Portal:Philadelphia
The Philadelphia Portal
Philadelphia, 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 nation, 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 seventh-largest and one of the world's largest metropolitan regions with 6.245 million residents in its metropolitan statistical area and 7.366 million residents in its combined statistical area.
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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The Rohm and Haas Corporate Headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the headquarters for the chemical manufacturing company Rohm and Haas. Completed in 1964, the building was the first private investment for the urban renewal of the Independence Mall area. Only two blocks from Independence Hall, the building, designed by Pietro Belluschi and George M. Ewing Co., was lauded for its respect to the nearby park and historical buildings. Philadelphia's city planners praised the building as a standard for all redevelopment buildings. The nine-story edifice's most notable feature is its facade of translucent, corrugated sunscreens; held in place by aluminum lattices, the sunscreens are made of Rohm and Haas's principal product, Plexiglas. In 2007 the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is today considered one of the best examples of the International style.
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The SS United States is a retired luxury passenger liner built in 1950–51 for United States Lines at a cost of $79.4 million ($932 million in 2023). The ship is the largest ocean liner constructed entirely in the United States and the fastest ocean liner to cross the Atlantic in either direction, retaining the Blue Riband for the highest average speed since her maiden voyage in 1952. She was designed by American naval architect William Francis Gibbs and could be turned into a troopship if required by the Navy in times of war, though such service was never required. The ship's fittings were sold at auction and hazardous wastes, including asbestos panels throughout the ship, were removed leaving her almost completely stripped by 1994. Two years later, she was towed to Pier 82 on the Delaware River in South Philadelphia where she remains today. The ship was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. A preservation group called the SS United States Conservancy has been raising funds since 2009 to keep the ship afloat while exploring potential new uses, as a museum, hotel, restaurant, or office space.
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Tory Burch is an American fashion designer who was born, raised, and educated in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. She attended the Agnes Irwin School in Rosemont, PA, and the University of Pennsylvania. After graduation, she moved to New York City, where she began a career working with fashion designers and at Harper's Bazaar magazine. She was a copywriter for Polo Ralph Lauren and worked for Vera Wang. She began a fashion label in February 2004. The label was an immediate success and was endorsed by Oprah Winfrey the following year. The label has stores in several large American cities and has lines that are sold in several upscale specialty department stores. Burch has won several fashion awards for her designs. Her fashion label known as "TRB by Tory Burch"—later as "Tory Burch"—began as a business operation in her Upper East Side apartment and very quickly blossomed into eighteen free-standing boutiques. In February 2004, Tory Burch opened a flagship store in the NoLIta neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City; the store was almost completely sold out on the first day. She now has locations in Atlanta, Bal Harbour, Bellevue, Chicago, Costa Mesa, Dallas, East Hampton, Houston, Greenwich, Connecticut, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Palm Beach, San Diego, and San Francisco, and her fashion line is carried in Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, and Bloomingdale's. Stories about her and her fashion line have appeared in a broad spectrum of magazines and newspapers, and in April 2005, Winfrey endorsed her line on the The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that Leverington Cemetery has the most orbs and apparitions in Philadelphia?
- ... that judge Robert Bork's leaked list of video rentals included movies such as Citizen Kane, The Philadelphia Story and Sixteen Candles?
- ... that John Morin Scott, the mayor of Philadelphia, responded to the 1842 Lombard Street riot by mostly arresting black victims?
- ... 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 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?
- ... that the Octavius V. Catto Memorial, unveiled in 2017, contains the first statue on Philadelphia public property of a specific African American?
- ... 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?
Selected anniversaries - August
- August 1, 1944 - A five day Pennsylvania Transportation Company strike over the hiring of African American streetcar operators begins.
- August 3, 2003 - Lincoln Financial Field, the home of the Philadelphia Eagles, is opened.
- August 17, 1963 - The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority is chartered.
- August 28, 1964 - A race riot breaks out on West Columbia Avenue in North Philadelphia, and lasts for two days.
Quotes -
"Here lies W. C. Fields. I would rather be living in Philadelphia."
– W. C. Fields proposing his epitaph.
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