7 Crazy Facts | Travel, History & City Facts

Amarillo is not your average city, and here are seven crazy facts to prove it. This Texas Panhandle city on historic Route 66 has buried Cadillacs, a steak so big it's free if you can finish it, and a secret most Americans have never heard of. Stick around, because number one is the most famous of all. #7: A team named after a prairie dog Amarillo's baseball team is named after a rodent. Meet the Amarillo Sod Poodles. "Sod poodle" is an old pioneer nickname for the prairie dog, the little critter that pops out of holes all over the Panhandle. Fans suggested more than 3,000 names in a name-the-team contest. Sod Poodles beat out finalists like the Jerky, the Boot Scooters, the Bronc Busters and the Long Haulers. Then the Sod Poodles did something wild. In their very first season, 2019, they won the Texas League championship. Not bad for a team named after a prairie dog. #6: Oprah on trial In April 1996, on her talk show, Oprah Winfrey said a segment on mad cow disease h...

 Austin, Texas. Live music, breakfast tacos, and a whole city that refuses to be normal. Today we're counting down seven crazy facts that are true about one city on Earth, and only one. You won't find these anywhere else. Let's get weird. #7: The tree that survived an attempted murder Treaty Oak is a southern live oak that has stood for centuries, longer than Austin itself. In 1927, the American Forestry Association named it the most perfect specimen of a North American tree. Then, in 1989, someone poured a powerful herbicide around its roots. The city went to war to save it: crews dug out the poisoned soil, treated the roots with sugar, and rigged up sprinklers to water it. A local man was convicted and sentenced to nine years in prison. Much of the tree died, and today it's about a third of its old size. But the rest pulled through, and Treaty Oak is still alive. Talk about a tough Texan. #6: A grocery giant saved by mops In 1980, four young Austinites opened a single...

Dallas, Texas. Big hats, big hair, big everything. But forget what you think you know. Here are seven crazy facts that are true about one city on Earth, and only one. No copycats, no ties. These belong to Dallas, and Dallas alone. Let's ride. #7: The flying red horse Dallas has a flying red horse watching over it. In 1934, the Magnolia Petroleum Company mounted a giant, rotating neon Pegasus on the roof of the Magnolia Building, then the tallest skyscraper in town. It was reportedly switched on to welcome oil executives arriving for a big petroleum convention, and for years it was the highest point on the skyline. Pilots reportedly claimed they could see its red glow from as far away as Waco. Rust finally brought it down in 1999, so the city built a replica that lit up at midnight to ring in the year 2000. The original was tracked down years later, restored, and now glows outside the Omni Dallas Hotel. Most cities have one icon. Dallas has the same icon twice. #6: The frozen cattle...