50 free Houston trivia questions with answers. Houston trivia for locals, transplants and anyone who has ever sat in traffic on the 610 Loop. This quiz covers the whole city: the Allen brothers' 1836 land deal, the general the city is named for, why the Ship Channel turned an inland town into a global port, the 1961 decision that made it Space City, and the misquote that made 'Houston' the first word of every crisis. It also covers the Astrodome and AstroTurf, the world's largest medical center, the Rodeo and its trail rides, Hurricane Harvey's record rain, the Astros, Rockets, Oilers and Texans, DJ Screw and Beyonce, kolaches and Viet-Cajun crawfish, and the museums, towers and quirks that make Houston Houston. Difficulty runs from easy to expert and is marked on every question. Every answer has been checked against Wikipedia and the primary sources it cites, and each explanation adds one more thing worth knowing.
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Q 01Houston was founded in 1836 by which pair of land-investor siblings?
The Allens
Augustus Chapman and John Kirby Allen bought the land on August 26, 1836; the spot where Buffalo Bayou meets White Oak Bayou is now Allen's Landing.
Q 02Sam Houston won Texas independence at which battle, about 25 miles east of Allen's Landing?
San Jacinto
He then won the 1836 Texas presidential election and briefly made the young city the Republic's capital.
Q 03Sam Houston holds which unique distinction in American politics?
Only person elected governor of two states
He was the sixth governor of Tennessee and the seventh governor of Texas, and as a teenage runaway lived three years with the Cherokee, who called him 'Raven'.
Q 04Houston is the most populous city in Texas and which most populous in the United States?
Fourth
The 2020 census counted 2.3 million people, and it is the largest US city not consolidated with a county.
Q 05Which of these is NOT a recognised nickname for Houston?
The Big Easy
Locals also use Clutch City, Magnolia City and 'the 713'; Space City became official in 1967.
Q 06Houston is famous as the largest US city without what?
Formal zoning regulations
Voters rejected zoning in referendums in 1948, 1962 and 1993, so the city grew several skylines instead of one.
Q 07NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center opened in Houston in 1963 on land Humble Oil donated through which school?
Rice
It was renamed the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in 1973 and covers 1,620 acres in Clear Lake.
Q 08The famous Apollo 13 line is a misquote. What did Jack Swigert actually radio to Mission Control?
Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here
Jim Lovell repeated 'Houston, we've had a problem'; the 1995 Ron Howard film cemented the wrong version, though NASA itself used it as a radio show title in 1983.
Q 09Which rocket, assembled from surplus flight-ready hardware, is displayed at the Johnson Space Center?
A Saturn V
Space Center Houston, the official visitor centre, opened in 1992 and holds the flown Mercury 9, Gemini 5 and Apollo 17 capsules.
Q 10The Astrodome, which opened in 1965, was the world's first what?
Indoor domed sports stadium
Nicknamed the Eighth Wonder of the World, it was driven by mayor and judge Roy Hofheinz.
Q 11The Astrodome was the first major venue to install artificial turf after its grass died. What was the turf named?
AstroTurf
That was 1966; the stadium's 'Astrolite' was also the first animated scoreboard.
Q 12Which famous 1973 tennis match, won by Billie Jean King over Bobby Riggs, was played in the Astrodome?
The Battle of the Sexes
King won in straight sets on September 20, 1973 in a match that was as much publicity stunt as sport.
Q 13Which Tejano star drew over 66,000 to the Astrodome at the 1995 Rodeo, in her last televised concert?
Selena
Elvis Presley set the venue's earlier records with six shows in 1970 drawing 200,000 people.
Q 21In 2005 Houston sheltered more than 150,000 New Orleans evacuees fleeing which storm?
Katrina
A month later about 2.5 million Houston-area residents fled Rita in the largest urban evacuation in US history.
Q 22The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, the world's largest, runs for how many days each March?
20
Attendance hit a record 2,735,695 in 2025; trail rides from around Texas converge on the city beforehand.
Q 23On the Friday before the Rodeo, Houstonians wear western clothing for a day known as what?
Go Texan Day
The event began as the Houston Fat Stock Show in 1932 and now emphasises scholarships.
Q 14Which president formally opened the Houston Ship Channel on November 10, 1914?
Woodrow Wilson
The first deepwater ship, the steamship Satilla, had arrived that June; World War I's thirst for oil then made the channel boom.
Q 15The Port of Houston ranks first in the US in what?
International waterborne tonnage
It is second in total cargo tonnage, and the city has the second-most Fortune 500 headquarters of any US municipality.
Q 16Which 1900 disaster in Galveston shifted Texas's main port to Houston?
A hurricane
With an estimated 6,000 to 12,000 dead, it remains the deadliest natural disaster in US history.
Q 17Which two companies were formed to develop the 1901 Spindletop gusher near Beaumont?
Gulf Oil and Texaco
The well blew for nine days at an estimated 100,000 barrels a day.
Q 18Which Houston energy company with $100 billion in revenue collapsed in a 2001 accounting scandal?
Enron
It remains the largest US bankruptcy caused specifically by fraud, and the Astros' new ballpark had just been named Enron Field.
Q 19The Texas Medical Center employs over 120,000 people and holds what distinction?
Largest such complex in the world
Its members form what is nicknamed the 'Medical Mini-City' near Hermann Park.
Q 20Harvey's record 2017 US tropical-cyclone rainfall peaked at about how many inches?
60
The 60.58-inch reading came at Nederland; the storm tied Katrina as the costliest on record at $125 billion.
Q 24The Houston Astros entered the National League in 1962 under what original name?
The Colt .45s
They took the Astros name three years later on moving into the Astrodome, and switched to the American League in 2013.
Q 25In which year did the Astros win their first World Series?
2017
The title was later tainted by a sign-stealing scandal; they won again in 2022 against the Phillies.
Q 26The Rockets moved to Houston in 1971 from which city?
San Diego
They won back-to-back NBA titles in 1994 and 1995 with Hakeem Olajuwon, earning the nickname Clutch City.
Q 27Hakeem Olajuwon and 7-foot-4 Ralph Sampson formed which nicknamed Rockets front court of the mid-1980s?
The Twin Towers
They reached the 1986 Finals but lost to the Boston Celtics.
Q 28Bud Adams moved the Houston Oilers to which state after 1996, where they became the Titans?
Tennessee
The 'Luv Ya Blue' era under Bum Phillips had reached two AFC title games; the Texans arrived as an expansion team in 2002.
Q 29The Texans joined the NFL as an expansion team in which year?
2002
Reliant Stadium opened the same year, and the Toyota Center followed for the Rockets in 2003.
Q 30The Rice Institute was established in 1912 after what happened to its namesake, William Marsh Rice?
He was murdered
The Massachusetts businessman's death led to the founding of the Rice Institute; John F. Kennedy gave his 'We choose to go to the Moon' speech at Rice Stadium in 1962.