Portal:Philadelphia
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Philadelphia, commonly referred to as Philly, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia is the nation's sixth-most populous city, with a population of 1,603,797 in the 2020 census and is the urban core of the larger Delaware Valley (or Philadelphia metropolitan area), the nation's seventh-largest and one of the world's largest metropolitan regions consisting of 6.245 million residents in the metropolitan statistical area and 7.366 million residents in its combined statistical area. Philadelphia is known for its extensive contributions to United States history, especially the American Revolution, and served as the nation's capital until 1800. It maintains contemporary influence in business and industry, culture, sports, and music.
Philadelphia is a national cultural center, hosting more outdoor sculptures and murals than any other city in the nation. Fairmount Park, when combined with adjacent Wissahickon Valley Park in the same watershed, is 2,052 acres (830 ha), representing one of the nation's largest and the world's 45th-largest urban park. The city is known for its arts, culture, cuisine, and colonial and Revolution-era history; in 2016, it attracted 42 million domestic tourists who spent $6.8 billion, representing $11 billion in economic impact to the city and its surrounding Pennsylvania counties. With five professional sports teams and one of the nation's most loyal fan bases, Philadelphia is often ranked as the nation's best city for professional sports fans. The city has a culturally and philanthropically active LGBTQ+ community. Philadelphia also has played an immensely influential historic and ongoing role in the development and evolution of American music, especially R&B, soul, and rock. (Full article...)
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Pennsylvania Route 73 (PA 73) is a 62.51 miles (100.60 km) long east-west state highway in southeastern Pennsylvania. It runs from Pennsylvania Route 61 in Leesport to the New Jersey state line on the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge in Philadelphia, where it continues as New Jersey Route 73. Predating the Interstate and U.S. Highway Systems, the Skippack Pike, a modern section of the route, served as the primary connector between Philadelphia and the northwest suburbs.
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Independence Hall is the building where both the United States Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were debated and adopted. It is now the centerpiece of Independence National Historical Park. The building was completed in 1753 as the colonial legislature (later Pennsylvania State House) for the Province of Pennsylvania and was used in that capacity until the state capital moved to Lancaster in 1799. It became the principal meeting place of the Second Continental Congress from 1775 to 1783 and was the site of the Constitutional Convention in the summer of 1787. A convention held in Independence Hall in 1915, presided over by William Howard Taft, marked the formal announcement of the formation of the League to Enforce Peace, which led to the League of Nations and eventually the United Nations. The building was listed as a World Heritage Site in 1979.
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Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. He is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction. He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career. He was born as Edgar Poe in Boston, Massachusetts; he was orphaned young when his mother died shortly after his father abandoned the family. Poe was taken in by John and Frances Allan, of Richmond, Virginia, but they never formally adopted him. He attended the University of Virginia for one semester but left due to lack of money. After enlisting in the Army and later failing as an officer's cadet at West Point, Poe parted ways with the Allans. Poe's publishing career began humbly, with an anonymous collection of poems, Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827), credited only to "a Bostonian". Poe switched his focus to prose and spent the next several years working for literary journals and periodicals, becoming known for his own style of literary criticism. His work forced him to move between several cities, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City. In January 1845, Poe published his poem "The Raven" to instant success. On October 7, 1849, at age 40, Poe died in Baltimore; the cause of his death is unknown and has been variously attributed to alcohol, brain congestion, cholera, drugs, heart disease, rabies, suicide, tuberculosis, and other agents. Poe and his works influenced literature in the United States and around the world, as well as in specialized fields, such as cosmology and cryptography.
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that Greyhound Electronics enlisted the help of the Scarfo crime family to sell its video poker machines?
- ... that Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Britain Covey played quarterback in high school and led his team to 26 consecutive wins?
- ... that a rabbit played for the Philadelphia Eagles – as there's a drive into deep left field by Castellanos, that will be a home run. And so that will make it a 4–0 ballgame?
- ... that episodes of such game shows as Double Dare, Finders Keepers, and You Bet Your Life were filmed at the Philadelphia studios of a public TV station?
- ... that Dom DiSandro, the Philadelphia Eagles' chief security officer, was ejected from a game for getting into a scuffle with an opposing player?
- ... that John Morin Scott, the mayor of Philadelphia, responded to the 1842 Lombard Street riot by mostly arresting black victims?
- ... that Holy Trinity Church in Philadelphia, established in 1784, was the first national parish in the United States?
- ... that judge Robert Bork's leaked list of video rentals included movies such as Citizen Kane, The Philadelphia Story and Sixteen Candles?
Selected anniversaries - May
- May 6, 1844 - An anti-Catholic riot erupts in Kensington, the riots continue for three days.
- May 10, 1876 - the Centennial Exposition opens with a ceremony attended by U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant and Brazilian Emperor Dom Pedro and their wives.
- May 10, 1877 - Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art opens the museum which would eventually become the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
- May 12, 1985 - After a gun battle with members of MOVE, Philadelphia police drop a bomb on the MOVE compound starting a fire that destroys 61 houses and kills eleven MOVE members.
- May 16, 1957 - The Walt Whitman Bridge opens between Philadelphia and Camden, New Jersey.
- May 18, 1778 - The Mischianza, an elaborate fête given in honor of British General Sir William Howe is held.
- May 28, 1755 - Construction of Pennsylvania Hospital, the first hospital in the United States, begins.
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"The whole American pop culture started in Philadelphia with American Bandstand and the music that came out of that city."*
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