The Historic Astrodome Opened Today In 1965

The historic Houston Astrodome open it's doors today in 1965. The Astrodome was a venue like no one had ever seen. The original name for the venue was the Harris County Domed Stadium. Here are a few things you may not know about the Astrodome.

The Houston Astrodome was the first fully enclosed sports venue and venue to have air condition for a building it's size.

The Houston Astrodome could hold up to 70,000 people. It was so big that is even had a chapel and a bowling alley inside of it. It was known as the "Eighth Wonder of the World."

The very first event to ever be held there was a baseball game between the Houston Astros and the New York Yankees. Mickey Mantel hit the stadiums first home run.

The Astrodome was not only home to the Astros Major League Baseball team who were there from 1965 until 1999, it was also home to the Houston Oilers, Houston's NFL team. The Oilers played in the Astrodome from 1968-1996. The Houston Rockets played there from 1971-1975. The famous Houston Live Stock Show and Rodeo was one of the longest events that was held at the "dome" from 1966-2002.

The Astrodome also gave the name to what we know today as Astro Turf. Initially real grass was planted in the dome but when it died, it was replaced with Astro Turf, and that is how it got it's name. It also featured Astrolife which was the first animated score board.

The Astrodome pretty much became obsolete with the professional sports moving to other stadiums and the Oilers leaving Houston all together. So what's going on at the dome now?

In 2002 George Strait played the domes final event. No other events were held after 2002.  In 2008 the fired department deemed parts of the building unsafe, so in 2013 some parts of it were torn down.  In 2014 it was listed National Register of Historical Places. So in other words it is a historical landmark.