Houston was founded on August 30, 1836 by brothers Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen on land near the banks of Buffalo Bayou.
Houston is the fourth most populous city in the nation, with an estimated July 2018 population of 2,325,502 (trailing only New York, Los Angeles and Chicago), and is the largest in the southern U.S. and Texas. Houston is expected to become the third most populous U.S. city during the second half of the decade of the 2020s.
Greater Houston is the most ethnically diverse metropolitan area in the United States. At least 145 languages are spoken by city residents, and 90 nations have consular representation in the city.
The Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) consists of nine counties: Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery and Waller
The Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land MSA covers 9,444 square miles, an area slightly smaller than Massachusetts but larger than New Jersey.
Houston's size is 665 square miles
In the last thirty years, several Houston sports teams have won national championships:
The Houston Astros won the World Series in 2017
The Houston Dynamo won the MLS Cup in 2006 and 2007
The Rice Owls won the College World Series in 2003
The Houston Aeros hockey team won the 2003 Calder Cup and the Turner Cup in 1999
The Houston Comets won the WNBA Championship, four years in a row, from 1997 to 2000
The Houston Rockets won the NBA Championship in 1994 and 1995
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