A <P> command causes a line break with extra spacing - i.e. for a new paragraph. A <BR> command just does a line feed with no extra space.
If you must have more than a single space, for each space character you need, use &NBSP;.
The <HR> command causes a horizontal line to be drawn across the page.
You can give a style to text for headings with the heading command <H1> ... <H6>. These have to be paired with a </Hx> statement or that style will continue to the end of the page. Yuk.