Portal:Texas/Selected article
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Dell Inc. an American computer hardware company based in Round Rock, Texas, develops, manufactures, supports, and markets a wide range of personal computers, servers, data storage devices, network switches, personal digital assistants (PDAs), software, computer peripherals, and more. As of 2006 it employs more than 63,700 people worldwide and manufactures more computers than any other organization in the world. According to the Forbes 500 2005 list, Dell ranks as the 28th-largest company in the United States by revenue. In 2005, Fortune magazine ranked Dell as No. 1 on its annual list of the most-admired companies in the United States, displacing Wal-Mart.
Michael Dell, while still a student at the University of Texas at Austin, founded the company as PC's Limited [sic] with just $1000, in his room at Jester Center, an on-campus dorm, in 1984. The startup aimed to sell IBM-compatible computers built from stock components. Michael Dell founded the company in the belief that by selling personal computer systems directly to customers, PC's Limited could best understand their needs and provide the most effective computing solutions to meet those needs.
The Republic of Texas was a short-lived country in North America between the United States and Mexico that existed from 1836 to 1845. Formed as a break-away republic from Mexico as a result of the Texas Revolution, the nation claimed borders that encompassed an area that included all of the present U.S. state of Texas, as well as parts of present-day New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and Wyoming. Its southern and western-most boundary with Mexico was under dispute throughout the lifetime of the Republic, with Texas claiming that the boundary was the Rio Grande and Mexico claiming the Nueces River as the boundary. This dispute would later become a trigger for the Mexican-American War after the annexation of Texas.
The first Texas provisional government was formed at San Felipe de Austin on November 7, 1835. This council passed a declaration of support for the 1824 Mexican constitution, and appointed a governor and other officials. The first declaration of independence for modern Texas, by both Anglo-Texian settlers and local Tejanos, was signed in Goliad on December 20, 1835. The Convention of 1836 was convened at Washington-on-the-Brazos with Richard Ellis presiding, and the Texas Declaration of Independence was enacted on March 2, 1836, effectively creating the Republic of Texas.
The Second Battle of Sabine Pass took place on September 8, 1863, and was the result of a Union expedition into Confederate-controlled Texas during the American Civil War. It has often been credited as the most one-sided Confederate victory during the conflict.
During the summer of 1863, the president of Mexico, Benito Juárez, was overthrown and replaced by the emperor Maximilian, whose allegiance was with France. France had been openly sympathetic to the Confederate States of America earlier in the war, but had never matched its sympathy with diplomatic action. Now that a French government existed just south of the Rio Grande, the Confederates hoped to establish a fruitful route of entry for much-needed matériel.
The geography of Texas covers a wide and far reaching scope. Occuping about 7% of the total water and land area of the U.S., it is the second largest state after Alaska, and is the southernmost part of the Great Plains, which ends in the south against the folded Sierra Madre Oriental of Mexico. Texas is in the south-central part of the United States of America, and is considered to form part of the U.S. South and also part of the U.S. Southwest.
The Rio Grande, Red River and Sabine River all provide natural state lines where Texas borders Oklahoma on the north, Louisiana and Arkansas on the east, and New Mexico and the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south. Austin, the state capitol is farther south than all other US state capitals except Honolulu.
By residents, the state is generally divided into North Texas, East Texas, Central Texas, South Texas, and West Texas, but according to the Texas Almanac, Texas has four major physical regions: Gulf Coastal Plains, Interior Lowlands, Great Plains, and Basin and Range Province.
The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 made landfall on the city of Galveston, Texas, on September 8, 1900. It had estimated winds of 135 miles per hour at landfall, making it a Category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.
The hurricane caused great loss of life. The death toll has been estimated to be between 6,000 and 12,000 individuals, depending on whether one counts casualties from the city of Galveston itself, the larger island, or the region as a whole. The number most cited in official reports is 8,000, giving the storm the third-highest number of casualties of any Atlantic hurricane, after the Great Hurricane of 1780, and 1998's Hurricane Mitch. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 is to date the deadliest natural disaster ever to strike the United States. By contrast, the second-deadliest storm to strike the United States, the 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane, caused approximately 2,500 deaths, and the deadliest storm of recent times, Hurricane Katrina, has caused approximately 1,600 deaths.
Known as the Rio Grande in the United States and as the Río Bravo (or, more formally, the Río Bravo del Norte) in Mexico, the river, 3,034 km (1,885 mi) long, rises in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, USA, flows through the San Luis Valley, then south into New Mexico through Albuquerque and Las Cruces to El Paso, Texas, on the U.S.–Mexico border. A major tributary, Rio Conchos,enters at Presidio, below El Paso and supplies most of the water in the 2,019 km (1,254 mi) Texas border segment.
The river has, since 1845, marked the boundary between Mexico and the United States from the twin cities of El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, to the Gulf of Mexico. As such, it was across this river that Texan slaves fled when seeking their freedom, aided by Mexico's liberal colonization policies and abolitionist stance.
The Texas Revolution was fought from October 2, 1835 to April 21, 1836 between Mexico and the Tejas portion of the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas. Animosity between the Mexican government and the American settlers in Texas began with the Siete Leyes of 1835, when Mexican President and General Antonio López de Santa Anna Pérez de Lebrón abolished the Constitution of 1824 and proclaimed a new anti-federalist constitution in its place. Unrest soon followed throughout all of Mexico and war began in Texas on October 1, 1835 with the Battle of Gonzales. Early Texian success at La Bahia and San Antonio were soon met with crushing defeat at the same locations a few months later.
The war ended at the Battle of San Jacinto where General Sam Houston led the Texas army to victory over a portion of the Mexican Army under Santa Anna, who was captured shortly after the battle. The conclusion of the war resulted in the creation of the Republic of Texas. The Republic was never recognized by the government of Mexico, and it teetered between collapse and invasion from Mexico. Texas was annexed by the United States of America in 1845, and it was not until the Mexican-American War of 1846 to 1848 that the "Texan Question" would finally be resolved.Southwest Airlines, Inc. based in Dallas, Texas, is a low-fare airline in the United States. It is the third-largest airline in the world by number of passengers carried and the largest in the United States by number of passengers carried domestically. Southwest was originally incorporated to serve three cities in Texas as Air Southwest on March 15, 1967, by Rollin King and Herb Kelleher. Some of the incumbent airlines of the time (Braniff, Trans-Texas, and Continental Airlines) initiated legal action, and thus began a 3 year legal battle to keep Air Southwest on the ground. Air Southwest eventually prevailed in the United States Supreme Court, which ultimately upheld Air Southwest's right to fly in Texas. December 7, 1970, the date of the Supreme Court decision, is considered by many to be the de facto beginning of deregulation in the airline industry.
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is a mixed-use commercial airport located in Travis County, Texas, 5 miles (8 km) southeast of Austin. The airport began passenger service on May 23, 1999. A total of 7,683,545 passengers traveled through the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in 2005, up 6 percent over the previous year and breaking the previous record of 7,658,671 set in 2000. Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, Continental Airlines, and Delta Air Lines are the airport's dominant carriers.
In 1942, the City of Austin purchased land and donated the land to the United States government for a military installation, with the stipulation that the city would get the land back when the government no longer needed it. This land became Bergstrom Air Force Base. In 1976, the city submitted a proposal to the United States Air Force for joint use of Bergstrom AFB. The Air Force rejected the proposal in 1978 as being too disruptive to its operations. In 1991, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission selected Bergstrom AFB for closure and gave the nod to the city for it to be used as a civilian airport. Groundbreaking for the airport was November 19, 1994 and air cargo operations began on June 30, 1997. Bergstrom had the designator BSM until Mueller's final closure, when it took Mueller's IATA code of AUS.
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is located between the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, and is the busiest airport in Texas. In terms of aircraft movements, it is the third busiest airport in the world. In terms of passenger traffic, it is the sixth busiest airport in the world transporting 59,064,360 passengers in 2005. In terms of land area, it is the largest airport in Texas, the second largest in the United States, and fourth largest in the world with a ground area larger than the island of Manhattan. It is the nation's tenth busiest international gateway, behind Honolulu International Airport. The airport was recently named as "The Best Cargo Airport in the World" according to the second edition of a survey.
The airport serves 129 domestic destinations and 36 international, and is the largest and main hub for American Airlines (800 daily departures), the world's largest airline, and also the largest hub for American Eagle, the world's largest regional airline. The airport is often referred to by its IATA airport code, "DFW." It has its own post office and its own ZIP Code. DFW is connected by shuttle bus to a commuter rail station just south of the airport. The Trinity Railway Express line serves both downtown Dallas and downtown Fort Worth.
The Alamo is the name of former mission and fortress compound, now a museum, in San Antonio, Texas. The compound, which originally comprised a church and surrounding buildings, was built by the Spanish Empire in the 18th century for the education of local Native Americans after their conversion to Christianity. After its later abandonment as a mission, it was used as a fortress in the 19th century and was the scene of several military actions, including most notably the 1836 Battle of the Alamo, one of the pivotal battles between the forces of the Republic of Texas and Mexico during the Texas Revolution.
The mission was authorized in 1716 by the viceroy of New Spain. It was established two years later in 1718 by Fray Antonio de Olivares, who brought Indian converts and records with him from the San Francisco Solano Mission near San Juan Bautista on the Rio Grande.Bevo is the name of the mascot of the sports teams at the University of Texas at Austin, a Texas longhorn steer with burnt orange coloring. The current Bevo is fourteenth in the line of longhorns that have been the university's mascot. The idea to use a live longhorn as the university's mascot is attributed to UT alumnus Stephen Pinckney in 1916. Pinckney gathered $124 from other alumni to purchase a steer in the Texas Panhandle, which they originally named "Bo" and which they shipped to Austin.
"Bo" made his first public appearance at the halftime of the 1916 Thanksgiving Day football game between Texas and archrival the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, a game in which Texas defeated the Aggies 22 - 7. Following the game, Ben Dyer, editor of the UT campus magazine The Alcalde, referred to the mascot as BEVO.
The bluebonnet, a name common to several North American species of Lupinus, is the state flower of Texas. They typically grow about 0.3 m (1 ft) tall. The name is possibly derived from the shape of the petals of the flower and their resemblance to the bonnets worn by pioneer women to shield themselves from the sun. Although Lupinus texensis is almost exclusively blue in the wild, Texas A&M University researchers were successful in breeding red and white strains, creating a Texas state flag in bluebonnets for the 1986 Texas Sesquicentennial. Further research led to a deep maroon strain, the university's official color.
Lupinus argenteus var. palmeri (syn. L. palmeri) grows in California, Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. It is commonly referred to as a bluebonnet lupine.
The Texas longhorn is a breed of cattle known for its characteristic horns, which can extend to six feet in width and have a slight upward turn at their tips, as well as for their distinctive burnt orange coloring. The Longhorns is also the nickname of the sports teams of The University of Texas at Austin and the school mascot is a longhorn named Bevo. The Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America serves as the recognized registry for the breed, which can often fetch up to $60,000 at auction.
The Texas longhorn is generally thought to have been created as a cross between the Spanish retinto (criollo) stock left in the United States by Spanish explorers and English cattle brought to Texas from southern and midwestern states in the 1820s and 1830s.
Big Bend National Park is a national park located in Texas. For more than 1,000 miles (1600 km) the Rio Grande / Río Bravo forms the international boundary between Mexico and the United States; Big Bend National Park administers approximately one-quarter of that boundary. It has national significance as the largest protected area of Chihuahuan Desert topography and ecology in the United States. The park covers 1252 mi² (3242 km²). Few areas exceed the park's value for the protection and study of geologic and paleontologic resources. Cretaceous and Tertiary fossil organisms exist in variety and abundance. Archeologists have discovered artifacts estimated to be 9,000 years old, historic buildings and landscapes offer graphic illustration of life along the international border at the turn of the century.
Because the Rio Grande serves as an international boundary the park faces unusual constraints when administering and enforcing park rules, regulations, and policies. The park has jurisdiction only to the center of the deepest river channel; the rest of the river lies within Mexican territory.
The Texas State Cemetery is a cemetery located on about 22 acres (9 hectares) just east of downtown Austin, the capital of Texas. Originally the burial place of Texas Revolutionary general and Vice-President of the Republic of Texas Edward Burleson, it was expanded into a Confederate cemetery during the Civil War. Later it was expanded to include the graves of prominent Texans and their spouses.
The cemetery is divided into two sections. The smaller one contains around 300 graves of prominent Texans, while the larger has over 2,000 marked graves of Confederate veterans and widows. There is room in the Cemetery for 7,500 interments and the Cemetery is about half full; meaning, people who are eligible for burial have chosen their plots. The Cemetery is NOT a military cemetery.
King Ranch, located in south Texas between Corpus Christi, Texas and Brownsville, Texas, is one of the world's largest ranches (larger than Rhode Island). It is the largest ranch in the United States. The 825,000 acre (3,340 km²) ranch, founded in 1853 by Captain Richard King and Gideon K. Lewis, sprawls across six Texas counties, including most of Kenedy County. The ranch was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961.
King Ranch also raises quarter horses, cutting horses and thoroughbreds and produced the 1946 Triple Crown winner Assault and 1950 Kentucky Derby winner, Middleground. They also owned a share of La Troienne, the greatest broodmare of the Twentieth Century. In addition, the King Ranch company also operates a local museum, maintains other property concerns and works with Texas A&M University to perform agricultural research and development. In 1997, Ford Motor Company added a King Ranch edition to their F-series Super Duty truck line, complete with the King Ranch cattle brand logo.
HemisFair '68 was the first officially designated world's fair held in the Southwest United States. San Antonio, Texas hosted the fair from April 6 through October 6, 1968. More than thirty nations hosted pavilions at the fair. The fair was held in conjunction with the 250th anniversary of the founding of San Antonio. The theme of the fair was "The Confluence of Civilizations in the Americas."
The official world's fair sanctioning body, the Bureau International des Expositions accredited HemisFair '68 on November 17, 1965. The venture, which had an announced cost of $156 million, was financed by a combination of public and private funding. The fair was built on a 96.2 acre site on the southeastern edge of downtown San Antonio. The site was acquired mainly through eminent domain and many structures were demolished and moved, in what was considered a blighted area, to make room for the fair. The project was partially developed with federal urban renewal funds. The San Antonio Conservation Society recommended that 129 structures on the site be preserved, however on August 9, 1966 an agreement was made to save only 20 existing structures that would be incorporated into the fair site. Overall only 24 structures were saved.
The Austin City Limits Music Festival is a three-day music and art festival in Austin, Texas, produced by Capital Sports & Entertainment and Charles Attal Presents, and taking place in Zilker Park. The Festival brings together a blend of more than 130 bands on eight stages, including rock, roots, indie, Americana, country, reggae, and bluegrass.
The historic Austin City Limits television series focused for many years on Texas singer/songwriters, country and folk performers, and instrument specialists. That is changing as the award-winning television series now resembles the Festival lineup and spotlights artists of every musical genre from rhythm and blues to rock, jazz, and alternative. Performers on the PBS show in recent years have included Coldplay, Jack Johnson, Etta James, Wilco, Trey Anastasio, Franz Ferdinand, John Prine, Keith Urban, Ben Harper, Elvis Costello, and many more.Texas Aggie Athletics is the name given to the sports teams of Texas A&M University. Texas A&M was a charter member of the Southwest Conference until its dissolution and subsequent formation of the Big 12 Conference in 1996, the athletic program competes in the South Division of the Big 12. Texas A&M's official school colors are Maroon and White. The teams are referred to as Aggies and the mascot is a pure-bred collie named Reveille.
They will enter their 112th year of football competition in the 2006 season. During that time, the Aggies have earned two national titles in 1919 and 1939 and 19 conference titles. With Emory Bellard as head coach beginning in 1972, the Aggies returned to prominence with two 10 win seasons during his short tenure. In his seven years at A&M, Jackie Sherrill won three consecutive conference titles and two Cotton Bowl postseason games. His defensive coordinator, R.C. Slocum, replaced him as head coach in 1989.
Texas A&M's biggest rival is the University of Texas Longhorns. Though the showdown officially began in 2004, the two teams have been competing with one another for more than a century. Other significant rivals include the Texas Tech Red Raiders, Baylor Bears, and LSU Tigers.The University of Texas at Austin, often called UT or Texas, is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. The main campus is located less than a mile from the Texas State Capitol in Austin. Founded in 1883, the university is considered to be a "Public Ivy," and was the fifth largest single-campus in the nation by enrollment in the fall of 2005, with upwards of 50,000 students and 20,000 faculty and staff.
The university also operates various auxiliary facilities located away from the main campus, most notably the J.J. Pickle Research Campus. Texas is a major center for academic research, annually exceeding $380 million in funding. In addition, the University's athletic programs are notable, as demonstrated by Texas's recognition as "America's Best Sports College" in a 2002 analysis performed by Sports Illustrated. In January 2006, Texas won the Division I-A national football championship by beating the USC Trojans in the Rose Bowl. The University of Texas at Austin has a network of over 450,000 living alumni, one of the largest of any American university.
The University Interscholastic League or UIL is an organization which creates rules for and sometimes administers almost all athletic, music, and academic contests for public elementary and secondary schools in the American state of Texas. Activities range from American football to marching band competitions. The UIL does not administer Academic Decathlon competitions, however. The UIL was originally created by the University of Texas at Austin to provide a rule-making body for athletic and academic events. Its mission, according to the UIL, is to foster good sportsmanship and character building among competitors.
The UIL generally governs only public high schools. Activities for non-public schools are governed by completely separate bodies, the largest of which is the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS). However, non-public schools are allowed to join the UIL if they do not qualify for membership in any other organization. Dallas Jesuit and Houston Strake Jesuit were the first, and thus far only, private schools to have been granted UIL membership 2003.Six Flags is the world's largest chain of amusement parks and theme parks and is headquartered in New York City. There are 30 amusement & water parks run by Six Flags, 24 of which carry the Six Flags name. The first Six Flags amusement park, Six Flags Over Texas, was built halfway between the cities of Fort Worth and Dallas in Arlington (Tarrant County), Texas. The park took its name from the six flags that have flown over the state of Texas during its history. In 2006, the company celebrated the 45th anniversary since the opening of Six Flags over Texas.
The Six Flags chain began in 1961 with the creation of Six Flags Over Texas by Angus G. Wynne at Arlington in Tarrant County, which featured a Native American village, a gondola ride, a railroad, some Wild West shows, a stagecoach ride, and "Skull Island", a pirate-themed adventure attraction. There was also an excursion aboard "French" boats through a wilderness full of moving puppets.Portal:Texas/Selected article/26
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