Baltimore was founded some time in the early eighteenth century and owes it's name to Cæcilius Calvert. The city grew in the same period of time as a storage place for sugar, which was produced in the Caribbean. The Star-Spangled Banner, a poem written by Francis Scott was an inspiration of the war of 1812, when the British attacked Fort McHenry. The defense of the fort brought about the writing of the poem which also has some of it's lyrics in the countries national anthem. In 1851, Baltimore annexed itself from Baltimore County and became self governing. Between 1861 and 1865, Baltimore and the state Maryland were under direct federal administration, which was due to the Riots that took place in the city in 1861. One of the most devastating fires, the Great Baltimore, rocked the city and toppled more than one thousand five hundred buildings in less than thirty minutes. The worlds tallest equilateral building, Baltimore World Trade Center, is based in the city of Baltimore. Baltimore is the home base for one of the longest running horse races in the world, the Preakness. The race has been on since 1873. Baltimore decided to revamp the downtown area. This led to renovating the Inner Harbor. The Baltimore Convention Center that opened in 1979 was reconstructed seventeen years later. In 1980, Haborplace which brought restaurants and different variants of shops under one roof, was opened. The states largest tourist destination, the National Aquarium, is based in Baltimore and was opened up in 1981. Two of the biggest sports franchises based in Baltimore, moved downtown. First it was the Baltimore Orioles in 1992 and later the Baltimore Ravens in 1998. In 2001, sixty car trains derailed underground and ignited a chemical fire that erupted for about six days. Downtown was closed completely. Luckily the fire split a water main and the fire was put out. The repercussions were that the whole downtown area was flooded. Here are a few demographics on Baltimore; Living in the city are 147,057 families. 64.34% of the population are African American, 31.63% are White, 1.53% are of Asian origin, 1.70% are Hispanic or Latino, 0.32% are Native American and 0.03% Pacific Islander. Baltimore is a tourist hotspot and the cities hotel industry is the best in the state. Accommodation is readily available. Here are a few hotels; Clarion Hotel Peabody Court, Harbor Court Hotel, Hyatt Regency, Mount Vernon Hotel, Radisson Plaza Lord Baltimore, Renaissance Harborplace Hotel, Sheraton International Hotel, Hilton Garden Inn White Marsh and Holiday Inn West Belmont. Baltimore has two of the four United States major sports franchises based in the city. They are; Baltimore Ravens (National Football League) and the Baltimore Orioles (Major League Baseball). The other sports team based in the city are; Baltimore Bayhawks and the Baltimore Blast.