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- Pennsylvania is the first state of the fifty United
States to list their web site URL on a license plate.
- In 1909 the first baseball stadium was built in
Pittsburgh.
- Hershey is considered the Chocolate Capital of the
United States.
- In 1913 the first automobile service station opened in
Pittsburgh.
- In 1946 Philadelphia became home to the first computer.
- Bob Hoffman of York is hailed the world round as the
Father of Weightlifting. Hoffman started York Barbell Corp.
in 1932 and preached the gospel of physical fitness
throughout his life as an U.S. Olympic coach, businessman
and philanthropist.
- The first daily newspaper was published in Philadelphia
on Sept. 21, 1784.
- Philadelphia saw the first Zoological garden in July
1874.
- Drake Well Museum in Titusville is on the site where
Edwin L. Drake drilled the world's first oil well in 1859
and launched the modern petroleum industry.
- In Hazleton, there is a law on the books that prohibits
a person from sipping a carbonated drink while lecturing
students in a school auditorium.
- In Philadelphia in 1775 Johann Behrent built the first
piano in America calling it under the name "Piano Forte."
- Philadelphia is the site of the first presidential
mansion.
- Betsy Ross made the first American flag in Philadelphia.
- "Doctor, if you don't give me something to help me
breathe, I'm going to stop!" came the urgent cry of 16-year
old Frederick Gable of Loganville. Vowing not to lose
another patient to pneumonia, Dr. George Holtzapple
successfully created the first application of oxygen, thus
saving his patient's life and winning international fame
through his discovery. The year was 1885.
- Stewartstown hired its first police officer in 1876. He
was also the town lamp lighter.
- Philadelphia is home to the cheesesteak sandwich, water
ice, soft pretzels, and TastyKakes.
- The Rockville Bridge in Harrisburg is the longest stone
arch bridge in the world.
- Kennett Square is known as the Mushroom Capital of the
World.
- The town of Franklin became a center for worldwide oil
production following Colonel Edwin Drake's discovery of oil
in nearby Titusville.
- The Declaration of Independence was signed in
Philadelphia in 1776.
- KDKA radio in Pittsburgh produced the first commercial
radio broadcast.
- Philadelphia is home to the Liberty Bell.
- Each year on Christmas day the "Crossing of the
Delaware" is reenacted at Washington Crossing.
- The Liberty Tunnel in Pittsburgh opened in 1924. At that
time the 5,700 foot facility was the longest artificially
ventilated automobile tunnel in the world.
- Pennsylvania is the only original colony not bordered by
the Atlantic Ocean.
- Benjamin Franklin founded the Philadelphia Zoo, the
first public zoo in the United States.
- Indiana County is the Christmas Tree capital of the
world.
- Actor Jimmy Stewart was born and raised in the town of
Indiana. Each year at Christmas the downtown area is
decorated in the theme of the film "It's a Wonderful Life".
- Pittsburgh is famous for manufacturing steel. Its
professional football team is named the Pittsburgh Steelers.
- Fairmount Park in Philadelphia is the largest city park
with over 8,000 acres.
- Pittsburgh has over 300 sets of city maintained steps.
If they were stacked on top of each other, they would reach
over 26,000 feet high. They would measure higher than a lot
of the Himalayan Mountains.
- Little League Baseball's first World Series was held in
1946 in Williamsport.
- Nazareth is the home of Martin guitars. Finger picking
good since 1833.
- The State College Area High School was the first school
in the country to teach drivers education in 1958.
- Philadelphia was once the United States capital city.
- Originally Bellefonte, a town now with a population of
5,000, was once considered to be Pennsylvania's capital. But
Harrisburg was chosen because of the easy navigation on the
Susquehanna River.
- The first coal festival was held 201 years after the
establishment of "Peter’s Camp" on Memorial weekend 1993 in
Blossburg.
- The oldest stone railroad bridge in use in Pennsylvania
is the Starrucca Viaduct that crosses PA Route 171 north of
Lanesboro in Susquehanna County.
- In June 1778, a 700 wagon caravan escorted the Liberty
Bell on its return to Philadelphia from Allentown along
Towamencin's Allentown Road. Nine months earlier, when
British troops threatened to capture the city, the bell had
been whisked into hiding via the same route.
- The Shenango River Dam near Sharpsville is a concrete
gravity dam with an uncontrolled center spillway. The
roadway crossing the top of the dam, over the spillway is
nearly 68 feet above the streambed. The dam has a top length
of 720 feet with a base width of 66 feet.
- At the Moravian Pottery & Tile Works in Doylestown
handmade tiles are still produced in a manner similar to
that developed by the potter's founder and builder, Henry
Chapman Mercer.
- The Borough of Kane is known as the Black Cherry Capital
of the World.
- George G. Blaisdell founded Zippo Manufacturing of
Bradford in late 1932. He started with a simple idea: create
a product that answers a real need, design it to work, and
guarantee it to last.
- When completed in 1882, the Kinzua Railroad Bridge near
Mount Jewett was acclaimed "the highest and longest railroad
viaduct in the entire world." Rising 301 feet from the
valley floor at its center, with a total length of 2100 feet
- Antrim Township is located in South-Central Pennsylvania
with its southern border being a part of the Mason-Dixon
line.
- Ringing Hill in Lower Pottsgrove Township is named after
the "ringing rocks" which were known for the unique ringing
sound they made when struck by a hammer.
- During the depression canned goods served as admission
to The Star Theater in Mercersburg to help supply the local
soup kitchen.
- Located in the Grape Coast region of Pennsylvania the
city of North East has four thriving wineries and is home to
the largest Welch's grape processing plant in the country.
- Penn Township, officially referred to as the Township of
Penn, was named after the founder of Pennsylvania, William
Penn.
- Punxsutawney citizens are proud to be over shadowed by
their town's most famous resident the world-renowned weather
forecasting groundhog Punxsutawney Phil. Punxsutawney is
billed as the weather capital of the world.
Thanks to: MirComer,
Madonam, Chrystal, Heather Robertson, Johnny Wang,
Landau-Smith, Barb Burba, Jskraptor, Rebecca Kane, John
Snyder, Lynn
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