. . . One important reason was the need for alternatives to the expensive eastern trade routes that followed the Silk Road Those routes were dominated first by the republics of Venice and Genoa and then by the Ottoman Empire after the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 the Ottomans barred European access for decades the Spanish Netherlands ports produced more revenue than the colonies since all goods brought from Spain Mediterranean possessions and the colonies were sold directly there to neighbouring European countries: wheat olive oil wine silver spice wool and silk were big businesses.[citation needed]! ; . The Astrodome was designed by architects Hermon Lloyd & W B Morgan and Wilson Morris Crain and Anderson (Morris Architects) Structural engineering and structural design was performed by Walter P Moore Engineers and Consultants of Houston Credit for the design work on the dome roof structural goes to Dr G.R Kiewitt and Mr Louis O Bass of Roof Structures Inc it was constructed by H A Lott Inc for Harris County it stands 18 stories tall covering 9.5 acres (3.8 ha) the dome is 710 feet (220 m) in diameter and the ceiling is 208 feet (63 m) above the playing surface which itself sits 25 feet (7.6 m) below street level. .
As of the general elections of 2014 a large majority of the members of Texas's U.S House delegation are Republican along with both U.S Senators in the 114th United States Congress of the 36 Congressional districts in Texas 24 are held by Republicans and 11 by Democrats One seat is vacant Texas's Senators are John Cornyn and Ted Cruz Since 1994 Texans have not elected a Democrat to a statewide office the state's Democratic voters are made up primarily by liberal and minority groups in Austin Beaumont Dallas El Paso Houston and San Antonio as well as minority voters in East and South Texas. The State of Texas concluded that since 2000 the Manchester neighborhood in eastern Houston had the highest annual averages of 1,3-butadiene of any area in Texas. Houston's air quality has often been compared to Los Angeles and Beijing. . . Sam Houston former president of the Republic of Texas former governor of Texas retired in Huntsville Walker County, Texas Medical Center 270 EOG Resources The second president of the Republic of Texas Mirabeau B Lamar is the Father of Texas Education During his term the state set aside three leagues of land in each county for equipping public schools an additional 50 leagues of land set aside for the support of two universities would later become the basis of the state's Permanent University Fund. Lamar's actions set the foundation for a Texas-wide public school system. Between 2006 and 2007 Texas spent $7,275 per pupil ranking it below the national average of $9,389 the pupil/teacher ratio was 14.9 below the national average of 15.3 Texas paid instructors $41,744 below the national average of $46,593 the Texas Education Agency (TEA) administers the state's public school systems Texas has over 1,000 school districts; all districts except the Stafford Municipal School District are independent from municipal government and many cross city boundaries. School districts have the power to tax their residents and to assert eminent domain over privately owned property Due to court-mandated equitable school financing for school districts the state has a controversial tax redistribution system called the "Robin Hood plan" This plan transfers property tax revenue from wealthy school districts to poor ones the TEA has no authority over private or home school activities; ; 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.
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