These 17 facts about Texas sound completely made up, but every one of them is true. How did a margarita machine end up in the Smithsonian? And how does one state end up with a bigger economy than Russia, a power grid the federal government can't touch, a cave holding up to 20 million bats, and a ranch larger than Rhode Island?

From Dallas and Houston to El Paso and San Antonio, this countdown moves through the feral hog army that has invaded 253 of the state's 254 counties, the captive tigers that may outnumber the wild ones left on Earth, and the 145 languages spoken in Houston homes. You'll find out why El Paso is closer to the Pacific Ocean than to the other side of its own state, how King Ranch grew bigger than an entire US state, what the Apollo 13 crew actually said instead of "Houston, we have a problem," and why Texas runs the only independent power grid in the lower 48.

Near the end, the bat colony at Bracken Cave gets so dense it shows up on weather radar, the Texas economy lands at eighth in the world, and the final fact begins with an unusual clause in Texas's 1845 annexation agreement, one that still gives the state the legal right to split itself into five separate states.

If you think you already know the Lone Star State, this mix of Texas history, geography, wildlife, and secrets most Texans don't know will change your mind.

We narrate every video ourselves. The voice you hear is a real human voice, recorded by us, not an AI voice or a text-to-speech program. Each script is researched and written by us from the sources listed below.

Which of these 17 facts surprised you most? Tell us in the comments. And if you're from Texas, share something about your state that outsiders never seem to know.

CHAPTERS
00:00 - The State That Sounds Fake
00:43 - 17: The Margarita Machine in the Smithsonian
01:50 - 16: Texas's Three-Million-Hog Army
02:43 - 15: A 143-Degree Temperature Swing
03:30 - 14: Ten Landscapes Hidden Inside Texas
04:18 - 13: More Tigers Than Exist in the Wild?
05:13 - 12: Houston's Astonishing 145 Languages
05:57 - 11: America's Biggest Roads and a Manhattan-Sized Airport
06:47 - 10: El Paso Is Closer to the Pacific
07:36 - 9: Two Million-Plus Cities in One Metro
08:19 - 8: The Ranch Bigger Than Rhode Island
09:02 - 7: Bigger Than Every European Country but Russia
09:30 - 6: The Apollo 13 Quote Nobody Actually Said
10:20 - 5: More Oil Than Almost Every OPEC Nation
11:07 - 4: America's Only Independent Power Grid
11:55 - 3: The Cave Where 20 Million Bats Emerge
12:50 - 2: Texas Would Be the World's 8th-Largest Economy
13:50 - 1: Texas's Legal Right to Become Five States


On this channel we explore the 50 states of the United States through the numbers, history, and strange details most people never hear about, from Texas, California, and Florida to New York and beyond, with educational videos about US states, American geography, and what life is really like across the country.

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