Is there any date/time (other than September 11 2001 8:45am) in history better know than November 22 1963, 1PM? When President Kennedy died from gun shots sustained about 30 minutes earlier whilst driving in an open top car in Dallas. To quote Biff Byford, who wrote the song Dallas 1PM for Saxon’s classic1980 album Strong Arm of The Law:

“The world was shocked that fateful day

A young man's life was blown away, away, away

In Dallas 1 p.m., 1 p.m.”

And here is the classic line-up playing it live:

Of course if you’re a conspiracy-theorist you won’t believe that the fatal shots were fired from the 6th floor window of the Texas State Book Depository (pictured above) but in fact from the Grassy Knoll. But where is this grassy knoll? Well thankfully someone has signposted it:

Dallas was founded by John Neely Bryan (but note that Bryan, near College Station, home of Texas A&M, is named after William Joel Bryan, no relation). There is a replica of John Neely Bryan’s first house on Dealy Plaza (near the infamous shooting location):

Just as Bryan and College Station are linked as one metropolitan area, so are Dallas and Fort Worth, only they call theirs a Metroplex.

Forth Worth is an old Army outpost from the 1800s and today is the 16th largest city in the US.

As with everything in Texas, Fort Worth is big and full of big things - such as the cattle, which you can see wandering around in the Stockyards:

The Fort Worth Stockyards are the last of their kind in the USA and are now really just a tourist attraction. Although, if you happen to ride into town on a horse they do offer full boarding and facilities (no hitching posts though). This is definitely “Where the West Begins”!