Main articles: History of Houston and Timeline of Houston. . 5 West Texas: Comancheria JFK assassination Cinco Ranch (mostly in Fort Bend County) The Balloon Glow was first performed at the Great Texas Balloon Race! Cartography 5 References Further information: List of tallest buildings in Houston Water bodies. The Big Thicket is an area of dense forest located in the area just north and northwest of the city of Beaumont There are many small towns in this area including Woodville and Kountze, The population of the new state was quite small at first and there was a strong mix between the English-speaking American settlers that dominated in the state's eastern/northeastern portions and the Spanish-speaking former Mexicans that dominated in the state's southern and western portions Statehood brought many new settlers Because of the long Spanish presence in Mexico and various failed colonization efforts by the Spanish and Mexicans in northern Mexico there were large herds of Longhorn cattle that roamed the state Hardy by nature but also suitable for slaughtering and consumption they represented an economic opportunity many entrepreneurs seized upon thus creating the cowboy culture for which Texas is famous While in the early days of the republic cattle and bison were slaughtered for their hides soon a beef industry was established with cattle being shipped all over the U.S and the Caribbean (within a few decades beef had become a staple of the American diet), Main articles: Demographics of Houston and Religion in Houston Houston often popularly referred to as the Bayou City is crossed by a number of slow-moving swampy rivers which are essential to draining the region's broad floodplains the city was founded at the convergence of Buffalo Bayou and White Oak Bayou a point today known as Allen's Landing; During its recent history Houston has flooded several times from heavy rainfall which has been becoming increasingly common. This has been exacerbated by a lack of zoning laws which allowed unregulated building of residential homes and other structures in flood-prone areas. During the floods in 2015 and 2016 each of which dropped at least a foot of rain parts of the city were covered in several inches of water. Even worse flooding happened in late August 2017 when Hurricane Harvey stalled over southeastern Texas much like Tropical Storm Allison did sixteen years earlier causing severe flooding in the Houston area with some areas receiving over 50 inches (1,300 mm) of rain the rainfall exceeded 50 inches in several areas locally breaking the national record for rainfall the damage for the Houston area is estimated at up to $125 billion U.S dollars and it is considered to be one of the worst natural disasters in the history of the United States with the death toll exceeding 70 people on January 31 2018 the Houston City Council agreed to forgive large water bills thousands of households faced in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey as Houston Public Works found 6,362 homeowners' water utility bills had at least doubled, In September 1944 Soviet troops advanced into Yugoslavia and forced the rapid withdrawal of German Army Groups E and F in Greece Albania and Yugoslavia to rescue them from being cut off by this point the Communist-led Partisans under Marshal Josip Broz Tito who had led an increasingly successful guerrilla campaign against the occupation since 1941 controlled much of the territory of Yugoslavia and engaged in delaying efforts against German forces further south in northern Serbia the Soviet Red Army with limited support from Bulgarian forces assisted the Partisans in a joint liberation of the capital city of Belgrade on 20 October a few days later the Soviets launched a massive assault against German-occupied Hungary that lasted until the fall of Budapest in February 1945. Unlike impressive Soviet victories in the Balkans bitter Finnish resistance to the Soviet offensive in the Karelian Isthmus denied the Soviets occupation of Finland and led to a Soviet-Finnish armistice on relatively mild conditions although Finland was forced to fight their former ally Germany, Society Texas A&M University Compared with its metropolitan area the city of Houston's population has a higher proportion of minorities in 2010 whites made up 51% of the city of Houston's population; 26% of the total population was non-Hispanic whites. Blacks or African Americans made up 25% of Houston's population American Indians made up 0.7% of the population Asians made up 6% (1.7% Vietnamese 1.3% Chinese 1.3% Indian 0.9% Pakistani 0.4% Filipino 0.3% Korean 0.1% Japanese) and Pacific Islanders made up 0.1% Individuals from some other race made up 15.2% of the city's population of which 0.2% were non-Hispanic.[citation needed] Individuals from two or more races made up 3.3% of the city. ; In 2008 Houston received top ranking on Kiplinger's Personal Finance "Best Cities of 2008" list which ranks cities on their local economy employment opportunities reasonable living costs and quality of life the city ranked fourth for highest increase in the local technological innovation over the preceding 15 years according to Forbes magazine in the same year the city ranked second on the annual Fortune 500 list of company headquarters first for Forbes magazine's "Best Cities for College Graduates" and first on their list of "Best Cities to Buy a Home" in 2010 the city was rated the best city for shopping according to Forbes, Texans in 1909 marked an icon of progress with the construction of the first skyscraper west of the Mississippi the 190-foot steel-frame skyscraper was the 14-story Praetorian Building housing the Praetorian Insurance Company Dallas became the regional headquarters of the Federal Reserve in 1914 strengthening its dominance of Texas banking the city had reached 260,000 population by 1929 when the effects of the Stock Market Crash hit Texas causing a sharp drop in the prices of oil cotton and cattle; growth came to a standstill.
The most commonly abused substance in Texas is alcohol the rate of binge drinking in males in Texas is comparable to that of males in the United States in 2017 22.4% of adult males in Texas reported binge drinking as compared to 22.1% of males in the United States. Less than 12% of females adults in Texas reported binge drinking. Alcohol abuse and alcoholism can lead to a variety of health issues including liver damage heart problems cancer and depression. Further 61% of high school students in Texas have tried alcohol and 17% of Texas high school students had their first drink before the age of 13, Prior to the mid-20th century Texas was essentially a one-party state and the Democratic primary was viewed as "the real election" the Democratic Party had conservative and liberal factions which became more pronounced after the New Deal. Additionally several factions of the party briefly split during the 1930s and 40s! Native Americans determined the fate of European explorers and settlers depending on whether a tribe was kind or warlike. Friendly tribes taught newcomers how to grow indigenous crops prepare foods and hunting methods for the wild game Warlike tribes made life difficult and dangerous for explorers and settlers through their attacks and resistance to European conquest. Many Native Americans died of new infectious diseases which caused high fatalities and disrupted their cultures in the early years of colonization in the 19th century they resisted European and American expansion and there was frequent warfare After the American Civil War the United States Army was used to suppress resistance in the Indian Wars. Due to its size and geologic features such as the Balcones Fault Texas contains diverse landscapes common to both the U.S Southern and Southwestern regions. Although Texas is popularly associated with the U.S southwestern deserts less than 10% of Texas's land area is desert. Most of the population centers are in areas of former prairies grasslands forests and the coastline Traveling from east to west one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods to rolling plains and rugged hills and finally the desert and mountains of the Big Bend.
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