Why the Thames is a "flowing history"

For the British, the Thames is the mother river, and the development and rise and fall of Britain are closely linked with the Thames.

The Thames River originates from the Cotswolds in southwest England, with a total length of 402 kilometers, passing through the capital London and more than ten cities along the river, with a drainage area of 1.3 million square kilometers. It widens in the lower reaches of London and flows into the North Sea. Thames is an ancient river, even older than London. The word London comes from the word "Linden" in Gilte, which means the seaside city. The recorded history of London began in 43 BC. The Thames makes London a rare port in the world. It can be said that without the Thames, the City of London and its business district would never have developed into one of the largest financial centers in the world, and there might not have been the East India Company or the Hudson's Bay Company in history, or even Britain today.

The Thames recorded the prosperity of the British Empire and witnessed its gradual decline. John burns, a former British parliamentarian, once famously said, "The St. Louis River is water, the Mississippi River is mud, and the Thames is a flowing history."