Portal:Philadelphia
The Philadelphia Portal
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Philadelphia (/fɪləˈdɛlfiə/ ⓘ fil-ə-DEL-fee-ə), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the sixth-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 1,603,797 in the 2020 census. The city is the urban core of the larger Delaware Valley, also known as the Philadelphia metropolitan area, the nation's eighth-largest metropolitan area and seventh-largest combined statistical area with 6.245 million residents and 7.366 million residents, respectively.
Philadelphia maintains extensive contemporary influence in business and industry, culture, sports, and music. With 17 four-year universities and colleges in the city, Philadelphia is one of the nation's leading centers for higher education and academic research. The city 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 55th-largest urban park. Philadelphia is known for its arts, culture, cuisine, and colonial and Revolutionary-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 and passionate 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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Comcast Center is a skyscraper in Center City, Philadelphia. The 58-story, 975 feet (297 m) tower is the second-tallest building in Philadelphia after the Comcast Technology Center. Originally called One Pennsylvania Plaza when first announced in 2001, the Comcast Center underwent two redesigns before construction began in 2005. Designed by architect Robert A. M. Stern for Liberty Property Trust, the Comcast Center was delayed as the developers tried to get the site designated a Keystone Opportunity Improvement Zone. The designation would exempt tenants from most taxes for fifteen years as a way to encourage development in disadvantaged areas. Giving the Comcast Center the designation was supported by many state and city officials who hoped to keep corporations within Philadelphia, but was strongly opposed by other building owners who felt the building would have an unfair advantage in attracting tenants. Even though the bill was not approved in the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 2004, Liberty Property Trust went forward with construction. At the beginning of 2005, the final redesign and its new name the Comcast Center was unveiled. The building is named after its lead tenant, cable company Comcast, which makes the skyscraper its corporate headquarters. Leasing 1,094,212 square feet (100,000 m2), Comcast occupies 89 percent of the building. The building features retail and restaurant space and a connection to the nearby Suburban Station. In the lobby is the Comcast Experience, which is a 2,000 square feet (190 m2) high-definition LED screen that has become a tourist attraction. Designed to be environmentally friendly, the skyscraper is the tallest Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified building in the United States.
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The Second Bank of the United States was the second federally authorized Hamiltonian national bank. A private corporation with public duties, the bank handled all fiscal transactions for the U.S. Government, and was accountable to Congress and the U.S. Treasury. Modeled on Alexander Hamilton's First Bank of the United States, the Second Bank was chartered by President James Madison in 1816 and began operations at its main branch in Philadelphia on January 7, 1817 managing twenty-five branch offices nationwide by 1832. The building is part of Independence National Historical Park and serves as an art gallery housing a portrait collection of prominent early Americans painted by Charles Willson Peale and many others.
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George B. McClellan was a major general during the American Civil War. He organized the famous Army of the Potomac and served briefly (November 1861 to March 1862) as the general-in-chief of the Union Army. Early in the war, McClellan played an important role in raising a well-trained and organized army for the Union. Although McClellan was meticulous in his planning and preparations, these attributes may have hampered his ability to challenge aggressive opponents in a fast-moving battlefield environment. He chronically overestimated the strength of enemy units and was reluctant to apply principles of mass, frequently leaving large portions of his army unengaged at decisive points. McClellan's Peninsula Campaign in 1862 ended in failure, with retreats from attacks by General Robert E. Lee's smaller army and an unfulfilled plan to seize the Confederate capital of Richmond. His performance at the bloody Battle of Antietam blunted Lee's invasion of Maryland, but allowed Lee to eke out a precarious tactical draw and avoid destruction, despite being outnumbered. As a result, McClellan's leadership skills during battles were questioned by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, who eventually removed him from command, first as general-in-chief, then from the Army of the Potomac. Lincoln was famously quoted as saying, "If General McClellan does not want to use the army, I would like to borrow it for a time." Despite this, he was the most popular of that army's commanders with its soldiers, who felt that he had their morale and well-being as paramount concerns. McClellan became the unsuccessful Democratic nominee opposing Lincoln in the 1864 presidential election. His party had an anti-war platform, promising to end the war and negotiate with the Confederacy, which McClellan was forced to repudiate, damaging the effectiveness of his campaign. He served as the 24th Governor of New Jersey from 1878 to 1881.
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that in the 1932 baseball game in which pitcher Eddie Rommel won his last game, he pitched 17 innings in relief, an American League record?
- ... that queer pro-Palestinian protesters faced off against the 2024 Philadelphia Pride drumline?
- ... that the unlicensed Willy's Chocolate Experience in Scotland led to a crossover event between the American television series Abbott Elementary and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia?
- ... that Armand Ceritano acquired a Philadelphia hotel for "a smile and a handshake" – and $20, borrowed from others?
- ... that William F. Gannon died before reforming the membership of the married men's sodality in Philadelphia?
- ... that George Washington was first exhibited at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, and later relocated during the 1976 Bicentennial to Trenton?
- ... that John Morin Scott, the mayor of Philadelphia, responded to the 1842 Lombard Street riot by mostly arresting black victims?
- ... that the Octavius V. Catto Memorial, unveiled in 2017, contains the first statue on Philadelphia public property of a specific African American?
Selected anniversaries - March
- March 4, 1681 - Charles II of England grants William Penn a charter for Pennsylvania.
- March 17, 1922 - Philadelphia's first commercial radio station, WIP, is launched by Gimbels.
- March 21, 2004 - Former home of the Philadelphia Eagles and Phillies, Veterans Stadium, is demolished.
- March 26, 1928 - The Philadelphia Museum of Art officially opens on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
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"Socially, Philadelphia was still a fairly provincial city, its business community governed by the mores of the Main Line. Politically, it was a cauldron of ethnic rivalries, dominated by competing Irish and Italian constituencies."
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