24 Facts About Houston Texas

1. Houston Texas was the headquarters of Continental Airlines until its 2010 merger with United Airlines with headquarters in Chicago; regulatory approval for the merger was granted in October of that year.

2. In 2015, downtown Houston Texas added a cycle track on Lamar Street, running from Sam Houston Park to Discovery Green.

3. Houston Texas has the largest number of bike commuters in Texas with over 160 miles of dedicated bikeways.

4. Houston Texas is the seat of the internationally renowned Texas Medical Center, which contains the world's largest concentration of research and healthcare institutions.

5. Houston Texas is served by the Houston Texas Chronicle, its only major daily newspaper with wide distribution.

6. University of Houston Texas, located in the Third Ward, is a tier-one public research university and the third-largest institution of higher education in Texas.

7. Houston Texas hosts a number of graduate schools in law and healthcare.

8. Houston Texas is one of the country's largest hubs for human trafficking.

9. Houston Texas is a significant hub for trafficking of cocaine, cannabis, heroin, MDMA, and methamphetamine due to its size and proximity to major illegal drug exporting nations.

10. In 2009, Houston Texas became the first US city with a population over 1 million citizens to elect a gay mayor, by electing Annise Parker.

11. Houston Texas is a home rule city and all municipal elections in the state of Texas are nonpartisan.

12. Houston Texas has sports teams for every major professional league except the National Hockey League.

13. Houston Texas attracts many touring Broadway acts, concerts, shows, and exhibitions for a variety of interests.

14. Houston Texas is home to folk artists, art groups and various small progressive arts organizations.

15. Houston Texas is one of few United States cities with permanent, professional, resident companies in all major performing arts disciplines: opera, ballet (Houston Ballet), music (Houston Symphony Orchestra), and theater (The Alley Theatre, Theatre Under the Stars).

16. In 2008, Houston Texas received top ranking on Kiplinger's Personal Finance Best Cities of 2008 list, which ranks cities on their local economy, employment opportunities, reasonable living costs, and quality of life.

17. Houston Texas is the beginning or end point of numerous oil, gas, and products pipelines.

18. Houston Texas has the fifth-tallest skyline in North America and 36th-tallest in the world as of 2015.

19. Houston Texas has excessive ozone levels and is routinely ranked among the most ozone-polluted cities in the United States.

20. On February 14 and 15, 1895, Houston Texas received 20 inches of snow, its largest snowfall from one storm on record.

21. Houston Texas was founded by land speculators on August 30, 1836, at the confluence of Buffalo Bayou and White Oak Bayou and incorporated as a city on June 5, 1837.

22. Houston Texas was its own country from 1836 until 1845, when it finally agreed to join the United States.

23. Houston Texas has a large defense and tech industry, as well as aeronautics and filmmaking.

24. Houston Texas was governed under a military command during Reconstruction, but Federal forces could not control the anarchy and lawlessness that broke out after the war.