Interesting Facts

Hankerin' for a little bit of 1980s decadence? Ride out to the ranch featured in the hit TV show Dallas. A visit to South Fork north of Dallas will evoke memories of Friday nights glued to the television waiting for the Ewing family's next feud and J.R.'s latest money-making scheme.
Dallas will forever be remembered as the site of one of America's great tragedies. At 12:30pm on November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy's motorcade was passing the Texas School Book Depository when gunfire rang out. The president had been shot and died a half-hour later. The book depository is now a museum honoring JFK's life and death.
Watch out for them pink Cadillacs! Door-to-door cosmetic sales became part of the American landscape in 1963 when Dallas housewife Mary Kay Ash launched her own company, Mary Kay, dedicated to the idea of selling beauty aids at house parties. The entire history can be unmasked at the company's pink shrine.
One Big Gulp, please. Another American tradition got its start in the Big D � convenience stores. 7-Eleven pioneered the idea when the one-time ice company began selling milk, bread, and eggs as a convenience to customers. The first store opened at Edgefield and 12th Streets in the Oak Cliff neighborhood on July 11, 1927, and now boasts more than 5,600 outlets across the US.
Step back into the Lone Star State's pioneer past. Tennessee lawyer John Neely Bryan thought he found a good site for a trading post when his wanderings brought him to the three forks of the Trinity River in 1839. A downtown reconstruction of his cabin pays tribute to the city's founder.
Have yourself one bullish Kodak moment. Nearly 40 larger-than-life bronze longhorn steers crest a hill as three cowboys lead them on a long trail ride in downtown's Pioneer Plaza. It's considered the city's Number One photo opportunity for tourists.
Stare up in awe at the stained-glass windows that make up the Spiral of Life inside the Chapel of Thanksgiving, an interfaith, multicultural shrine. It's one of the largest horizontally mounted stained-glass pieces in the world and symbolizes God's blessings and human gratitude to God.
What do Dallas and the Louvre in Paris have in common? They feature structures designed by renowned architect I.M. Pei. Pei, who has an international reputation for bold, modern buildings, designed the city's Municipal Administration Building, Meyerson Symphony Center, and the Fountain Tower, where water flows into hundreds of fountains and streams.
Not everything is big in Dallas. The city is home to a fascinating collection of dollhouses at the American Museum of the Miniature Arts. See historically authentic miniature houses depicting various styles, from a 1900s New York townhouse to a Texas farm house to a coastal Victorian home.
They've been called America's Team, and their cheerleaders are pop icons. The Dallas Cowboys have made a home at Texas Stadium while racking up five Super Bowl championships with the help of such legends as Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman. See the hole in the stadium roof, which diehard fans say allows God to watch his favorite team.