Stereotypes of Texas often make it seem like everyone here wears cowboy boots, 10-gallon Stetson hats and rides horses across their ranches while oil shoots into the air from derricks in the distance. True as all those traits may be for some residents, Texas has given much to the world that can't be summed up in an amusement-park caricature. Texas is not only a vast space, but a place where innovation happens in a variety of disciplines, from technology and aviation to art, fashion and architecture.

Read on to discover the contributions to humanity that have been made on Texas soil. You might be surprised by some of the greatness that can be found within our borders, or perhaps you knew the Lone Star State was this wonderful all along. We've always felt a special fondness for the place many of us call home here at Briggs Freeman Sotheby's International Realty and after reading this list, you may want to put down roots here, too.

Texas + Technology

Innovations in the tech world occur daily, all over the planet. But Texas has been the birthplace of many inventions that most of us take for granted today. Dallas-based Texas Instruments debuted the first handheld calculator in 1967 before releasing it to the public in 1970. Also in Dallas around the same time (May 1971), Mariano Martinez debuted the world's first frozen margarita machine — you can celebrate 50-plus years of his tasty creation today at his five North Texas restaurants. Game-changing 3D printers may seem like a recent phenomenon, but they actually got their start in the mid-1980s by Dr. Carl Deckard and Dr. Joe Beaman, who created selective laser sintering — the foundation for 3D printers — at the University of Texas at Austin. 

Also coming out of the hallowed halls of UT, Michael Dell created his eponymous personal computers while there and sold them out of his dorm room before building Dell into one of the top brands in the world and a longtime Fortune 500 company.

Texas + Art

Artistic masterpieces can be found in some of the nation's top museums right here in Texas. From the Dallas Museum of Art, the Nasher Sculpture Center and the Crow Museum of Asian Art in the Dallas Arts District (the largest contiguous urban arts district in the nation) to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the San Antonio Museum of Art, the El Paso Museum of Art and several cities and towns in between, some of the world's greatest works can be seen throughout the state in both permanent collections and temporary exhibits. Throw in local galleries throughout the state, such as 500X Gallery in Dallas, Adobe Western Art Gallery in Fort Worth and Ao5 Gallery in Austin, as well as arts festivals showcasing yet-to-be-discovered artistic greats, and creativity abounds. Of course, in true Texas quirkiness, you'll also find the Prada store in Marfa and the Stonehenge-like Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo to be worth centering a road trip or two around.

Texas + Architecture

From single-family homes to high-rise skyscrapers in Texas' major metropolitan cities, magnificent architecture plays a huge role in what Texas represents. According to Curbed, a dozen architectural marvels shouldn't be missed, including the I.M. Pei–designed Dallas City Hall, The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth by Tadao Ando and the State Capitol Building in Austin. We'd add to that list the Thanks-Giving Square in downtown Dallas, brought to life by Philip Johnson; the Hotel Galvez by John Mauran in Galveston; and the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Kalita Humphrey Theater in Dallas' Turtle Creek neighborhood, soon to undergo a refresh by world-famous firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro. 

Texas + Fashion

Spend a few minutes in any of our major cities — and a few of the smaller towns, too — and you'll see that Texans love their high fashion as much as anyone in New York or Paris. Every major designer in the world has a boutique in at least one market in Texas, if not several, and you know they're not going to exist in a vacuum. Several well-known designers have Texas roots, including Tom Ford, Lela Rose, Todd Oldham and Khanh Nguyen. And we even have our own annual Fashion Week and Texas Fashion Awards honoring legends and the latest and greatest alike. For the most comprehensive look at Texas' fashion greats, visit the state's online Fashion Hall of Fame.

Texas + Aviation

Next time you fly somewhere, you have Texas to thank in at least some small way. Two of the nation's largest and most popular carriers, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines, both have headquarters in Dallas-Fort Worth, and Bell (formerly Bell Helicopter) got its start in and has its home in Fort Worth. You can visit the Frontiers of Flight Museum near Dallas Love Field or the Cavanaugh Flight Museum in Addison to learn about even more Texas contributions, or dream of other solar systems and space exploration the moment you step foot on the NASA property at Space Center Houston. And even more recently, SpaceX's location in Brownsville will be the United States' first facility for commercial rocket launches.