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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Interstate 95 in the state of Pennsylvania, officially known as the Delaware Expressway and locally known as "95," runs for 51 miles from the Delaware state line near Marcus Hook to the New Jersey state line crossing the Delaware River near Yardley. It parallels its namesake Delaware River for its entire route through the city of Philadelphia and its suburbs. It is a major route through the city and the metropolitan Delaware Valley, providing access to locally important landmarks such as Philadelphia International Airport, the Philadelphia Sports Complex, Penn's Landing, and Franklin Mills. The road is among the busiest in the commonwealth, second only to the Schuylkill Expressway. An estimated 169,000 motorists utilize the road daily.
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Mount Pleasant is a historic mansion in east Fairmount Park, situated atop a hill overlooking the Schuylkill River. The mansion was built around 1761–62 in what was then the countryside outside the city. The owner was John Macpherson, a Scottish privateer who named the house Clunie. The architect was Thomas Nevell (1721–1797), an apprentice of Edmund Woolley who had built Independence Hall. Later owners included Benedict Arnold and finally Jonathan Williams, who was Benjamin Franklin's grandnephew and the first superintendent of West Point. The house is administered by the Philadelphia Museum of Art and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1966. Mount Pleasant was also designated a National Historic Landmark in 1974.
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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 the Octavius V. Catto Memorial, unveiled in 2017, contains the first statue on Philadelphia public property of a specific African American?
- ... that Glenwood Memorial Gardens in Broomall, Pennsylvania, was initially established in 1849 as Glenwood Cemetery in North Philadelphia and contained the graves of 702 Union soldiers?
- ... 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 the 1834 Philadelphia race riot began at a carousel before spreading to other parts of the city?
- ... that William F. Gannon died before reforming the membership of the married men's sodality in Philadelphia?
- ... that Fox bought a Philadelphia TV station started by a Fox?
- ... that Holy Trinity Church in Philadelphia, established in 1784, was the first national parish in the United States?
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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