Watford | |
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Watford ( (listen)) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 17.5 miles northwest of Charing Cross.
It is situated on the River Colne, and initially developed as a small market town until the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and breweries. While industry has declined in Watford, its location near to London and to good transport links has attracted several companies to site their headquarters in the town. It contains Cassiobury Park, a public park that was once the manor estate of the Earls of Essex, and Watford Football Club, a professional team who in the 2020/21 season play in the Championship after being relegated following the 2019/20 season from the Premier League – the highest level of English football.
The town developed on the River Colne on land belonging to St Albans Abbey until the 16th century. During the 12th century a charter was granted allowing a market, and the building of St Mary's Church began. The town grew partly due to travellers going to Berkhamsted Castle and the royal palace at Kings Langley. A mansion was built at Cassiobury in the 16th century. This was partly rebuilt in the 17th century and another country house was built at The Grove.
The Grand Junction Canal in 1798 and the London and Birmingham Railway in 1837 resulted in Watford's rapid growth, with paper-making mills such as John Dickinson at Croxley, influencing the development of printing in the town.
Mexico | |
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Mexico (Spanish: México [ˈmexiko] (listen); Nahuan languages: Mēxihco), officially the United Mexican States (Spanish: Estados Unidos Mexicanos; EUM [esˈtaðos uˈniðoz mexiˈkanos] (listen)), is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and to the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Mexico covers 1,972,550 square kilometers (761,610 sq mi) and has approximately 128,649,565 inhabitants, making it the world's 13th-largest country by area, 10th-most-populous country, and most populous Spanish-speaking nation. It is a federation comprising 31 states and Mexico City, its capital city and largest metropolis. Other major urban areas include Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puebla, Toluca, Tijuana, Ciudad Juárez, and León.Pre-Columbian Mexico traces its origins to 8,000 BC and is identified as one of six cradles of civilization; it was home to many advanced Mesoamerican civilizations, most well-known among them the Maya and the Aztecs. In 1521, the Spanish Empire conquered and colonized the territory from its base in Mexico City, which then became known as New Spain. The Catholic Church played an important role as millions of indigenous inhabitants converted. These populations were heavily exploited to mine rich deposits of precious material, which became a major source of wealth for the Spanish. Mexico became an independent nation state after the successful Mexican War of Independence against Spain in 1821.The War of Texas Independence in 1836 and the Mexican–American War led to huge territorial losses in Mexico's sparsely populated north, contiguous to the United States. The newly instituted reforms that granted protection to indigenous communities, and curtailed the power of the military and the church, were enshrined in the Constitution of 1857. This triggered the War of the Reform and French intervention.