteenth (from "June" + "Nineteenth," its date), commemorates the day in 1865 that the slaves in Texas learned of the Emancipation Proclamation.
- At 311 feet, Texas's capitol building in Austin is taller than the capitol building in Washington, D.C.
State designations and symbols
Washington, D.C.]
- state flower — the bluebonnet (Lupinus texensis)
- state motto — "Friendship"
- state nickname — The Lone Star State (after the single star on several historical flags of Texas, including the current Texas flag)
- state tree — the pecan
- state bird — the mockingbird
- official state song — Texas Our Texas
- state mammals (three)
- small — armadillo
- large — Texas longhorn
- flying — Mexican free-tailed bat
Other state designations
Mexican free-tailed bat
- Air Force — Commemorative Air Force (formerly known as the Confederate Air Force), based in Midland
- state dance — Square Dance
- state dinosaur — the Brachiosaur Sauropod, Pleurocoelus
- state dish — chili con carne
- state fiber and fabric — cotton
- state fish —
US:For alternative meanings, see the disambiguation page for US, USA, United States, or American.
The United States of America is a federal democratic republic situated primarily in central North America. It comprises 50 states and one federal district, and has several territories. It is also referred to, with varying formality, as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., the States, or simply and most commonly, America.
The official founding date of the United States is July 4, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress—representing thirteen British colonies—adopted the Declaration of Independence. However, the structure of the government was profoundly changed in 1788, when the states replaced the Articles of Confederation with the United States Constitution. The date on which each of the fifty states adopted the Constitution is typically regarded as the date that state "entered the Union" (became part of the United States). Since the mid-20th century, following World War II, the United States has emerged as a dominant global influence in economic, political, military, scientific, technological, and cultural affairs.
Geography and climate
The United States shares land borders with Canada (to the north) and Mexico (to the south), and territorial water boundaries with Canada, Russia, the Bahamas, and numerous smaller nations. It is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, in the west; the Arctic Ocean, in the northernmost areas; and the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea, in the eastern and southeastern areas.
Forty-eight of the states are in the single region between Canada and Mexico; this group is referred to, with varying precision and formality, as the continental or contiguous United States, sometimes abbreviated CONUS, and as the Lower 48. Alaska, which is not included in the term contiguous United States, is at the northwestern end of North America, separated from the Lower 48 by Canada. The archipelago of Hawaii is in the Pacific Ocean. The capital city, Washington, District of Columbia is a federal district located on land donated by the state of Maryland. (Virginia also donated land, but it was returned in 1847.) The United States also has overseas territories with varying levels of independence and organization.
When inland water is included in the total area, only Russia and Canada are larger than the United States; if inland water is excluded, China ranks third and the U.S. ranks fourth. The United States' total area is 3,718,711 square miles (9,631,418 km²), of which land makes up 3,537,438 square miles (9,161,923 km²) and water makes up 181,273 square miles (469,495 km²).
The United States' landscape is one of the most varied among those of the world's nations: among its many features are temperate forestland and rolling hills, on the east coast; mangrove, in Florida; the Great Plains, in the center of the country; the Mississippi–Missouri river system; the Great Lakes, four of the five of which are shared with Canada; the Rocky Mountains, west of the Great Plains; deserts and temperate coastal zones, west of the Rocky Mountains; and temperate rain forests, in the Pacific northwest. Alaska's tundra, and the volcanic, tropical islands of Hawaii add to the geographic diversity.
Hawaii
The climate varies along with the landscape, from tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida to tundra in Alaska and atop some of the highest mountains. Most of the North and East experience a temperate continental climate, with warm summers and cold winters. Most of the South experiences a subtropical humid climate with mild winters and long, hot, humid summers. Rainfall decreases markedly from the humid forests of the Eastern Great Plains to the semi-arid shortgrass prairies on the high plains abutting the Rocky Mountains. Arid deserts, including the Mojave, extend through the lowlands and valleys of the southwest, from westernmost Texas to California and northward throughout much of Nevada. Some parts of California have a Mediterranean climate. Rainforests line the windward mountains of the Pacific Northwest from Oregon to Alaska.
History
American history started with the migration of people from Asia across the Bering land bridge approximately 12,000 years ago following large animals that they hunted into the Americas. These Native Americans left evidence of their presence in petroglyphs, burial mounds, and other artifacts. It is estimated that 2-9 million people lived in the territory now occupied by the U.S. before European contact, and the subsequent introduction of foreign diseases such as small pox that greatly diminished the native populations. Some advanced societies were the Anasazi of the southwest, who inhabited Chaco Canyon, and the Woodland Indians, who built Cahokia, located near present-day St Louis, a city with a population of 40,000 at its peak in AD 1200.
Vikings first visited North America around 1000, but did not settle permanently. Following the discovery voyages of Christopher Columbus around 1492, other Europeans began to explore and settle there.
During the 1500s and 1600s, the Spanish settled parts of the present-day Southwest and Florida, founding St. Augustine, Florida in 1565 and Santa Fe (in what is now New Mexico) in 1607. The first successful English settlement was at Jamestown, Virginia, also in 1607. Within the next two decades, several Dutch settlements, including New Amsterdam (the predecessor to New York City), were established in what are now the states of New York and New Jersey. In 1637, Sweden established a colony at Fort Christina (in what is now Delaware), but lost the settlement to the Dutch in 1655.
This was followed by extensive British settlement of the east coast. The British colonists remained relatively undisturbed by their home country until after the French and Indian War, when France ceded Canada and the Great Lakes region to Britain. Britain then imposed taxes on the 13 colonies, widely regarded by the colonists as unfair because they were denied representation in the British Parliament. Tensions between Britain and the colonists increased, and the thirteen colonies eventually rebelled against British rule.
British Parliament, George Washington (1789-1797).]]
In 1776, the 13 colonies split from Great Britain and formed the United States, the world's first constitutional and democratic federal republic, after their Declaration of Independence of that year, and the Revolutionary War (1775 to 1783). The original political structure was a confederation in 1777, ratified in 1781 as the Articles of Confederation. After long debate, this was supplanted by the Constitution in 1789, forming a more centralized federal government. Prior to all these was the Albany Congress in 1754, in which a union was first seriously proposed.
From early colonial times, there was a shortage of labor, which encouraged unfree labor, particularly indentured servitude and slavery. In the mid-19th century, a major division occurred in the United States over the issue of states' rights and the expansion of slavery. The northern states had become opposed to slavery, while the southern states saw it as necessary for the continued success of southern agriculture and wanted it expanded to the territories. Several federal laws were passed in an attempt to settle the dispute, including the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. The dispute reached a crisis in 1861, when seven southern states seceded1 from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America, leading to the Civil War. Soon after the war began, four more southern states seceded. During the war, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, mandating the freedom of all slaves in states in rebellion, though full emancipation did not take place until after the end of the war in 1865, the dissolution of the Confederacy, and the Thirteenth Amendment took effect. The Civil War effectively ended the question of a state's right to secede, and is widely accepted as a major turning point after which the federal government became more powerful than state governments.
Thirteenth Amendment). The title of the painting, from a 1726 poem by Bishop Berkeley, was a phrase often quoted in the era of Manifest Destiny, expressing a widely held belief that civilization had steadily moved westward throughout history. [http://americanart.si.edu/t2go/1lw/1931.6.1.html (more)] ]]
During the 19th century, many new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the continent. Manifest Destiny was a philosophy that encouraged westward expansion in the United States. As the population of the Eastern states grew and as a steady increase of immigrants entered the country, settlers moved steadily westward across North America. In the process, the U.S. displaced most American Indian nations. This displacement of American Indians continues to be a matter of contention in the U.S. with many tribes attempting to assert their original claims to various lands. In some areas American Indian populations were reduced by foreign diseases contracted through contact with European settlers, and US settlers acquired those emptied lands. In other instances American Indians were removed from their traditional lands by force. Though some would say the U.S. was not a colonial power until the Spanish-American War when it acquired Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, the dominion exercised over land in North America the United States claimed is essentially colonial. The Philippines became independent in 1946.
During this period, the nation also became an industrial power. This continued into the 20th century, which has been termed "the American Century" because of the nation's overriding influence on the world. The US became a center for innovation and technological development; major technologies that America either developed or was greatly involved in improving include the telephone, television, computer, the Internet, nuclear weapons, nuclear power, aviation, and aeronautics.
In addition to the Civil War, another major traumatic experience for the nation was the Great Depression (1929 to 1939). The nation has also taken part in several major foreign wars, including World War I and World War II (in both of which the US later joined the Allies). During the Cold War, the US was a major player in the Korean War and Vietnam War, and, along with the Soviet Union, was considered one of the world's two "superpowers". With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US emerged as the world's leading economic and military power. Beginning in the 1990s, the United States became very involved in police actions and peacekeeping, including actions in Kosovo, Haiti, Somalia and Liberia, and the first Persian Gulf War driving Iraq out of Kuwait. After attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, the United States and other allied nations found themselves involved in what has come to be called the "War on Terrorism," which has primarily encompassed military actions in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
Government
Iraq of the United States.]]
Republic and suffrage
The United States is an example of a constitutional republic, with a government composed of and operating through a set of limited powers imposed by its design and enumerated in the United States Constitution. Specifically, the nation operates as a presidential democracy. There are three levels of government: federal, state, and local. Officials of each of these levels are either elected by eligible voters via secret ballot or appointed by other elected officials. Americans enjoy almost universal suffrage from the age of 18 regardless of race, sex, or wealth. There are some limits, however: felons are disenfranchised and in some states former felons are likewise. Furthermore, the national representation of territories and the federal district of Washington, DC in Congress is limited: residents of the District of Columbia are subject to federal laws and federal taxes but their only Congressional representative is a non-voting delegate.
Federal government
The federal government is the national government, comprising the Legislative Branch (led by Congress), the Executive Branch (led by the President), and the Judicial Branch (led by the Supreme Court). These three branches were designed to apply checks and balances on each other. The Constitution limits the powers of the federal government to defense, foreign affairs, the issuing and management of currency, the management of trade and relations between the states, and the protection of human rights. In addition to these explicitly stated powers, the federal government—with the assistance of the Supreme Court—has gradually extended these powers into such areas as welfare and education, on the basis of the "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution.
The Congress
necessary and proper
The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives consists of 435 members, each of whom represents a congressional district and serves for a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the states by population; in contrast, each state has two Senators, regardless of population. There are a total of 100 senators, who serve six-year terms. The powers of Congress are limited to those enumerated in the Constitution; all other powers are reserved to the states and the people. The Constitution also includes the necessary-and-proper clause, which grants Congress the power to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers."
The President
necessary-and-proper clause
At the top level of the executive branch is the President of the United States. The President and Vice-President are elected as 'running mates' for four-year terms by the Electoral College, for which each state, as well as the District of Columbia, is allocated a number of seats based on its representation (or ostensible representation, in the case of D. C.) in both houses of Congress (see U.S. Electoral College). The relationship between the President and the Congress reflects that between the English monarchy and parliament at the time of the framing of the United States Constitution. Congress can legislate to constrain the President's executive power, even with respect to his or her command of the armed forces; however, this power is used only very rarely—a notable example was the constraint placed on President Richard Nixon's strategy of bombing Cambodia during the Vietnam War. The President cannot directly propose legislation, and must rely on supporters in Congress to promote his or her legislative agenda. The President's signature is required to turn congressional bills into law; in this respect, the President has the power—only occasionally used—to veto congressional legislation. Congress can override a presidential veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both houses. The ultimate power of Congress over the President is that of impeachment or removal of the elected President through a House vote, a Senate trial, and a Senate vote. The threat of using this power has had major political ramifications in the cases of Presidents Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton.
The President makes around 2,000 executive appointments, including members of the Cabinet and ambassadors, which must be approved by the Senate; the President can also issue executive orders and pardons, and has other Constitutional duties, among them the requirement to give a State of the Union address to Congress once a year. Although the President's constitutional role may appear to be constrained, in practice, the office carries enormous prestige that typically eclipses the power of Congress: the Presidency has justifiably been referred to as 'the most powerful office in the world'. The Vice President is first in the line of succession, and is the President of the Senate ex officio, with the ability to cast a tie-breaking vote. The members of the President's Cabinet are responsible for administering the various departments of state, including the Department of Defense, the Justice Department, and the State Department. These departments and department heads have considerable regulatory and political power, and it is they who are responsible for executing federal laws and regulations. George W. Bush is the 43rd President, currently serving his s | | |
