. Pre-European era Members of the oil and gas industry are representatives of most of the boards of Houston's arts bodies charities and museums the energy companies spent funds in order to make Houston a more attractive community for their employees to live in, (16.5) The situation reached a general crisis in late August as German troops continued to mobilise against the Polish border in August 23 when tripartite negotiations about a military alliance between France the United Kingdom and Soviet Union stalled the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact with Germany. This pact had a secret protocol that defined German and Soviet "spheres of influence" (western Poland and Lithuania for Germany; eastern Poland Finland Estonia Latvia and Bessarabia for the Soviet Union) and raised the question of continuing Polish independence the pact neutralized the possibility of Soviet opposition to a campaign against Poland and assured that Germany would not have to face the prospect of a two-front war as it had in World War I Immediately after that Hitler ordered the attack to proceed on 26 August but upon hearing that the United Kingdom had concluded a formal mutual assistance pact with Poland and that Italy would maintain neutrality he decided to delay it. Summer The United States agreed to recognize the Republic of Texas in March 1837 but declined to annex the territory the fledgling republic now attempted to persuade European nations to agree to recognition in late 1839 France recognized the Republic of Texas after being convinced it would make a fine trading partner, 9 Further reading Northcliffe The Bank of America Center is one of the first significant examples of postmodern architecture built in downtown Houston the building completed in 1984 and designed by Philip Johnson and partner John Burgee is reminiscent of the Dutch Gothic architecture of canal houses that were once common in the Netherlands the first section is 21 stories tall while the whole building reaches a height of 56 stories! John Henninger Reagan practiced law in Palestine and Henderson County Reconstruction through 1900 3.2 Birth of the Spanish Kingdom Live! the Last Concert is a live album by Mexican-American singer Selena it was recorded on February 26 1995 at the Houston Astrodome and was televised live on Univision Over 60,000 people attended; After the original natural grass playing surface died the Astrodome became the first major sports venue to install artificial turf which became known as AstroTurf in another technological first the Astrodome featured the "Astrolite" which was the first animated scoreboard the Astrodome was renovated in 1988 expanding seating and altering many original features, In December southward-moving cold fronts can bring cold rain low wind chills and rarely frozen precipitation Early January is the coldest time of the year with temperatures moderating slightly by February Winter is also the driest part of the year for Houston.
When World War II started tonnage levels at the port decreased and shipping activities were suspended; however the war did provide economic benefits for the city Petrochemical refineries and manufacturing plants were constructed along the ship channel because of the demand for petroleum and synthetic rubber products by the defense industry during the war. Ellington Field initially built during World War I was revitalized as an advanced training center for bombardiers and navigators the Brown Shipbuilding Company was founded in 1942 to build ships for the U.S Navy during World War II Due to the boom in defense jobs thousands of new workers migrated to the city both blacks and whites competing for the higher-paying jobs President Roosevelt had established a policy of nondiscrimination for defense contractors and blacks gained some opportunities especially in shipbuilding although not without resistance from whites and increasing social tensions that erupted into occasional violence Economic gains of blacks who entered defense industries continued in the postwar years. Austin the Live Music Capital of the World boasts "more live music venues per capita than such music hotbeds as Nashville Memphis Los Angeles Las Vegas or New York City" the city's music revolves around the nightclubs on 6th Street; events like the film music and multimedia festival South by Southwest; the longest-running concert music program on American television Austin City Limits; and the Austin City Limits Music Festival held in Zilker Park.
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