Nicknames of Houston

The city's nicknames reflect its geography, economy, multicultural population, and popular culture, including sports and music.

The most recently added nickname is "The Big Heart", which refers to assistance given by Houston and its citizens to the victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and 2006.

Houston received its official nickname of "Space City" in 1967 because it is home to NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center.

[2][3] NASA's center in Houston has its origins in the Space Task Group which directed its first crewed spaceflight program, Project Mercury.

In 1961, it grew into a bigger organization as the Manned Spacecraft Center, and in 1962 moved into a newly built campus on land donated by Rice University.

The Eagle has landed", are written in 15 languages on bronze plaques placed along the main entrance of Tranquility Park in downtown Houston.

[20]The nickname "Capital of the Sunbelt" (also "Golden Buckle on the Sun Belt")[22] appeared during the boomtown years when the city experienced rapid growth.

[23][24][25][26][27] In the late 1970s, Houston was experiencing a population increase, as people from Rust Belt states moved en masse into Texas.

[29] The "Big Heart" is a nickname Houston earned in 2005–06 among many of the storm victims from Louisiana and other affected areas who sought refuge there in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

[30] Angelo Edwards, vice chair of the ACORN Katrina Survivors Association, said, "No other city really provided the resources and assistance Houston has.

"[30] Houston housed, fed and mended more than 150,000 survivors in an effort that won acclaim throughout the United States, mounting what is believed to be the biggest shelter operation in the country's history, including Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH)-like mega-clinics that took on problems ranging from emergency care to eyeglass prescriptions.

[41] The city is a leading domestic and international center for virtually every segment of the oil and gas industry—exploration, production, transmission, marketing, service, supply, offshore drilling, and technology.

Houston is also home to 13 of the nation's 20 largest natural gas transmission companies, 600 exploration and production firms and more than 170 pipeline operators.