Houston, Texas

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since 1962 it has been the seat of the Mission Control Center of the United States' space programme; and, with the third largest port in the country (the sixth largest in the world), it is a commercial centre of major importance. The port is linked with the Gulf of Mexico by the 50 mi. Houston Ship Canal, which can take ocean-going vessels. The economic importance of Houston, which is also a great banking centre, is reflected in the impressive skyline of its skyscrapers and the plans for further development that are under way. The fact that things were once very different is shown by the Houston Livestock and Rodeo Show held each year in February, the largest event of its kind in the United States.

Houston is "mighty proud" of the fact that its name was the first word to be spoken on the moon. "Houston. Tranquility base here. The Eagle has landed," announced Neil Armstrong when the successful landing took place on 20 July 1969. One of many superlatives applied to Houston is "Air Condition Captial of the World". There is scarcely a building without air conditioning - which adds a horrendous billion dollars to the annual electricity bill.

History Houston was founded in 1836 by two brothers, John and August Allen, and named after Sam Houston, a hero of the Texan war of liberation and first President of the independent Republic of Texas, of which it was the capital from 1837 to 1839 and from 1842 to 1845, when Austin finally took over that function. During the second half of the 19th c. Houston was overshadowed by the coastal town of Galveston, but became increasingly important following the construction of a ship channel to the Gulf of Mexico between 1873 and 1914. When Galveston was almost completely destroyed by a hurricane in 1900 Houston succeeded it as the leading port in Texas.

Sights

The skyscrapers of downtown Houston offer within a relatively small area a cross-section of modern architecture - the 75-storey pentagonal column of the Texas Commerce Bank Tower (by I.M. Pei; viewing hall on 60th floor), the green glass facade of the Allied Bank Plaza (by Edward Basset; 71 storeys), the Pennzoil Place high-rise complex with its prismatic trihedral forms (by Philip Johnson) and the postmodern Republic Bank Center (also by Philip Johnson). The towering lobby of the Hyatt Regency is not to be missed. The "ravines" between the tower blocks are not too crowded as people prefer to take refuge from the heat in the air-conditioned, 6 mi. underground tunnel system that connects all the important downtown buildings.