Timeline of Pennsylvania
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Moving to Philadelphia: https://www.movebuddha.com/blog/moving-to-philadelphia-pa/
PA.GOV: http://www.pa.gov/
330Mil BC The body impressions of salamander-like creatures, estimated to be 330 million years old, were later found in sandstone rocks collected in eastern Pennsylvania and stored in the museum in Reading, Pa.
(AP, 10/30/07)
1612 The French explorer Etienne Brule is believed to be the first European to see the Great Lakes. Brule, believed to have been born in 1592, journeyed to North America with Samuel de Champlain in 1608 and helped found Quebec. Brule explored Lake Huron in 1612 and is believed to have also explored Lakes Ontario, Erie and Superior after 1615. Brule is the first European to live among the Indians and was probably the first European to set foot in what is now Pennsylvania. Brule was eventually killed by the Hurons, for reasons never known, in 1632.
(HNQ, 6/29/98)
1643 Tinicum township, founded by Swedes, was the first European settlement in Pennsylvania.
(AP, 8/22/19)
1644 Oct 14, William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, or Penn's Woods, was born.
(HN, 10/14/98)
1681 Mar 4, England's King Charles II granted a charter to William Penn (37) for 48,000 square miles that later became Pennsylvania. Penn’s father had bequeathed him a claim of £15,000 against the king. Penn later laid out the city of Philadelphia as a gridiron about 2 miles long, east to west, and a mile wide.
(PCh, 1992, p.259)(AP, 3/4/98)(SFEC, 8/16/98, p.T1)
1682 Oct 26, William Penn accepted the area around the Delaware River from Duke of York.
(MC, 10/26/01)
1682 Oct 29, The founder of Pennsylvania, William Penn, landed at what is now Chester, Pa. William Penn founded Philadelphia. Penn founded Pennsylvania as a "Holy Experiment" based on Quaker principles.
(AP, 10/29/97)(SFEC, 6/21/98, Z1 p.8)(SSFC, 8/5/01, p.C10)
1682 William Penn established Bucks County as one of Pennsylvania’s 3 original counties.
(WSJ, 3/22/08, p.R7)
1683 Jun 23, William Penn signed a friendship treaty with Lenni Lenape Indians in Pennsylvania. It became the only treaty "not sworn to, nor broken."
(HN, 6/23/98)(MC, 6/23/02)
1683 Oct 6, 13 Mennonite families from Krefeld, Germany, arrived in present-day Philadelphia to begin Germantown, one of America's oldest settlements. They were encouraged by William Penn's offer of 5,000 acres of land in the colony of Pennsylvania and the freedom to practice their religion.
(AP, 10/6/97)(www.ulib.iupui.edu/kade/germantown.html)
1686 The Lenape Indians allegedly sold land along the Lehigh River to William Penn.
(ON, 1/03, p.6)
1687 William Penn authored “The Excellent Privilege of Liberty and Property Being the Birth-Right of the Free-born subjects of England."
(www.magnacartaworldheritage.com/magna-carta-us-history/)(Econ, 12/20/14, p.35)
1688 Feb 18, At a Quaker meeting in Germantown, Pa, German Mennonites penned a memorandum stating a profound opposition to Negro slavery. Quakers in Germantown, Pa., adopted the fist formal antislavery resolution in America.
(HN, 2/18/99)(www.germanheritage.com/Publications/cronau/cronau4.html)
1692 Mar 18, William Penn was deprived of his governing powers.
(HN, 3/18/98)
1699 Jonathan Dickinson, after resuming his mercantile business in Philadelphia, authored "God’s Protecting Providence," a journal of his Florida ordeal.
(ON, 9/00, p.5)
1700 May 7, William Penn began monthly meetings for Blacks advocating emancipation.
(MC, 5/7/02)
1701 Oct 28, William Penn presented a Charter of Privileges for the Province of Pennsylvania during his 2nd and last visit to the colony. Among its provisions was one establishing total religious freedom and tolerance to those who wanted to live in peace in the colony. It remained as Pennsylvania's constitution until the outbreak of the American Revolution (1775-1783).
(www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/pa07.htm)
1712 Jun 7, The Pennsylvania Assembly banned the importation of slaves.
(HN, 6/7/98)
1718 Jul 30, William Penn, English Quaker, colonizer (No cross, no crown), died.
(MC, 7/30/02)
1720s The Ephrata Cloister communal society in Amish country near Philadelphia was founded by a former elder of the German Dunkers (German Baptists who later became the Church of the Brethren).
(Hem, 6/96, p.107)(http://www.cob-net.org/cloister.htm)
1722 Quaker Jonathan Dickinson died. He had become one of the wealthiest men in the city and served as twice as mayor.
(ON, 9/00, p.5)
1726 Jul 23, Benjamin Franklin sailed back to Philadelphia.
(MC, 7/23/02)
1726 Oct 11, Benjamin Franklin returned to Philadelphia from England.
(MC, 10/11/01)
1730 Benjamin Franklin became the official printer for Pennsylvania. He ultimately became the official printer for several colonial governments.
(AH, 2/06, p.48)
1730s German gun makers located in Pennsylvania began producing the Kentucky rifle, so named because it was intended for use on the Kentucky frontier. Its gunpowder was ignited with sparks struck when the hammer, containing a piece of flint, was released. The flintlock Kentucky rifle, with its extra long barrel and small caliber, was the most accurate rifle of its day and was used widely in the French and Indian Wars and American Revolution.
(HNQ, 12/21/99)
1731 Jul 1, The “Instrument of Association" for the Library Company of Philadelphia was signed under the leadership of Benjamin Franklin. It was America’s first circulating library.
(www.librarycompany.org/Lemay1.pdf)(AH, 2/06, p.56)
1732 Feb 26, The 1st mass celebrated in American Catholic church was at St Joseph's Church, Philadelphia.
(SC, 2/26/02)
1732 Nov 14, 1st US professional librarian, Louis Timothee, was hired in Phila.
(MC, 11/14/01)
1732 Dec 28, The first Poor Richard's Almanac was published along with the 1st known ad in the Pennsylvania Gazette. The Almanack was published by Richard Saunders (really Ben Franklin). [see Dec 19]
(HFA, '96, p.20)(MC, 12/28/01)
1733 The Pennsylvania city of Reading became one of America's first producers of iron and was for nearly a century the foremost in the country. Settled in 1733 by the sons of William Penn, the city is situated on the Schuylkill River in the southeastern part of the state. The Reading foundries furnished cannon for the American forces in the Revolutionary War and the Union during the Civil War.
(HNQ, 5/6/98)
1738 Benjamin Franklin wrote in Poor Richard's Almanack "Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor Liberty to purchase power."
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin)
1740 Sep 11, The first mention of an African American doctor or dentist in the colonies was made in the Pennsylvania Gazette.
(HN, 9/11/98)
1741 Feb 13, Andrew Bradford of Pennsylvania published the first American magazine. Titled "The American Magazine, or A Monthly View of the Political State of the British Colonies." Bradford introduced his American Magazine just days before Benjamin Franklin founded his periodical called General Magazine in Philadelphia. Bradford’s survived 3 months while Franklin’s survived for 6 months.
(HFA, '96, p.24)(HNQ, 9/3/98)(AP, 2/13/01)
1741 Feb 16, Benjamin Franklin's General Magazine (2nd US Mag) began publishing.
(MC, 2/16/02)
1743 Benjamin Franklin and John Bartram founded the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia as an American counterpart to the British Royal Society.
(WSJ, 4/25/09, p.W3)(www.amphilsoc.org/library/exhibits/nature/stork.htm)
1745 Dec 24, Benjamin Rush, American medical pioneer and signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born in Byberry, Pa.
(HN, 12/24/98)(MC, 12/24/01)
1746 Linden Hall, a girls’ boarding school, opened in Lititz, Pa.
(SSFC, 4/13/03, p.D6)
1750 Benjamin Franklin drew up plans for a “sentry box," designed to prove his theory that lightning as an electrical phenomenon.
(ON, 2/12, p.11)
1750 Teedyuscung, a Lenape Indian, joined the Christian mission of Gnadenhutten, founded by Swiss Moravian settlers in the Lehigh Valley town of Bethlehem.
(ON, 1/03, p.6)
1751 May 11, The 1st US hospital was founded in Pennsylvania. [see Feb 11, 1752]
(MC, 5/11/02)
1752 Jan 1, Betsy Ross (d.1836), flag maker who contributed to the design of the American flag, was born in Philadelphia as Elizabeth Griscom.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betsy_Ross)
1752 Feb 11, Pennsylvania Hospital, the 1st hospital in the US, opened.
(MC, 2/11/02)
1752 May 11, The 1st US fire insurance policy issued in Philadelphia.
(MC, 5/11/02)
1752 May, Dutch botanist Thomas Francois Dalibard (1709-1799) successfully performed Benjamin Franklin’s “sentry box" experiment proving that lightning is an electrical phenomenon.
(ON, 2/12, p.12)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas-Fran%C3%A7ois_Dalibard)
1752 Jun 15, Benjamin Franklin and his son tested the relationship between electricity and lightning by flying a kite in a thunder storm. Some sources date this to June 10.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin)
1752 Sep 1, The Liberty Bell arrived in Philadelphia.
(MC, 9/1/02)
1752 In the summer of this year Benjamin Franklin installed the world’s 1st lightning rods at the Pennsylvania State House.
(WSJ, 8/15/05, p.D8)
1753 Dec 12, George Washington, the adjutant of Virginia, delivered an ultimatum to the French forces at Fort Le Boeuf, south of Lake Erie, reiterating Britain’s claim to the entire Ohio river valley.
(HN, 12/12/98)
1753 Dec 14, French Captain Jacques Le Gardeur rejected the pretensions of the English to ownership of the Ohio Valley, but promised to forward Virginia Gov. Dinwiddie’s letter of trespass to his superiors in Canada.
(ON, 9/05, p.2)
1753 The Georgian-style colonial legislature (later Pennsylvania State House) was completed at 520 Chestnut St. in Philadelphia for the Province of Pennsylvania. It became the location where both the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted and thus became known as Independence Hall.
(SSFC, 5/25/14, p.P5)
1753 Benjamin Franklin use the pages of his Poor Richard’s Almanac to make a case for using lightning rods atop tall structures making storms less dangerous.
(WSJ, 8/15/05, p.D8)
1754 Jan 6, Major George Washington, while returning to Virginia, encountered a party of English settlers and militiamen at Will’s Creek sent by Gov. Dinwiddie to establish a fort and trading post at the Forks of the Ohio.
(ON, 9/05, p.2)
1754 Apr 2, A small expeditionary force of 159 men under Lt. Col. George Washington arrived at Will’s Creek and learned that the French had taken over the new Fort Prince George at the Forks of the Ohio from British soldiers and frontiersmen and renamed it Fort Duquesne.
(ON, 9/05, p.2)
1754 Apr, Teedyuscung, a Lenape Indian, joined the Iraquois Indians in the Wyoming Valley along the banks of the Susquehanna River.
(ON, 1/03, p.6)
1754 May 9, The first American newspaper cartoon was published. The illustration in Benjamin Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazette showed a snake cut into sections, each part representing an American colony; the caption read, "Join or die."
(AP, 5/9/97)(HN, 5/9/98)
1754 May 28, Col. George Washington led a 40-man detachment that defeated French and Indian forces in a skirmish near Great Meadows, Pa.
(ON, 9/05, p.3)
1754 Jun 19, The Albany Congress opened. New York colonial Gov. George Clinton called for the meeting to discuss better relations with Indian tribes and common defensive measures against the French. The attendees included Indians and representatives from Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. Benjamin Franklin attended and presented his Plan of Union, which was adopted by the conference. The meeting ended on July 11.
(AH, 2/06, p.45)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albany_Congress)
1754 Jul 3, George Washington surrendered the small, circular Fort Necessity (later Pittsburgh) in southwestern Pennsylvania to the French, leaving them in control of the Ohio Valley. This marked the beginning of the French and Indian War also called the 7 Years' War. In 2005 Fred Anderson authored “The War That Made America: A Short History of the French and Indian War."
(HN, 7/13/98)(Arch, 1/05, p.46)(WSJ, 12/14/05, p.D15)
1754 Nov 29, The Gnadenhutten mission, Pa., was attacked by renegade Lenape Indians and 11 white people were killed.
(ON, 1/03, p.7)
1755 Jul 9, General Edward Braddock was mortally wounded when French and Indian troops ambushed his force of British regulars and colonial militia, which was on its way to attack France's Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh). Gen. Braddock's troops were decimated at Fort Duquesne, where he refused to accept Washington's advice on frontier style fighting. British Gen'l. Braddock gave his bloody sash to George Washington at Fort Necessity just before he died on Jul 13.
(A & IP, ESM, p.11)(HN, 7/9/98)(WSJ, 1/5/98, p.A20)
1755 Jul 13, Edward Braddock (60), British general, died following the July 9, 1755 battle at Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania). Out of the 1,400 British soldiers who were in involved in the battle, 900 of them died. Future President George Washington carried Braddock from the field and officiated at his burial ceremony. The general was buried in a road his men had built. The army then marched over the grave to obliterate any traces of it and continued to eastern Pennsylvania. After the French and Indian War (1754-1763), the Braddock Road remained a main road. In 1804, some workmen discovered human remains in the road near where Braddock was supposed to have been buried. The remains were re-interred on a small knoll adjacent to the road. In 1913 the marker was placed there. Braddock was born in Perthshire, Scotland, about 1695, the son of Major-General Edward Braddock (died 1725).
(www.nps.gov/fone/braddock.htm)
1755 Dec 31, Teedyuscung, a Lenape Indian, led 30 Lenape Indians on a raid against English plantations along the Delaware River. Over the next few days his band killed 7 men and took 5 prisoners.
(ON, 1/03, p.6)
1755 Benjamin Franklin, a patriot of the American Revolution, served as a colonel of the Pennsylvania militia in the French and Indian War. Benjamin Franklin, at forty-nine, had already lived through two wars between the French and the English and their colonists. His face was puffy and smooth from gout, his once-powerful swimmer’s body overweight and rounded into a barrel shape.
(HNQ, 8/6/01)
1756 Jun 4, Quakers left the assembly of Pennsylvania.
(MC, 6/4/02)
1756 Nov 12, Teedyuscung, a Lenape Indian, spoke with Gov. Denny at Easton, Pa., to discuss grievances.
(ON, 1/03, p.6)
1756 German-speaking Moravians founded the town of Lititz, 35 miles southeast of Harrisburg, Pa. Non-Moravians were not allowed to live there until 1855.
(SSFC, 4/13/03, p.D6)
1757 Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) helped set up America’s first street cleaning service in Philadelphia.
(Econ, 2/28/09, SR p.5)
1757 Benjamin Franklin sailed for England. He spent almost two decades there as colonial agent, a combination lobbyist, ambassador, and banker, for Pennsylvania and, eventually Georgia, New Jersey and Massachusetts. He lived in London at 36 Craven St.
(WSJ, 8/8/95, p. A12)(USAT, 9/22/03, p.16A)
1758 Nov 25, In the French and Indian War British forces under General John Forbes captured Fort Duquesne (the site of present day Pittsburgh, est. 1754). George Washington participated in the campaign. Forbes renamed the site Fort Pitt after William Pitt the Elder, who directed British military policy in the Seven Years' War of 1756-'63. Before his arrival, the French had burned the fort and retreated.
(AP, 11/25/97)(ON, 9/05, p.5)(HNQ, 7/17/98)
1758 Feb 15, The 1st mustard manufactured in America was advertised in Philadelphia.
(440 Int’l., 2/15/99)(HCB, 2003, p. 94)
1760 Feb 14, Richard Allen (d.1831), 1st black ordained by a Methodist-Episcopal church, was born in Philadelphia.
(HN, 2/14/98)
1760s-1770s John Cadwalader, Revolutionary War General, commissioned dozens of furniture pieces from the finest craftsmen in Pennsylvania. He had married Elizabeth Lloyd, the wealthiest woman in colonial America.
(WSJ, 9/24/99, p.W9)
1761 French and Indians forces in the Ohio Valley were defeated.
(ON, 1/03, p.7)
1762 Benjamin Franklin returned to Philadelphia from London and remained until 1764.
(www.ideafinder.com/history/inventors/franklin.htm)
1763 Apr 19, Teedyuscung, a Lenape Indian leader, burned to death while sleeping in his cabin in the Wyoming Valley, Pa. The fire destroyed the whole Indian village. A few days later settlers from Connecticut arrived to resume their construction of a town.
(ON, 1/03, p.6)
1763 May 7, Indian chief Pontiac began his attack on a British fort in present-day Detroit, Michigan. Ottawa Chief Pontiac led an uprising in the wild, distant lands that later became Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
(HN, 7/24/98)(HN, 5/7/99)
1763 Aug 5, Colonel Henry Bouquet decisively defeated the Indians at the Battle of Bushy Run in Pennsylvania during Pontiac's rebellion.
(HN, 8/5/98)
1763 Nov 15, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon began surveying Mason-Dixon Line between Pennsylvania and Maryland. They surveyed 233 miles by 1767 when Indians of the Six nations told them they could not proceed any further west.
(MC, 11/15/01)(ON, 2/04, p.10)
1767 Oct 9, The survey party of Mason and Dixon came to a halt after 233 miles when Indians of the Six Nations said they had reached the end of their commission. [see Oct 18]
(ON, 2/04, p.10)
1767 Oct 18, The boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania, the Mason-Dixon line, was agreed upon. It was first surveyed in 1763 to 1767 by two British astronomers, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, in order to settle a dispute between the Calvert and Penn families, the owners at that time of the two states in question. The survey, begun in 1763 and completed four years later, done by English surveyors Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon to resolve a land-grant boundary dispute between the families of Lord Baltimore and William Penn, resulted in the Mason-Dixon Line. The line, extended in 1784, came to be known as the dividing line between free-soil states and slave states.
(AP, 10/18/97)(HNQ, 9/8/99)
1771 Jun 12, Patrick Gass, Sgt. of Lewis & Clark Expedition, was born in Falling Springs, PA.
(MC, 6/12/02)
1773 Feb 26, Construction was authorized for Walnut St. jail in Philadelphia, (1st solitary).
(SC, 2/26/02)
1773 Dec 26, Expulsion of tea ships from Philadelphia.
(MC, 12/26/01)
1774 Jul 12, Citizens of Carlisle, Penn., passed a declaration of independence.
(MC, 7/12/02)
1774 Sep 5, The first Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia in a secret session in Carpenter's Hall with representatives from every colony except Georgia. Tensions had been tearing at relations between the colonists and the government of King George III. The British taking singular exception to the 1773 shipboard tea party held in Boston harbor. The dispute convinced Britain to pass the "Intolerable Acts"- 4 of which were to punish Mass. for the Boston Tea Party. Peyton Randolph of Williamsburg, Va., chaired the 1st Continental Congress. Its first official act was a call to prayer.
(AP, 9/5/97)(HNQ, 6/25/00)(AH, 10/04, p.14)(AH, 4/07, p.31)
1774 Sep 26, John Chapman (d.1845), later known as Johnny Appleseed, was born in Massachusetts. A pioneer agriculturalist of early America, Chapman began his trek in 1797, collecting apple seedlings from western Pennsylvania and establishing apple nurseries around the early American frontier. Chapman was a Swedenborgian missionary, a land speculator, a heavy drinker and an eccentric dresser (he hated shoes and seldom wore them. He planted orchards across western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana from seed.
(www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=94)(T&L, 10/1980, p.42)(HNQ, 9/4/01)(ON, 4/09, p.10)
1774 Oct 26, The first Continental Congress, which protested British measures and called for civil disobedience, concluded in Philadelphia. The Congress had met at the Philadelphia Carpenter's Hall.
(AP, 10/26/97)(HN, 10/26/98)(SFEC, 2/20/00, Z1 p.2)
1774 Nov, Thomas Paine, English pamphleteer, arrived in Philadelphia. He had been urged to come to America by Ben Franklin.
(ON, 6/2011, p.1)
1775 Feb, Englishman Thomas Paine became editor of the Pennsylvania Magazine, owned by printer Robert Aitken.
(ON, 6/2011, p.1)
1775 Apr 13, Lord North extended the New England Restraining Act to South Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland. The act forbade trade with any country other than Britain and Ireland.
(HN, 4/13/99)
1775 Apr 14, The first American society for the abolition of slavery was organized by Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush in Philadelphia.
(AP, 4/14/97) (HN, 4/14/98)
1775 May 5, Benjamin Franklin arrived in Philadelphia, from London where he had lived since 1757. He soon began working with Thomas Paine on a pamphlet urging independence from Britain, an idea proposed by physician Benjamin Rush.
(AH, 2/06, p.52)(ON, 6/2011, p.2)
1775 May 10, The Second Continental Congress convened in Pennsylvania. It named George Washington as supreme commander. Benjamin Franklin represented Pennsylvania soon presented his reworked Plan of Union under the title The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Continental_Congress)(AH, 2/06, p.47)
1775 Jul 26, The Continental Congress established a postal system for the colonies with Benjamin Franklin as the first postmaster general in Philadelphia.
(AP, 7/26/97)(HN, 7/26/98)
1775 Nov 10, The US Continental Marines were organized under authority of the Continental Congress. Congress commissioned Samuel Nicholas to raise two Battalions of Marines. That very day, Nicholas set up shop in Philadelphia’s Tun Tavern. He appointed Robert Mullan, then the proprietor of the tavern, to the job of chief Marine Recruiter serving, of course, from his place of business at Tun Tavern. The naval infantry later became the US Marine Corps.
(AP, 11/10/97)(www.usmcpress.com/heritage/usmc_heritage.htm)(Economist, 4/4/20, p.22)
1776 Jul 4, The Continental Congress approved adoption of the amended Declaration of Independence, prepared by Thomas Jefferson and signed by John Hancock--President of the Continental Congress--and Charles Thomson, Congress secretary, without dissent. However, the New York delegation abstained as directed by the New York Provisional Congress. On July 9, the New York Congress voted to endorse the declaration. On July 19, Congress then resolved to have the "Unanimous Declaration" inscribed on parchment for the signature of the delegates. Among the signers of the Declaration of Independence, two went on to become presidents of the United States, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. The Declaration of Independence was signed by president of Congress John Hancock and secretary Charles Thomson. John Hancock said, "There, I guess King George will be able to read that." referring to his signature on the Declaration of Independence. Most delegates signed the parchment copy on August 2. Other signers later included Benjamin Rush and Robert Morris. Of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, eight were born outside North America. In 2007 David Armitage authored “The Declaration of Independence: A Global History."
(SFC,12/19/97,p.B6)(SFC,2/9/98, p.A19)(WSJ, 1/4/07, p.B11)(SFC, 7/4/13, p.A14)
1776 Jul 5, The Declaration of Independence was first printed by John Dunlop in Philadelphia. 200 copies were prepared July 5-6 and distributed to the states.
(HN, 7/5/98)(HNQ, 7/4/99)(SFC, 7/4/01, p.A3)
1776 Jul 6, The US Declaration of Independence was announced on the front page of "PA Evening Gazette."
(MC, 7/6/02)
1776 Jul 8, Col. John Nixon gave the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence to a crowd gathered at Independence Square in Philadelphia. The reading was announced by the "Liberty Bell." The bell had the inscription: "proclaim liberty throughout all the land onto all the inhabitants thereof."
(AP, 7/8/97)(SFEC, 8/16/98, p.T5)
1776 Aug 2, In Philadelphia most members of the Continental Congress began attaching their signatures to the parchment copy of the Declaration of Independence. Benjamin Harrison was one of the signers. His son and grandson later became the 9th and 23rd presidents of the US. Most of the 55 signatures were affixed on August 2, but Matthew Thornton of New Hampshire, who was not a member of Congress when the declaration was adopted, added his name in November.
(Civil., Jul-Aug., '95, p.61)(SFC, 5/7/96, p.A-6)(AP, 8/2/97)(HNQ, 7/4/99)
1775 Dec 18-1775 Dec 27, In Philadelphia Benjamin Franklin, John Jay and Francis Daymon, members of the Committee of Secret Correspondence, met 3 times at Carpenter’s Hall with French agent Chevalier Julien-Alexandre Achard de Bonvouloir regarding French support for American Independence.
(AH, 2/06, p.58)
1775 Nov 10, The US Marines were organized under authority of the Continental Congress. Congress commissioned Samuel Nicholas to raise two Battalions of Marines. That very day, Nicholas set up shop in Philadelphia’s Tun Tavern. He appointed Robert Mullan, then the proprietor of the tavern, to the job of chief Marine Recruiter serving, of course, from his place of business at Tun Tavern.
(AP, 11/10/97)(www.usmcpress.com/heritage/usmc_heritage.htm)
1776 Jan 10, Thomas Paine (1737-1809), British émigré and propagandist, anonymously published "Common Sense," a scathing attack on King George III's reign over the colonies and a call for complete independence. The first 1,000 sold within days at 2 shillings. By the end of the year some 150,000 copies were sold, greatly affecting public sentiment and the deliberations of the Continental Congress leading up to the Declaration of Independence. An instant bestseller in both the colonies and in Britain, Paine baldly stated that King George III was a tyrant and that Americans should shed any sentimental attachment to the monarchy. America, he argued, had a moral obligation to reject monarchy.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Paine)(AP, 1/10/98)(ON, 6/2011, p.3)
1776 Mar 2, The American Secret Committee of Correspondence appointed Connecticut lawyer Silas Deane as a special envoy to negotiate with the French government for aid.
(AH, 2/06, p.59)
1776 Dec 2, George Washington's army began retreating across the Delaware River from New Jersey to Pennsylvania. In 2004 David Hackett Fischer authored "Washington's Crossing."
(WSJ, 2/6/04, p.W8)
1776 Dec 8, George Washington's retreating army in the American Revolution crossed the Delaware River from New Jersey to Pennsylvania.
(AP, 12/8/97)
1776 Dec 23, Thomas Paine’s pamphlet, “The American Crisis," which included the line "These are the times that try men's souls…" was read out loud by George Washington to the Continental Army.
(ON, 6/2011, p.4)
1776 Dec 25, Gen. George Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware River for a surprise attack against Hessian forces at Trenton, N.J.
(AP, 12/25/97)
1776 The Quakers of Pennsylvania abolished slavery within the Society of Friends and then took their crusade to society at large by petitioning the state legislature to outlaw the practice.
(AH, 10/02, p.50)
1777 Jun 14, The Continental Congress in Philadelphia adopted the Stars and Stripes as the national flag. America's Flag Day, commemorates the date when John Adams spoke the following words before the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. "Resolved, that the Flag of the thirteen United States shall be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the Union be thirteen stars, white on a blue field, representing a new constellation." Over the years, there have been 27 versions of the American flag. The present version was adopted on July 4, 1960, when Hawaii became the 50th state.
(AP, 6/14/97)(HNQ, 6/14/98)
1777 Jul 4, No member of Congress thought about commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence until July 3 - one day too late. So the first organized elaborate celebration of independence occurred the following day: July 4, 1777, in Philadelphia.
(http://tinyurl.com/mpsa8y)
1777 Sep 11, General George Washington and his troops were defeated by the British under General Sir William Howe at the Battle of Brandywine in Pennsylvania. Posing as a gunsmith, British Sergeant John Howe served as General Gage's eyes in a restive Massachusetts colony.
(HN, 9/11/98)
1777 Sep 20, British Dragoons massacred sleeping Continental troops at Paoli, Pa.
(MC, 9/20/01)
1777 Sep 26, The British army launched a major offensive during the American Revolution, capturing Philadelphia.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_campaign)(AP, 9/26/97)
1777 Sep 30, The Congress of the United States, forced to flee in the face of advancing British forces, moved to York, Pennsylvania.
(AP, 9/30/00)
1777 Oct 4, George Washington's troops launched an assault on the British at Germantown, Penn., resulting in heavy American casualties. British General Sir William Howe repelled Washington's last attempt to retake Philadelphia, compelling Washington to spend the winter at Valley Forge.
(AP, 10/4/97)(HN, 10/4/98)
1777 Nov 15, The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation in York, Pa. These instituted the perpetual union of the United States of America and served as a precursor to the U.S. Constitution. The structure of the Constitution was inspired by the Iroquois Confederacy of six major northeastern tribes. The matrilineal society of the Iroquois later inspired the suffragist movement.
(PCh, 1992, p.325)(AP, 11/15/97)(SFEC, 4/19/98, BR p.2)(HN, 11/15/98)
1777 Dec 2, British officers under Gen. Howe met in the Philadelphia home of Lydia Darragh to discuss plans to the attack American forces on December 5, just prior to Gen. Washington’s planned move to Valley Forge. Mrs. Darragh listened in on the plans and sent word to Whitemarsh of the impending attack.
(ON, 8/07, p.8)
1777 Dec 5, A British advance column met unexpected resistance at Germantown, Penn. Gen. Howe refrained from a direct attack on Whitemarsh, where Gen. Wasinington was based, and the battle dissolved in a series of inconclusive skirmishes that lasted 3 days. The Americans lost 90 men killed or wounded and the British lost 60.
(ON, 8/07, p.8)
1777 Dec 8, Britain’s Gen. Howe withdrew to Philadelphia following a failed attempt on American forces encamped at Whitemarsh.
(ON, 8/07, p.8)
1777 Dec 19, Gen. George Washington led his army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge, Pa., to camp for the winter. [see Dec 17]
(AP, 12/19/97)
1777 George Washington led a campaign against the British and their Iroquois allies in Pennsylvania, New York, and the Ohio country. These included the Six Nations Indians: Mohawk, Cayuga, Onondaga, Seneca, Oneida, and Tuscarora. In 2005 Glenn F. Williams published “The Year of the Hangman: George Washington’s Campaign Against the Iroquois.
(WSJ, 7/26/05, p.D8)
1777-1778 Some 2,000 American soldiers died at Washington’s Valley Forge encampment over a harsh weather period of 7 months.
(WSJ, 1/3/02, p.A7)
1778 Jun 18, American forces entered Philadelphia as the British withdrew during the Revolutionary War.
(AP, 6/18/97)(HN, 6/18/98)
1778 Jun 19, General George Washington’s troops finally left Valley Forge after a winter of training. Washington left to intercept the British force on its way to New York City.
(HN, 6/19/98)(MC, 6/20/02)
1778 Jun 27, The Liberty Bell came home to Philadelphia after the British left.
(MC, 6/27/02)
1778 Jun, George Washington appointed Benedict Arnold as military governor of Philadelphia.
(ON, 11/01, p.1)
1778 Jul 3, The Wyoming Massacre occurred during the American Revolution in the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania. As part of a British campaign against settlers in the frontier during the war, 360 American settlers, including women and children, were killed at an outpost called Wintermoot's Fort after they were drawn out of the protection of the fort and ambushed.
(HNQ, 11/5/98)(MC, 7/3/02)
1778 Sep 17, The 1st treaty between the US and Indian tribes was signed at Fort Pitt.
(MC, 9/17/01)
1779 May 23, Benedict Arnold, military governor of Philadelphia, wrote a query to the British asking what they would pay for his services. He had already begun trading with the British for personal profit and faced charges.
(ON, 11/01, p.1)
1779 Dec 25, A court-martial was convened against Benedict Arnold. He defended himself successfully on 6 of 8 charges but was convicted of illegally issuing a government pass and using government wagons to transport personal goods.
(ON, 11/01, p.2)
1780 Mar 1, Pennsylvania became the first U.S. state to abolish slavery (for new-borns only). It was followed by Connecticut and Rhode Island in 1784, New York in 1785, and New Jersey in 1786. Massachusetts abolished slavery through a judicial decision in 1783 (see July 8 1777).
(http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/clementsmss/umich-wcl-M-230dau?view=text)
1780 Apr, George Washington censured Benedict Arnold for his misdeeds as governor of Philadelphia.
(ON, 11/01, p.2)
1782 Jan 7, The 1st US commercial bank, Bank of North America, opened in Philadelphia.
(MC, 1/7/02)
1782 Jun 20, Congress approved the Great Seal of the United States and the eagle as its symbol.
(AP, 6/20/97)(MC, 6/20/02)
1783 May 30, The first American daily newspaper, The Pennsylvania Evening Post, began publishing in Philadelphia.
(HN, 5/30/01)
1785 Jan 6, Haym Salomon (44) died in Philadelphia. He helped finance the US revolution.
(MC, 1/6/02)
1785 Mar 1, Philadelphia Society for the Promotion of Agriculture was organized.
(SC, 3/1/02)
1785 May 9, James Pollard Espy, meteorologist (Philosophy of Storms), was born in Pennsylvania.
(MC, 5/9/02)
1785 Oct 18, Benjamin Franklin was elected president of Pennsylvania. Special balloting unanimously elected Franklin the sixth President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, replacing John Dickinson.
(AH, 2/06, p.47)(http://help.com/post/275760-why-is-benjamin-franklin-important)
1787 Apr 12, Philadelphia's Free African Society formed.
(MC, 4/12/02)
1787 May 25, The Constitutional Convention convened in Philadelphia after enough delegates showed up for a quorum. The Founding Fathers turned to the Rushworth's Collections of England for revolutionary precedents. George Washington presided. [see May 25, 1777] Rhode Island refused to send delegates.
(AP, 5/25/97)(WSJ, 3/10/99, p.A22)(HN, 5/25/99)(Econ, 9/16/06, p.44)
1787 Aug 6, The Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia began to debate the articles contained in a draft of the United States Constitution.
(AP, 8/6/97)
1787 Sep 17, The Constitution of the United States was completed and signed by a majority of delegates (12) attending the constitutional convention in Philadelphia. The US Constitution went into effect on Mar 4, 1789. Clause 3 of Article I, Section 8 empowered Congress to "regulate Commerce with foreign nations, among the several states, and with the Indian Tribes." Two of the signers went on to become presidents of the United States. George Washington, the president of the Constitutional Convention, and James Madison both signed the Constitution. The US Constitution is the world's oldest working Constitution. George Mason of Virginia refused to sign the document because he thought it made the federal government too powerful believed that it should contain a Bill of Rights.
(AP, 9/17/97)(WUD, 1994, p.314)(WSJ, 4/9/99, p.W17)(HNQ, 5/19/99)(WSJ, 3/31/06, p.A1)
1787 Sep 17, The US Constitution included the Connecticut, or "Great," Compromise in which every state was conceded an equal vote in the Senate irrespective of its size, but representation in the House was to be on the basis of the "federal ratio," an enumeration of the free population plus three fifths of the slaves. The convention decided that ratification by nine states would be sufficient for their document to replace the 1777 Articles of Confederation.
(SSFC, 11/2/03, p.M6)(Economist, 9/30/17, p.23)
1787 Sep 17, The "College of Electors" (electoral college) was established at the Constitutional Convention with representatives to be chosen by the states. Pierce Butler of South Carolina first proposed the electoral college system. [see Sep 13, 1788]
(SFC, 11/9/00, p.A14)(WSJ, 11/9/00, p.A26)
1787 Sep 17, The Electoral College, proposed by James Wilson, was the compromise that the Constitutional Convention reached. In 2004 George C. Edwards III authored “Why the Electoral College Is Bad for America."
(www.usconstitution.net/consttop_elec.html)(SSFC, 10/17/04, p.M3)
1787 Dec 10, Thomas H. Gallaudet, a pioneer of educating the deaf, was born in Philadelphia.
(AP, 12/10/07)
1787 Dec 12, Pennsylvania became the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
(AP, 12/12/97)
1787 Peter Markoe (1752?-1792) authored “An Algerine Spy in Pennsylvania." His satirical provocation helped to push the US Congress authorized a Navy and to dispatch Marines to subdue the pirates of Tripoli.
(WSJ, 6/2/07, p.P8)
1787 Rev. Richard Allen and Absalom Jones decided to form the Free African Society, a non-denominational religious mutual aid society for the black community. Eventually this society grew into the African Church of Philadelphia.
(www.pbs.org)
1789 Mar 2, Pennsylvania ended the prohibition of theatrical performances.
(SC, 3/2/02)
1789 Dec 28, Lydia Darrragh (b.1729), American spy, died in Philadelphia. Her exploits in 1777 did not become public until the publication of an anonymous article in 1827.
(ON, 8/07, p.8)(www.lexidigital.com/bcdarwomen4.htm)
1790 Mar 1, President Washington signed a measure authorizing the first US Census. The Connecticut Compromise was a proposal for two houses in the legislature-one based on equal representation for each state, the other for population-based representation-that resolved the dispute between large and small states at the Constitutional Convention. Connecticut delegate Roger Sherman's proposal led to the first nationwide census in 1790. The population was determined to be 3,929,625, which included 697,624 slaves and 59,557 free blacks. The most populous state was Virginia, with 747,610 people and the most populous city was Philadelphia with 42,444 inhabitants. The average cost of this year’s census was 1.13 cents per person.
(HNQ, 7/13/01)(AP, 3/1/08)(http://www.genealogybranches.com/censuscosts.html)
1790 Apr 17, Benjamin Franklin (born 1706), American statesman, died in Philadelphia at age 84. He mechanized the process of making sounds from tuned glass with his glass armonica. In 2000 H.W. Brands authored his Franklin biography: "The First American." In 2003 Walter Isaacson authored "Benjamin Franklin: An American Life."
(AP, 4/17/97)(SFEC,12/28/97, DB p.17)(WSJ, 9/20/00, p.A24)(WSJ, 7/3/03, p.D8)
1790 Jun 9, The "Philadelphia Spelling Book" was the first US work to be copyrighted.
(WSJ, 6/14/00, p.A1)(MC, 6/9/02)
1790 Aug 2, The enumeration for the first US census began. It showed that 3,929,326 people were living in the US of which 697,681 were slaves, and that the largest cities were New York City with 33,000 inhabitants; Philadelphia, with 28,000; Boston, with 18,000; Charleston, South Carolina, with 16,000; and Baltimore, with 13,000. Census records for Delaware, Georgia, New Jersey, and Virginia were lost sometime between 1790 and 1830.
(AP, 8/2/06)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1790_United_States_Census)
1790 Dec 6, Congress moved from New York City to Philadelphia, where Washington served out his two terms. He is the only president who never resided in the White House.
(AP, 12/6/97)(HNPD, 12/22/98)
1791 Mar 11, Samuel Mulliken of Philadelphia was the 1st to obtain more than 1 US patent.
(MC, 3/12/02)
1791 Apr 23, James Buchanan, was born in Franklin County, Pa. He was the fifteenth U.S. president (1857-1861) and the only president not to marry.
(AP, 4/23/97)(HN, 4/23/99)
1791 Jul 25, Free African Society (FAS) leaders drew up a plan to organize a church for African-Americans.
(www.pbs.org)
1791 William Sprague opened the 1st US carpet mill in Philadelphia.
(SFCM, 10/10/04, p.8)
1793 Jan 9, The first US manned balloon flight occurred as Frenchman Jean Pierre Blanchard, using a hot-air balloon, flew between Philadelphia and Woodbury, N.J. He stayed airborne for 46 minutes, traveled close to 15 miles and set down at the "old Clement farm" in Deptford, New Jersey. [see Jun 23, 1784, Mar 9, 1793]
(WSJ, 3/31/98, p.A1)(AP, 1/9/99)(ON, 6/09, p.2)
1793 Jun 20, Eli Whitney petitioned for a cotton gin patent in Philadelphia.
(www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part3/3h1517t.html)
1793 The 1st US half-cent and one cent coins were minted in Philadelphia. For almost 6 decades the obverse side carried an image of Lady Liberty. The first coins were related to the silver dollar. The half-dollar contained half as much silver, the quarter had one-fourth as much. The dime had a 10th and the half dime has a 20th as much silver as the dollar. Only the penny was made of copper. In 1866 the Mint decided to produce a larger five-cent coin. In 2012 a one-cent copper coin minted this year fetched $1 million at a Florida auction. By 2018 only about 500 pennies were left in existence and one put up for auction was valued at $300,000.
(SFC, 9/11/96, p.A4)(WSJ, 12/12/03, p.W15)(SSFC, 9/27/09, Par p.25)(AP, 1/8/12)(SFC, 1/6/18, p.A6)
1793 There was a yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia. About 5,000 people were killed. Stephen Girard risked his life and fortune in stopping the epidemic.
(WSJ, 1/2/97, p.6)(Econ, 5/14/16, p.52)
1794 Feb 14, 1st US textile machinery patent was granted, to James Davenport in Phila.
(MC, 2/14/02)
1794 May, Richard Allen purchased a blacksmith shop in Philadelphia and had it moved near St. Thomas. There he founded an African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church he called Bethel, "House of God." The Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia was founded by Richard Allen after he was pulled from his knees one Sunday by a white usher while praying at St. George Methodist Episcopal Church. It later stood as the oldest parcel of land continuously owned by African Americans. The Richard Allen Museum contains 19th century artifacts from the church. In 1997 it was the world’s oldest AME church. The church elected its first female bishop in 2000.
(SFC, 6/24/96, p.A19)(SFC, 7/12/00, p.A3)(www.pbs.org)
1794 Jul 17, In Philadelphia the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, one of the first black churches in the country, opened its doors.
(www.pbs.org)
1794 Aug 7, George Washington issued a proclamation telling a group of Western Pennsylvania farmers to stop their Whiskey Rebellion. In the US in western Pennsylvania, angry farmers protested a new federal tax on whiskey makers. The protest flared into the open warfare known as the Whiskey Rebellion between US marshals and whiskey farmers.
(http://www.ttb.gov/public_info/whisky_rebellion.shtml)(A&IP, ESM, p.16)(HNQ, 10/14/99)
1794 French Azilum near Towanda was planned as an asylum for Marie-Antoinette, her children and other loyalists of the monarchy seeking refuge from the French Revolution. Loyalists who kept their heads did come and settle.
(HT, 5/97, p.18)
1797 Jul 10, 1st US frigate, the "United States," was launched in Philadelphia.
(MC, 7/10/02)
1798 Jan 30, A brawl broke out in the House of Representatives in Philadelphia. Matthew Lyon of Vermont spat in the face of Roger Griswold of Connecticut, who responded by attacking him with a hickory walking stick. Lyon was re-elected congressman while serving a jail sentence for violating the Sedition Acts of 1798.
(AP, 1/30/98)(SFC, 4/27/00, p.A5)(WSJ, 10/29/04, p.W10)
1798 The first big US bank robbery was at the Philadelphia Carpenter's Hall, which was leased to the Bank of Philadelphia.
(SFEC, 2/20/00, Z1 p.2)
1799 Feb 15, The 1st US printed ballots were authorized in Pennsylvania.
(440 Int’l., 2/15/99)
1799 In Pennsylvania the Lazaretto Quarantine Station was built in Tinicum Township to protect the Port of Philadelphia against the introduction of diseases that could lead to epidemics. The Lazaretto closed as a hospital in 1890 but then served as a resort and seaplane base before the start of World War I. In 2019 plans called for converting the structure into township offices.
(AP, 8/22/19)
1803 Feb 14, An apple parer was patented by Moses Coats in Downington, Penn.
(MC, 2/14/02)
1803 Sep 13, Commodore John Barry, considered by many the father of the American Navy, died in Philadelphia.
(AP, 9/13/97)
1804 Feb 6, Joseph Priestley (b.1733), English-born US writer, philosopher and chemist, died in Pennsylvania. He became best known for having discovered oxygen. Priestley also figured out how to manufacture carbonated water and is sometimes called “the father of the soft-drink industry." In 2008 Steven Johnson authored “The Invention of Air: A Story of Science, Faith, Revolution, and the Birth of America."
(www.britannica.com/eb/article-9061366)(ON, 10/05, p.1)(SFC, 1/9/09, p.E3)
1805 The Philadelphia harbor was dredged with a high-pressure steam engine invented by Oliver Evans. He was unable to get a proper patent for it.
(WSJ, 6/4/08, p.A19)
1806 Shoemakers in Philadelphia formed a union.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R27)
1807 May 22, Townsend Speakman 1st sold fruit-flavored carbonated drinks in Phila.
(MC, 5/22/02)
1808 Feb 11, Anthracite coal was 1st burned as fuel, experimentally, in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
(MC, 2/11/02)
1810 Feb 28, The 1st US fire insurance joint-stock company was organized in Philadelphia.
(MC, 2/28/02)
1810 Apr 17, Lewis Norton of Troy, PA., introduced his pineapple cheese.
(440 Int'l, 4/17/03)
1811 Oct 29, The 1st Ohio River steamboat left Pittsburgh for New Orleans.
(MC, 10/29/01)
1811 A group of amateur naturalists formed the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia.
(AH, 10/04, p.20)
1812 Dec 4, Peter Gaillard of Lancaster, Pa., patented a horse-drawn mower.
(MC, 12/4/01)
1812 The steamboat New Orleans was built in Pittsburgh and steamed to New Orleans but lacked sufficient power to return upstream.
(ON, 7/02, p.9)
1813 Aug 23, Alexander Wilson (b.1766), Scottish-born poet and naturalist, died in Philadelphia. He had completed 7 volumes of “American Ornithology" and was working on an 8th volume when he died.
(AH, 10/04, p.23)(www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/PA_Env-Her/alexandar_wilson.htm)
1814 Dec 1, The shallow-draft steamboat Enterprise, completed in Pittsburgh under the direction of keelboat captain Henry Miller Shreve, left for New Orleans to deliver guns and ammunition to Gen. Jackson.
(ON, 7/02, p.9)
1814 Dec 14, The steamboat Enterprise, designed by keelboat captain Henry Miller Shreve, arrived in New Orleans with guns and ammunition for Gen. Jackson. It was immediately commandeered for military service.
(ON, 7/02, p.9)
1815 Sep 8, Alexander Ramsey (d.1903), territorial governor of Minnesota (1849-1853), was born near Harrisburg, Pa.
(www.bioguide.congress.gov)
1816 Dec 2, The first savings bank in the United States, the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society, opened for business.
(AP, 12/2/99)
1816 Pittsburgh was incorporated on the site of old Fort Pitt.
(SFC, 1/29/00, p.E3)
1817 Mar 2, The 1st US Evangelical church building was dedicated in New Berlin, PA.
(SC, 3/2/02)
1818 Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH) was founded in Philadelphia as John A. Brown and Company, an importer of linen. On January 1, 1931, Brown Brothers And Company merged with Harriman Brothers & Company, an investment company started in 1912 with railway money.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_Brothers_Harriman_%26_Co.)
1819 In Philadelphia Dr. Thomas W. Dyott, (druggist, patent-medicine vendor, and physician) purchased the Kensington Glass Works. He expanded the business and changed the name to the Dyottville Glass Works. He was forced out of the firm in 1838, but the glassworks continued operating until about 1923.
(SFC, 1/14/98, Z1 p.2)
1821 Feb 23, College of Apothecaries, the 1st US pharmacy college, was organized in Philadelphia.
(MC, 2/23/02)
1821 Nov 9, The 1st US pharmacy college held 1st classes in Philadelphia.
(MC, 11/9/01)
1824 The Second Bank of the United States, established by federal charter in 1791, was completed in Philadelphia by William Strickland. It was modeled after the Parthenon. From 1841-1934 it served as a Custom House. It was acquired by the National Park Service in 1939 and in 1974 became the home of the Peale portraits. The renovated museum reopened Dec 1, 2004.
(WSJ, 2/22/05, p.D10)
1825 Philadelphia druggist Elie Magliore Durand first touted the effervescent soda water as a health drink. Shortly afterward, New York inventor John Matthews originated the fountain apparatus that conveniently rested on a pharmacist's counter to dispense carbonated drinks.
(HNQ, 6/12/98)
1829 Jul 4, Cornerstone laid for 1st US mint (Chestnut & Juniper St, Phila).
(Maggio, 98)
1829 Oct 23, The Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia received its 1st prisoner, burglar Charles Williams (18). It was based on the Quaker idea of reform through solitude and reflection. In 1913 the Pennsylvania System of isolation was abandoned and the isolation practices ended. The prison was designed by John Haviland and was built on the outskirts of Philadelphia. The whole fortress-like exterior was just a façade hiding the radial structure of the inner prison. It opened to tourists in 1971 after being closed to prisoners.
(WSJ, 9/19/97, p.B1)(AHHT, 10/02, p.18)(Insider, 8/14/20)
1829 In Pennsylvania David G. Yuengling (d.1877), an immigrant from Germany, established the Eagle Brewery on Centre St. in Pottsville. As of 2016 the D.G. Yuengling & Son brewery was recognized as the oldest in the United States.
(http://www.yuengling.com/our_story/)(WSJ, 3/23/04, p.B5)(SFC, 6/23/16, p.C6)
1830 Sep 20, The National Negro Convention convened in Philadelphia with the purpose of abolishing slavery.
(HN, 9/20/98)
1830 George Brinton began constructing a home later called Rondelay in Chadds Ford. After extensive renovations the 6 bedroom home on 38.9 acres was listed for sale in 1998 for $2.9 mil.
(WSJ, 4/3/98, p.W8)
1830-1850 The Pennsylvania German community made traditional hand-stitched show towels and most show towels date from this period. They were hung on a door in the main room of a house.
(SFC,12/10/97, Z1 p.9)
1831 Feb 19, The 1st practical US coal-burning locomotive made its 1st trial run in Penn.
(MC, 2/19/02)
1832 Aug, In Pennsylvania 57 Irish immigrants died of cholera after traveling there to build a railroad. In 2009 their bones were found at a woodsy site known as Duffy's Cut, named after Philip Duffy, who hired the immigrants from Donegal, Tyrone and Derry to help build the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad. In 2010 evidence indicated that at least some of the men’s remains showed signs of violence.
(AP, 3/25/09)(AP, 8/16/10)
1832 Nov 29, Louisa May Alcott (d.1888), American author who wrote "Little Women," was born in Germantown, Pa. Under the pen name A.M. Barnard she wrote stories of violence and revenge that included "Pauline’s Passion and Punishment." "It takes people a long time to learn the difference between talent and genius, especially ambitious young men and women."
(WUD, 1994, p.35)(SFC, 6/17/97, p.E3)(AP, 7/12/98)(HN, 11/29/98)
1832 The Girard Bank of Pennsylvania was founded.
(Panic, p.16)
1832 The Pittsburgh riverfront home of coal baron Abraham Hays flooded. Hays built a new mansion, which later became a stop on the Underground Railroad, harboring slaves who traveled a tunnel from the Monongahela River to the vast brick-lined basement.
(www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_640258.html)
1833 Aug 7, Powell Clayton, Brig. General (Union volunteers), (Gov-R-Ark), was born in Pa.
(MC, 8/7/02)(Internet)
1833 Dec 4, American Anti-Slavery Society was formed by Arthur Tappan in Phila.
(MC, 12/4/01)
1833 John Mohler Studebaker was born in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. In 1858 joined his two older brothers in a South Bend firm producing wagons. The company went on to become the world’s largest producer of farm wagons and carriages.
(WSJ, 6/13/96, p.A12)(HNQ, 1/21/02)
1833 Richard Allen (73) published his autobiography: "The Life, Experience, and Gospel Labors of the Rt. Rev. Richard Allen."
(www.pbs.org)
1833 American Navy pensioners moved into what was then called the Naval Asylum, a 180-room stone building on the bank of the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. The name was later changed to the Naval Home. It closed in 1977.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Naval_Asylum)
1834 William Russell Birch (b.1755), English-born artist, died. He had settled in Philadelphia with his son in 1794 and in 1800 published 28 drawn and engraved hand-colored images of Philadelphia.
(SFC, 5/18/02, p.E6)
1835 Jul 6, John Marshall, the third chief justice of the Supreme Court, died at the age of 79. Two days later, while tolling in his honor in Philadelphia, the Liberty Bell cracked.
(HN, 7/6/98)
1835 Jul 8, The US Liberty Bell in Philadelphia cracked while being tolled for Chief Justice John Marshall. It was never rung again.
(HFA, ‘96, p.34)(HN, 7/6/98)(WSJ, 12/10/96, p.A20)
1835 John Wise built and took off from Philadelphia in his first homemade balloon. In 1859 he attempted an express mail service by balloon from St. Louis to NYC.
(ON, 11/00, p.6)
1836 The LaPorte house was built by John LaPorte, son of one of the founders of French Azilum
(HT, 5/97, p.18)
1837 Feb 25, Cheyney University was established in Pennsylvania through the bequest of Richard Humphreys, and became the oldest institution of higher learning for African Americans. It was initially named the African Institute. However, the name was changed several weeks later to the Institute for Colored Youth (ICY). In subsequent years, the university was renamed Cheyney Training School for Teachers (July 1914), Cheyney State Teacher’s College (1951), Cheyney State College (1959), and eventually Cheyney Univ. of Pennsylvania (1983).
(www.cheyney.edu/pages/index.asp?p=428)
1838 Jul 11, John Wanamaker (d.1922), US merchant who founded a chain of stores in Philadelphia, was born.
(HN, 7/11/98)(ON, 12/05, p.6)
1839 Feb 24, A steam shovel was patented by William Otis, Philadelphia.
(MC, 2/24/02)
1839 Dec 4, The Whig Party opened a national convention in Harrisburg, Pa., where delegates nominated William Henry Harrison for president. Soon after the Whigs constructed a 10-foot ball of twine, wood and tin, covered with Whig slogans, and rolled it from Cleveland to Columbus, Ohio, and across the country. This was later deemed the first modern presidential and led to the expression "Keep the ball rolling."
(AP, 12/4/99)(SSFC, 1/11/04, p.D6)(Econ, 12/5/15, p.35)
1840 Apr 2, The Association of American Geologists held its first meeting in Philadelphia.
(www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/society/history/1840aagn.html)
1840 A US no-bail-out policy forced some state into default. Several US states had loaded up on unsustainable debt following an extended period of easy credit. These states consequently found payments on their existing bonds increasingly unaffordable. Between 1841 and 1843 Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Pennsylvania and one territory – a proto-state called Florida – defaulted.
(Econ, 2/11/12, p.57)(http://tinyurl.com/6pgf4wq)
1840s The Chain Gang, the earliest Mummers club, was formed in Philadelphia.
(SFC, 12/31/00, p.A10)
1841 Dentist Joseph Wilson authored “Sketches of the Higher Classes of Coloured Society in Philadelphia."
(Econ, 8/6/16, p.67)
1841 In Philadelphia Volney B. Palmer began the first advertising agency. He sold newspaper space to out-of-town advertisers.
(SFC, 7/5/97, p.E3)
1841 The Bartleson-Bidwell Party made the trek to California. John Bidwell was on the 1st wagon train over the Sierra Nevada and later founded Chico. Also in the group was Paul Geddes, who had robbed a bank in Philadelphia, and renamed himself Talbot Green. His true ID was exposed in 1850 as he was about to run for mayor of SF.
(SFC, 12/7/02, p.E4)(SSFC, 9/24/06, p.B3)(SFC, 6/14/14, p.C2)(SFC, 2/6/21, p.B2)
1844 May 22, Mary Cassatt, impressionist painter, was born in Alleghany City (later Pittsburgh). [see May 22, 1845]
(HFA, ‘96, p.30)(AHD, p.209)(HN, 5/22/98)(WSJ, 11/5/98, p.A20)
1845 Apr 10, Over 1,000 buildings were damaged by fire in Pittsburgh, Pa.
(MC, 4/10/02)
1845 May 22, Mary Cassatt (d.1926), American impressionist painter and printmaker, was born in Alleghany, Pa. Much of Cassatt’s early life was spent in Europe with her wealthy family. She attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from 1861 to 1865 and worked briefly with Charles Joshua Chaplin in Paris, but preferred working her own way and copying old masters. She was a close friend of and greatly influenced by Edgar Degas. He admired her entry in the Salon of 1874, and at his invitation she joined the Impressionists and afterward showed her works at their exhibits. Degas’ influence is apparent in Cassatt’s mastery of drawing and in her unposed, asymmetrical compositions. Initially, Cassatt was a figure painter whose subjects were groups of women drinking tea or on outings with friends. After the great exhibition of Japanese prints held in Paris in 1890, she brought out her series of 10 colored prints, such as "Woman Bathing," and "The Coiffure," in which the influence of the Japanese masters Utamaro and Toyokuni is apparent. Cassatt urged her wealthy American friends and relatives to buy Impressionist paintings, and in this way, more than through her own works, she exerted a lasting influence on American taste. She was largely responsible for selecting the works that make up the H.O. Havemeyer Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
(HFA, ‘96, p.30)(AHD, p.209)(FAMSF, Mar, 98)
1846 Feb 23, The Liberty Bell in Philadelphia tolled for the last time, to mark George Washington’s birthday. A hairline fracture had developed since 1817 and a failed attempt to repair it resulted in the crack. In 2010 Tristram Riley-Smith authored “"The Cracked Bell: American and the Afflictions of Liberty."
(HN, 2/23/98)(SFEC, 8/16/98, p.T5)(Econ, 1/30/10, p.93)
1847 May 7, The American Medical Association was founded in Philadelphia.
(AP, 5/7/97) (HN, 5/7/98)
1847 Sep 11, Stephen Foster’s "Oh! Susanna" was first performed in a saloon in Pittsburgh.
(HN, 9/11/00)
1848 Oct 16, The 1st US homeopathic medical college opened in Pennsylvania.
(MC, 10/16/01)
1849 Dec 19, Henry Clay Frick (d.1919), coal and steel magnate, was born in West Overton, Penn.
(www.netstate.com/states/peop/people/pa_hcf.htm)
1850 Mar 11, The Pennsylvania legislature passed an act to incorporate the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, the first regular medical school for women in America.
(http://homeoint.org/cazalet/histo/pennsylvfem.htm)
1850 Oct 12, The 1st women's medical school, the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, opened to students.
(http://homeoint.org/cazalet/histo/pennsylvfem.htm)
1850 Oct, Paul Geddes, who had robbed a bank in Philadelphia and renamed himself Talbot H. Green in California, was exposed as he was about to run for mayor of SF.
(https://goldfieldsbooks.com/2017/05/16/the-sensational-saga-of-talbot-h-green/)
1850-1859 The Lehigh Valley town of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, became an iron-making center in the 1850s thanks to discoveries of coal and iron ore nearby.
(WSJ, 10/8/08, p.A15)
1851 Sep 11, Edward Gorsuch, a wealthy slave owner from Maryland, confronted William Parker and accused him of harboring 4 runaway slaves near the abolitionist town, Christiana, Pennsylvania. This was one year after the second fugitive slave law (first law was on February 12, 1793) was passed by Congress, requiring the return of all escaped slaves to their owners in the South. Gorsuch was killed during the skirmish and Parker was forced to flee to Canada.
(AH, 10/02, p.49)
1851 Dec 11, In Philadelphia 37 men, on trial in federal court for defying the Fugitive Slave Law, were deemed not guilty by a jury with 15 minutes of deliberation.
(AH, 10/02, p.54)
1851 In Pennsylvania Bernard Lauth, founded the American Iron Company. The firm of Jones and Lauth was founded in 1852 by B. F. Jones a few miles (~4 km) south of Pittsburgh along the Monongahela River. Lauth's interest was bought in 1854 by James H. Laughlin.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jones_and_Laughlin_Steel_Company)
1852 Feb 16, Charles Taze Russell (d.1916) was born in Pittsburgh. In 1872 Russell abandoned the Adventist movement and formed the International Bible Students Association, which was later named Jehovah’s Witnesses (1931).
(www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/302393/Jehovahs-Witness)(AH, 4/07, p.30)
1852 John Neumann, Catholic missionary, became the bishop of Philadelphia. he was later made a saint.
(SFEC, 9/14/97, p.A18)
1853 Keebler Foods was founded in Philadelphia. It was acquired by Kellogg in 2001.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keebler_Company)(AP, 4/1/19)
1855 Jul 18, In Philadelphia William Still, a leader in the Underground Railroad, liberated Jane Johnson and her 2 sons from Col. John H. Wheeler, the recently appointed US Minister to Nicaragua. Still was tried and acquitted. "The Underground Railroad" by William Still was published in 1871.
(ON, 10/01, p.5)
1855 Organic chemist Benjamin Stillman laid the foundations for the Pennsylvania oil rush by his discovery that petroleum could be distilled into lubricants and kerosene for cooking and illumination. Suddenly there was a use for the crude oil that seeped to the surface, annoying farmers by ruining the land and polluting the water supply.
(HNPD, 10/4/98)
1856 Jun 17, In Philadelphia, the Republican Party opened its first national convention. John C. Fremont (1830-1890), American explorer, was the 1st Republican presidential candidate. His platform pledged to end polygamy and slavery. He lost to James Buchanan by about 500,000 votes. Fremont went on to serve as territorial governor of Arizona from 1878 to 1883. In 2003 Lewis L. Gould authored "Grand Old Party: A History of the Republicans."
(AP, 6/17/97)(HN, 6/17/98)(SFEC, 2/13/00, BR p.5)(HNQ, 3/11/00)(WSJ, 9/7/01, p.W17)(SSFC, 11/23/03, p.M1)
1856-1930 Henry Chapman Mercer, archeologist and collector. He designed and constructed the Mercer Museum in Doylestown.
(AH, 4/01, p.18)
1857 Jan 6, Patent for reducing zinc ore was granted to Samuel Wetherill in Penn.
(MC, 1/6/02)
1857 Sep 13, Milton S. Hershey, chocolate manufacturer and philanthropist, was born in Dauphin County, Pa.
(www.hersheys.com/about/milton.shtml)(AP, 9/13/07)
1857 Nov 5, Ida M. Tarbell (d.1944), muckraking journalist, was born in Erie County, Pa.
(AP, 11/5/07)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_Tarbell)
1858 Mar 23, Eleazer A. Gardner of Philadelphia patented the cable street car, which ran on overhead cables.
(HN, 3/23/98)
1858 Mar 30, Hyman L. Lipman of Philadelphia patented the pencil.
(HN, 3/30/98)
1858 The Market Square Presbyterian Church was built in Harrisburg.
(SSFC, 4/13/03, p.D6)
1859 Mar 21, Zoological Society of Philadelphia, the 1st in US, was incorporated.
(MC, 3/21/02)
1859 Aug 27-28, The US oil business was born in Titusville, Pa. Former army officer Colonel Edwin L. Drake drilled the first oil well in Titusville, Pa., striking oil at 70 feet and setting off a wild scramble for wealth similar to the California gold rush of 1849. The land belonged to the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company. Until that time, the company had simply collected oil that seeped out of the ground. Drake's plan was to produce it in large quantities for use in heating and illumination. Overnight oil fields sprang up in Pennsylvania but competition, disorganization and oversupply kept oil prices low. It was not until John D. Rockefeller and the Standard Oil Company came onto the scene in 1870 that the petroleum industry developed into a vastly profitable, although much hated, monopoly.
(HFA, '96, p.36)(AP, 8/27/97)(HNPD, 10/4/98)(WSJ, 10/4/96, p.A9)(HNQ, 2//99)
1860 Jul 14, Owen Wister (d.1938), novelist, was born in Germantown, Pa. His 1902 novel "The Virginian" inspired 5 films.
(HN, 7/14/01)(SFC, 1/9/02, p.D8)(AH, 10/02, p.18)
1860 William McGillin began opened McGillin’s Olde Ale House in Philadelphia. In 2009 it celebrated its sesquicentennial.
(SFC, 8/5/09, p.A4)
1860 John and Frank Wyeth established a drugstore in Philadelphia. It grew to become Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories in 1926 and was later acquired by American Home Products.
(SFC, 1/21/98, p.B2)
1860 John Neumann, the 4th Bishop of Philadelphia, died. He was later made the patron saint of the Mummers.
(SFC, 12/31/00, p.A10)
1861 Feb 5, The kinematoscope was patented by Coleman Sellers in Philadelphia.
(MC, 2/5/02)
1861 William Wrigley, Jr., was born in Philadelphia. He began his business career by selling soap manufactured by his father. In 1891, Wrigley moved to Chicago where he founded and became president of Wm. Wrigley, Jr. Company, manufacturers of chewing gum, earning him the money to acquire the Chicago Cubs and to build Wrigley‘s Stadium. Wrigley is especially noted for his effective advertising techniques.
(AP, 4/9/00)
1861 James Buchanan, 15th President of the United States, retired to Wheatland, his Pennsylvania home, on the eve of the American Civil War. Attracted to the privacy, quiet and beauty of its rural location, Buchanan bought the 22-acre property in 1848 while he was finishing out his term as secretary of state under President James Polk. The Federal-style house was built in 1828 for William Jenkins, a wealthy lawyer and banker who named his estate "The Wheatlands" because of its setting among wheat fields.
(HNQ, 4/15/01)
1861 The Bassett family became making ice cream in Philadelphia. The ice cream was later called Bassetts and considered by some to be the best in the world.
(WSJ, 8/1/00, p.A24)
1861 In Philadelphia John Wanamaker (1838-1922) and Nathan Brown (d.1868) purchased a 6-story men’s clothing store called McNeill’s Folly and renamed it the Oak Hall Clothing Bazaar.
(ON, 12/05, p.4)
1861 John Wallace Cowden founded the Cowden pottery in Harrisburg, Pa. It became Cowden & Son from 1888-1904.
(SFC, 3/29/06, p.G6)
1862 Feb 26, Cornelius Felton (b.1807), president of Harvard Univ., died in Chester, Pen., after 2 years in office.
(WSJ, 2/21/06, p.A3)(www.nndb.com/people/711/000107390/)
1862 May 18, William High Keim (b.1813), US Union Brigadier-General, died in camp of fever in Harrisburg, Pa.
(SC, 5/18/02)(http://home.ptd.net/~nikki/usagen3.htm)
1862 A dam across the South Fork Creek, a tributary of the Little Conemaugh River, collapsed and damaged some property in Johnstown.
(ON, 12/99, p.9)
1863 Jun 26, Jubal Early and his Confederate forces moved into Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
(HN, 6/26/98)
1863 Jun 28, General Meade replaced General Hooker three days before the Battle of Gettysburg.
(HN, 6/28/98)
1863 Jun 28, Officers of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia’s Second Corps were looking at Harrisburg through field glasses from across the Susquehanna River just a day or two before a developing battle at Gettysburg called them away. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the Keystone State’s capital was a major hub for rail traffic from every direction. Consequently, it was also the point through which the hard, slow-burning coal used by ships, locomotives, and furnaces traveled on its way from the mines of north central Pennsylvania to military and industrial customers. Philadelphia, an important ocean port east of Harrisburg and connected to it by rail, would have been virtually defenseless against an attack from its landward side. If Lee had taken Harrisburg, he would also have been perfectly positioned to threaten Washington, D.C., from the north.
(HNQ, 3/5/02)
1863 Jun 29, Lee ordered his forces to concentrate near Gettysburg, PN.
(MC, 6/29/02)
1863 Jun 30, Union and Confederate cavalries clashed at Hanover, Pennsylvania.
(HN, 6/30/98)
1863 Jun, A Civil War-era shipment of Union gold was either lost or stolen on its way to the US Mint in Philadelphia. In 2018 an FBI excavation searched for the lost gold after a father-and-son duo, Dennis and Kem Parada, provided a tip-off to the federal agency. The FBI claimed nothing was found at an area called Dent’s Run, northeast of Pittsburgh.
(https://tomrizzo.com/the-hunt-for-lost-civil-war-gold/)(The Independent, 3/9/21)
1863 Jul 1, The opening shot at the Battle of Gettysburg was at 7:30 a.m. In the first day's fighting at Gettysburg, Federal forces retreated through the town and dug in at Cemetery Ridge and Cemetery Hill. Gen. Robert E. Lee's ordered Lt. Gen. Richard Ewell, "Take the hill if practicable, but do not bring on a general engagement..." Books on the campaign included "The Gettysburg Campaign, A Study in Command," by Edwin B. Coddington and "Gettysburg: Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill," by Harry W. Pfanz. The novel "While Gods and Generals" by Jeff Shaara, son of Michael Shaara, describes the years leading up to the battle.
(HFA, '96, p.32)(AP, 7/1/97)(SFEC, 6/21/98, p.D5)(HN, 7/1/98)
1863 Jul 1, John Fulton Reynolds (42), Union general, died in battle at Gettysburg.
(MC, 7/1/02)
1863 Jul 1-3, From the opening shot at 7:30 a.m. on July 1, 1863, to 4 p.m. on July 3, when the last rebel assault was repulsed, the Union and Confederate armies suffered an estimated 50,000 casualties in the Battle of Gettysburg. It was the bloodiest battle the country had yet seen. Upon whom the responsibility for the South's failure at Gettysburg rests has been widely debated, but five months after the epic battle, Confederate General Robert E. Lee admitted, "I thought my men were invincible." The fighting in the small Pennsylvania town marked a pivotal point in the Union's ascent to victory and helped decide the outcome of the Civil War.
(HNPD, 7/6/98)
1863 Jul 2, The Union left flank held at Little Round Top during 2nd day of the Battle of Gettysburg. Union Gen. Daniel Sickles was severely wounded and had his leg amputated. In 2002 Thomas Keneally authored "American Scoundrel: The Life of the Notorious Civil War General Dan Sickles."
(WSJ, 3/29/02, p.W10)(SFC, 4/17/02, p.D1)(AH, 2/05, p.49)
1863 Jul 3, The Civil War's Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania ended after three days in a major victory for the North as Confederate troops retreated. The last Confederate assault at Gettysburg was Pickett’s Charge against the center of the Union line that left some 7,000 of 13,000 [15,000] Confederate troops dead. Lt. Gen. James Longstreet gave Maj. Gen. George Pickett the assent. General Lee took responsibility. In 1974 Michael Shaara published "The Killer Angels," a novel about the 3-day battle.
(SFC, 7/7/96, T6)(SFC,2/17/97, p.A3)(AP, 7/3/97)(SFEC, 6/21/98, p.D5)(HN, 7/3/98)(WSJ, 9/11/98, p.W10)
1863 Jul 4, General Lee’s army limped toward Virginia after defeat at Gettysburg. 28,063 of 75,000 confederate soldiers were lost. General Meade’s army suffered 23,049 soldiers killed, wounded and missing.
(SFC, 7/7/96, T6)
1863 Jul 4, Paul Joseph Revere, US grandson of Paul Revere, Union brig-gen, died from wounds at Gettysburg.
(MC, 7/4/02)
1863 Jul 6, Vincent Strong (b.1837), US Union brig-general, died from wounds at Gettysburg.
(MC, 6/17/02)(MC, 7/6/02)
1863 Nov 19, President Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address as he dedicated a national cemetery at the site of the Civil War battlefield in Pennsylvania. Lincoln had been asked to deliver a few "appropriate remarks" to the crowd at the dedication of the National Cemetery at the site of the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. His address was almost ignored in the wake of the lengthy oration by main speaker Edwin Everett, the former governor of Massachusetts. In fact, Lincoln's speech was over before many in the crowd were even aware that he was speaking. Lincoln concluded his speech with this vow: "We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
(http://condor.stcloudstate.edu/~brixr01/theTIMEMACHINE.html)(AP, 11/19/97)(ON, 8/07, p.1)
1863 Nov, In Pennsylvania the Harrisburg Patriot and Union newspaper described Pres. Lincoln’s speech at Gettysburg as “silly remarks" that deserved a “veil of oblivion." In 2013 the Patriot-News of Harrisburg retracted the editorial penned by its predecessor.
(SFC, 11/15/13, p.A7)
1863 The Mütter Museum was founded as part of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia was an educational service for practicing physicians.
(NW, 11/18/02, p.14)
1863 A locomotive named the Gov. Stanford was built by Richard Norris & Son in Philadelphia and shipped around Cape Horn to California by schooner. It hauled the Central Pacific’s 1st freight and passenger trains and later was made a centerpiece at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento.
(SSFC, 8/8/04, p.D5)(SSFC, 2/9/14, p.P2)
1864 Jul 30, Gen. Jubal Early ordered Confederate troops to attack Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. The town was burned by Confederate forces under Gen. McCausland (1836-1927).
(ON, 10/20/11, p.11)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCausland)
1865 Daniel C. Ripley founded a lamp manufacturing firm in Pittsburgh, Pa. the following year he joined with 5 partners to form Ripley & Co. Ripley was granted a patent in 1868 for a glass oil lamp. The company merged with others in 1891 to form the U.S. Glass Co. of Pittsburgh.
(SFC, 12/14/05, p.G4)(SFC, 4/4/07, p.G2)
1865-1877 In eastern Pennsylvania the Molly McGuires, a secret society of Irish miners, waged a war with arson, murders and beatings, on coal-mine owners.
(WSJ, 10/7/97, p.A20)
1868 Aug 11, Thaddeus Stevens (1792-1868), Pennsylvania Republican and architect of Radical Reconstruction, died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaddeus_Stevens)
1869 Jun 9, Charles Elmer Hires sold his 1st root beer in Phila.
(MC, 6/9/02)
1869 Sep 6, 110 miners, a number of them young boys, were killed in coal mine disaster which occurred early in the morning in Avondale, Pennsylvania, when a fire broke out in a mineshaft, cutting off the miners' escape route and their only source of air.
(MC, 9/6/01)
1869 The first Lithuanian community was established in Danville, Pennsylvania.
http://w3.arobas.net/~simunye/coalmine.html
1869 Henry J. Heinz partnered with L.C. Noble to form Heinz & Noble in Sharpsburg, Pa., selling fruit and vegetable preserves. They produced tomato and walnut ketchup for 24 cents per gallon and sold them from whiskey barrels.
(SFC, 8/27/03, p.E4)(www.hfp.heinz.org/aboutus/heinzhistory.html)
1870 Feb 5, The 1st motion picture was shown to a theater audience in Philadelphia.
(MC, 2/5/02)
1870 Mar 21, The grave of Ellen Shannon in Girard, Pennsylvania reads: Ellen Shannon, Who was fatally burned March 21, 1870 by the explosion of a lamp filled with "R.E. Danforth’s Non-Explosive Burning Fluid."
(e-mail, Riddiough, 5/16/99)
1870 Harry "the Sundance Kid" Longabaugh was born in Lancaster County.
(MesWP)
1870-1882 Alexander Conrad was a stoneware manufacturer in southwestern Pennsylvania during this time.
(SFC, 4/15/98, Z1 p.6)
1871 The construction of City Hall in Philadelphia began.
(SFEC, 8/16/98, p.T1)
1871 The Red Star Line, an ocean passenger line, was founded as a joint venture between the International Navigation Company of Philadelphia, which also ran the American Line, and the Société Anonyme de Navigation Belgo-Américaine of Antwerp, Belgium.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Star_Line)(SSFC, 4/21/13, p.H4)
1871 The Knights of Labor organization was started as a secret order at a meeting of tailors called by Uriah Stephens in Philadelphia. The Knights of Labor was organized on a national basis in 1878. It was an industrial union open to all gainfully employed skilled or unskilled workers and headed by a General Assembly. By 1886 there were 5,892 local assemblies and more than 700,000 members. Among other reforms, the Knights supported an 8-hour day, graduated income tax, boycotts, arbitration, and consumer and producer cooperatives. The organization began to decline after 1886. [other sources give 1869 as the founding year.]
(HNQ, 9/5/99)
1872 Aug 1, The first long-distance gas pipeline in the U.S. was completed. Designed for natural gas, the two-inch pipe ran five miles from Newton Wells to Titusville, Pennsylvania.
(HN, 8/1/00)
1872 The International Bible Students Association was founded in Pittsburgh by Charles Taze Russell. During the 1870s, Charles Taze Russell established himself as an independent and controversial Adventist teacher. Russell was succeeded as president in 1917 by Joseph Franklin Rutherford (Judge Rutherford; 1869–1942), who changed the group’s name to Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1931 to emphasize its members’ belief that Jehovah, or Yahweh, is the true God and that the Witnesses were his specially chosen followers.
(AH, 4/07, p.30)(www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/302393/Jehovahs-Witness)
1874 Feb 3, Gertrude Stein (d.1946), poet and novelist, was born in Pittsburgh, Pa. Her older brother, Michael, managed the family business, which included San Francisco's Market Street railway line. Her parents were Daniel and Milly. The family returned to America from Europe in 1878, and settled in Oakland, California, where Gertrude attended First Hebrew Congregation of Oakland's Sabbath school. Her relationship with her brother, Leo (1872-1947), abruptly ended in 1914. Her work included "Three Lives," "G.M.P." and "Tender Buttons." Stein coined the term "Lost Generation" in reference to the disillusioned intellectuals and aesthetes of the post-World War I years. The 40-year relationship between Gertrude and Leo is told by Brenda Wineapple in "Sister Brother, Gertrude and Leo Stein." "Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense." "It is awfully important to know what is and what is not your business."
(SFEC, 8/11/96, DB, p.10)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Stein)(AP, 12/27/97)(AP, 9/3/98)
1874 Jun 25, Rose Cecil O’Neill (d.1944), illustrator, writer and creator of the Kewpie doll, was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
(AH, 2/05, p.24)(www.britannica.com/ebi/article?tocId=9331987)
1874 Jul 1, The 1st US zoo opened in Philadelphia.
(MC, 7/1/02)
1875 Nov 16, William Bonwill (1833-1899), a Philadelphia dentist, provided specifications for a patent for an electrical tooth-filling Instrument, a dental mallet to impact gold into cavities. The patent application was filed in 1873 and accepted in 1888.
(www.todayinsci.com/Events/Patent/DentalMallet170045.htm)
1875 John Wanamaker purchased an abandoned railroad depot in Philadelphia and converted it into a large store, called John Wanamaker & Co. "The Grand Depot". Wanamaker's is considered the first department store in the city.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wanamaker)
1876 Mar 12, In Philadelphia the first department store, The Grand Depot, opened. John Wanamaker turned an abandoned railway depot into one of the world’s 1st department stores.
(https://tinyurl.com/y88twtou)(HN, 3/12/98)
1876 May 10, Centennial Fair opened in Philadelphia. Centennial Hall was built in Philadelphia, Pa., to commemorate the country’s 100th birthday. The US Centennial Exhibition was a world’s fair celebrating the founding of the US and drew over 9.9 million people. The US population at this time was 46 million.
(Hem, 6/96, p.108)(SFC,12/10/97, Z1 p.9)(MC, 5/10/02)
1876 Jun 5, Bananas became popular in US following the Centennial Exposition in Phila.
(MC, 6/5/02)
1876 Jun 26, Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated his telephone at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia.
(SFC, 2/3/97, p.D1)
1876 Dec 6, The 1st US crematorium began operation in Washington, Penn.
(MC, 12/6/01)
1876 Edward Mitchell Bannister, African-American artist, won a 1st place prize at the Centennial Exposition, but was turned away from the exhibition hall when he went to collect his medal.
(WSJ, 8/8/00, p.A20)
1876 In the US the Workingmen’s Party of the United States (WPUS) was founded in Philadelphia, Pa. In 1878 it reformed as the Socialist Labor Party.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workingmen%27s_Party_of_the_United_States)
1876 The high-wheel bicycle was introduced in the US at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia.
(ON, 2/10, p.3)
1878 Mar 20, Thomas Fisher, an alleged member of the Molly McGuires, was hung at the Carbon County Prison of Mauch Chunk, Pa. He had been convicted of the murder of Morgan Powell, a supervisor for the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company. Fisher insisted up to his death on his innocence.
(HT, 4/97, p.20)
1878 Jul 3, John Wise flew the first dirigible in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
(HN, 7/3/98)
1878 Dec 26, The 1st US store to install electric lights was in Philadelphia.
(MC, 12/26/01)
1878 The Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) painting "The Gross Clinic" was bought for $200 by Thomas Jefferson University, a medical and health sciences school in Philadelphia. In 2006 The National Gallery of Art agreed to buy the painting for a record $68 million, however the deal was matched by local institutions and the painting remained in Philadelphia.
(AP, 11/11/06)(WSJ, 12/26/06, p.D8)
1879 Apr 9, W.C. Fields (Claude William Dukinfield [Dukenfield]), comedian, was born in Philadelphia. He began his career as a vaudeville juggler, appeared on Broadway and in motion pictures. [see Jan 29, 1880]
(HN, 4/9/98)(HNQ, 9/30/01)
1879 Jun 21, F.W. Woolworth opened his 1st store. It failed almost immediately. Frank Woolworth added 10-cent items to the Great 5-Cent Store in Lancaster, Pa., and created Woolworth’s five-and-ten. This was his 2nd attempt after a failure in Utica. He took in $127 during his first day of business.
(WSJ, 9/26/96, p.B1)(SFC,10/20/97, p.B2)(MC, 6/21/02)
1879 In downtown Philadelphia the Provident Life and Trust Building was completed. It was designed by Frank Furness (1839-1912).
(WS, 6/26/01, p.A21)
1879 Lt. Col. Richard Henry Pratt persuaded Washington to hand over the mothballed Carlisle military barracks in Pennsylvania for use as a school for American Indians. In the early 20th century the school became a football powerhouse, beating Army in 1912. In 1918 the school was turned into a hospital to receive soldiers wounded in WW I.
(WSJ, 1/7/07, p.P9)
1880 Jan 6, Tom Mix, silent screen cowboy actor (Dick Turpin), was born in Mix Run, Pa.
(MC, 1/6/02)
1880 Jan 29, W.C. Fields, comedian and actor, was born as Claude William Dukinfield [Dukenfield]. His films included David Copperfield and My Little Chickadee. [see Apr 9 1879]
(HN, 1/29/99)
1880 Jun 18, John Sutter (b.1803), Swiss-born California settler (gold discovered on his land), died in Lititz, Pa.
(SSFC, 4/13/03, p.D6)(MC, 6/18/02)
c1880-1920 In Philadelphia the Juvenile Aid Society was begun by the 15,000 Jews of German extraction to deal with the wave of some 200,000 East European Jews who arrived during this time.
(WSJ, 6/18/99, p.A20)
c1881 The Norristown State Hospital was established. It served the chronically mentally ill and the worst of the criminally insane.
(SFC, 6/19/99, p.A4)
1881 The South Fork Hunting and Fishing Club purchased the old damn site across a tributary of the Little Conemaugh River and rebuilt the old damn without the original sluice pipes. They blocked the spillway to prevent fish from escaping.
(ON, 12/99, p.9)
1881 The Wharton School was founded in Pennsylvania. In 2003 it was recognized as the oldest and best business school in the US.
(WSJ, 9/17/03, p.A1)
1883 Feb 23, American Anti-Vivisection Society was organized in Philadelphia.
(MC, 2/23/02)
1883 Haverford College was founded in Haverford, Pa., by Quakers.
(WSJ, 7/24/03, p.A1)
1884 French artist Paul Philippoteaux (1846-1923) and team of 20 created in Paris the massive Cyclorama painting titled “The Battle of Gettysburg." It was originally 377 feet in circumference. They then shipped it to the US, where it was first displayed in Boston. The US National Park Service acquired it in 1942. In 2008 a 5-year, $15 million restoration project was completed and it was reopened to the public at the Gettysburg National Military Park in Gettysburg, Pa.
(SSFC, 9/28/08, p.E2)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Philippoteaux)
1885 Mar, In Loganville, Pa., Dr. George E. Holtzapple (22) saved Fred Gable (16), who was suffering from pneumonia, by supplying the boy with pure oxygen. Oxygen therapy became the only effective treatment for pneumonia until antibiotics became available in the 1940s.
(ON, 4/07, p.10)
1885 The Cincinnati Stock Exchange was founded. It closed its trading floor in 1980 and became America's first fully computerized exchange. Bernard Madoff, a former chairman of the NASDAQ Stock Market and founder of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, was one of the few NASDAQ market-makers who competed with the New York Stock Exchange, by trading stocks listed on the Big Board. His broker/dealer firm did this through an electronic market that was operated at the Cincinnati Stock Exchange.
(http://tinyurl.com/58xb7g)
1885 Isaac Mayer Wise united pockets of Jewish immigrants and assembled 15 rabbis in Pittsburgh to articulate a platform for the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the Hebrew Union College, and the Central Conference of American Rabbis. The organization of Reform Judaism discussed the Mitzvot, the 613 commandments in the Torah, and accepted only the moral laws as binding.
(WSJ, 6/4/99, p.W15)
1885 Elizabeth Cochran (21) began to produce article for the Pittsburgh Dikspatch under the name “Nelie Bly." In 1887 she moved to NYC hoping to find work at the New York World.
(ON, 6/20/11, p.11)
1886 Feb 13, Painter Thomas Eakins resigned from the Philadelphia Academy of Art over controversial use of male nudes in a coed art class.
(MC, 2/13/02)
1887 Feb 2, People began gathering at Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pa., to witness the groundhog's search for its shadow.
(WSJ, 2/2/99, p.B1)
1887 Ford City, Pa., was founded by John B. Ford, head of the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. on the shore of the Allegheny River. Later some 47 acres of the factory grounds were fenced off due to contamination from arsenic left behind by decades of industrial glassmaking.
(WSJ, 8/12/97, p.B1)
1887 The Pennsylvania Railroad train station at Harrisburg opened.
(SSFC, 4/13/03, p.D6)
1887 Pennsylvania House was founded in Lewisburg, Pa., to make high-quality case furniture. In 2000 La-Z-Boy bought the company and in 2004 moved production to China.
(SFC, 6/4/08, p.G3)
1887 The Lanston Monotype Machine Company was founded by Tolbert Lanston in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Lanston had a patented mechanical method of punching out metal types from cold strips of metal which were set (hence typesetting) into a matrix for the printing press.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monotype_Imaging)(Econ, 6/28/14, p.52)
1888 Mar 6, William Bonwill of Philadelphia patented revolving-hammer mechanical dental pluggers, by which the plugging-tool is hit a rapid series I 5 of blows to impact the gold in the teeth.
(http://www.google.com/patents/US378920)
1888 Aug 7, The revolving door, the brainchild of Philadelphia inventor Theophilus Van Kannel (1841-1919), was patented. In 1889 he founded the Van Kannel Revolving Door Company.
(http://tinyurl.com/mdqrqxs)
1889 Jan 9, A tornado struck Brooklyn, NY, when Flatbush was farmland. A twister blew through what are now the neighborhoods of Carroll Gardens, Boerum Hill, Downtown, Fort Greene and Williamsburg, blowing roofs off houses and uprooting trees, but killing no one. 14 people were killed by the tornado in Pittsburg, Pa.
(http://tinyurl.com/349275)(http://tinyurl.com/395f4q)
1889 May 31, Johnstown, Pennsylvania was destroyed by a massive flood. The South Fork Dam across a tributary of the Little Conemaugh River collapsed under pressure from the rain-swollen Lake Conemaugh. Water slammed into Johnstown, Pa., 55 miles southeast of Pittsburgh and killed 2,209 people in a flood and related fire. Torrential rains had weakened the poorly constructed dam, located 14 miles upstream from the city. By the afternoon of May 31, after desperate efforts to shore up the earthen dam had failed, it broke and unleashed a 40-foot-high wave of water and debris into Johnstown with the force of Niagara Falls. Buildings and trees, along with animals and people--both dead and alive--piled up against the Pennsylvania Railroad Company's Stone Bridge. The mountain of debris then caught fire, trapping hundreds. More than 2,000 people lost their lives in the devastating Johnstown Flood. The South Fork Dam had been constructed to create Lake Conemaugh, a playground for the wealthy members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club. In 1959 Richard O'Connor published "Johnstown, the Day the Dam Broke." In 1968 David McCullough authored “The Johnstown Flood."
(SFC, 3/24/97, p.C2)(AP, 5/31/97)(HN, 5/31/98)(WSJ, 1/27/06, p.P8)
1889 Nov 16, George S. Kaufman, American playwright and screenwriter, was born in Pittsburgh, Pa. His plays included "Dinner at Eight," "You Can't Take it With You" and "The Man Who Came to Dinner."
(HN, 11/16/99)(MC, 11/16/01)
1889 Clara Barton and her Red Cross group spent 5 months helping victims of the Johnstown flood.
(SFC, 9/17/01, p.A6)
1890 Aug 27, Man Ray (d.1976) was born as Emmanuel Radinski in Philadelphia, Pa. A painter and photographer, he and Marcel Duchamp founded the Dadaism movement.
(Reuters, 8/28/01)
1890 The Westmoreland Glass Co. began making glass containers in Grapeville, Pa. Operations continued to 1984.
(SFC, 7/11/07, p.G4)
1891 Pennsylvania’s first free library was chartered.
(Econ, 2/14/09, p.40)
1892 Mar 3, 1st cattle tuberculosis test in US was made at Villa Nova, PA.
(SC, 3/3/02)
1892 In Pennsylvania the Reading Railroad station opened in Philadelphia. It later became the home of the Reading /Terminal Market.
(SSFC, 5/25/14, p.P4)
1892 Pennsylvania’s Mansfield Univ. played college football’s first night game.
(WSJ, 9/26/08, p.A1)
1892 Henry Clay Frick, partner of Andrew Carnegie, engineered a bloody clash with the labor union at the Pittsburgh Homestead Mill. 9-10 workers and 3 Pinkerton guards were killed and the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers union was crushed.
(SFEC,1/20/97, p.D1)(WSJ, 5/12/03, p.A6)
1893 Feb 28, Edward Acheson of Pennsylvania, patented an abrasive he named "carborundum."
(MC, 2/28/02)
1893 Jun 14, Philadelphia observed the first Flag Day.
(HN, 6/14/98)
1894 Apr 5, 11 strikers were killed in riot at Connellsville, Penn.
(MC, 4/5/02)
1894 May 11, Martha Graham, choreographer (Appalachian Spring), was born in Allegheny, Penn.
(MC, 5/11/02)
1894 Milton Hershey (1857-1945) founded Hershey Foods in Pennsylvania. He built an industrial town near where he was born and named it after himself.
(WSJ, 7/26/02, p.B1)(SSFC, 4/13/03, p.D1)(Econ, 3/24/07, p.18)
1895 Sep 3, The first professional American football game was played in Latrobe, Pennsylvania between the Latrobe Young Men’s Christian Association and the Jeannette Athletic Club. Latrobe wins 12-0.
(HN, 9/3/00)
1896 Feb 28, Philip Showalter Hench, physician (cortisone-Nobel), was born in Pittsburgh.
(MC, 2/28/02)
1896 May 7, Dr. Henry Howard Holmes (b.1860), serial killer, was hanged to death in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Born as Herman Webster Mudgett in Gilmantown, New Hampshire, to a devout Methodist family, Holmes spent much of his childhood torturing animals. He later graduated from the University of Michigan with a medical degree. Holmes financed his education with a series of insurance scams whereby he requested coverage for nonexistent people and then presented corpses as the insured. In 1886, Holmes moved to Chicago to work as a pharmacist. A few months later, he killed the elderly owner of the store but told everyone that the man had left him in charge. With a new series of cons, Holmes raised enough money to build a giant, elaborate home across from the store. The home, which Holmes called "The Castle," had secret passageways, fake walls, and trapdoors. Young women in the area, along with tourists who had come to see the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, and had rented out rooms in Holmes' castle, suddenly began disappearing. Medical schools purchased many human skeletons from Dr. Holmes during this period but never asked how he obtained the anatomy specimens. Holmes was finally caught after attempting to use another corpse, his assistant Benjamin Pitezel, in an insurance scam. He confessed, saying, "I was born with the devil in me. I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than a poet can help the inspiration to sing." Reportedly, authorities discovered the remains of over 200 victims on his property.
(www.thecrimeweb.com/hhholmes.htm)
1896 In Pennsylvania American Rabbi Joseph Krauskopf bought 118 acres of land about 25 miles north of Philadelphia. The National Farm School (later Delaware Valley College), open to all faiths, began the following year with 10 students. Krauskopf had met Leo Tolstoy on an 1894 trip to Russia, during which the author of "War and Peace" said US immigrants would be better off tilling soil than living in cramped industrial cities. In 2010 the Warwick Foundation of Bucks County gave the school an estimated $30 million in property and cash.
(AP, 11/7/10)
1897 Feb 2, Fire destroyed the Pennsylvania state capitol in Harrisburg. A new statehouse was dedicated on the same site nine years later.
(AP, 2/2/97)
1897 May 14, "Stars and Stripes Forever" by John Phillip Sousa was performed for the first time in Philadelphia.
(HN, 5/14/01)
1897 Sep 10, Police shot at striking mine workers in Pennsylvania and 20 people were killed.
(MC, 9/10/01)
1897 Sep 11, A strike by some 75,000 coal miners in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia ended after 10 weeks. Concessions included an eight-hour work day, semi-monthly pay, and the abolition of company stores (which were famous for over charging workers). The day before, about 20 miners were killed when sheriff's deputies opened fire on them in Pennsylvania.
(AP, 9/11/97)(MC, 9/11/01)
1899 W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963) published "The Philadelphia Negro," a sociological study of African Americans in Philadelphia.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Philadelphia_Negro)(Econ., 12/19/20, p.43)
1899 The Univ. of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology opened.
(WSJ, 5/7/03, p.D10)
1900 The construction of the rococo City Hall in Philadelphia was completed. The architect was John McArthur Jr.
(SFEC, 8/16/98, p.T1)
1900 In Philadelphia, Pa., the 8-million, 110-room Lynnewood Hall, home to the uber-wealthy Widener family, was completed. It came to be called "the last of the American Versailles." French landscape architect Jacques Greber designed the formal French gardens, which were graced by his brother Henri-Louis Greber's fountain of bronze and marble statuary. P.A.B. Widener's son, Joseph, died there in 1943 and the younger generation deemed the property too large to maintain. Much of the acreage was sold to developers and the opulent furnishings were auctioned. In 1952, the Rev. Carl McIntire of Collingswood, N.J., a controversial fundamentalist preacher, bought the property for $190,000 and established a Christian seminary. In 1993 New York physician Richard Sei-Oung Yoon, a former student of McIntire and one-time chancellor of the cash-strapped seminary, bought its mortgage for $1.6 million with plans of establishing his own church there.
(AP, 7/26/10)
1901 Jan 1, The 1st annual Mummers parade was held in Philadelphia.
(SFC, 12/31/00, p.A10)
1901 Feb 25, United States Steel Corp. was incorporated by J.P. Morgan Charles Schwab and Andrew Carnegie. Morgan combined Federal Steel and Carnegie Steel to form US Steel. It was the biggest corporate merger of the time. As president of US Steel Schwab acquired the Bethlehem Steel. In 1904 Schwab resigned his position at US Steel to run Bethlehem Steel.
(AP, 2/25/98)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R42)(WSJ, 5/12/03, p.A6)(WSJ, 10/8/08, p.A15)
1901 Jan 28, Byron Bancroft Johnson announced that the American League would play the 1901 baseball season as a major league and would not renew its membership in the National Agreement. The new league would include Baltimore and Washington, DC, recently abandoned by the National League. The league would also invade 4 cities where National League teams existed: Boston, Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia. The 8 charter teams included: the Baltimore Orioles, Boston Americans, Chicago White Stockings, Cleveland Blues, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Athletics, and Washington Senators.
(ON, 6/09, p.11)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_League)
1901 Jul 15, Over 74,000 Pittsburgh steel workers went on strike.
(HN, 7/15/98)
1901 The first US escalator, manufactured by the Otis Elevator Company, was installed in a Philadelphia office building. It was patented in 1859 and first displayed at the 1900 Paris Exposition.
(HN, 8/9/00)
1901 The Pittsburgh Lamp, Brass & Glass Co. (Pilabrasgo) began operations and continued to 1926.
(SFC, 2/21/07, p.G3)
1902 May 10, David O. Selznick, film producer (Gone with the Wind, Rebecca), was born in Pittsburgh, Pa.
(HN, 5/10/02)(MC, 5/10/02)
1902 May 12, Over 100,000 miners in northeastern Pennsylvania called a strike and kept the mines closed all summer. Owners refused arbitration and Pres. Roosevelt intervened. [see Oct 3]
(LCTH, 10/3/99)(SFC, 10/4/02, p.A17)
1902 Jun 9, The 1st Automat restaurant opened at 818 Chestnut Street, Phila.
(MC, 6/9/02)
1902 Oct 3, President Theodore Roosevelt met with miners and coal field operators in an attempt to settle the anthracite coal strike, then in its fifth month. The country relied on coal to power commerce and industry and anthracite or "hard coal" was essential for domestic heating. Pennsylvania miners had left the anthracite fields demanding wage increases, union recognition, and an eight-hour workday. As winter approached, public anxiety about fuel shortages and the rising cost of all coal pushed Roosevelt to take unprecedented action. The meeting failed to resolve differences. A presidential commission awarded the workers a 10% wage increase and a shorter work week. [see May 12] J.P. Morgan came up with a compromise proposal that provided for arbitration and the miners returned to work on Oct 23.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_strike_of_1902)(SFC, 10/4/02, p.A17)(AH, 2/03, p.48)
1902 Oct 25, Henry Steele Commanger, American historian, was born in Pittsburg, Pa. He wrote the fifty-five volume "Rise of the American Nation."
(HN, 10/25/98)(MC, 10/25/01)
1903 Oct 1, The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the home team Boston Pilgrims (Red Sox), 7-3, in the first World Series game. Boston, however, went on to win the series, five games to three.
(AP, 10/1/03)
1903 Oct 13, Boston defeated Pittsburgh in baseball’s first World Series. In 2003 Roger I. Abrams authored "The First World Series and the Baseball Fanatics of 1903;" Louis P. Masur authored "Autumn Glory: Baseball's First World Series;" and Bob Ryan authored "When Boston Won the World Series."
(WSJ, 7/8/96, p.A8)(HN, 10/13/98)(WSJ, 3/28/03, p.W9)(SSFC, 6/8/03, p.M6)
1903 The 1st trolley with an electric 3rd rail was installed in Scranton, Pa.
(SFEC, 9/26/99, p.B8)
1903 Andrew Carnegie donated $1.5 million for the construction of 2 dozen libraries in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
(Econ, 2/14/09, p.40)
1904 Jan 25, Two-hundred (179) coal miners were entombed in an explosion in Cheswick, Pennsylvania.
(HN, 1/25/99)(MC, 1/25/02)
1904 Feb 29, Jimmy Dorsey (d.1957), orchestra leader, was born in Shenandoah, Pa.
(HN, 2/29/00)(AP, 2/29/04)
1904 Dec 10, Charles M. Schwab incorporated a revamped Bethlehem Steel. As president of US Steel he had acquired the Pennsylvania steel maker in 1901. Schwab resigned his position at US Steel to run Bethlehem Steel. In 2008 Kenneth Warren authored “Bethlehem Steel: Builder and Arsenal of America."
(WSJ, 10/8/08, p.A15)
1905 Jan 31, John O'Hara, novelist (Appointment at Samarra), was born in Pottsville, Penn.
(SSFC, 8/31/03, p.M2)
1905 Jun 11, Pennsylvania Railroad debuted the fastest train in world (NY-Chicago in 18 hrs).
(SC, 6/11/02)
1905 Jun, In Pittsburgh, Penn., the world's 1st theater geared exclusively for motion pictures opened.
(SFC, 9/28/99, p.A27)
1905 Nov 19, Tommy Dorsey, band leader, was born in Shenandoah, Pa.
(AP, 11/19/05)
1905 Dec 7, Leonard H. Goldenson (d.1999), later chief of ABC broadcasting, was born in Scottdale.
(SFC, 12/28/99, p.B3)
1906 Apr 16, In Pennsylvania 3 men were shot dead in a riot among striking coal miners at Windber. An appeal was made to Gov. Pennypacker for troops.
(SFC, 4/17/06, p.A9)
1906 Jul 17, American playwright Clifford Odets was born in Philadelphia.
(AP, 7/18/06)
1906 Oct 22, 3000 blacks demonstrated and rioted in Philadelphia.
(MC, 10/22/01)
1906 Dec 27, Oscar Levant, American composer and actor, was born in Pittsburgh.
(AP, 12/27/06)
1906 The Capital building in Harrisburg, Pa., featured a dome modeled on St. Peter’s in Rome.
(SSFC, 4/13/03, p.D6)
1906 The John C. Bell building was completed in Philadelphia, Pa. It was later listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
(SFC, 1/13/14, p.A4)
1907 May, The idea of a day set apart every year to honor motherhood is credited to Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia, who, in 1907, suggested the wearing of carnations on the second Sunday in May to honor mothers. Her enthusiastic campaign for a nationwide observance attracted enough public support that President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation designating the second Sunday in May 1914 the first national Mother’s Day.
(HNPD, 5/9/00)
1907 Dec 19, A gas explosion killed 239 workers in a coal mine in Jacobs Creek, Pa.
(AP, 12/19/97)(MC, 12/19/01)
1907 Dec 23, The 1st all-steel passenger railroad coach was completed at Altoona, Pa.
(MC, 12/23/01)
1907 Dec 24, I.F. Stone (d.1989), American investigative journalist, was born in Philadelphia. "Those who nobly set out to be their brother's keeper sometimes end up by becoming his jailer. Every emancipation has in it the seeds of a new slavery, and every truth easily becomes a lie."
(AP, 10/17/99)(AP, 12/24/07)
1907 Milton Hershey, chocolate tycoon, opened Hershey Park, an admission-free amusement park in Hershey, Pa.
(SSFC, 4/13/03, p.D6)
1907 Clayton S. Reaser purchased a 5-year old Pennsylvania furniture company named Gettysburg Manufacturing Co. and renamed it Reaser Furniture Manufacturing Co.
(SFC, 1/10/07, p.G2)
1907 Charles B. Gillespie, physician and artist, died in Pennsylvania. He had traveled to California during the gold rush and made a number of sketches, including depictions of Sutter’s Mill, some of which he turned into paintings upon returning to Freeport in 1851. In 2008 119 pen-and-ink sketches and 5 oil paintings were put up for auction.
(SSFC, 11/23/08, p.B9)
1908 May 10, The first Mother’s Day observance took place during church services in Grafton, W.Va., and Philadelphia. In 1997 Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia first proposed the idea that all mothers wear a carnation on the 2nd Sunday of May.
(AP, 5/10/97)(SFC, 9/30/99, p.E5)
1908 May 20, Jimmy Stewart, actor, was born in Indiana, Pa. He is best remembered for his roles in "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington."
(WSJ, 5/20/97, p.A18)(HN, 5/20/99)(AP, 5/20/08)
1908 Nov 18, Imogene Coca d.2001), later co-star with Sid Caesar of the 1950s "Your Show of Shows" TV program, was born in Philadelphia.
(SSFC, 6/3/01, p.A29)(AP, 11/18/08)
1908 Nov 28, 154 men died in a coal mine explosion at Marianna, Pa.
(MC, 11/28/01)
1908 In Pennsylvania the Rotunda Building in Philadelphia opened as the Girard Trust. It was built as a replica of the Pantheon in Rome. In 2000 it was converted from a bank into a Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
(SSFC, 5/25/14, p.P4)
1908 The Univ. of Pittsburgh introduced the 1st football jerseys with numbers on the back.
(SFC, 10/1/99, p.B6)
1909 Nov 13, In Pennsylvania the Cherry Mine disaster killed 259 men and boys. In 2002 Karen Tintori authored “Trapped: The 1909 Cherry Mine Disaster."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1909_Cherry_Mine_disaster)(AH, 2/03, p.61)
1909 Dec 14, The Labor Conference in Pittsburgh ended with a "declaration of war" on U.S. Steel.
(HN, 12/14/98)
1909 Harry V. Warehime established Hanover Pretzel Company in Pennsylvania with a single recipe, Hanover Olde Tyme Pretzels.
(http://factorytoursusa.com/full.htm)
1909 In Hershey, Pennsylvania, Milton Hershey and his wife Catherine established the Milton Hershey School for the "maintenance, support and education of as many poor, white orphan boys as it could afford." The racial restriction ended in 1970. By 2002 the 1200-student school had an endowment of some $5.4 billion.
(WSJ, 8/12/99, p.A1)(SFC, 7/26/02, p.B3)
1909 The Pittsburgh Pirates, led by pitcher Honus Wagner, defeated the Detroit Tigers 4-3 in the World Series. This marked the last world series appearance by Ty Cobb.
(SFC, 10/2/99, p.A20)
1910 May 23, Franz Kline (d.1962), American painter of abstract expressionist style, was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
(www.guggenheimcollection.org/site/artist_bio_77.html)
1910 Aug 15, Hugo Winterhalter, composer, was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
(MC, 8/15/02)
1910 Nov 27, In NYC the Pennsylvania Railroad began service at Pennsylvania Station. It was begun under the direction of PRR president Alexander J. Cassatt (d.1906) and designed by the architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White. In 2007 Jill Jonnes authored “Conquering Gotham: A Gilded Age Epic: The Construction of Penn Station and its Tunnels." Penn Station was demolished in 1963.
(AP, 11/27/06)(Econ, 4/14/07, p.95)(SSFC, 7/8/07, p.M2)
1910 Dec 19, Rayon was 1st commercially produced by Marcus Hook in Penn.
(MC, 12/19/01)
1910 In Philadelphia John Wanamaker’s The Grand Depot department store, was replaced by a 250-foot tall, 12-story edifice known as Wanamaker’s.
(ON, 12/05, p.6)
1911 Oct, The Philadelphia Athletics, forerunners of the Oakland A’s, won the World Series, beating the New York Giants of the National League, today’s SF Giants.
(SMTS, 10/1/86, p.4)
1912 May 18, Richard Brooks, director (Blackboard Jungle, In Cold Blood), was born in Philadelphia, PA.
(SC, 5/18/02)
1912 Aug 23, Gene Kelly, dancer and actor who starred in "An American in Paris" and "Singing in the Rain," was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as Eugene Curan. Kelly debuted on Broadway in 1938 musical "Pal Joey" and in the film "For Me and My Gal" four years later
(HN, 8/23/98)(MC, 8/23/02)
1912 Nov 9, The football team of Pennsylvania’s Carlisle Indian School, with running back Jim Thorpe, defeated the Army team, with Dwight D. Eisenhower as linebacker, 27-6. In 2007 Sally Jenkins authored “The Real Americans: The Team That Changed a Game, a People, a Nation."
(WSJ, 1/7/07, p.P9)(www.footballfoundation.com/news.php?id=242)
1912 Engraver George T. Morgan is believed to have produced 5 Liberty Head V nickels at the Philadelphia Mint with a 1913 stamped date. In 2004 one sold for $3 million.
(WSJ, 5/20/04, p.C1)(SFC, 4/27/13, p.A4)
1912-1938 Leopold Stokowski was the music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
(Hem, 6/96, p.107)(WSJ, 2/11/99, p.A24)
1913 May 18, Perry Como (Pierino Roland Como, d. 2001), singer, was born in Canonsburg, Pa.
(SSFC, 5/13/01, p.A27)
1913 Dec 1, The first drive-in automobile service station, built by Gulf Refining Co., opened in Pittsburgh. [see Cincinnati in 1912]
(AP, 12/1/06)
1913 In Pennsylvania a fire at the Red Ash colliery ignited a coal mine. As of 2009 it was still burning and was the oldest of 36 ongoing mine fires.
(Econ, 3/14/09, p.34)
1914 Apr 19, Charles Sanders Peirce (b.1839), American polymath, philosopher and scientist, died in Milford, Pa. In 1883 he used randomization in a psychological experiment at Johns Hopkins Univ.
(www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Charles_Peirce)(Econ, 5/5/12, p.17)
1914 John Wanamaker (1838-1922), Philadelphia retailer and former US Postmaster General (188901893), dispatched 2,000 tons of food aid to Belgium.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wanamaker)(Econ., 5/9/20, p.21)
1915 Geisinger Health Systems was founded in Pennsylvania.
(Econ, 6/18/11, p.75)
1916 Jul 28, Laird Cregar, actor (Charley's Aunt, Hangover Square), was born in Phila.
(SC, 7/28/02)
1916 The Mercer Museum in Doylestown was completed by Henry Chapman Mercer (1856-1930), archeologist and collector.
(AH, 4/01, p.18)
1916 Charles Taze Russell (b.1852) died. He founded the International Bible Students Association. In the 1870’s Russell abandoned the Adventist movement and formed his own in Pennsylvania, which was later named Jehovah’s Witnesses. His early followers were called "Russellites."
(HN, 2/16/02)
1917 Apr 10, A munitions factory explosion at Eddystone, PA., killed 133 workers.
(MC, 4/10/02)
1917 Jul 12, Andrew Wyeth, painter who focused on the northeastern United States, was born in Chadds Ford, Pa. In 1998 Beth Venn and Adam Weinberg published "Unknown Terrain," a companion piece to a Whitney Museum exhibition of his art.
(HN, 7/12/98)(MC, 7/12/02)(www.wyethcenter.com)
1917 Sep 26, Australian Private Thomas Hurdis (26) was wounded in Belgium, and died on Oct. 3 in a US field hospital in France. His skull with a bullet lodged in bone between his eyes was later put on display at the Mutter Museum of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia. On July 20, 2018, the skull was buried in Hurdis' grave at the French Mont Huon Military Cemetery in Le Treport in a ceremony attended by Hurdis' family and Australian troops.
(AP, 7/21/18)
1917 Oct 22, Leopold Stokowski led Philadelphia Orchestra in its first recording.
(MC, 10/22/01)
1917 Theresa Bernstein, artist, helped found the Philadelphia Ten, a female art group. It was created in response to the Eight, a male-dominated group later called the Ashcan School.
(SFC, 3/1/01, p.E2)
1917 John G. Johnson, Philadelphia lawyer, died and left to the city a collection in his home of Renaissance art. Within 20 years the collection was taken over by the Pennsylvania Museum of Art.
(WSJ, 7/18/03, p.W18)
1918 May 18, A TNT explosion in chemical factory in Oakdale, PA, killed 200.
(SC, 5/18/02)
1918 Jul 25, A race riot in Chester, Pennsylvania, left 3 blacks and 2 whites dead.
(SC, 7/25/02)
1918 Sep 28, In Pennsylvania a parade to sell war bonds resulted in an epidemic of the “Spanish flu" that caused mass death in Philadelphia.
(https://tinyurl.com/yycfvbfj)
1918 Milton Hershey endowed the Milton Hershey School with $60 million in stock.
(WSJ, 8/12/99, p.A1)
1918 The influenza epidemic killed 11,000 people in Philadelphia.
(LSA, Fall/06, p.58)
1919 Feb 18, Jack Palance (d.2006), later film and TV star, was born as Volodymir Ivanovich Palahniuk in Latimer Mines, Pa.
(SFC, 11/11/06, p.B6)
1919 Nov 17, Hershy Kay, composer and arranger, was born Philadelphia, Penn.
(MC, 11/17/01)
1920 Jan 15, John J. "Cardinal" O'Connor, Roman Catholic Archbishop of NY, was born in Philadelphia.
(MC, 1/15/02)
1920 Nov 2, The first radio broadcast of presidential elections in the United States was made by radio. Westinghouse had built radio station KDKA on its factory roof in Pittsburgh and was among the first to broadcast returns from the Harding-Cox presidential election. 8MK, the first US station owned by a newspaper (the Detroit News), also broadcast the election returns.
(www.oldradio.com/current/the1st.htm)(WSJ, 1/12/98, p.A19)(HN, 11/2/98)(AP, 11/2/99)
1920 Nov 25, The 1st Thanksgiving Parade was held in Philadelphia.
(MC, 11/25/01)
1921 Jan 2, Religious services were first broadcast on radio when KDKA aired the regular Sunday service of Pittsburgh's Calvary Episcopal Church.
(AP, 1/2/00)
1921 Jan 31, Mario Lanza (d.1959), actor, singer (Great Caruso, Toast of New Orleans), was born in Philadelphia.
(MC, 1/31/02)
1921 Mar 6, Police in Sunbury, Penn., issued an edict requiring Women to wear skirts at least 4 inches below the knee.
(MC, 3/6/02)
1921 May 10, Nancy Walker, Bounty ads, actress (Rhoda, McMillan & Wife), was born in Philadelphia.
(MC, 5/10/02)
1921 Aug 5, The first radio broadcast of a baseball game took place in Pittsburgh.
(WSJ, 10/15/98, p.B8)
1921 Aug 20, Jacqueline Susann, author (Valley of the Dolls), was born in Phila., Pa.
(MC, 8/20/02)
1921 Aug 21, Nancy Kulp, actress (Jane-Beverly Hillbillies), was born in Harrisburg, Pa.
(SC, 8/21/02)
1921 Nov 3, Charles Bronson (d.2003), [Buchinsky], actor (Death Wish, Dirty Dozen), was born in Pennsylvania.
(SFC, 9/1/03, p.A2)
1921 Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia built Engine 2472. In 1975 it was acquired for the San Mateo Fairgrounds in California.
(SSCM, 12/2/01, p.15)
1922 Aug 26, The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs 26-23.
(SFEC, 7/25/99, Z1 p.2)
1922 Dec 12, John Wanamaker (b.1938), US merchant who founded a chain of stores in Philadelphia, died. He introduced department stores and price tags to the US and became the first modern advertiser when he bought ads in newspapers to promote his stores.
(http://tinyurl.com/ck74o)(Econ, 7/8/06, p.61)(Econ, 7/15/06, p.15)
1922 Mennonites from Canada and Pennsylvania fled persecution and settled near Chihuahua, Mexico.
(SFEC, 6/1/97, p.T3)(SFEC, 11/5/00, p.T4)
1923 Jul 10, Jean Kerr (d.2003), playwright and author, was born in Scranton, Pa. Her later books included "Please Don’t Eat the Daisies."
(SFC, 1/7/03, p.A22)
1924 In Philadelphia, Pa., the 18-story Philadelphia Inquirer building was completed as home for the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper.
(WSJ, 8/29/07, p.B1)
1925 Jun 25, Robert Venturi, architect (Levittown NY, Las Vegas), was born in Phila.
(MC, 6/25/02)
1925 Dr. Albert C. Barnes (1872-1951) built a mansion to house his collection of French impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces in Merion, Pennsylvania. The collection grew to some 2,500 objects and their setup and access was highly restricted by Dr. Barnes’ trust indenture. Barnes had made his fortune with a pediatric antibiotic called Argyrol. By 2000 his foundation was broke. In 2003 John Anderson authored ""Art Held Hostage," an account of the Barnes collection.
(WSJ, 11/28/95, p.A-12)(WSJ, 7/18/03, p.W18)
1925 The Pottsville Maroons beat the Chicago Cardinals for the NFL championship, but lost it on a technicality after they played a college all-star team in Philadelphia.
(Econ, 11/1/03, p.30)
1926 Sep 23, Gene Tunney (1897-1978), an ex-marine, defeated Jack Dempsey for the World Heavyweight Boxing championship in Philadelphia. Tunney defeated Dempsey again in a 1927 rematch and retired undefeated in 1928. In 2006 Jack Cavanaugh authored “Tunney: Boxing’s Brainiest Champ and His Upset of the Great Jack Dempsey."
(Smith., 5/95, p.12)(SFC, 10/19/99, p.A22)(WSJ, 11/17/06, p.W6)
1926 Oct 13, Ray Brown (d.2002), jazz bass player, was born in Pittsburgh.
(HN, 10/13/00)(SFC, 7/4/02, p.A21)
1927 Feb 2, Stan Getz, jazz saxophonist, was born in Philadelphia.
(SFC, 12/28/99, p.C4)
1927 Mar 11, The 1st armored commercial car hold-up in US took place in Pittsburgh.
(MC, 3/12/02)
1927 Sep 17, George Blanda, NFL kicker and quarterback (Bears, Oilers, Raiders), was born in Pennsylvania.
(MC, 9/17/01)
1927 Elsie Driggs created her painting "Pittsburgh."
(WSJ, 4/9/98, p.A21)
1928 Mar 20, Fred Rogers, television performer (Mr. Roger's Neighborhood), was born in Latrobe, Pa.
(HN, 3/20/01)
1928 May 19, "Firedamp" exploded in Mather, Pa. coal mine killing 195 of 273 miners.
(DT internet 5/19/97)
1928 Nov 2, L. Stokovski conducted the premiere of Dmitri Shostakovitch's 1st Symphony, in Phila.
(MC, 11/2/01)
1928 Andy Warhol (d.1987) was born in Pittsburgh. He went to school there and graduated from the Carnegie Institute of Technology.
(SFEC, 8/13/00, p.T11)
1928 Walter E. Diemer (23), an accountant for Fleer Chewing Gum in Philadelphia, began testing recipes for a gum base. He invented the first batch of bubble gum, making it pink because that was the only shade of food coloring on hand. It was sold under the Dubble Bubble name for a penny.
(SFC, 1/13/98, p.A19)(SFC, 8/2/99, p.A22)
1929 In Pennsylvania the Rodin Museum opened in Philadelphia. In 2012 it re-opened following a 3-year, $9 million restoration.
(SFC, 7/13/12, p.A8)
1929 Lefty O’Doul hit .398 becoming the National League batting champ of the Philadelphia Phillies. He went on to manage the San Francisco Seals and in 1958 opened Lefty’s, a bar in San Francisco.
(SFC, 3/5/96, p.C1)(SFC, 7/18/97, p.A9)(SSFC, 8/28/11, p.A2)
1930 Mar 17, James Benson Irwin, Col. USAF, astronaut (Apollo 15), was born in Pittsburgh, Penn.
(MC, 3/17/02)
1930 Jun 2, Charles Conrad (d.1999), astronaut, was born in Philadelphia. He walked on the moon during the Apollo XII mission in 1969.
(SFC, 7/9/99, p.A6)
1930 In Philadelphia, Pa., Pat’s King of Steak’s opened at Ninth and Passyunk Ave. They helped make famous the Philadelphia cheese steak sandwich.
(SSFC, 9/17/06, p.G5)
1930s Hubley Manufacturing of Lancaster, Pa., made cast-iron toys that later became valued as collectibles. The Arcade Manuf. Co. of Freeport, Ill., also made similar toys.
(SFC, 1/28/98, Z1 p.3)
1931 Jan 20, Gifford Pinchot (1865-1946) began serving a 2nd term as the 28th governor of Pennsylvania and continued to 1935. His first term was from 1923-1927. Following the of Prohibition in 1933, Pinchot kept restrictions on the sale of alcohol.
(Econ, 3/30/13, p.34)
1931 Apr 7, Donald Barthelme (d.1989), US writer, was born in Philadelphia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Barthelme)(WSJ, 2/21/09, p.W8)
1932 Apr 4, Vitamin C was 1st isolated by C.C. King at the Univ. of Pittsburgh.
(MC, 4/4/02)
1932 Jul 25, Paul J. Weitz, astronaut (Skylab 2, STS 6), was born in Erie, Pennsylvania.
(SC, 7/25/02)
1933 Mar 7, George Darrow added some copyrighted art work to the board game Monopoly and began selling it commercially in Philadelphia. He sold it to Parker Brothers in 1934. The game had originally been patented in 1904 as the Landlord’s Game by Elizabeth J. Magie. In Oct 1929 Ruth Hoskins brought a version to Atlantic City, refined the rules and street names. It was later introduced to George Darrow.
(http://richard_wilding.tripod.com/history.htm)(HN, 3/7/98)(WSJ, 2/3/05, p.W12)
1933 Mar 31, Shirley Jones, actress (Partridge Family, Elmer Gantry), was born in Smithton, Pa.
(MC, 3/31/02)
1933 May 7, Johnny Unitas (d.2002), the son of Lithuanian immigrants, was born in Pittsburgh, Pa. He became a NFL Quarterback for the Baltimore Colts and San Diego Chargers. He was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Unitas)
1933 Nov 7, Pennsylvania voters overturned blue law, by permitting Sunday sports.
(MC, 11/7/01)
1933 Dec 21, Dried human blood serum was 1st prepared at the Univ. of Pennsylvania.
(MC, 12/21/01)
1933 Hugh J. Ward author a rule book on Bingo. He had standardized the modern game at carnivals in and around the Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania areas in the early 1920's and went on to copyright the name.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bingo_%28U.S.%29)
1933 In Pennsylvania the Pymatuning Dam impounded the Pymatuning Reservoir. It was constructed to regulate the flow of the Shenango and Beaver rivers. The reservoir later became a major attraction for tourists, who came to feed the local carp.
(www.dnr.state.oh.us/parks/parks/pymatuning.htm)(WSJ, 6/16/07, p.A1)
1933 Milton Hershey, chocolate tycoon, opened Hotel Hershey in Hershey, Pa.
(SSFC, 4/13/03, p.D6)
1933 Art Rooney founded the Pittsburgh Pirates football team for $2,500.
(WSJ, 7/8/08, p.A17)
1934 Feb 17, 1st high school auto driving course was offered by State College, Penn.
(MC, 2/17/02)
1934 Jun 27, Anna Moffo, soprano (Lucia, Traviata), was born in Wayne, Penn.
(MC, 6/27/02)
1934 Aug 24, In Philadelphia, Pa., Philo T. Farnsworth (28), a San Francisco scientist, produced a televised picture of the moon, the first recorded use of television in astronomy.
(SSFC, 8/16/09, p.46)
1934 Pennsylvania passed legislation to limit alcohol consumption and protect the state's brewers from outside competition.
(WSJ, 3/23/04, p.B5)
1935 Feb 10, Pennsylvania RR began passenger service with new electric locomotive.
(MC, 2/10/02)
1935 Apr 21, Charles Grodin, actor, Woman in Red, Lonely Guy, Heartbreak Kid), was born in Pittsburgh.
(MC, 4/21/02)
1935 Dec 4, Some 1,200 at St Joseph's College, Philadelphia, enrolled in an anticommunism class.
(MC, 12/4/01)
1935 The Pittsburgh Crawfords were considered to have been the greatest Negro League baseball team of all time.
(SFEC, 4/12/98, p.T4)
1936 Jun 11, Presbyterian Church of America was founded at Philadelphia.
(SC, 6/11/02)
1936 Aug 21, Wilt Chamberlain (d.1999 at age 63), later basketball star, was born in Philadelphia. From 1952-1955 he led Overbrook High School to a 56-3 record.
(SFC, 10/13/99, p.D4)
1936 Aug, Pres. Franklin Delano Roosevelt accepted his re-nomination and gave his "rendezvous with destiny" speech in Philadelphia.
(SFEC, 7/30/00, p.C17)
1936 Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Fallingwater house near Mill Run in Western Pennsylvania. He was warned by structural engineers that there was not enough support for the cantilevered floors, but dismissed their warnings. Sag began immediately after construction and in 1997 steel support beams were added as a temporary measure. Edgar Kaufmann Jr. later published "Fallingwater, A Frank Lloyd Wright House."
(WSJ, 10/24/97, p.B18)(SFEC, 2/20/00, p.T10)
1936 Moses Annenberg bought the Philadelphia Enquirer, a reputed bible of Republican politics.
(SFC, 10/2/02, p.A2)
1936 A major flood hit Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania soon passed a 10% tax on alcohol in an emergency measure to help cover the flood damage. Repairs were completed in about 5 years, but the tax remained and was later increased twice to 15% and then 18%.
(WSJ, 6/29/99, p.A1)(WSJ, 8/15/08, p.A11)
1938 Jun 24, A 500 ton meteorite landed near Pittsburgh.
(MC, 6/24/02)
1938 Jul 4, 1st game at Shribe Park, Phila; Braves beat Phillies 10-5.
(Maggio)
1938 Jul 14, Owen Wister (b.1860), novelist, died. His 1902 novel "The Virginian" inspired 5 films. He had earlier begun a novel set in his native Philadelphia but stopped work on it when his wife died during childbirth on Aug 24, 1913.
(HN, 7/14/01)(SFC, 1/9/02, p.D8)
1938 Nov 8, Crystal Bird Fauset of Pa., became the first African American woman to be elected to a state legislature.
(HN, 11/6/98)
1938 Tennessee Williams wrote his play "Not About Nightingales." It was based on an incident in Pennsylvania's Philadelphia County prison, where 4 inmates died after 25 inmates, who threatened a hunger strike due to bad food, were locked in an isolation chamber with giant radiators pumping 200-degree heat.
(WSJ, 3/3/99, p.A17)
1938 Byron White signed a $15,800 contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates becoming the NFL’s first big money player. He later served for 31 years as a US Supreme Court Justice.
(WSJ, 7/8/08, p.A17)
1939 Jun 6, In Pennsylvania the first Little League baseball game was played. The league was founded by Carl Stotz in Williamsport. The Little League World Series began in 1947. Girls were banned from 1951-1974.
(SSFC, 6/1/14, Par. p.8)
1939 Aug 11, Moses Annenberg, owner of the Philadelphia Enquirer, was indicted by a federal jury in Chicago for evading some $3.2 million in income taxes.
(SFC, 10/2/02, p.A2)
1939 St. John Terell (d.1998 at 81), actor and impresario, founded the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope.
(SFC, 10/21/98, p.C3)
1939 Jim Rex founded the Ranger Joe Breakfast Food Co. in Philadelphia. It was sold in the 1940s to Philadelphia businessman Moses Berger and sold again in 1954 to Nabisco and renamed "Wheat and Rice Honeys."
(SFC,11/19/97, Z1 p.7)
1939 Latrobe Brewing of Latrobe, Pa., began making Rolling Rock, a pale lager. It was later acquired by InBev SA. In 2006 Rolling Rock was acquired by Anheuser-Busch, which moved operations to Newark NJ. In 2008 Anheuser-Busch was acquired by InBev SA.
(www.nytimes.com/2006/08/08/nyregion/08brew.html?fta=y)(WSJ, 4/13/09, p.B1)
1940 Apr 20, RCA publicly demonstrated its new and powerful electron microscope in Philadelphia, Pa.
(AP, 4/20/97)(HN, 4/20/98)(MC, 4/20/02)
1940 Jun 24, The Republican Convention, opened in Philadelphia. In 2005 Charles Peters authored “Five Days in Philadelphia." An account of the convention and how it freed FDR to move against Hitler.
(WSJ, 7/6/05, p.D10)(http://tinyurl.com/e3xrw)
1940 Jun 28, The Republican Convention, held in Philadelphia, nominated Wendall Willkie (d.1944) for US president on 6th ballot. Senator Charles L. McNary from Oregon was his running mate. They were defeated by President Franklin Roosevelt who won his third term. In 2005 Charles Peters authored “Five Days in Philadelphia." An account of the convention and how it freed FDR to move against Hitler.
(WSJ, 7/6/05, p.D10)(SFEC, 7/30/00, p.C17)(http://tinyurl.com/e3xrw)
1940 Oct 1, The first section of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, 160 miles in length, was opened to the public.
(AP, 10/1/00)
1940 Oct 24, F. Murray Abraham, actor (Amadeus, Mad Man), was born in Pittsburgh, Pa.
(MC, 10/24/01)
1940 Nov 1, 1st US air raid shelter was made in Fleetwood, Pa.
(MC, 11/1/01)
1940 Art Rooney renamed the Pittsburgh Pirates football team to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
(WSJ, 7/8/08, p.A17)
1940-1953 John W. Nason (d.2001 at 96) served as president of Swarthmore College. From 1942-1945 he served as chairman of the National Japanese American Student Relocation Council and helped over 3,000 students out of detention camps and into institutions of higher learning.
(SFC, 11/24/01, p.A21)
1941 May 26, American Flag House, the Betsy Ross Home, was given to the city of Phila.
(MC, 5/26/02)
1941 Aug 28, Paul Peter Plishka, bass (Met Opera), was born in Old Forge, Penn.
(MC, 8/28/01)
1941 Matt Cvetic (d.1962 at 53) infiltrated the Communist party in Pittsburgh. The 1951 film "I Was a Communist for the FBI" was based on his true story. In 2001 Daniel J. Leab authored "I Was a Communist for the FBI."
(WSJ, 2/12/00, p.A25)
1942 Jan 10, Jim Croce, (d.1973) rock vocalist (Time in a Bottle, Workin' At The Car Wash Blues), was born in Philadelphia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Croce)
1942 Mar 26, 20 tons of gelignite killed 21 in a stone quarry in Easton, PA.
(SS, 3/26/02)
1942 Nov 20, Joseph Biden, later US Senator for Delaware, was born in Scranton, Pa. In 2008 Barack Obama named Biden as his vice presidential running mate.
(SSFC, 8/24/08, p.A15)
1942 Moses Annenberg, owner of the Philadelphia Enquirer, died. His son Walter took over as editor and publisher.
(SFC, 10/2/02, p.A2)
1943 May 31, Joe Namath, NFL QB (NY Jets), $400,000 man (1969 Superbowl), was born in PA.
(MC, 5/31/02)
1943 Jun 17, Newt Gingrich, later Republican Speaker of the House (1995-1998), was born in Hummelstown, Pa.
(SFC, 11/7/98, p.A4)
1943 Richard James (d.1974) observed a torsion spring balance bounce off a ship’s deck while working at a Philadelphia shipyard and conceived the idea of a "slinky" toy for children, named by his wife Betty James (d.2008). In 1945 they founded James Industries. In 1998 the company was sold to POOF Products of Michigan.
(IBCC, 10/97, #9)(SSFC, 11/23/08, p.B9)
1944 Jan 28, Leonard Bernstein's "Jeremiah," premiered in Pittsburgh.
(MC, 1/28/02)
1945 Milton Hershey (b.1857), Philadelphia chocolate tycoon, died.
(WSJ, 8/12/99, p.A1)
1946 Jul 6, Jamie Wyeth, artist (An American Vision-Boston), was born in Pennsylvania.
(MC, 7/6/02)
1947 Feb 9, Bank robber Willie Sutton escaped jail in Philadelphia.
(MC, 2/9/02)
1947 Sep 13, WPVI TV channel 6 in Philadelphia, PA., (ABC) began broadcasting.
(MC, 9/13/01)
1948 Feb 14, Winthrop Rockefeller (1912-1973), later governor of Arkansas (1967-1971), married Barbara Sears (1916-2008), the Pennsylvania-born daughter of Lithuanian immigrants. They had one child, Winthrop Paul Rockefeller, but the marriage dissolved in a high-profile divorce in 1954. Barbara Bobo Rockefeller, born as Jievute Paulekiute in Noblestown, Pa., was featured as Miss Lithuania at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. She later was known as Eva Paul.
(www.thetimes.co.za/PrintEdition/Insight/Article.aspx?id=772208)
1948 Jun 2, Albert Innaurato, playwright, director (Age in Soho), was born in Phila.
(SC, 6/2/02)
1948 Jun 17, A United Air Lines DC-6 crashed near Mount Carmel, Penn., killing all 43 people on board.
(AP, 6/17/98)
1948 Jun 21, The Republican national convention opened in Philadelphia. The delegates ended up choosing Thomas E. Dewey to be their presidential nominee.
(AP, 6/21/07)
1948 Jun 24, The Republican National Convention, meeting in Philadelphia, nominated New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey for president.
(AP, 6/24/98)
1948 Jun 25, The Republican national convention in Philadelphia chose California Gov. Earl Warren to be Thomas E. Dewey's running mate.
(AP, 6/25/98)
1948 Jul 12, The Democratic national convention opened in Philadelphia.
(AP, 7/12/98)
1948 Jul 15, President Truman was nominated for another term of office by the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
(AP, 7/15/97)
1948 Jul 24, Henry A. Wallace accepted the presidential nomination of the Progressive Party in Philadelphia.
(AP, 7/24/08)
1948 Oct 31, By this date some 20 people died and 6,000 were made ill by smog from steel and zinc plants in Donora, Pennsylvania. Between October 26 and October 31, 1948, an air inversion trapped fluoride effluent from the Zinc Works. In three days, 18 people died. After the inversion lifted, another 50 died. Hundreds more finished the rest of their lives with damaged lungs and hearts. Both plants closed in 1966. In 2002, “When Smoke Ran Like Water" was published by Devra Davis.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donora,_Pennsylvania)(SSFC, 11/2/08, p.A6)
1948 The John Murtha Airport opened in Jonestown, Pennsylvania. From 1989-2009 Congressman John Murtha steered some $150,000,000 to the airport. In 2009 there were a total of 18 commercial flights per week, all of which went to Dulles Airport in Washington, DC.
(http://tinyurl.com/nsdv8k)(Econ, 1/23/10, p.26)
1949 Jun 16, A gas turbine, electric locomotive was demonstrated in Erie, Pa.
(MC, 6/16/02)
1949 Aug 31, Richard Gere, actor (Breathless, Cotton Club), was born in Phila., Pa.
(YN, 8/31/99)
1949 Pennsylvania enacted a state law requiring the reading of 10 Bible verses each day in schools followed by joint recitation of the Lord's Prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
(SFC, 11/24/03, p.A18)
1949 There was a cholera outbreak in Philadelphia, Pa.
(SFC, 3/8/14, p.C3)
1951 Jun 14, UNIVAC, the first computer built for commercial purposes, was demonstrated in Philadelphia by Dr. John W. Mauchly and J. Prosper Eckert, Jr.
(HN, 6/14/98)
1951 Jun 15, 1st commercial electronic computer was dedicated in Philadelphia. [see Jun 14]
(MC, 6/15/02)
1951 Jul 24, Dr. Albert C. Barnes, eccentric collector of impressionist art, died in an automobile crash. [see 1925 Barnes] His will specified that his art collection be kept forever in Lower Merion Township, Pa. In 2004 a judge allowed trustees to move the collection to Philadelphia.
(WSJ, 11/28/95, p.A-12)(SFC, 12/15/04, p.E5)(www.barnesfoundation.org/h_bio.html)
1951 Pennsylvania passed a law requiring a loyalty oath from candidates for public office. In 2006 the oath was deemed unconstitutional.
(SFC, 8/28/06, p.A3)
1951 Elizabeth Ralph, physicist at the Univ. of Pennsylvania, created the Museum Applied Science Center for Archeology (MASCA).
(AM, 11/04, p.30)
1952 Mar 18, The 1st plastic lens for cataract patients was fitted in Phila.
(MC, 3/18/02)
1952 Oct 7, The 1st "Bandstand" broadcast in Philadelphia on WFIL-TV. Dick Clark joined in 1955 as a substitute-host. American Bandstand premiered as a local show in Philadelphia.
(SFC, 11/10/99, p.E3)(SFC, 4/15/00, p.D3)
1952 John J. Rigas founded Adelphia Communications in Coudersport, Pa., with a dream and a $300 check for a local cable franchise.
(WSJ, 5/28/02, p.A1)(USAT, 7/9/04, p.3B)
1952 Crigler-Najjar syndrome was named for two doctors who identified it this year. Patients began living longer in the 1970s when doctors realized that the wavelength and energy of blue light changes the nature of the bilirubin, allowing it to be excreted from the body. In 2007 there were about 110 known cases of Crigler's worldwide, including about 35 in the US. About 20 are among the Amish and Mennonite in Pennsylvania.
(AP, 5/19/07)
1953 Mar 26, Dr. Jonas Salk of the University of Pittsburgh announced that a vaccine against polio had been successfully tested in a small group of adults and children. By April 1955, the vaccine had undergone further testing and gained federal approval for public use, as shown in this photo of Salk administering the vaccine at Colfax School in Pittsburgh. Salk’s polio vaccine was so successful that by 1961 the incidence of polio had decreased by 95 percent.
(HNPD, 3/26/99)
1954 Feb 23, The first mass inoculation of children against polio with the Salk vaccine began in Pittsburgh. Jonas Salk created the Salk vaccine against polio. It used a killed virus to induce immunization. Poliomyelitis is a viral attack of the central nervous system and can cause paralysis and death by asphyxiation. [see Apr 26] In 2005 David M. Oshinsky authored “Polio: An American Story – The Crusade That Mobilized the Nation Against the 20th Century’s Most Feared Disease."
(SFC, 6/21/96, p.A10)(HN, 2/23/98)(AP, 2/23/98)(Econ, 6/18/05, p.79)
1956 Jul 4, Independence National Historical Park formed in Philadelphia.
(Maggio)
1956 Dick Clark (27) joined the TV show "American Bandstand" in Philadelphia after one of the 2 original hosts was arrested fro drunk driving. He was replaced by David Hirsch for the last season in 1989.
(SFC, 11/10/99, p.E3)(SFC, 5/2/02, p.D1)
1956 Whirling disease infecting the salmon family of fish was first detected in the US in 1956 in Pennsylvania. It was native to Eurasia and caused by a fungus carried in spores hosted by the Tubifex tubifex worm. In 1995 it was detected in Montana fish.
(WSJ, 3/26/99, p.W10)
1957 Jan 3, The Hamilton Watch Company was the first to introduce an electric watch in Lancaster, Pa.
(http://rondeau.net/history.html)
1957 Aug 5, "American Bandstand," a teenage dance show hosted by Dick Clark (1929-2012) in Philadelphia, made its network debut on ABC-TV.
(WSJ, 3/24/97, p.B1)(SFC, 11/10/99, p.E3)(AP, 8/5/07)(SFC, 4/19/12, p.C5)
1957 Aug 21, Kim Sledge, vocalist (Sister Sledge-We are Family), was born in Phila.
(SC, 8/21/02)
1957 Dec 2, The Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, the first full-scale commercial nuclear facility to generate electricity in the US, went critical. [see July 12] It was taken out of service in 1982.
(SSFC, 4/8/07, p.A18)(AP, 12/2/07)
1957 Dec 18, The Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, the first nuclear facility to generate electricity in the United States, went on line [see July 12].
(AP, 12/18/07)
1957 Bill and Daisy Myers became the first Black couple to buy a house in Levittown (Willingboro), Pa. State police were required to protect them. They lived there until 1961. In 1999 Daisy was given a reception and an apology from the Bristol Township Mayor Sam Fenton. Levittown was created by William Levitt, who kept costs down by bringing in ready made walls and buying appliances directly from manufacturers. In 2009 David Kushner authored “Levittown: Two Families, One Tycoon, and the Fight for Civil Rights in America’s Legendary Suburb."
(SFC, 12/9/99, p.A6)(Econ, 5/31/08, p.28)(WSJ, 2/5/08, p.A11)
1957 Dr. Hilary Koprowski of the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia developed an oral polio vaccine and tested it in Africa (Congo). The Wister polio vaccine was given to some 300,000 people in the Belgian Congo from 1957-1960. A later theory held that reuse of needles during the immunization program caused AIDS via “serial passage" that transformed the SIV virus into HIV. In 1999 Edward Hooper authored “The River," a detailed hypothesis for the origin of AIDS in Africa. Hooper suspected that the Wister polio vaccine, produced from monkey kidney cells, contained SIV virus. In 2000 a computerized study indicated that the AIDS virus was introduced to humans about 1930.
(SFC, 2/2/00, p.A19)(SFC, 1/15/01, p.A11)(SFC, 4/13/05, p.A5)(www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/gen-info/pandemics.htm)
1958 The Hearst Corp. launched WTAE-TV, Pittsburgh.
(SFC, 8/7/99, p.A9)
1959 The Rev. Willie James launched a lawsuit that led to the desegregation of Willingboro (Levittown), Pa.
(Econ, 5/31/08, p.29)
1959 Bassetts produced 50 tubs of borscht sorbet in honor of Premier Nikita Khrushchev’s visit to Philadelphia.
(WSJ, 8/1/00, p.A24)
1959 Mario Lanza (b.1921) died in Italy at age 38. He was born as Freddy Cocozza in South Philly. A museum dedicated to the Italian singer is tucked inside of the Settlement Music School of Philadelphia.
(Smith., 4/1995, p.95)(SFEC, 3/21/99, DB p.9)
1960 Jul 4, The 50-star flag made its debut in Philadelphia. A 50th star was added to the American flag in honor of Hawaii's admission into the Union on August 21, 1959.
(HN, 7/4/98) (IB, Internet, 12/7/98)
1960 Aug 23, Broadway librettist Oscar Hammerstein II (65) died in Doylestown, Pa.
(AP, 8/23/08)
1960 Oct 13, The Pittsburgh Pirates won the World Series at Forbes Field with a 9th inning homerun by Bill Mazeroski. A Univ. of Pittsburgh academic building was later built on the site.
(WSJ, 3/25/04, p.D1)
1960 A mutated gene on the "Philadelphia chromosome" was found to be responsible for chronic myelogenous leukemia. It caused white blood cells to divide uncontrollably.
(WSJ, 6/6/00, p.A1)
1962 Feb 26, Wilt Chamberlain of NBA Philadelphia Warriors scored 67 points vs. New York.
(SC, 2/26/02)
1962 Mar 5, The US Supreme Court in Griggs v. Allegheny County ruled that airports must compensate people living in the near vicinity for noise and vibrations.
(http://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/369/84/)
1962 Mar 10, The Phillies baseball club left the Jack Tar Harrison Hotel due to its refusal to admit black players, and moved to Rocky Point Motel, 20 miles outside Clearwater, Florida.
(http://tinyurl.com/mdtvxu)
1962 Jul 28, 19 died in a train crash in Steelton, Pa.
(SC, 7/28/02)
1962 The Philadelphia Warriors basketball franchise with star Wilt Chamberlain moved to the SF Bay Area.
(SFC, 10/13/99, p.D4)
1962 Walter Annenberg, owner of the Philadelphia Enquirer, established the M.L. Annenberg School for Communication at the Univ. of Pennsylvania.
(SFC, 10/2/02, p.A2)
1962 A fire broke out in a garbage dump above an abandoned coal mine in Centralia, Pen. The property had been deeded to the town in 1954 for $1. The fire spread and burned for years. In 1983 US Congress approved $42 million to help the residents move, and by 2005 only about a dozen residents remained. In 2007 Joan Quigley authored “The Day the Earth Caved In: An American Mining Tragedy."
(WSJ, 4/17/07, p.D6)
1963 Jun 17, The US Supreme Court ruled 8-1 to strike down rules requiring the recitation of the Lord's Prayer or reading of Biblical verses in public schools. The case began in 1956 when Edward L. Schempp (d.2003), on behalf of his son, objected to a 1949 Pennsylvania law requiring 10 Bible verses each day followed by the Lord's Prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
(AP, 6/17/97)(HN, 6/17/98)(SFC, 11/24/03, p.A18)
1963-1976 Albert W. Johnson (d.1998 at 92) served in the US Congress. He was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1946.
(SFC, 9/7/98, p.A21)
1964 Aug 28, Race riots took place in Philadelphia.
(MC, 8/28/01)
1964 Nov 3, Philadelphia voters approved $25 million to build a new sports stadium.
(MC, 11/3/01)
1964 Roger Abrahams (1933-2017), American folklorist, authored “Deep Down in the Jungle: Negro Narrative Folklore from the Streets of Philadelphia."
(SSFC, 7/2/17, p.C8)
1964 Stefan Lorant (1901-1997), Hungarian-born filmmaker and writer, authored "Pittsburgh: the Story of an American City." He wrote the book following a chance meeting with Edgar Kaufman, the Pittsburgh department store mogul.
(SFC,11/19/97, p.C5)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Lorant)
1965 Jan 13, The SF Warriors traded Wilt Chamberlain to the Philadelphia 76ers for three players and a reported $3 million in cash. The 76ers assumed Wilt’s $65,000 annual salary.
(SSFC, 1/11/15, DB p.42)
1965 Sep 10, Father Divine (b.~1876), African-American preacher, died in Philadelphia. His full self-given name was Reverend Major Jealous Divine, and he was also known as "the Messenger" early in his life. He founded the International Peace Mission movement, formulated its doctrine, and oversaw its growth from a small and predominantly black congregation into a multiracial and international church. Due to his ideology, many consider him to be a cult leader.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Divine)
1965 The American Conservatory Theater was founded by William Ball in 1965 in Pittsburgh. ACT moved west and settled in at the Geary Theater in SF in 1967.
(SFEC, 3/8/98, p.W29)
1965 Richard Scaife (1932-2014) of Pittsburgh, heir to the Mellon banking fortune, inherited $500 million. With more family bequests, income from trust funds and investments he nearly tripled his net worth over his lifetime.
(SFC, 7/5/14, p.C4)
1967 Mar 7, Convicted Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa began an eight-year prison term at Lewisburg Federal Prison in Pennsylvania for defrauding the union and jury tampering. The sentence was commuted by President Nixon Dec 23, 1971.
(HN, 3/7/98)(www.moldea.com/One-9.html)
1967 May 6, 400 students seized the administration building at Cheyney State College, Pa.
(MC, 5/6/02)
1968 Feb 1, The Pennsylvania Railroad and NYC Central merged into Penn Central.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn_Central)
1968 Sep, The Big Mac was created by McDonald’s franchisee Jim Delligatti in Pittsburgh. It sold for 49 cents.
(SFC, 9/10/98, p.B2)
1968 Oct 1, The cult horror movie "Night of the Living Dead" had its world premiere in Pittsburgh.
(AP, 10/1/98)
1968 The Delfonics soul singing group of Philadelphia recorded their hit "La-la Means I Love You."
(SFEC, 1/25/98, DB p.45)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Delfonics)
1969 Jul 21, Riots in York, Pa., left 2 people dead, Lillie Belle Allen (27) along with rookie officer Henry Schaad (22). Schaad was mortally wounded 3 days before Allen was killed. Over 60 people were arrested as one city block burned. In 2001 Arthur (47) and Robert Messersmith (52) were arrested for the slaying of Allen. In 2001 Rick Lynn Knouse (48) and Gregory Henry Neff (53), former members of the Girarders white street gang, were also charged in the murders. In 2001 York Mayor Charles Robertson was arrested on homicide charges for allegedly handing out ammunition to white gang members and exhorting them to "Kill as many niggers as you can." In 2001 Thomas P. Smith was accused in the ambush shooting of Allen. In 2001 Stephen Freeland (49) and Leon Wright (53) were charged in the murder of officer Schaad. Robertson was acquitted in 2002. Messersmith and Neff were found guilty of 2nd degree murder. 6 white men were sentenced up to 3 years in prison. Wright's brother Michael implicated himself in 2003 and was charged for the murder of Schaad. In 2005 York city officials announced a $2 million settlement with the children and sisters of Lillie Belle Allen.
(SFC, 4/28/01, p.A5)(SFC, 5/10/01, p.A7)(SFC, 5/17/01, p.A2)(SFC, 5/22/01, p.A5)(YD, 5/24/01)(YD, 6/25/00)(SFC, 10/31/01, p.C2)(SSFC, 10/20/02, p.A7)(SFC, 11/14/02, p.A8)(BS, 6/26/03, 5A)(SFC, 12/7/05, p.A3)
1969 Dec 31, In Clarksville Joseph Yablonski was murdered with his wife and daughter.
(SFC, 11/8/99, p.C2)
1969 Philadelphia initiated a program of “career academies," which combined academic and technical curriculums and gave students work experience.
(Econ, 6/19/10, p.34)
1969 Leonard Tose (1915-2003) and several others bought the Philadelphia Eagles pro football team for $15.155 million. Tose bought out his partners in 1977. He sold the team in 1985 to Norman Braman of south Florida for $65 million.
(SFC, 4/17/03, p.A23)
1970 Jan 5, Joseph A. Yablonski, an unsuccessful candidate for the presidency of the United Mine Workers, was found murdered with his wife and daughter at their Clarksville, Pa., home. Nine people were later charged in the killing including UMW Pres. W.A. Boyle.
(AP, 1/5/98)(SFC, 11/8/99, p.C2)
1970 Jun 21, Penn Central was forced into bankruptcy. The default caught the market by surprise, largely because commercial paper ratings were in their infancy. Fed chairman Arthur Burns reacted by making discount window loans to banks that lent to CP issuers.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn_Central_Transportation)(WSJ, 8/30/07, p.A3)
1970 Apr 22, The first Earth Day and Earth Week was celebrated and millions protested pollution on Earth and their concern for the environment. The event was organized by a 33-member committee in Philadelphia. Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson suggested Earth Day as a means to focus national attention on ecological issues. Gaylord selected Pete McCloskey as co-chairman. Organizers later identified 12 anti-environment members of the US House and Senate, 7 of whom soon lost their seats.
(AP, 4/22/97)(WSJ, 5/12/99, p.A23)(SSFC, 4/18/04, p.E3)(http://www.nelsonearthday.net/)
1970 The Shostakovich (1906-1975) 13th symphony "Babi Yar," smuggled on microfilm to the US, was premiered in the US by the Philadelphia Orchestra.
(WSJ, 6/29/99, p.A12)(http://tinyurl.com/69xuxx)
1971 Jan 25, The Philadelphia mint made its 1st trial strike of the Eisenhower dollar.
(www.usmint.gov/search/index.cfm?flash=yes&criteria=&hf=1&group=166)
1971 Jan, Fred Speaker (1930-1996), attorney general of Pennsylvania, ordered the dismantling of the electric chair at the Rockview Correctional Institution on his last day in office.
(SFC, 9/17/96, p.A22)(http://tinyurl.com/6qxtu6)
1971 Mar 8, Catholic radicals in Media, Pa., broke into the local FBI offices and stole documents that revealed the agency’s illegal activities against radical groups and leaked them to the media. In 2014 Betty Medsger authored “The Burglary: The Discovery of J. Edgar Hoover’s Secret FBI." Prof. John Raines (1933-2017) and his wife Bonnie were among the eight antiwar activists who took part in the burglary.
(SSFC, 1/12/14, p.F1)(SSFC, 11/19/17, p.C9)(SSFC, 3/7/21, p.A1)
1971 Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia opened. Demolition felled it in 2004.
(WSJ, 3/25/04, p.D1)
1971 Rev. Leon Sullivan (1922-2001), a noted Philadelphia minister, became GM’s 1st black board member. In 1998 Sullivan authored “Moving Mountains."
(SFC, 6/8/04, B7)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Sullivan)
1972 Apr 5, The Harrisburg 7 trial ended in mistrial after 11 weeks. Philip Berrigan & Sister Elizabeth McAllister were declared guilty, but only of smuggling letters in & out of prison. Librarian Zoia Horn (d.2014) had refused to testify at the trail, becoming the first US librarian to be jailed for refusing to testify. She was freed after 20 days when a jury deadlocked on conspiracy charges.
(www.well.com/~mareev/TIMELINE/1971-1972.html)(SFC, 7/16/14, p.E5)
1972 Sep 18, In Pennsylvania the body of Morgan Peters was found along the Pennsylvania Turnpike. In 2019 Ohio inmate Larry Joseph Via (75) was charged with criminal homicide and robbery in the death of Peters (29), who had been shot in the back, following a grand jury investigation that began in 2017. Police cited writing by Via published in biker magazines.
(http://tinyurl.com/y48ypqlg)(AP, 9/7/19)
1972 Nov 8, The Green Channel of Manhattan became Home Box Office (HBO). Time Life gained control of HBO in March, 1973. HBO soon began transmitting programs to cable TV subscribers in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. The 1st cablecast was a National League Hockey game.
(WSJ, 1/11/00, p.B1)(SFC, 4/3/01, p.C1)
1972 John J. Rigas incorporated Adelphia Communications in Pennsylvania. The name came from the Greek word for “brother." He took the company public in 1986.
(USAT, 7/9/04, p.3B)(www.answers.com/topic/adelphia-communications)
1972-1975 Soul music peaked in Philadelphia. In 2004 John A. Jackson authored “A House on Fire: The Rise and Fall of Philadelphia Soul."
(SSFC, 11/7/04, p.M3)
1973 Eugene Ormandy (1899-1985) ended his direction of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
(WSJ, 2/11/99, p.A24)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Ormandy)
1974 Feb 5, John Murtha (1932-2010), became Pennsylvania’s Democratic representative following a special House election. He became the first Vietnam veteran to serve in Congress.
(SFC, 2/9/10, p.A6)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Murtha)
1974 Apr 11, United Mine Workers president W. A. "Tony" Boyle was found guilty of first-degree murder, for ordering the assassination of union reformer Joseph A. "Jock" Yablonski in 1969. Yablonski, his wife and daughter were murdered on December 30, 1969. Boyle had defeated Yablonski in the UMW election earlier in the year-an election marred by intimidation and vote fraud. In 1972 the election was set aside by a federal court after Boyle had been convicted of illegal use of UMW funds in the federal elections of 1968. In a new election held in December, 1972, Boyle was defeated by rank and file reformist Arnold Miller. Soon after the election Boyle was put on trial for murdering the Yablonskis and was sentenced to three consecutive life terms in prison.
(HNQ, 11/8/99)(SFC, 11/8/99, p.C2)
1974 Jul 29, The Episcopal Church ordained female priests in Philadelphia.
(www.episcopalchurch.org/41685_42321_ENG_HTM.htm)
1974 The Pittsburgh Area Theater Organ Society acquired a Mighty Wurlitzer from the Prospect Theater in Brooklyn for $5,000.
(WSJ, 6/29/99, p.A1,4)
1974 The $2.5 million, 393-foot Gettysburg National Tower was erected on private land on the edge of the Gettysburg Civil War battlefield site. It was destroyed in 2000.
(SFC, 7/4/00, p.A3)
1974 The firefly was named as the official state insect.
(SFEC, 11/21/99, Z1p.2)
1975 Jan 12, The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Minnesota Vikings (16-6) in the Superbowl in New Orleans. Bob McCurry of Chrysler Corp. introduced the auto rebate in a 1975 Superbowl commercial.
(www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/results.nsf/Teams/1974-pit)
1975 May 6, In hockey the Philadelphia Flyers won the semifinal series over Boston 4 games to 1.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975-76_Philadelphia_Flyers_season)
1975 In Pennsylvania a company called McAdoo Associates began operating to extract and recycle metals from chemical wastes. The company accepted hundred of thousands of gallons of paint sludge, waste oils, used solvents, PCBs, cyanide, pesticides and many other known or suspected carcinogens. In 1979, when the EPA stepped in, McAdoo Associates had stockpiled enough chemicals to nearly fill an Olympic-size swimming pool. The EPA placed it on the Superfund list and began a cleanup. The US Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry began looking into polycythemia vera (PCV) in August 2006 after 97 cases in Schuylkill, Carbon and Luzerne counties were reported to the state cancer registry between 2001 and 2005.
(AP, 10/23/07)
1976 Jan 23, Paul Robeson (b.1898), black athlete, lawyer, singer, died in Philadelphia. Lloyd L. Brown later wrote the biography "The Young Paul Robeson: On My Journey Now." His granddaughter Susan Robeson in 1981 wrote "The Whole World in His Hands: A Pictorial Biography of Paul Robeson."
(SFC, 3/26/98, p.A26)(WSJ, 4/9/98, p.A21)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Robeson)
1976 Apr 27, Jimmy Carter clinched the Democratic presidential nomination by beating Henry “Scoop" Jackson and Morris Udall in the Pennsylvania primary.
(www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carter/timeline/index.html)(Econ, 4/12/08, p.31)
1976 May 16, The Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup hockey finals in 4 games over the Philadelphia Flyers.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975-76_Philadelphia_Flyers_season)
1976 Jul 4, The nation held a 200th anniversary party across the land in celebration of America's 200 years of independence. President Ford made stops in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, Independence Hall in Philadelphia, and New York, where more than 200 ships paraded up the Hudson River in Operation Sail.
(TMC, 1994, p.1976)(IB, 12/7/98)(AP, 7/4/01)
1976 Jul 4, The National Museum of American Jewish History opened in Philadelphia. It was established to tell the story of the American Jewish experience.
(SFC, 7/3/08, p.E15)(www.ushistory.org/tour/tour_jewish.htm)
1976 Jul 21, "Legionnaire's Disease" struck in Philadelphia, Pa. 29 people died from the disease. The disease was first identified after an outbreak at the Bellevue Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia. It was identified as Legionella pneumophila and found to infest water systems in general and the hotel ventilation system in this case.
(OGA, 11/24/98)(SFC, 4/13/96, p.A-17)
1976 Jul 27, Air Force veteran Ray Brennan became the first person to die of so-called "Legionnaire’s Disease" following an American Legion convention in Philadelphia.
(AP, 7/27/00)
1976 J. Howard Marshall II (d.1995), Texas oil tycoon and alumnus of Haverford College, Pa., pledged $4 million to Haverford. In 1994 Marshall married Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith (26) and by his death had donated less than $2 million to the college.
(WSJ, 7/24/03, p.A1)
1977 Jun 19, Pope Paul VI proclaimed a 19th-century Philadelphia bishop, John Neumann, the first male US saint.
(AP, 6/19/07)
1977 Jul 20, A flash flood hit Johnstown, Pa., killing more than 80 people and causing $350 million worth of damage.
(AP, 7/20/08)
1978 Aug 8, James Ramp (52), Philadelphia police officer, was killed during a standoff with MOVE. 9 members of MOVE, a Black group that espoused equality with animals and preached against technology, were convicted. Members of the group adopted the surname Africa.
(SFC, 3/16/98, p.A20)(www.odmp.org/officer/10987-police-officer-james-j.-ramp)
1977 Sep, In Philadelphia Helen "Holly" Maddux, a Bryn Mawr College graduate from Tyler, Texas, was murdered and stuffed into a steamer trunk for 18 months until her body was discovered. Ira Einhorn, "hippie guru" was arrested for the murder in 1979 but released on bail. He fled to hide in France. Fred Maddux, Holly's father, committed suicide in 1988. Einhorn was convicted in absentia in 1993. In June,1997, he was arrested in France. A French court ruled against extradition and released Einhorn. Einhorn was arrested in 1998 under a new extradition warrant. The events were broadcast as a TV crime story in 1999 titled "The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer." In 1999 The French Supreme Court ruled that Einhorn should be returned to the US. In 1999 a civil suit ordered Einhorn to pay $907 million to the Maddux family. Einhorn was extradited to the US in 2001. he was convicted of murder Oct 17, 2002.
(SFC, 6/17/97, p.A2)(SFC,12/5/97, p.A17)(SFC, 9/22/98, p.A3)(WSJ, 5/3/99, p.A20)(WSJ, 5/12/99, p.A23)(SFC, 5/28/99, p.D3)(SFC, 7/29/99, p.A8)(SFC, 7/20/01, p.A14)(SFC, 10/18/02, p.A7)
1978 Dec 13, The Philadelphia Mint began stamping the Susan B. Anthony dollar, which went into circulation the following July. This was the 1st US coin to honor a woman.
(AP, 12/13/97)(MC, 12/13/01)
1979 Jan 21, The Pittsburgh Steelers became the first team to win three Super Bowls as they defeated the Dallas Cowboys 35-31 in Super Bowl 13.
(AP, 1/22/04)
1979 Mar 28, America's worst commercial nuclear accident occurred inside the Unit Two reactor at the Three Mile Island plant near Middletown, Pa., almost to meltdown. Thousands living near the plant left the area before the 12-day crisis ended, during which time some radioactive water and gases were released. A combination of mechanical and human factors allowed the Unit 2 reactor to lose cooling water. It cost more than $1 billion and more than a decade to remove the damaged nuclear fuel. A 1997 study indicated increased cancer rates for people living downwind.
(TMC, 1994, p.1979)(SFC, 6/8/96, p.A2)(SFC, 2/24/96, p.A3)(AP, 3/28/97) (HN, 3/28/98)(MC, 3/28/02)
1979 Nov 1, Mamie Doud Eisenhower (b.1896), wife of former Pres. "Ike" Eisenhower, died at a family farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
(AP, 11/1/99)(www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/me34.html)
1979 August Wilson, playwright, wrote "Jitney." It was set in the Hill District of Pittsburgh and first performed in 1982.
(WSJ, 8/4/99, p.A20)
1979 The song "We Are Family" by Sister Sledge became a hit. It was made the theme song for the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Are_Family_%28song%29)
1980 Oct 2, Michael Myers (D-Pa) became the 1st representative expelled in over 100 years (ABSCAM).
(MC, 10/2/01)
1980 Ron Perelman acquired MacAndrews & Forbes, a Philadelphia candymaker, for $45 million. Howard Gittis (1934-2007) advised Perelman on the acquisition and in 1985 joined Perelman and his MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings.
(WSJ, 9/22/07, p.A8)(www.forbes.com/free_forbes/2005/1010/050.html)
1980 Norman, Bruce and David Johnston were sentenced to life in prison for the murder of 4 teenagers to cover up a family burglary ring.
(SFC, 8/21/99, p.A3)
1981 Dec 9, In Philadelphia Mumia Abu Jamal shot and killed Officer Daniel Faulkner shortly after the officer stopped William Cook, Jamal’s brother (see July 3, 1981).
(SFC, 3/28/08, p.A4)
1981 Philadelphia school teachers stage a strike.
(SFC, 10/28/00, p.A9)
1982 Jul 3, Mumia Abu-Jamal (b.1954), radio reporter and former Black Panther, was convicted for the 1981 murder of police officer Daniel Faulkner in Pittsburgh. Jamal supporters said he was framed. Prosecutors said Jamal shot Faulkner after seeing the officer struggling with Jamal’s brother, William Cook, who had been stopped for a traffic violation. In 1996 Jamal was still on death row. In 1999 Gov. Tom Ridge signed a 2nd death warrant for lethal injection on Dec 2. In December, 2001, a federal judge affirmed his murder conviction but ordered that Abu-Jamal should either receive a new sentencing hearing or have his sentence commuted to life in prison because of an error by the trial judge in presenting rules of sentencing to the jury (see March 27, 2008).
(SFC, 10/14/99, p.A3)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_of_Mumia_Abu-Jamal)
1982 Sep 9, Robert Thibadeau at CMU-10A: Pittsburgh Zoo Options: The zoo is a worthwhile place to visit, but in my three years in Pittsburgh I have watched it deteriorate for lack of funds. Fortunately they have this wonderful 'adopt an animal' program. The adoption can be a day or month. Orangutanns (sic) eat light at $.75 a day or $22.50 a month, and for $15 a day or $450 a month you get yourself an entire elephant. Double that and you can probably have his name changed to Clyde. Triple it and I bet they will let you dye him pink. Visitation rights come with any adoption. The flyer is on my office door -- 5321.
(http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~sef/Orig-Smiley.htm)
1982 Sep 25, Pennsylvania prison guard George Banks killed 13 people including 4 that were his own children.
(www.internationaljusticeproject.org/illnessGBanks.cfm)
1982 The Philadelphia Evening and Sunday Bulletin closed.
(SFC, 11/24/16, p.D2)
1983 Jan 23, Joseph Coogan (28), an auditor from Pennsylvania, was swept into the sea at Pescadero Point, Ca. His remains washed up at Point Reyes six months later but remained unidentified until 2005.
(SFC, 4/14/05, p.A1)
1982 Rich Skrenta (b.1967), a freshman in Pennsylvania, developed Elk Cloner as a practical joke. It was the 1st virus to hit computers worldwide and later became known as a "boot sector" virus. When it boots, or starts up, an infected disk places a copy of the virus in the computer's memory. Whenever someone inserts a clean disk into the machine and types the command "catalog" for a list of files, a copy gets written onto that disk as well. The newly infected disk is passed on to other people, other machines and other locations.
(AP, 9/1/07)(SFC, 9/3/07, p.C3)
1983 Oct 23, Jessica Savitch (36), news anchor (NBC-TV), died in an automobile accident with Martin Fischbein in New Hope, Pa.
(www.accuracyproject.org/cbe-Savitch,Jessica.html)
1983 Nov 8, Wilson Goode was elected as the first black mayor of the city of Philadelphia.
(AP, 11/8/08)
1984 May 26, A frisbee was kept aloft for 1,672 seconds in Philadelphia.
(MC, 5/26/02)
1984 Aug 3, In Pennsylvania Barbara Rowan (14) was raped and killed. Her body was found two weeks after she went missing in Bensalem, Bucks County. In 2015 George Franz Shaw (55) and Robert Scott Sanders were arrested for her rape and murder.
(http://tinyurl.com/ngrbarn)(AP, 10/2/15)
1984 Aug 22, The VW plant at Westmoreland, Pa., produced its last Volkswagen Rabbit.
(http://tinyurl.com/34j6lf)
1984 A 60-by-13-foot tile mural was created by Romare Beardon for a Pittsburgh subway station. In 2008 the mural was valued at $15 million as the station faced demolition.
(WSJ, 4/25/08, p.A2)
1985 Mar 12, Conductor Eugene Ormandy (85), director of the Philadelphia Philharmonic for more than four decades, died.
(AP, 3/12/05)
1985 May 13, Police in Philadelphia dropped a bomb on the headquarters of the radical group MOVE. A fire resulted that killed 11 people, 5 of them children. Ramona Africa and her 13 year old son were the only two people to escape the inferno at 6221 Osage St. Africa was charged with rioting and conspiracy, was convicted and served 7 years in state prison. No charges have ever been filed against any city officials or employee. The lawsuit was re-opened in 1996. On Jun 24, 1996, a jury in Philadelphia awarded $1.5 mil to the survivors of the MOVE cult. In 2013 the documentary “Let the Fire Burn," directed by Jason Osder, covered the MOVE story with archival footage.
(SFC, 4/3/96, p.A-4)(USAT, 6/25/96, p.3A)(AP, 5/13/97)(SFC, 11/1/13, p.E7)
1985 May 31, Some 41 tornadoes swept through parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York and Ontario, Canada, during an eight-hour period killing 88 people with over 1,000 injured.
(AP, 5/31/05)
1985 Berry Prevor and Steven Shore of Long Island, NY, opened their first Steve and Barry’s store Philadelphia, selling discount Univ. of Pennsylvania apparel. In 2008 the 276-store chain faced Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
(WSJ, 7/9/08, p.B1)(WSJ, 7/14/08, p.A1)
1986 Aug 5, It was revealed that Andrew Wyeth secretly created 240 drawings and paintings of his neighbor Helga Testorf, in Chadds Ford, Pa.
(MC, 8/5/02)
1986 A consent decree in Philadelphia limited the number of prisoners who could be held in city jails. Over the next 18 months police rearrested 9,732 defendants. In 2002 Ross Sandler and David Schoenbrod authored "Democracy by Decree," a critique of "institutional reform litigation."
(WSJ, 12/30/02, p.A1)
1986 The Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center opened.
(SFC, 3/9/98, p.A7)
1986 Abhay Ashtekar, a physicist at Pennsylvania State Univ., proposed an explanation called “loop quantum gravity" to relate quantum mechanics with general relativity. This rivaled a popular alternative model called string theory.
(Econ, 9/30/06, p.89)
1986-1994 Robert P. Casey (d.2000 at 68) served as governor.
(SFC, 6/2/00, p.D4)
1987 Jan 22, R. Budd Dwyer, Penn. State Treasurer, facing prison for conspiracy & perjury, shot himself to death at a televised news conference.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Budd_Dwyer)
1987 Sep 17, The city of Philadelphia, birthplace of the U.S. Constitution, threw a big party to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the historic document.
(AP, 9/17/97)
1987 In the Philadelphia mayor’s race Frank Rizzo lost to black accountant Wilson Goode. Rizzo took 97% of the white vote while Goode won with 98% of the black vote.
(WSJ, 1/6/98, p.A20)
1987 Pennsylvania officials declared the city of Aliquippa as economically distressed.
(WSJ, 5/27/04, p.A1)
1987 Hawks Aloft Worldwide was conceived as a cooperative project by the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, in Kempton, Pennsylvania.
(NH, 10/96, p.41)
1988 Jan 2, An Ashland Oil Company tank collapsed at Floreffe near Elizabeth, Penn., sending more than 700,000 gallons of diesel oil into the Monongahela River.
(AP, 1/2/98)
1988 Jan 4, Drinking water began to dry up in Pittsburgh suburbs because of a massive diesel oil spill two days earlier that fouled the Monongahela and Ohio rivers.
(AP, 1/4/98)
1988 William Post III (1940-2006) won a $16.2 million Pennsylvania lottery jackpot. His annual installment payments of $498,000 after taxes led to problems with siblings, his wife and girlfriend, who successfully sued for a third of his earnings. In 1996 a bankruptcy judge auctioned off the remainder of his prize payments to pay off his debts leaving him with $1 million.
(SFC, 1/23/06, p.B4)
1989 Apr 12, Abbie Hoffman (52), radical activist, was found dead at his home in New Hope, Penn. He suffered from bipolar mental illness that was only diagnosed in 1980. In 1996 Jonah Raskin wrote: "For the Hell of It: The Life and Times of Abbie Hoffman." In 1994 Jack Hoffman, Abbie’s brother, wrote a biography, as did Marty Jezer in 1992. His wife, Anita, died in 1998. She wrote "Trashing," a fictional memoir of her activity as a Yippie. In 1999 Larry Sloman published "Steal This Dream: Abbie Hoffman and the Countercultural Revolution in America."
(SFC, 12/29/96, BR p.5,6)(SFC, 12/31/98, p.D4)(SFEC, 2/14/99, BR p.7) (AP, 4/12/99)
1989 May 11, The Franklin Mills mega-mall, the former Liberty Bell Racetrack, opened in Philadelphia.
(SFC, 5/27/97, p.A15)(www.northeasttimes.com/2000/1108/franklinmills.html)
1989 Jul 29, Ji Yun Lee (20) died in a fire at a church camp near East Stroudsburg, Pa. Her father Han Tak Lee (54), a South Korean-born operator of a clothing store in NYC, was arrested for arson. He was convicted of murder on Sep 17, 1990. In 2006 Lee’s attorneys appealed to the state Supreme Court citing new advances in arson investigations.
(SSFC, 12/10/06, p.A39)
1989 Oct, Al Martino, pop singer, was inducted into the Philadelphia Hall of Fame.
(SFEC, 10/5/97, DB p.74)
1989 Nov 1, Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander (b.1898), the first African-American to earn a PhD in economics (1921), died in Philadelphia. She was also the first woman to receive a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadie_Tanner_Mossell_Alexander)(Econ., 12/19/20, p.42)
1989 Nov 18, Pennsylvania became the 1st state to restrict abortions after Supreme Court gave states the right to do so.
(http://tinyurl.com/fef7u)
1989 Philip Berman (d.1997 at 82), art collector and philanthropist, became chairman of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He had prospered and retired from the trucking business and led a capital campaign that raised $63.4 million for the museum between 1989 and 1993.
(SFC, 12/2/97, p.A22)
1990 Apr 25, Dexter Gordon (67), jazz saxophonist, died in Philadelphia.
(SS, 4/25/02)
1990 Aug 17, Pearl Bailey (b.1918), Broadway actress, singer, died in Philadelphia from a heart attack at age 72.
(www.blackpressusa.com/history/Archive.asp?week=33)
1990 Nov 11, Stormie Jones, the world’s first heart-liver transplant recipient, died at a Pittsburgh hospital at age 13.
(AP, 11/11/00)
1991 Apr 4, Pennsylvania Senator John Heinz III, a leading 3-term Republican voice on health and trade policy, and six other people, including two children, were killed when a helicopter collided with Heinz’s plane over a schoolyard in Merion, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Teresa Heinz took his place as head of the family philanthropies. In 1995 she married Sen. John Kerry.
(SFC, 9/25/99, p.A21)(AP, 4/4/01)(WSJ, 4/16/04, p.A1)
1991 Jun 30, The federal base-closing commission voted to shut down 17 military bases, including the massive Philadelphia Navy Shipyard, in addition to seven facilities ordered closed two days earlier.
(AP, 6/30/01)
1991 Jul 16, Frank Rizzo (70), (Mayor-D-Phila, 1972-80), died of a heart attack.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Rizzo)
1991 Alex Wolszczan and Dale Frail at Pennsylvania State Univ. reported evidence of 3 extra-solar planets (exoplanets) orbiting around the spinning remains of Pulsar B1257+12. They found the pulsar in 1990 using the Arecibo radio telescope.
(SSFC, 9/30/01, Par p.5)(www.economicexpert.com/a/PSR:1257:plus:12.htm)
1992 Oct 27, In Oil City, Pennsylvania, Shauna Howe (11) was kidnapped while walking home from a pre-Halloween party. Her battered body was found 3 days later. For every year afterward, the City Council voted to allow trick-or-treating in the afternoon only. In 2004 a witness came forward and police turned to DNA evidence. Two brothers were arrested and convicted of murder and sexual assault. A third man pleaded guilty to murder. In 2008 the city council voted to allow Halloween back to night hours.
(AP, 10/30/08)
1992 Scranton, Pa., entered Act 47, a state program that provides assistance to financially distressed cities.
(Econ, 7/21/12, p.26)
1993 Jan 10, An unidentified 62-year-old man at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center underwent the world's second baboon liver transplant. The man died less than a month later without regaining full consciousness.
(AP, 1/10/98)
1993 Mar 18, In Pennsylvania Amish man Edward Gingerich outraged his normally peaceful religious community of Rockdale Township, where he crushed his wife's skull and used a kitchen knife to remove her stomach organs from her dead body. Gingerich was diagnosed with schizophrenia and convicted of manslaughter in 1994. After serving his maximum sentence of four years in prison for the killing, moved to a mental institution in Michigan before going to Indiana and eventually returning to Pennsylvania and the Brown Hill Amish community in 2007. In 2011 Gingerich (44) committed suicide in a barn in Cambridge Springs, Pa.
(www.bellaonline.com/articles/art68724.asp)(Reuters, 1/16/11)
1993 Jul 26, Ret. Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway (98), US Army Chief of Staff (1953-55), died in Fox Chapel, Pa.
(AP, 7/26/98)
1993 Oct 16, The Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-5, in game one of the World Series.
(HN, 10/16/98)
1993 Oct 17, The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-4, evening the World Series at one game each.
(AP, 10/17/98)
1993 Oct 19, The Toronto Blue Jays took a 2-1 lead in the World Series by defeating the Philadelphia Phillies 10-3.
(AP, 10/19/98)
1993 Oct 20, Toronto took a 3-1 lead in the World Series as the Blue Jays defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 15-14.
(AP, 10/20/98)
1993 Oct 21, The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Toronto Blue Jays 2-0 in game five of the World Series; Toronto still led the Series 3-2.
(AP, 10/21/98)
1994 Jun 7, Vicki Van Meter 912) of Meadville, Pa., completed a trans-Atlantic flight, landing in Glasgow, Scotland. She was accompanied by her flight instructor.
(www.zinkle.com/p/articles/mi_m1590/is_n3_v51/ai_15823355)
1994 Sep 8, A US Air Boeing 737 from Chicago crashed near Pittsburgh Int’l. Airport and killed all 132 people onboard. USAir Flight 427 crashed 6 minutes before it was due to land.
(SFC, 5/12/96, p.A-14)(AP, 9/8/97)(SFC, 11/13/01, p.A12)
1994 Nov 1, In Cherry Hill, Pa., Len Jenoff and Paul Daniels clubbed to death Carol Neulander (52), the wife of Rabbi Fred J. Neulander (53), under a contract from Rabbi Neulander. Neulander stood trial in 2001 in New Jersey. He was convicted of murder Nov 20, 2002 and sentenced to life in prison.
(SFC, 10/20/01, p.A18)(SFC, 11/21/02, p.A6)(SFC, 11/23/02, p.A4)
1994 Nov 11, Eddie Polec (16), a Fox Chase high school student, died after being clubbed to death by students of Abington High School. On March 20, 1996, Carlo Johnson (20) and Bou Khathavong (18) – believed by prosecutors to be the ring leaders in the assault, although neither beat Polec – received maximum five- to 10-year sentences for conspiracy. Prosecutors believe the two organized the rumble and provided the baseball bats. Anthony Rienzi and Nick Pinero, both 18, were sentenced to the maximum 15- to 30-year terms for third-degree murder and conspiracy. Thomas Crook (19) sobbed and apologized to his family before receiving 14.5 years to 30 years on the same charges. Dawan Alexander (18) who was convicted of manslaughter for kicking Polec, received an eight- to 20-year term. Seventh defendant Kevin Convey (19) had pleaded guilty earlier to third-degree murder in exchange for testifying against the others. In February he had been sentenced to five to 20 years. In 2000 Bryn Freedman and William Knoedelseder authored "In Eddie’s Name: One Family’s Triumph Over Tragedy."
(SFEC, 5/14/00, BR p.12)(www.cnn.com/US/9603/teen_sentencing/)
1994 The Andy Warhol Museum opened in Pittsburgh.
(SFEC, 8/13/00, p.T11)
1994 Steven Spielberg helped establish the Righteous Persons Foundation. In 2008 $1 million from the foundation was given toward establishing a new Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia.
(SFC, 7/4/08, p.E15)
1994 Judith Rodin (b.1944) began serving as president of the Univ. of Pennsylvania. She served until 2004 and in 2005 became president of the Rockefeller Foundation.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Rodin)(Econ, 12/16/06, p.68)
1995 Aug 7, Ten days before he was to be put to death for the murder of a police officer, black activist and radio reporter Mumia Abu-Jamal won a reprieve from the original trial judge in Philadelphia. As of 2008, his legal appeals are still unsettled and he is a prisoner at State Correctional Institution Greene near Waynesburg, Pennsylvania.
(AP, 8/7/00)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal)
1995 Oct, Jonny Gammage died from asphyxiation when police officers subdued him following a traffic stop in Overbrook. In 1999 the Justice Dept. closed its case against the officers due to lack of evidence that they used unreasonable force.
(SFC, 2/19/99, p.A5)
1995 Dec 24, Fire broke out at the Philadelphia Zoo, killing 23 rare gorillas, orangutans, gibbons and lemurs.
(AP, 12/24/05)
1995 Erie’s congressman Tom Ridge became governor.
(WSJ, 7/13/00, p.A28)
1995 Abu-Jamal, in jail for a 1981 murder conviction, published "Live from Death Row."
(SFC, 1/22/99, p.A2)
1996 Jan 14, The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Indianapolis Colts, 20-to-16, to win the AFC championship. The Dallas Cowboys beat the Green Bay Packers, 38-to-27, to win the NFC championship.
(AP, 1/14/01)
1996 Jan 26, Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz was fatally shot at the suburban Philadelphia estate of John E. du Pont; du Pont surrendered 48 hours later. Du Pont was later convicted of third-degree murder but mentally ill; he's serving a 13- to 30-year sentence.
(AP, 1/26/06)
1996 Jun 27, Anne Marie Fahey (30), the secretary of Delaware Gov. Thomas Carper, disappeared from Wilmington after dining at a Philadelphia restaurant with Thomas Capano. Capano, a prominent lawyer who had dated Fahey, was later accused of her murder based on testimony from his two brothers. In 1998 Capano admitted that he disposed Fahey’s body but insisted that her death was an accident. In 1998 Capano testified that Fahey was shot accidentally by former mistress Deborah MacIntyre, who denied the charge. Capano was convicted by a jury on Jan 17, 1999. On Mar 16, 1999, Capano was sentenced to death.
(SFEC,12/14/97, p.A4)(SFEC, 10/5/98, p.A5)(SFC, 10/27/98, p.A2)(SFC, 12/22/98, p.A2)(SFC, 1/18/99, p.A2)(SFC, 3/17/99, p.A2)
1996 Nov 13, An all-white jury in Pittsburgh acquitted a suburban police officer, John Vojtas, in the death of black motorist Jonny Gammage in a verdict that angered black activists.
(AP, 11/13/97)
1996 Binney & Smith Inc. established the Crayola Factory Museum in Easton, Pa.
(WSJ, 4/30/98, p.A1)
1996 Peter Wright (1917-2007), founder of started Wright’s Keystone Helicopter Corp. (1953), served as the founding chairman of the American Helicopter Museum in West Chester, Pa.
(WSJ, 6/16/07, p.A6)
1996 David Nam broke into the Philadelphia house of Anthony Schroeder (75) to rob him and killed the retired police officer when he resisted with his own gun. Nam was arrested in 1997 but fled to South Korea in 1998 while under house arrest. In 2008 Nam was arrested by police in South Korea.
(AP, 3/19/08)
1997 Feb 23, In Philadelphia a group of white men attacked a black family in the Grays Ferry section. Nine men were tried in 1998 and 6 were convicted on a variety of felony accounts.
(SFC, 2/10/98, p.A3)
1997 Feb 25, A jury in Media, Pa., convicted multimillionaire John E. du Pont of third-degree murder, deciding he was mentally ill when he killed world-class wrestler David Schultz. Du Pont was sentenced to serve 13- to 30-years in prison.
(AP, 2/25/07)
1997 Mar 26, Former drug counselor John G. Bennett Jr. pleaded no contest in Philadelphia to charges stemming from a $100 million charity fraud. Bennett was sentenced to 12 years in prison for fraud, tax violations and money laundering.
(AP, 3/25/07)
1997 Aug 12, Steel workers in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania ended a 10-month strike at Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp. with a new contract. It was the longest strike by a major steel company.
(SFC, 8/13/97, p.A3)
1997 Sep, Devon Capital Management under John Gardner Black was shut down by the SEC. Mr. Black was charged with fraud after losing millions in high-risk bonds and derivatives and then trying to cover up the losses. Some $70 million was lost from the investments of 64 cash-strapped school districts in the state.
(WSJ, 12/26/97, p.A1)
1997 Oct 24, A firebomb killed a grandmother, her daughter and three children in a blighted neighborhood of crack houses.
(SFC,10/24/97, p.A4)
1997 Oct 25, The Million Woman March was in Philadelphia to revitalize black families and communities drew an estimated 300,000 to one million people.
(SFC, 10/10/97, p.A3)(SFEC,10/26/97, p.A1)(AP, 10/25/98)
1997 Nov 26, It was reported that Philadelphia agreed with the Norwegian shipbuilder Kvaerner ASA to a 99-year lease on 114 acres of the former Naval Shipyard that includes 2 drydocks with the option to buy the property for 1 dollar at the end of the lease.
(WSJ, 11/26/97, p.B8)
1997 Dec 21, Johnny Coles (71), jazz trumpeter, died in Philadelphia. His records included "The Warm Sound of Johnny Coles" and "Little Johnny C."
(SFC,12/26/97, p.B6)
1997 The Zippo Manufacturing Co. opened a Zippo museum in Bradford to celebrate its 65th anniversary.
(Hem., 10/97, p.78)
1997 John Street, Philadelphia City Council president and later mayor, proposed a rigid anti-loitering law aimed at clearing city streets of panhandlers. An estimated 4,500 homeless lived in Philadelphia at the time. A campaign to move the homeless into shelters reduced the number on the streets to 130 in 2004.
(SSFC, 6/13/04, A22)
1997 In Pennsylvania Ghassan Saleh escaped from a federal prison near Bradford while working on a grounds crew. He had been serving a sentence of almost six years after being convicted of cocaine trafficking in Michigan. In November, 2017, Saleh (66) was arrested after flying into New York City from Lebanon, his native country.
(AP, 12/20/17)
1998 Jan 7, The book "A Prayer for the City" by Buzz Bissinger was about Philadelphia mayor Ed Rendell and his last 3 years in office. Rendell served 2 terms from 1990-1998.
(WSJ, 1/6/98, p.16)(SFC, 1/4/00, p.A7)
1998 Mar 22, In Miles Township, Pa., 11 students were killed in a cabin fire while on a camping trip.
(SFC, 3/23/98, p.A2)
1998 Apr 13, An Amtrak train collided with Conrail freight cars near Pittsburgh and injured 20 people.
(WSJ, 4/14/98, p.A1)
1998 Apr 24, In Pennsylvania a 14-year-old boy was arrested after he shot a teacher to death and injured 2 others during a dance for 8th graders in Edinboro. Andrew Wurst (14) later pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison.
(SFC, 4/25/98, p.A3)(AP, 4/24/03)
1998 May 10, In Clearfield, Pa., Kimberly Jo Dotts (15) was hanged to death by teenagers who planned to run away to Florida. Seven young people 14-24 were arrested for murder and the trial of Jessica Holtmeyer (16) and Aaron Straw (19) began in 1999. Holtmeyer was convicted Jan 28.
(SFC, 1/18/99, p.A8)(SFC, 1/29/99, p.A6)
1998 Jun 1, In Philadelphia the largest transit union went on strike and shut down a system that served 435,000 people a day. This followed 3 months of negotiations with the transportation authority (SEPTA).
(SFC, 6/2/98, p.A5)
1998 Jun 10, Dr. Stephen Grosse, a flamboyant gay dentist, was found shot dead in his burning car near Philadelphia.
(SFC, 6/20/98, p.A3)
1998 Jun 15, Police and federal agents and garbage trucks began Operation Sunrise in Philadelphia to clean up a blighted neighborhood.
(SFC, 6/16/98, p.A3)
1998 Jun 20, Seven people were killed on the Pennsylvania Turnpike when a Greyhound bus crashed into a tractor-trailer parked on the shoulder. At least 18 people were hurt. The driver was on his last run before retirement. he was among the dead with his wife and boy that they took care of.
(SFEC, 6/21/98, p.A10)(WSJ, 6/22/98, p.A1)
1998 Jun 23, Laboratory grown adult nerve cells were implanted into a human brain for the first time to treat a stroke at the Univ. of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
(SFC, 7/2/98, p.A2)
1998 Jun, Federal prosecutors accused 2 Amish men of buying cocaine from a local chapter of the Pagan Motorcycle Club and distributing it to their friends at "running around" parties (rumschpringes in Dutch).
(SFC, 7/2/98, p.A7)
1998 Jul 11, Public transit resumed and the 40-day transit strike came to a tentative end after a contract agreement was reached.
(SFEC, 7/12/98, p.A8)
1998 Aug 5, Marie Noe of Philadelphia (69), was arrested and charged with murdering 8 of 10 children by suffocation over a 19 year period (1949-1968). In 1999 Noe (70) pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 years probation.
(SFC, 8/6/93, p.A3)(SFC, 6/29/99, p.A2)(AP, 8/5/99)
1998 Sep 17, In Apollo, Pennsylvania, nuclear-processing plant operators were ordered to pay 8 cancer-stricken victims $36.5 million.
(WSJ, 9/18/98, p.A1)
1998 Sep, The brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys), an insect not previously seen in North America, was first collected in Allentown, Pa. It had probably arrived several years earlier. It is known as an agricultural pest in its native range of China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan.
(Econ, 9/10/11, p.36)(http://tinyurl.com/nkexo3)
1998 Dec 17, In Gabon Karen Phillips (37), a US Peace Corps worker from Philadelphia, was raped and stabbed to death in Oyem. 3 people were arrested in connection with her death.
(SFEC, 12/20/98, p.C10)
1999 Feb 19, In Allentown, Pa., An explosion at a chemical processing plant in the Lehigh Valley Industrial Park killed 5 people and injured 14.
(SFEC, 2/21/99, p.A7)(WSJ, 2/22/99, p.A1)
1999 Jun 18, In Norristown Dennis Czaikowski (40) shot and killed Carol Kepner (54) and wounded Maria Jordan (37) before being subdued by police following a standoff at the Norristown State Hosp. where he had been fired.
(SFC, 6/19/99, p.A4)
1999 Aug 7, In China Song Yongyi, a research librarian at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., was imprisoned while collecting data on the Cultural Revolution. On Dec 12 he was charged with "the purchase and illegal provision of intelligence to foreigners." Yongyi was released on Jan 28, 2000.
(SFC, 1/26/00, p.A8)(SFC, 1/29/00, p.A8)
1999 Aug 16, Gov. Tom Ridge ordered a lockdown of all state prisons following the escape Michael McCloskey (43) and Anthony Yang (31) from the State Correctional Institution at Dallas.
(SFC, 8/17/99, p.A3)
1999 Sep 7-19, Hurricane Floyd caused one death in Caribbean and 56 in United States. Storm hit Bahamas before striking Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Delaware, New York, Connecticut, and Vermont.
(AP, 9/11/04)(www.wunderground.com)
1999 Oct, The plum pox virus made its first appearance in North America in Pennsylvania orchards.
(SFC, 11/27/99, p.A20)
1999 Nov 2, Democrat John F. Street became the 2nd black mayor of Philadelphia with his win over Sam Katz.
(SFC, 11/3/99, p.A17)
1999 Nov 21, A Penn State student and a bus driver were killed when 4 charter buses crashed on I-80 in heavy fog.
(SFC, 11/22/99, p.A9)
1999 Dec 5, W. Russell G. Byers (59), a Daily News columnist, was stabbed to death as he fought off a robber by a convenience store in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia.
(SFC, 12/6/99, p.B2)
2000 Feb 3, Nancy Hershey Bromer, publisher of "Old News," died at age 78. Old News had begun as a monthly magazine about Pennsylvania history in the 1980s and later expanded to national and world history.
(ON, 3/00, p.3)
2000 Feb 5, An oil pipeline began leaking and released some 25,000 gallons below the surface of a frozen pond in the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge in southwest Philadelphia.
(SFC, 2/7/00, p.A10)
2000 Mar 1, In Pennsylvania Ronald Taylor (39) killed 3 people and wounded 2 at an apartment and 2 fast food restaurants in Wilkinsburg. In 2001 Taylor was sentenced to death for the killing of 3 white men.
(SFC, 3/2/00, p.A3)(AP, 3/1/01)(SFC, 11/12/01, p.A12)
2000 Mar 19, At Bloomsburg Univ. a fire at the off-campus Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity killed 3 members.
(SFC, 3/20/00, p.A10)
2000 Apr 21, In Sinking Spring Carlos Angel Diaz Santiago (22) pushed the car of his former girlfriend onto the tracks of an oncoming train. Candace Wertz (20), her son (2), Cynthia Jacques (22), and her daughter (2) were killed.
(SFC, 4/22/00, p.A3)
2000 Apr 28, In Pennsylvania Richard Baumhammers (34) shot and killed 5 people in a racially motivated shooting spree in McKees Rocks. He was sentenced to death in 2001.
(SFC, 4/29/00, p.A3)(BS, 5/12/01, p.3A)
2000 May 18, In Philadelphia a 91-year-old pier at a new open-air bar collapsed into the Delaware River and 3 people were killed.
(SFC, 5/19/00, p.A3)(WSJ, 10/10/01, p.B1)
2000 May 21, In Pennsylvania a commuter plane, returning from Atlantic City, NJ, crashed near Wilkes-Barre and all 19 people aboard were killed.
(SFC, 5/22/00, p.A1)
2000 Jun 26, The new United Religions organization planned a charter signing ceremony at Carnegie Mellon Univ. in Pittsburgh. Episcopal Bishop William Swing first announced his dream June, 1995, at Grace Cathedral in SF. A 41-member Global Council will coordinate activities. 24 members will be chosen by a worldwide membership in 8 regional elections, with a dozen at-large trustees and 5 seats from the current board. The basic unit of the organization will be a group of 7 or more people from a mix of religious traditions.
(SFC, 6/19/00, p.A1,5)
2000 Jun 18, A US F-14 Tomcat fighter jet crashed during an air show at Willow Grove, Pa. Two naval aviators were killed.
(SFC, 6/20/00, p.A9)
2000 Jul 3, The $2.5 million, 393-foot Gettysburg National Tower, erected in 1974, was destroyed.
(SFC, 7/4/00, p.A3)
2000 Jul 12, In Philadelphia a WPVI News camera showed city police beat and kick Thomas Jones (30) over nationwide TV. Jones had stolen a patrol car and shot at an officer. Jones later pleaded guilty to carjacking and other crimes, and was sentenced to 18 to 36 years in prison. Ballistic tests later showed that Officer Michael Livewell was shot in the thumb by another officer during their struggle with Jones. 13 police officers were later suspended for up to 15 days in connection with the incident.
(SFC, 7/14/00, p.A1,16)(SFC, 8/8/00, p.A5)(AP, 7/12/05)
2000 Jul 31, The Republican National Convention opened in Philadelphia.
(SFEC, 7/30/00, p.A1)
2000 Aug 1, In Philadelphia police arrested at least 280 protesters and raided a warehouse site used as a staging area for passive resistance demonstrations. 15 police officers were injured.
(SFC, 8/2/00, p.A9)(SFC, 8/5/00, p.A3)
2000 Sep, In Pennsylvania Jamal Kelly was killed. Donald Outlaw spent 15 years in prison for Kelly's murder when he found out the man he was convicted of killing had told police with his dying breath that someone else named “Shank" had shot him. At Outlaw’s trial in 2004 the victim’s dying declaration that “Shank" did it was never disclosed. On Dec. 29, 2020, Outlaw was officially exonerated. In 2021 he filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Philadelphia and the two detectives who investigated the killing.
(https://painnocence.org/RobertOutlaw?locale=en)(AP, 3/17/21)
2000 Oct 1, Pope John Paul II on China’s national day, canonized as martyrs 87 Chinese believers and 33 European missionaries killed between 1648 and 1930. He also canonized Mother Katherine Drexel (d.1955), a Philadelphia heiress, who became a nun.
(SFC, 10/2/00, p.A12)(Econ, 12/18/10, p.78)
2000 Oct 27, Philadelphia teachers called a strike. Mayor John Street planned a talk with Gov. Tom Ridge on arranging a "friendly takeover" of the school system by the state to force teachers back to work.
(SFC, 10/28/00, p.A9)
2000 Dec 28, Masked men shot and killed 7 people in a suspected drug house in Philadelphia.
(SFC, 12/29/00, p.A3)
2001 Mar 7, In Williamsport a 14-year-old girl at Bishop Neumann High School shot and wounded a 13-year-old classmate with a .22 caliber handgun.
(SFC, 3/8/01, p.A5)
2001 Apr 13, In Philadelphia a fire at a boarding house killed 7 people. The unlicensed house was home to seniors and disabled people.
(SFC, 4/14/01, p.A5)
2001 Apr 28, It was reported that researchers at the Univ. of Pennsylvania had used gene therapy to reverse a form of congenital blindness in dogs.
(SFC, 4/28/01, p.A3)
2001 Apr, Willie Stargell (61), former Pittsburgh Pirates baseball Hall of Fame star (1962-1982), died in North Carolina of a stroke.
(WSJ, 4/10/01, p.A1)
2001 May 13, Jason Miller (62), actor-playwright, died in Scranton, Pa.
(AP, 5/13/02)
2001 Jun 17, Tropical Strom Allison moved into southeastern Pennsylvania and killed 4 people. This raised the toll from Allison to at least 43.
(SFC, 6/18/01, p.A7)
2001 Sep 11, 10:10 a.m. United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757 carrying 45 people, crashed southeast of Pittsburgh. The plane had left Newark for SF but was believed to be directed by hijackers to Camp David. Passengers appeared to have overcome the hijackers. In 2002 it was reported that Congress was the target.
(SFC, 9/12/01, p.A6,10,12)(WSJ, 9/12/01, p.A1)(SFC, 11/6/01, p.A6)(WSJ, 9/12/01, p.A1,3) (WSJ, 2/24/05, p.A1)
2001 Sep 13, The data flight recorder for United Flight 93 was found at the Pennsylvania crash site. 18 hijackers were identified as ticketed passengers in the Sep 11 terrorist attack.
(WSJ, 9/14/01, p.A1)
2001 Sep 20, Pres. Bush named Gov. Tom Ridge (56) of Pennsylvania to direct the new office of Homeland Security.
(SFC, 9/21/01, p.A16)
2001 Oct 19, In Philadelphia luggage, from a baggage locker that was deposited Sep 29, was found to contain C-4 plastic explosives.
(SFC, 10/20/01, p.A17)
2001 Dec 9, An Amtrak Acela train killed 3 people on tracks northeast of Philadelphia.
(WSJ, 12/10/01, p.A1)
2001 Dec 10, In Philadelphia a gunman opened fire outside the Great Valley Shopping Center in East Whiteland Township and killed 2 people. A 3rd was wounded.
(SFC, 12/11/01, p.A9)
2001 Dec 18, A federal judge in Philadelphia threw out Mumia Abu-Jamal's death sentence for the 1981 shooting of a Philadelphia police officer and ordered a new sentencing hearing for the former Black Panther alternately portrayed as a vicious cop-killer and a victim of a racist frame-up. Both sides appealed the ruling.
(SFC, 12/19/01, p.A1)(AP, 12/17/02)
2001 Dec 21, Gov. Mark Schweiker announced an agreement on a state takeover of the Philadelphia school system. Plans called Edison Schools Inc. to help run the district.
(SFC, 12/22/01, p.A4)
2001 Dec 28, In Pennsylvania a 30-50 car crash on snow-slickened I-80 left 5 people dead near Williamsport. Another 50 cars were involved in 2 pileups that left at least 2 people dead.
(SFC, 12/29/01, p.A6)
2001 Dec, The $265 million Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts approached completion. The Philadelphia structure was designed by Rafael Viñoly.
(WSJ, 12/20/01, p.A13)
2001 Verizon Hall, home of the Philadelphia Orchestra, opened at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, Pa.
(WSJ, 5/18/06, p.D8)
2002 Jan 7, Louis Pollak, a federal judge in Philadelphia, challenged the scientific validity of fingerprint evidence. In March Pollak declared fingerprint id to be the "bedrock of forensic science."
(SSFC, 2/24/02, p.A1)(SFC, 3/14/02, p.A3)
2002 Jan 25, In Pittsburgh 2 masked gunmen killed 2 men and a young girl in a sandwich shop.
(SSFC, 1/27/02, p.A17)
2002 Feb 4, A New Jersey teenager (16) began a 2-day shooting spree on the outskirts of Philadelphia that left 6 people dead. He was arrested Feb 22.
(SSFC, 2/24/02, p.A1)
2002 Apr 18, Researchers in Pittsburgh reported a strain of Group A streptococci resistant to erythromycin (the macrolide class of antibiotics).
(SFC, 4/18/02, p.A4)(WSJ, 4/18/02, p.A1)
2002 Jul 23, Chaim Potok (73), rabbi and author of novels that included "The Chosen," died at his home in suburban Philadelphia. "Literature presents you with alternative mappings of the human experience."
(SFC, 7/24/02, p.A1)
2002 Jul 24, John Rigas (78), CEO of Adelphia Comm. Corp., was arrested with his 2 sons on charges of that they looted the company of more than $1 billion.
(SFC, 7/25/02, p.A1)
2002 Jul 24, In Pennsylvania 9 coal miners were trapped by a flood 240 feet underground. All 9 were rescued Jul 27.
(WSJ, 7/26/02, p.A1)(SSFC, 7/28/02, p.A1)
2002 Jul 25, Encouraged by a tinny tapping sound coming up from the depths, rescuers in Somerset, Pa., brought in a huge drill in a race to save nine coal miners trapped 240 feet underground by a flooded shaft.
(AP, 7/25/03)
2002 Jul 26, Hershey Foods in Hershey, Pa., announced that it would put itself up for sale under directions by the Hershey Trust Co.
(SFC, 7/26/02, p.B3)
2002 Jul 28, In Somerset, Pennsylvania 9 coal miners, trapped July 24 by a flood 240 feet underground, were rescued after 77 hours underground in the Quecreek Mine.
(SSFC, 7/28/02, p.A1)(AP, 7/28/03)
2002 Aug 7, Destiny Wright disappeared at a sleepover with other children in Philadelphia. Abdul El-Shabazz (18) was arrested the next day and led police to her body.
(SFC, 8/10/02, p.A5)
2002 Aug 10, Leaders of Roman Catholic religious orders, meeting in Philadelphia, approved details of their plan to keep sexually abusive clergy away from children, while retaining them in the priesthood, creating review boards to monitor how their communities handle offenders.
(AP, 8/10/07)
2002 Oct 1, Walter H. Annenberg (94), media tycoon, philanthropist and former ambassador, died in Wynnewood, Pa. Biographies included "Legacy: A Biography of Moses and Walter Annenberg" by Christopher Ogden and "The Annenbergs" by John Cooney.
(SFC, 10/2/02, p.A2)
2002 Oct 15, A listeria outbreak blamed for at east 7 deaths in the northeast was traced to a Wampler Foods plant in Franconia, Pa.
(SFC, 10/16/02, p.A5)
2002 Oct 17, Ira Einhorn, the '70s hippie guru who had fled to Europe after being charged with murder, was convicted in Philadelphia of killing his girlfriend, Holly Maddux, and stuffing her corpse in his closet a quarter-century earlier. He was later sentenced to life without parole.
(AP, 10/17/03)
2002 Nov 10, A series of pulverizing storms barreled through more than a half-dozen US states including Tennessee, Ohio, Alabama, Mississippi and Pennsylvania, killing at least 36 people. More than 100 were injured.
(SFC, 11/12/02, p.A4)(AP, 11/10/07)
2002 Semion Mogilevich (b.1946), a Ukrainian businessman, and Igor Fisherman were indicted in Philadelphia on charges of money laundering and securities fraud in connection with the collapse of YBM Magnex, Inc. in which investors lost some $150 million. In 2006 Mogilevich was under investigation for possible links to natural gas deals between Russia and Ukraine.
(WSJ, 12/22/06, p.A11)
2002 The US Geological Survey estimated there may be 1.9 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Marcellus Shale of Pennsylvania. In 2008 Prof. Terry Engelder of Pennsylvania State Univ. estimated the amount at 168 trillion cubic feet. US consumption in 2007 was 23.05 trillion. The Marcellus shale formation stretched some 600 miles along the Appalachians from New York to West Virginia.
(WSJ, 4/2/08, p.A2)(Econ, 3/16/13, SR p.6)
2003 Mar, Philadelphia school officials began an inventory of stored art. By 2004 some 1,200 works were counted with an estimated value in the millions.
(SFC, 7/8/04, p.A2)
2003 Apr 19, In northeast Pennsylvania Hadley Bilger (13) was abducted by her uncle after he shot and killed her parents. Bilger was released the next day and Robert Lee Hixson (42) surrendered to police.
(AP, 4/20/03)(SFC, 4/21/03, p.A3)
2003 Apr 24, In Red Lion, Pa. James Shetts (14), a student armed with at least two handguns, fatally shot Eugene Segro (51), his school principal, in a crowded cafeteria before killing himself.
(Reuters, 4/24/03)(SFC, 4/25/03, A7)
2003 Jun 17, John Redwood (60), actor and playwright, died in south Philadelphia. His plays included "No Niggers, No Jews, No Dogs" (2001).
(SFC, 7/1/03, p.A17)
2003 Aug 28, In Erie, Pa., Brian Douglas Wells (46), pizza delivery man, was killed when a bomb strapped to his chest exploded while under police custody. Wells claimed a customer had strapped on the bomb and ordered him to rob a bank. In 2007 a grand jury indicted 2 people in connection with the crime. Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong (59), described as the ringleader, pleaded guilty but mentally ill for killing her boyfriend to keep him silent about the robbery. Diehl-Armstrong was trying to raise money to hire Kenneth Barnes to kill her father due to an inheritance dispute. In 2008 Kenneth Barnes (54) pleaded guilty to conspiracy. In 2010 Diehl-Armstrong was convicted for her role in the robbery. In 2011 she was sentenced to life plus 30 years in prison.
(SSFC, 8/31/03, p.A8)(AP, 7/11/07)(SFC, 9/4/08, p.A7)(SFC, 11/2/10, p.A5)(SFC, 3/1/11, p.A4)
2003 Nov 14, In Pittsburgh, Pa., a 3rd person died from an outbreak of hepatitis A that infected nearly 600 people. They all had recently eaten at a Chi-Chi's Mexican mall restaurant. Green onions were blamed for the outbreak.
(SFC, 11/15/03, p.A3)(AP, 11/16/03)(SFC, 11/22/03, p.A5)
2003 Dec 4, Federal prosecutor Jonathan Luna was attacked after leaving his office in Baltimore around midnight. His body was found 6 hours later, stabbed 36 times apparently in a furious fight for his life before drowning in a Pennsylvania creek. Luna was involved in the prosecution of rapper Deon Lionel Smith (32) and Walter Oriley Poindexter.
(AP, 12/5/03)(SFC, 12/5/03, p.A6)
2003 Dec 15, Charles Cullen (43), a former nurse, was charged with murder after telling prosecutors that he killed 30-40 severely ill patients in Pennsylvania and New Jersey since 1987 by injecting them with drugs. Cullen later pleaded guilty to killing 29 people and attempting to kill six others; he was sentenced to 18 life prison terms.
(SFC, 12/17/03, p.A3)(WSJ, 4/30/04, p.A1)(SFC, 5/20/04, p.A3)(AP, 12/15/08)
2003 Dec 29, Paul Goldman, a native of Uzbekistan, stabbed and killed Faina Zonis in the Philadelphia suburb of Bensalem. Goldman soon fled the country. Police found his parents dead by suicide on Jan 13. Goldman was captured in France on Jan 20, 2004. Zonis committed suicide Apr 11, 2004.
(SFC, 1/17/04, p.A4)(SFC, 1/21/04, p.A3)(AP, 4/13/04)
2003 Pittsburgh joined 14 other Pennsylvania cities classified as economically distressed.
(WSJ, 5/27/04, p.A1)
2004 Jan 19, The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission voted to raise tolls an average of 42% for all vehicles.
(USAT, 1/20/04, p.12A)
2004 Mar 21, Veterans Stadium (b.1971) in Philadelphia was demolished in 62 seconds following 2,800 explosions.
(WSJ, 3/25/04, p.D1)
2004 Mar 27, Edward J. Piszek (87), founder of Mrs. Paul's Kitchens, died in Fort Washington, Pa.
(SFC, 4/1/04, p.B7)
2004 Jul 5, Gov. Ed Rendell signed laws authorizing 61,000 slot machines in Pennsylvania, more than any other state except Nevada. Most of the state's share will pay for a $1 billion cut in property taxes a year.
(AP, 7/5/04)
2004 Jul 8, John Rigas (79), founder of Adelphia Communications Corp. (1952), was convicted along with his son Timothy of looting the cable company to line their own pockets.
(SFC, 7/9/04, p.C1)(USAT, 7/9/04, p.1B)
2004 Jul 12, A foot or more of rain fell in parts of the Northeast. No injuries had been reported in the stricken areas of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
(AP, 7/13/04)
2004 Jul 16, PNC Financial, based in Pennsylvania, agreed to by Riggs National of Washington DC for $779 million. Riggs was fined $25 million in May for violating money laundering regulations.
(Econ, 7/24/04, p.69)
2004 Sep 1, It was reported that for about $10 million, Philadelphia city officials planned to turn all 135 square miles of the city into the world's largest wireless Internet hot spot. EarthLink was given the contract and planned to rent 4,000 city light posts for its equipment. Completion of the network was expected in Spring 2007.
(AP, 9/1/04)(SFC, 3/2/06, p.C2)
2004 Oct 18, The Dover, Pa., school district voted 6-3 to mandate the teaching of “intelligent design" in public schools along with the theory of evolution. A number of parents soon filed suit. In 2007 Edward Humes authored “Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education, Religion, and the Battle for America’s Soul."
(SFC, 11/30/04, p.A1)(SFC, 12/15/04, p.A4)(WSJ, 2/8/07, p.D7)
2004 Nov 19, Police in Abington, Pennsylvania, arrested Michael Cornelius Burke Jr. (38) for the assault and rape of 2 girls ages 10 & 13. In Apr 2006 Burke pleaded guilty but failed to show up for sentencing. In 2009 Burke was arrested in Mexico’s in central Veracruz state.
(www.amw.com/fugitives/brief.cfm?id=66637)(AP, 12/9/09)
2004 Dec 13, A Montgomery County, Pa., judge allowed trustees of the Barnes Foundation to move the Barnes art collection to downtown Philadelphia from Lower Meriod Township.
(SFC, 12/15/04, p.E5)
2005 Jan 23, The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Atlanta Falcons 27-10 to win the NFC championship game; the New England Patriots won the AFC championship by beating the Pittsburgh Steelers, 41-27.
(AP, 1/23/06)
2005 Feb 25, Hall of Fame basketball coach John Chaney was suspended for the rest of the regular season by Philadelphia’s Temple Univ. for ordering rough play by one of his players during a game against Saint Joseph's.
(AP, 2/25/06)
2005 Mar 26, A small plane, carrying 2 Rhode Island families from vacation in Florida, crashed near Penn. State Univ. All 6 people aboard were killed.
(SSFC, 3/27/05, p.A3)
2005 Jun 7, Terry Long, former Pittsburgh Steelers lineman, died in a hospital about five hours after he was found unresponsive in his suburban Pittsburgh home. An Oct 19 revised death certificate indicated that he had committed suicide by drinking antifreeze, and did not die as a direct result of football-related head injuries.
(AP, 1/26/06)
2005 Jun 12, I fire in Philadelphia left 5 children dead. Security bars on windows may have hampered escape attempts.
(SFC, 6/13/05, p.A3)
2005 Jul, Pennsylvania legislators increase their salaries 16 percent to 34 percent to at least $81,050, more than any state except California, and crafted the package in secret without debate or public scrutiny. They also found a way around a constitutional provision barring them from collecting any salary increase during the term in which it is approved. Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell signed the bill into law. A lawsuit was soon filed in state court challenging the legality of paying the raises early as unvouchered expenses, though no hearing date has been set. A ruling against the unvouchered expenses would nullify the entire law, including their raises.
(AP, 8/11/05)
2005 Jul 18, LaToyia Figueroa, who was five months' pregnant, was last seen in West Philadelphia. Police recovered her remains a month later. On August 20, 2005, They arrested Steven Poaches, her former boyfriend and the father of the unborn child. On October 17, 2006, in a nonjury trial, Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina found Stephen Poaches, guilty of two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of 24-year-old LaToyia Figueroa and her fetus. Poaches waived his right to appeal and, in exchange, prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty. He was given an automatic life sentence with no parole.
(AP, 8/20/05)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaToyia_Figueroa)
2005 Sep 24, Monica Lozada-Rivadineira (26), an immigrant from Bolivia, disappeared in NYC. Her daughter, Valery, was found in the evening wandering barefoot in Queens. On Oct 6 Police found her body in a Pennsylvania landfill and police said she was killed by her boyfriend. In 2006 Cesar Ascarruna (32) pleaded guilty to manslaughter and reckless endangerment. He was sentenced to 32 years in prison.
(AP, 10/7/05)(SFC, 3/16/06, p.A3)
2005 Oct 7, John Rigas and his son, founders of bankrupt Adelphia Communications, were indicted for failure to pay some $300 million in taxes.
(SFC, 10/8/05, p.C1)
2005 Oct 31, A transit strike in Philadelphia brought the city’s buses, subways and trolleys to a halt.
(SFC, 11/1/05, p.A3)
2005 Nov 8, Pennsylvania voters came down hard on school board members who backed a statement on intelligent design being read in biology class, ousting eight Republicans and replacing them with Democrats who want the concept stripped from the science curriculum.
(AP, 11/9/05)
2005 Nov 13, In Lititz, Pennsylvania, David G. Ludwig (18) killed 14-year-old Kara Beth Borden's parents, Michael F. and Cathryn Lee Borden, after they and their daughter argued about her curfew. David and Kara were arrested Nov 14 in Indiana following a police chase and crash. On June 14, 2006, Ludwig agreed to a plea deal and was sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment without chance of parole.
(AP, 11/14/05)(SFC, 11/15/05, p.A10)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_G._Ludwig)
2005 Nov 15, Harold Wilson of Philadelphia was acquitted, based on DNA evidence, of a triple homicide after serving sixteen years in prison.
(Econ, 12/19/15, p.33)
2005 Nov 17, Pennsylvania Democratic congressman John Murtha argued that it was time to bring US troops home from Iraq.
(Econ, 11/26/05, p.35)
2005 Nov 18, In Pennsylvania an oil painting by Jackson Pollock and a silkscreen by Andy Warhol were stolen from the Everhart Museum by thieves who shattered a glass door in the back of the building. The thieves had disappeared by the time police arrived, four minutes after the alarm sounded at 2:30 a.m.
(AP, 11/19/05)
2005 Dec 6, Philadelphia won the first NHL scoreless game that was decided by a shootout, beating Calgary 1-0.
(AP, 12/6/06)
2005 Dec 20, A US federal court in Pennsylvania ruled it was unconstitutional to teach schoolchildren the intelligent design theory of life as an alternative to evolution, dealing a blow to religious conservatives. Local parents had sued the Dover, Pa., school board after the board required that ninth-grade biology students be read a statement critical of evolution.
(AFP, 12/21/05)(SFC, 12/21/05, p.A1)
2005 Dec 23, In a NYC probe, first reported by the Daily News in October, authorities confirmed this week that investigators found paperwork indicating that bones of British broadcaster Alistair Cooke had been removed and sold by Biomedical Tissue Services, before he was cremated in 2004. Human bone, skin and tendons were allegedly removed from the bodies of hundreds of others without required permission from their families. The Brooklyn case stemmed from a deal struck between Michael Mastromarino (42), a Fort Lee, NJ, dentist who started Biomedical Tissue Services, and Joseph Nicelli (49), an embalmer and funeral parlor operator from Staten Island. In 2006 seven funeral directors pleaded guilty to undisclosed charges and agreed to cooperate with investigators. In 2008 Mastromarino pleaded guilty to hundreds of counts of abusing corpses, forgery, theft and other allegations stemming from the operation, which he ran with 3 Philadelphia funeral directors.
(AP, 12/23/05)(SFC, 2/24/06, p.A2)(SFC, 10/19/06, p.A7)(SFC, 8/30/08, p.A2)
2006 Jan 3, In Pennsylvania the Dover School Board rescinded its policy of presenting intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in high school biology classes.
(SFC, 1/4/06, p.A2)
2006 Jan 4, In a triple-overtime game that began Jan. 3 and finished after midnight, No. 3 Penn State beat No. 22 Florida State 26-23 in the Orange Bowl.
(AP, 1/4/07)
2006 Jan 25, It was reported that Wyoming rancher Allen Cook (57), with no connection to the University of Pittsburgh, has given the school 4,700 acres of land littered with dinosaur fossils.
(AP, 1/25/06)
2006 Feb 5, In Detroit, Mich., the Pittsburgh Steelers won the Super Bowl over the Seattle Seahawks 21-10.
(AP, 2/6/06)
2006 Feb 16, Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter asked the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate whether a top aide improperly helped direct nearly $50 million in Pentagon spending to clients represented by her husband. His request followed a USA TODAY report that he secured $48.7 million in projects for six clients of the aide's spouse's firm.
(USAT, 2/17/06)
2006 Feb 23, A New Zealand teenager hacked into the University of Pennsylvania computer system. Owen Thor Walker (18), known by his online name "AKILL," also was linked to a network accused of infiltrating 1.3 million computers and skimming millions of dollars from victims' bank accounts. In 2008 Walker was ordered to pay more than $11,000 in fines but avoided a conviction so that he can help police solve computer crimes.
(AP, 7/15/08)
2006 Apr 12, Police checking on a home in Leola, Pennsylvania, discovered a gruesome scene: the bodies of six people, some wrapped in sheets and blankets in the basement, and blood, bone fragments and a hammer upstairs. Jesse Dee Wise (21) was charged the next day for the murder of 6 relatives.
(AP, 4/13/06)(SFC, 4/14/06, p.A3)
2006 May 11, The Philadelphia City Council unanimously approved a plan to blanket the city's 135 square miles with a high-speed wireless Internet connection, a measure the mayor is expected to sign soon.
(AP, 5/12/06)
2006 Jun 29, East Coast rains, which began over the weekend, have been blamed for five deaths in Pennsylvania, four in Maryland, one in Virginia and three in New York.
(AP, 6/29/06)
2006 Jul 11, The American League edged the National League 3-2 in the All-Star Game in Pittsburgh.
(AP, 7/11/07)
2006 Jul 13, Hazleton, Pa., passed Mayor Louis Barletta’s Illegal Immigration Relief Act in an effort to get rid of undocumented immigrants. In August federal lawsuits were filed against Hazleton and other local governments for attempting to regulate immigration. A 1976 US Supreme Court decision said regulation of immigration is exclusively a federal power. In 2007 a federal judge struck down the Hazleton anti-illegal immigration law.
(SFC, 8/16/06, p.A5)(SFC, 7/27/07, p.A13)
2006 Jul 18, A heat wave in the US left at least 7 people dead including 5 in Oklahoma and 2 in Pennsylvania.
(SFC, 7/19/06, p.A2)
2006 Aug 4, In Philadelphia Danieal Kelly (14), a disabled girl, was found dead in her mother's squalid house covered with bone-deep, maggot-infested bedsores. She weighed 42 pounds. In 2008 4 social workers were among 9 people charged in relation to her death. In 2008 Andrea Kelly, the mother, was charged with murder and Daniel, the father, was charged with child endangerment. Both parents retained lawyers who filed suits against their criminal co-defendants, blaming them for the girl's demise. In 2009 mother Andrea Kelly pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20-40 years in prison. In 2010 case worker Julius Murray was sentenced to 11 years in prison on fraud and obstruction in the case. He had skipped visits and still faced involuntary manslaughter charges.
(AP, 8/1/08)(www.philly.com/philly/news/26859869.html)(SFC, 4/30/09, p.A4)(SFC, 6/12/10, p.A9)
2006 Sep 6, Philadelphia’s Art Commission voted 6-2 to move a 2,000-pound bronze statue of Rocky Balboa, commissioned by actor Sylvester Stallone, out of storage and onto a street-level pedestal near the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
(SFC, 9/7/06, p.A2)
2006 Sep 17, In Pennsylvania 5 Duquesne basketball players were shot and wounded during an apparent act of random violence on campus. As of 2007 two alleged gunmen and two women who allegedly helped facilitate the shooting awaited trial.
(AP, 9/17/07)
2006 Oct 2, In Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, Charles Carl Roberts IV (32), a local truck driver, lined at least 11 girls against a blackboard and shot them in the head at a one-room Amish schoolhouse in Lancaster County. He shot himself as police stormed the schoolhouse. Two young students were killed, along with a female teacher's aide who was slightly older than the students. Seven others, most shot at point-blank range, were taken to hospitals, and two of them died early the next day.
(AP, 10/3/06)(SFC, 10/3/06, p.A1)(Econ, 10/7/06, p.38)
2006 Oct 4, A Philadelphia jury awarded a woman $1 million and her husband $500,000 in compensatory damages after finding that Wyeth's hormone replacement drug Prempro was a cause of her breast cancer. In the first federal Prempro trial, a jury last month in Little Rock, Arkansas found Wyeth was not negligent and had adequately warned patients and doctors of the cancer risk associated with the drug. Wyeth faced some 5,000 lawsuits involving its hormone replacement drugs.
(Reuters, 10/4/06)
2006 Oct 13, A jury in Philadelphia said US retail giant Wal-Mart must pay 78 million dollars for violating labor laws in Pennsylvania.
(SFC, 10/14/06, p.C1)
2006 Oct 20, In Pennsylvania 24 rail cars carrying ethanol derailed and 9 caught fire on a bridge over the Beaver River in New Brighton, 25 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.
(SSFC, 10/22/06, p.A5)
2006 Nov 16, A state regulatory board approved Gov. Ed Rendell's proposal to make deeper cuts in mercury emissions from Pennsylvania's coal-fired power plants, despite opposition from power plants and mining companies.
(AP, 11/16/06)
2006 Dec 20, Pennsylvania cleared the way for 2 slot machine casino licenses in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
(SFC, 12/21/06, p.A3)
2006 Dec 22, Rafael Robb (56), tenured economics professor at the Univ. of Pennsylvania, bludgeoned his wife (39) to death in Norristown. In 2007 he pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
(SFC, 11/27/07, p.A8)
2006 Dec 29, In Allentown, Pa., a fire swept through 4 downtown row houses killing 5 people. An extension cord overload was blamed.
(SFC, 12/30/06, p.A3)
2006 An auto accident in Pennsylvania that left 2 men dead was later attributed to a defective replacement tire from China. In 2007 it was estimated that some 450,000 tires imported by Foreign Tire Sales Inc. of New Jersey from Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co. were defective.
(WSJ, 6/26/07, p.A1)
2007 Feb 12, In Philadelphia, Penn., 3 men were shot to death in a marketing company conference room and another was critically injured by a gunman who killed himself as police closed in. The gunman had put a gig sum in a failed venture.
(AP, 2/13/07)(WSJ, 2/14/07, p.A1)
2007 Feb 15, Hundreds of drivers became stranded on a stretch of eastern Pennsylvania that had been hit by a monster storm. The National Guard was called in to deliver food and other necessities to a 50-mile line of vehicles trapped on I-78.
(WSJ, 2/16/07, p.A1)(AP, 2/16/08)
2007 Feb 16, A thick layer of ice kept major highways closed, a day after hundreds of drivers became stranded on a stretch of eastern Pennsylvania that had been hit by a monster storm.
(AP, 2/16/07)
2007 Feb 17, In southwestern Pennsylvania fire swept through a house in Waynesburg, killing six young children and a woman and injuring one other person.
(AP, 2/17/07)
2007 Jun 19, James Cockayne (21) of New Hope, Pa., was beaten and stabbed to death in the Virgin Islands. 3 men, Anselmo Boston, Kamal Thomas and Jahleel Ward, were arrested after the parents of Cockayne appeared on US news programs and accused Virgin Islands detectives of botching an investigation into their son's death. On Oct 10, 2008, Ward was found guilty of first-degree murder and other charges. Anselmo Boston and Kamal Thomas were found guilty on two counts each of third-degree assault, among other charges.
(AP, 10/6/08)(AP, 10/10/08)
2007 Jul 8, In Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell ordered a range of government services shutdown after last minute negotiations failed to break a budget stalemate. The shutdown took about 24,000 workers off the job. A budget deal was hammered out the following night.
(AP, 7/9/07)(SFC, 7/9/07, p.A3)(AP, 7/8/08)
2007 Jul 10, Railroad Development Corp., a Pittsburgh-based railroad company under Henry Posner III, planned to shut down Guatemala's only train service after years of fighting thieves, squatters and government-backed lawsuits. Posner expected to take his case to int’l. arbitration under CAFTA with a demand for $65 million in lost revenues and investments.
(AP, 7/10/07)(WSJ, 1/23/07, p.A14)
2007 Aug 15, Pennsylvania Superior Court Judge Michael Thomas Joyce, an appeals court judge, was indicted on charges of scamming $440,000 from insurers by claiming he suffered debilitating injuries in a car crash, even while he golfed, skated and went scuba diving.
(AP, 8/16/07)
2007 Aug 27, Police arrested Paul Devoe III (43) in Shirley, NY, following 5 recent murders in Texas and one in Pennsylvania. On December 19, 2007, the Texas Travis County District Attorney announced his office's intention to pursue the death penalty.
(SFC, 8/28/07, p.A6)(www.nytimes.com/2007/08/28/us/28texas.html)
2007 Sep 10, It was reported that John Kanzius of Erie, Pa., had accidentally discovered a way to burn salt water when he tried to desalinate seawater with a radio-frequency generator he developed to treat cancer. He discovered that as long as the salt water was exposed to the radio frequencies, it would burn.
(AP, 9/10/07)
2007 Sep 13, In Philadelphia police chief Sylvester Johnson acknowledged that police alone could not quell the city’s deadly violence and planned to introduce “Call to Action: 10,000 Men," an effort to get volunteers on the streets as of Oct 21.
(SFC, 9/14/07, p.A5)
2007 Sep 17, The Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh said it has created a $1.25 million fund to settle 32 lawsuits alleging abuse or injury by priests.
(AP, 9/17/07)
2007 Oct 4, In Philadelphia Mustafa Ali (36), a convicted bank robber, shot and killed two armored car guards servicing an ATM outside a bank. Several schools were locked down amid a massive manhunt for the gunman, who was arrested the next day.
(AP, 10/4/07)(AP, 10/6/07)
2007 Oct 12, In Norristown, Pa., Michele Cossey (46), the mother of a 14-year-old who authorities say had a cache of guns, knives and explosive devices in his bedroom for a possible school attack, was charged with buying her son 3 weapons. Authorities said the teenager felt bullied and tried to recruit another boy for a possible attack at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School.
(AP, 10/12/07)
2007 Oct 26, Friedman Paul Erhardt (63), television's "Chef Tell," died in Upper Black Eddy, Pa.
(AP, 10/26/08)
2007 Oct 29, Democrats Barack Obama and John Edwards sharply challenged Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's candor, consistency and judgment in a televised debate in Philadelphia.
(AP, 10/30/08)
2007 Oct 30, It was reported that John Murtha, US Democratic Congressman from Johnstown, Pa., and chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, had steered at least $600 million in earmarks to his district over the past 4 years. Since 1992 he has sent some $2 billion to his home district.
(WSJ, 10/30/07, p.A1)
2007 Nov 3, Boss, a robotic Chevrolet Tahoe from Carnegie Mellon Univ., won the annual DARPA sponsored race in San Bernadino County, Ca. 6 of 11 starting vehicles finished the 10-mile race, designed to simulate a town. No car finished the first race in 2004.
(Econ, 11/10/07, p.100)
2007 Nov 12, It was reported that a donor had given a staggering $100 million to the Erie Community Foundation in Pennsylvania, and all of the charities would receive a share.
(AP, 11/12/07)
2007 Nov 12, A new study said US researchers have developed a method of producing hydrogen gas from biodegradable organic material, potentially providing an abundant source of this clean-burning fuel. The method used by engineers at Pennsylvania State University combines electron-generating bacteria and a small electrical charge in a microbial fuel cell to produce hydrogen gas.
(AFP, 11/13/07)
2007 Nov 30, New Zealand officials said police have questioned the suspected teenage kingpin of an international cyber crime network accused of infiltrating 1.3 million computers and skimming millions of dollars from victims' bank accounts. Earlier this month, Ryan Goldstein, 21, of Ambler, Pa., was indicted in the case. Authorities allege that the New Zealand suspect and Goldstein were involved in crashing a University of Pennsylvania engineering school server Feb. 23, 2006. On Feb 29 Owen Thor Walker (18) was charged with two counts of accessing a computer for dishonest purpose, damaging or interfering with a computer system and possessing software for committing crime, and two counts of accessing a computer system without authorization.
(AP, 11/30/07)(AP, 2/29/08)
2007 Dec 16, Street and highway crews were at work trying to clear roads across the Great Lakes states into New England as a storm blamed for three deaths spread a hazardous mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain. The storm was blamed for at least 10 deaths including 4 in Indiana, 2 in Michigan and Wisconsin, one in Pennsylvania and one in Nova Scotia.
(AP, 12/16/07)(SFC, 12/18/07, p.A19)
2007-2008 Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., sponsored $14.7 million in defense earmarks for Kuchera Defense Systems, a campaign donor. The Pentagon went along with it, despite the fact that two convicted drug dealers had been deeply involved with the company.
(AP, 6/5/09)
2008 Jan 30, In Philadelphia Nurse Lee Cruceta (35) admitted he cut body parts from 244 corpses and helped forge paperwork so the parts, some of them diseased, could be used in unsuspecting patients. Cruceta has also pleaded guilty to related charges in New York and negotiated pleas to serve concurrent sentences of 6 1/2 to 20 years.
(AP, 1/30/08)
2008 May 1, Philadelphia’s Mayor Michael Nutter and police commissioner hoped to have 200 more police officers on the streets by this time as part of a new 33-page crime-fighting plan. Murders in the city had reached 392 in 2007. Gov. Ed Rendell agreed to help foot the bill.
(Econ, 2/9/08, p.33)
2008 Mar 27, A US appeals Court in Philadelphia overturned the death sentence of Mumia Abu Jamal, who had been convicted of killing Officer Daniel Faulkner on Dec 9, 1981.
(SFC, 3/28/08, p.A4)
2008 Apr 7, In Ohio 9 mortgage lenders agreed to modify adjustable-rate mortgages for borrowers facing foreclosure. In Pennsylvania mortgage companies and consumer advocates opened talks to help cash-strapped homeowners avoid foreclosure. Last week Maryland’s Gov. signed a measure creating a 150-day moratorium on foreclosures.
(WSJ, 4/8/08, p.A4)
2008 Apr 22, In Pennsylvania Hillary Clinton won the primary with about 55% of the vote to 45% for Obama.
(AP, 4/23/08)
2008 May 1, Philadelphia’s Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey announced a major reorganization of the department's command structure and the addition of nearly 250 officers on street patrols, part of a crime-fighting strategy he said was already showing results. Mayor Michael Nutter and the police commissioner had hoped to have 200 more police officers on the streets by this time as part of a new 33-page crime-fighting plan. Murders in the city had reached 392 in 2007. Gov. Ed Rendell agreed to help foot the bill.
(Econ, 2/9/08, p.33)(http://ydr.inyork.com/ci_9120792)
2008 May 3, In Philadelphia police officer Liczbinski was shot with an assault rifle after a robbery. One suspect was fatally shot by police soon after, another was arrested the next day and a third was captured May 7.
(AP, 5/8/08)
2008 May 5, Philadelphia police stopped the suspects' car while investigating a triple shooting. No weapons were found in the car or on the suspects, but officers said they had seen them shoot three people on a drug corner moments earlier. Video shot by WTXF-TV from a helicopter showed officers gathered around the vehicle as they pulled three men out. About a half-dozen officers held two men on the ground on the driver's side. Both were kicked repeatedly, while one was punched; one also appeared to be struck with a baton. A review of the video led to the firing of 4 officers with disciplinary action for 4 others. In 2009 a grand jury cleared the officers involved saying no excessive force was used.
(AP, 5/8/08)(WSJ, 5/20/08, p.A2)(SFC, 8/7/09, p.A5)
2008 May 13, EarthLink said it is pulling out of its high-speed Internet network in Philadelphia, and that it would shut down the operation on June 12.
(SFC, 5/14/08, p.C3)
2008 Jun 12, Deaths due to the heat wave across the US East Coast climbed past 30 with at least 15 dead in Philadelphia and 7 in NYC.
(WSJ, 6/13/08, p.A2)
2008 Jul 9, In western Pennsylvania the bodies of 22-year-old Ashley Guarino, her 2-year-old daughter Dreux and 11-month-old son Orlando Jr. were found by relatives. Orlando Maurice Guarino (38) was arrested the next day and charged with the murders of his wife and children.
(AP, 7/11/08)
2008 Jul 14, In Pennsylvania Luis Ramirez (25), an illegal Mexican migrant worker, died in Shenandoah after being beaten by white youths. 4 young men were charged and found responsible for the fight, but most of the federal charges against them were dropped. Local police were later accused of tampering with evidence and witnesses or lying to the FBI. In 2010 Derrick Donchak and Brandon Piekarsky were convicted for a federal hate crime. In 2011 former police chief Matthew Nestor was found guilty of falsifying his police report, a charge that carries up to 20 years in prison. Officer William Moyer was found guilty of lying to the FBI but was acquitted of four other counts. Officer Jason Hayes, who's engaged to the mother of one of Ramirez's attackers, was acquitted of both charges against him. In all, the jury convicted on two of nine counts. On Feb 23, 2011, Donchak and Piekarsky were sentenced to nine years each in prison for roles in the death of Ramirez.
(www.maldef.org/luis_ramirez_petition/)(SFC, 10/15/10, p.A6)(AP, 1/27/11)(Reuters, 2/24/11)
2008 Jul 15, In Pennsylvania Betty Schirmer (56) was killed in an apparent car accident. In 2010 her husband, Pastor Arthur Burton Schirmer, was charged with killing her and staging the car accident. The charge also prompted an investigation into the suspicious death of his 1st wife, Jewel Schirmer, in 1999.
(SFC, 9/14/10, p.A4)(www.delmarvanow.com/article/20100914/NEWS01/100914005)
2008 Jul 25, Randy Pausch (47), a Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist, died at his home in Virginia. His "last lecture" in September 2007, about facing terminal cancer, has become an Internet sensation and a best-selling book.
(AP, 7/25/08)
2008 Oct 3, The Great Lakes Governors (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin) applauded President George W. Bush for signing a joint resolution of Congress providing consent to the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact. It barred new diversions beyond the Great Lakes Basin.
(www.cglg.org/projects/water/CompactConsent.asp)(Econ, 5/22/10, p.36)
2008 Oct 17, In Philadelphia college student Jocelyn Kirsch (23) was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay more than $100,000 in restitution. She and her former boyfriend, Edward Anderton, had stolen the identities of friends and neighbors in 2006 and 2007 to net more than $116,000 in goods and services. Anderton’s sentence was pending.
(AP, 10/17/08)
2008 Oct 29, The Philadelphia Phillies won the baseball World Series over the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 with the conclusion of Game 5, which had been stopped by rain 2 days earlier.
(SFC, 10/30/08, p.D1)
2008 Nov 6, Philadelphia’s Mayor Nutter said a budget deficit crises will force the city to close libraries and swimming pools, suspend planned tax reductions, cut more than 800 jobs and trim salaries to deal with a $1 billion shortfall.
(SFC, 11/7/08, p.A7)
2008 Nov 19, FBI agent Sam Hicks was shot and killed while serving a warrant at a home near Pittsburgh, during a roundup of drug suspects in the greater Pittsburgh area. Christina Korbe was charged with homicide. Her husband, Robert Korbe, was one of 35 people charged in a 27-count drug-trafficking indictment.
(AP, 11/19/08)(SFC, 11/20/08, p.A4)
2008 Dec 26, In Philadelphia a duplex fire apparently caused by fuel spilling from an overfilled kerosene heater killed seven people, including 3 kids, in a basement that had only one exit.
(AP, 12/27/08)
2008 Dec 31, SF ended the year with 98 homicides. In Milwaukee, Wisc., the total number of homicides dropped 32%, from 105 in 2007 to 71 in 2008, the lowest number since 1985. Detroit had 344 slayings, a 13% drop from the 396 in 2007; Philadelphia's 332 killings were a 15% drop from the 392 in 2007; and the 234 homicides in Baltimore were 17% less than the 392 the year before. Cleveland recorded 102 homicides in 2008, down from a 13-year high of 134 in 2007. Homicides in New York rose 5.2%, to 522 from 496 the year before. Slayings in Los Angeles were down to 376 in 2008 compared to 400 the prior year. Preliminary data in Chicago showed 508 homicides were reported in 2008, the first time the city had more than 500 murders since 2003 and about 15% more than the 442 homicides reported in 2007. Washington, D.C., ended 2008 with 186 homicides, up from 181 in 2007.
(SFC, 1/2/09, p.1)(AP, 1/3/09)
2009 Jan 7, The SEC charged Joseph S. Forte of Broomall, Pennsylvania, an investment fund manager, with running a Ponzi scheme since at least 1995. Losses to investors were estimated at $50 million.
(WSJ, 1/28/09, p.A12)(www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2009/lr20847.htm)
2009 Jan 16, Artist Andrew Wyeth (b.1917), American artist, died at his home in the Philadelphia suburb of Chadds Ford. He had portrayed the hidden melancholy of the people and landscapes of Pennsylvania's Brandywine Valley and coastal Maine in works such as "Christina's World."
(AP, 1/16/09)
2009 Jan 22, US federal agents raided Kuchera Industries and Kuchera Defense systems, 2 small Pennsylvania defense contractors. They were given millions in federal funding by Rep. John Murtha, chairman of the defense appropriations committee. In 2007 the WSJ identified Murtha as the largest earmarker in the House.
(WSJ, 1/22/09, p.A6)
2009 Feb 1, In Super Bowl XLIII at Tampa, Florida, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals 27-23.
(SFC, 2/2/09, p.A1)
2009 Jan 26, Two Pennsylvania judges were charged with taking millions of dollars in kickbacks to send teenagers to two privately run youth detention centers. Prosecutors later said Luzerne County Judges Mark Ciavarella (58) and Michael Conahan (56) took $2.6 million in payoffs to put juvenile offenders in lockups run by PA Child Care LLC and a sister company, Western PA Child Care LLC. Conahan soon pleaded guilty to a single count of racketeering. The “kids for cash" trial against Ciavarella began in 2011. On Feb 18, 2011, Ciavarella was convicted of racketeering. On Aug 11, 2011, Ciavarella was sentenced to 28 years in prison. On Sep 23 Conahan was sentenced to 17.5 years in prison. On Nov 4, 2011, Robert Powell, the former owner of 2-for profit juvenile detention centers, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his role in the scheme. In 2014 builder Robert Mericle was sentenced to a year in jail and fined $250k for his role in the kids for cash scandal. On August 10, 2015, a federal judge approved a $4.75 million settlement between Powell and some 2,400 juveniles.
(AP, 2/11/09)(SFC, 2/7/11, p.A4)(SFC, 2/19/11, p.A6)(SFC, 8/12/11, p.A5)(SFC, 9/24/11, p.A4)(SFC, 11/5/11, p.A5)(SFC, 4/26/14, p.A6)(SFC, 8/13/15, p.A6)
2009 Feb 19, In Pennsylvania Roger Leon Barlow (19) was charged with setting 9 fires in arson-prone Coatesville, 35 miles west of Philadelphia.
(SFC, 2/20/09, p.A10)
2009 Feb 20, In Wampum, Pennsylvania, Jordan Brown (11) shot his father's pregnant fiancee, Kenzie Marie Houk (26), in the back of the head as she lay in bed. He then put his youth model 20-gauge shotgun back in his room before going out to catch his school bus. On March 29, 2010, a judge ruled that boy will be tried as an adult.
(AP, 2/22/09)(SFC, 3/30/10, p.A10)
2009 Feb 21, The Journal Register Co., a Yardley, Pa.-based company, filed for bankruptcy protection. The company owned 2o daily and 159 nondaily newspapers with some 3,500 employees.
(SSFC, 2/22/09, p.A8)
2009 Mar 2, A massive late winter snow storm roared out of the Southeast and into the Northeast overnight, idling hundreds of flights and making the morning rush treacherous as motorists contended with nearly a foot of snow in spots. Some 950 flights were canceled at the three main New York area airports, an almost 300 canceled in Philadelphia.
(AP, 3/2/09)(SFC, 3/3/09, p.A5)
2009 Mar 12, Leonore Annenberg (b.1918), the widow of billionaire publisher Walter Annenberg (d.2002), died in southern California. She had continued directing the philanthropy of the Annenberg Foundation based in Radnor, a suburb of Philadelphia, Pa.
(SFC, 3/13/09, p.B8)
2009 Mar 14, In Coatesville, Pennsylvania, the 20th arson fire this year was set, one day after Roger Leon Barlow (19) was held for trial in connection with fires set between Jan 2 and Feb 3.
(SSFC, 3/15/09, p.A10)
2009 Mar 16, Vincent Fumo (65), former Pennsylvania state senator, was convicted of 137 counts of corruption for schemes that defrauded the state senate of more than $3.5 million.
(WSJ, 3/17/09, p.A6)
2009 Apr 4, In Pittsburgh, Pa., Richard Poplawski (23) shot and killed 3 police officers, who were responding to a domestic violence disturbance. Poplawski received gunshot wounds in his legs and was charged with 3 counts of murder. The shooting began following an argument between Poplawski and his mother over a dog urinating in their house. On June 28, 2011, a jury sentenced Poplawski to death.
(SSFC, 4/5/09, p.A12)(SFC, 4/6/09, p.A5)(SFC, 6/28/11, p.A6)
2009 Apr 28, Veteran Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania switched parties with a suddenness that seemed to stun the Senate, a moderate's defection that pushed Democrats to within a vote of the 60 needed to overcome filibusters and enact President Barack Obama's top legislative priorities.
(AP, 4/29/09)
2009 May 7, Seven Pittsburgh-area ACORN workers were charged with falsifying voter registration forms, with six accused of doing so to meet the group's alleged quota system before last year's general election.
(AP, 5/7/09)
2009 May 23, It was reported that millions of bats in at least 7 US states (Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia) have died from white-nose syndrome, a fungal diseases. In 2011 the fungus Geomyces destructans was identified as the cause. The fungus responsible was later identified as Pseudogymnoascus destructans.
(Econ, 5/23/09, p.36)(SFC, 10/28/11, p.A18)(SSFC, 7/7/19, p.C10)
2009 Jun 10, In Pennsylvania a car fleeing a robbery scene jumped a curb in Philadelphia, smashed into a crowd and killed three young children. One robber had fled on the motorcycle and the other in a car. Both were arrested. Latoya Smith (22), the mother and aunt of two of the children, died the next days from her injuries.
(AP, 6/11/09)(AP, 6/12/09)
2009 Jul 14, In Pennsylvania former lawmaker Vincent Fumo was sentenced to less than 5 years in prison for misappropriating millions from the state and two nonprofits.
(SFC, 7/15/09, p.A6)
2009 Aug 4, In Bridgeville, Pennsylvania, George Sodini (48) sprayed bullets into a fitness class filled with women, killing three and then himself. He kept a Web page in which he wrote about years of rejection by women and an earlier plan for violence at the gym.
(AP, 8/5/09)
2009 Aug 6, Ethiopia’s Federal High Court issued the guilty verdicts against 13 men, including a US-based professor, convicted in absentia for plotting to overthrow the government. Berhanu Nega, Ethiopian-born professor with US nationality and teacher of economics at Philadelphia's Bucknell Univ., was accused of masterminding a plan to topple PM Meles Zenawi..
(Reuters, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 14, Real estate lender Colonial BancGroup Inc. was shut down by federal officials in the biggest US bank failure this year. The FDIC, which was appointed receiver of the Montgomery, Ala.-based Colonial and its about $25 billion in assets, said the failed bank's 346 branches in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Nevada and Texas will reopen at the normal times starting on Aug 15 as offices of Winston-Salem, N.C.-based BB&T. Regulators also closed four other banks: Community Bank of Arizona, based in Phoenix; Union Bank, based in Gilbert, Ariz.; Community Bank of Nevada, based in Las Vegas; and Dwelling House Savings and Loan Association, located in Pittsburgh. The closures boosted to 77 the number of federally insured banks that have failed in 2009.
(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug, Pennsylvania Central Bucks East High School English teacher Natalie Munroe started a blog for friends and family in suburban Philadelphia. Munroe blogged about 85 times and only about 15 to 20 of the posts involved her being a teacher. In 2011 she was suspended for the profanity-laced blog in which she called her students "disengaged, lazy whiners," and daring to ask: “Why are today's students unmotivated, and what's wrong with calling them out?"
(AP, 2/16/11)
2009 Sep 16, In Pennsylvania Andrew Mogilyansky, a wealthy Russian-American car exporter from suburban Philadelphia, was sentenced to 8 years in prison for procuring girls from a Russian orphanage to have sex with them.
(SFC, 9/17/09, p.A7)
2009 Sep 21, The Philadelphia Daily News reported that police officer Thomas Strain was put on desk duty this month because of braids, even though the paper reported dozens of black officers wear cornrows. The white officer, who came to work with cornrows, was ordered by a black superior to get a haircut because the braids violated department standards.
(AP, 9/21/09)
2009 Sep 24, In Pennsylvania US Pres. Obama hosted a 2-day meeting of the G20 as it opened in Pittsburgh.
(SFC, 9/26/09, p.A4)
2009 Sep 25, In Pennsylvania police arrested 83 people during protests at the meeting of the G20 Pittsburgh. A “People’s March" attracted nearly 5.000 people. The G20 ended a 2-day meeting and reached a series of agreements aimed at navigating the world out of recession. The alliance announced that it will replace the G7 as the main forum for int’l. economic cooperation. The G7 will now concentrate mainly on security issues.
(http://articles.latimes.com/2009/sep/26/business/fi-protest26)(Econ, 10/3/09, p.88)(Econ, 10/10/09, p.51)
2009 Sep, George Zimmermann, a Pennsylvania landowner, filed suit against Atlas Energy Inc. for polluting his soil and water in an attempt to link a natural gas drilling technique with environmental contamination. Atlas was exploiting the Marcellus Shale, a vast gas reserve that underlies about two-thirds of Pennsylvania and parts of West Virginia, Ohio and New York State. Experts estimated that it contains enough natural gas to meet total US demand for at least a decade. Baseline tests on Zimmermann's water a year before drilling began were "perfect," he said. In June, water tests found arsenic at 2,600 times acceptable levels, benzene at 44 times above limits and naphthalene five times the federal standard.
(Reuters, 11/9/09)
2009 Oct 15, Colleen R. LaRose (46), a self-described "Jihad Jane," was arrested in Philadelphia. LaRose was later accused, in an indictment filed March 9, 2010, of actively recruiting fighters, as well as agreeing to murder Swedish artist Lars Vilks, marry a terrorism suspect so he could move to Europe and martyr herself if necessary.
(AP, 3/10/10)
2009 Nov 3, In Philadelphia, Pa., transit workers went on strike after rejecting a proposed contract that included an 11.5% wage increase over 5 years.
(SFC, 11/4/09, p.A6)
2009 Nov 4, The New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-3 in Game 6, finally seizing the World Series crown, the team's first since winning three straight from 1998-2000, making it championship No. 27.
(AP, 11/5/09)
2009 Nov 9, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said the Philadelphia transit strike has ended and that system would be up and running for the morning commute.
(SFC, 11/9/09, p.A8)
2009 Dec 6, In Pennsylvania parolee Ronald Robinson (32) fatally shot a man in Penn Hills over a $500 drug debt and then shot and killed police officer Michael Crawshaw (32).
(SFC, 12/8/09, p.A12)
2009 Dec 10, Pennsylvania police charged Alfonso Frank Frazetta (52) with theft, burglary and trespass after he was caught loading artwork into his trailer and SUV. He had used a backhoe to break into a museum owned by his father, fantasy artist Frank Frazetta (b.1928) loading artwork.
(SFC, 12/11/09, p.A11)
2010 Jan 13, R&B singer Teddy Pendergrass (b.1950) died of colon cancer in suburban Philadelphia. He was one of the most electric and successful figures in music until a 1982 car crash left him in a wheelchair.
(AP, 1/14/10)
2010 Jan 25, In Pennsylvania Andrea Curry-Demus (40) was found to be mentally ill but guilty of 2nd degree murder and kidnapping for luring a pregnant teenager to her apartment, cutting out the baby and killing the mother. The infant, now 18 months old, was living with relatives.
(SFC, 1/26/10, p.A4)
2010 Feb 5, In Pennsylvania about 18,000 people turned out before dawn for the 18th Wing Bowl, an eating competition dubbed the world's biggest, and an annual celebration of Philadelphia's raucous sports-crazed culture.
(Reuters, 2/5/10)
2010 Feb 8, John Murtha (b.1932), Pennsylvania’s Democratic representative, died in Arlington, Va., following complications from gall bladder surgery. He had won a special House election in 1974 to become the first Vietnam veteran to serve in Congress.
(SFC, 2/9/10, p.A6)
2010 Feb 12, In Pennsylvania Max Ray Vision, formerly Max Ray Butler, of San Francisco was sentenced to 13 years in prison and ordered to pay $27.5 million to the banks and credit card companies that he victimized. In 2009 Butler (36) had identified himself in court as “Max Vision," the name he gave himself in the 1990s when he became a superstar in the computer security community.
(SFC, 2/13/10, p.D1)(www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/06/butler_court/)
2010 Mar 13, A storm battered parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut with gusts of up to 70 mph.
(AP, 3/14/10)
2010 Jun 25, In Richmond, Va., Quanis Phillips, a co-defendant with Philadelphia Eagles’ QB Michael Vick in a 2007 federal dogfighting charge, died in a shooting. Vick had pleaded guilty to the 2007 charges. Police said Vick has not been ruled out as suspect or person of interest in the shooting which occurred shortly after a birthday party for Vick had ended at a club. An investigation was ongoing.
(AP, 7/01/10)
2010 Jun 26, Pennsylvania police found the bodies of three men and a woman, each stabbed multiple times, in the brick twin house in Northampton. Steven Zernhelt (53), a married father of three, was stabbed to death as he responded to screams next door. Police discovered the bodies after responding to a car crash about a half-mile from the house. The driver, Eric Ballard (36), was covered in blood and police knew it wasn't all from the crash. Ballard was charged the next day with the stabbing murder of his former girlfriend and 3 others.
(AP, 6/27/10)(SFC, 6/28/10, p.A4)
2010 Jul 6, The East Coast roasted under an unrelenting sun as record-setting temperatures soared past 100 from Virginia to Massachusetts, utility companies cranked up power to the limit to cool the sweating masses and railroad tracks were so hot commuter trains had to slow down. The temperature reached 100 in Philadelphia toppling a record set in 1999.
(AP, 7/6/10)(SFC, 7/7/10, p.A5)
2010 Jul 7, In Philadelphia, Pa., a 250-foot barge collided on the Delaware River with a stalled amphibious sightseeing boat. 2 visitors from Hungary were killed. In 2011 tug pilot Matt Devlin agreed to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter following evidence that he was talking on a cell phone during the accident.
(AP, 7/9/10)(SFC, 7/15/11, p.A7)
2010 Jul 19, Despite being rebuffed twice by the US Supreme Court, five states (Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota and Pennsylvania) filed suit with a lower court demanding tougher federal and municipal action to prevent Asian carp from overrunning the Great Lakes and decimating their fishing industry.
(AP, 7/19/10)
2010 Sep 9, In Pennsylvania Kraft worker Yvonne Hiller of northeast Philadelphia shot and killed two co-workers after she was suspended from a Kraft Foods plant.
(AP, 9/10/10)
2010 Oct 10, Solomon Burke (b.1940), the larger-than-life "King of Rock and Soul," died at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. The Philadelphia-born singer was revered as one of music's greatest vocalists but never reached the level of fame of those he influenced. He joined Atlantic in 1960 and went on to record a string of hits in a decade with the label. He wrote "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" in 1964 and it was later featured in the Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi movie "The Blues Brothers."
(AP, 10/10/10)
2010 Oct 23, The SF Giants won a trip to the World Series. In Pennsylvania Juan Uribe hit a tiebreaking homer off Ryan Madson with two outs in the eighth inning and the Giants held off the Phillies 3-2 in Game 6 of the NL championship series. This finished off the Phillies' bid to become the first NL team in 66 years to win three straight pennants.
(AP, 10/24/10)(SSFC, 10/24/10, p.1)
2010 Nov 2, Iowa (Terry Branstad), Kansas (Sam Brownback), Maine (Paul LePage), Michigan (Rick Snyder), New Mexico (Susana Martinez), Ohio (John Kasich), Oklahoma (Mary Fallin), Pennsylvania (Tom Corbett), Tennessee (Bill Haslam), Wisconsin (Scott Walker), Wyoming (Matt Mead) all replaced the Democratic governors with Republicans. Snyder (R) defeated Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) by bragging about his managerial skills.
(Econ, 11/6/10, p.45)
2010 Nov 13, In Erie, Pa., an apparent suicide-murder by a father (29) left the mother and 2 daughters dead.
(SSFC, 11/14/10, p.A14)
2011 Jan 18, Philadelphia Gas Works employee, Mark Keeley (19), was killed in a gas main explosion. 6 people were sent to the hospital with 3 in critical condition.
(SFC, 1/20/11, p.A6)
2011 Jan 19, In New Castle, Pa., Ljuba Novosel shot and killed her son (12) and elderly mother (81) before turning the gun on herself.
(http://tinyurl.com/4h8hja5)(SFC, 1/24/11, p.A4)
2011 Feb 6, In Dallas, Texas, Wisconsin’s Green Bay packers won Super Bowl XLV 31-25 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
(AFP, 2/7/11)
2011 Feb 8, Claudia Aderotimi (20), a London woman, died at a Philadelphia hospital at 1:32 a.m., some 12 hours after a botched buttocks enhancement at a Hampton Inn near the Philadelphia Int’l Airport. Authorities sought to question Padge Victoria Windslowe, a self-described Goth hip hop singer known as "Black Madam" from Ardmore, Pa., in the death. On June 11, 2015, Windslowe was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison.
(Reuters, 2/12/11)(SFC, 6/12/15, p.A7)
2011 Feb 10, The Hershey Trust Co. fired board member Robert Reese, a former top Hershey Co. executive. Reese had filed documents in Pennsylvania saying the Hershey Trust has allowed excessive compensation for board members, violations of federal banking regulations and free limousine rides and rounds of golf.
(SFC, 2/11/11, p.A6)(http://freedomofspeech.kicks-ass.org/?q=node/5034)
2011 Feb 10, In Allentown, Pennsylvania, a natural gas explosion rocked a downtown neighborhood overnight, leveling two houses and spawning fires that burned for hours through an entire row of neighboring homes. One person was killed, and at least five others were unaccounted for.
(AP, 2/10/11)
2011 Feb 24, A US federal jury convicted Mohammad Reza Vaghari (43), of Broomall Pa., of sending the products to Iran by way of the United Arab Emirates.
(AP, 2/25/11)
2011 Feb, In Pennsylvania Kermit Gosnell, his wife and eight workers were charged in the operation of a clinic in West Philadelphia where illegal late term abortions were performed and where babies born alive and viable were killed. In 2014 the last of two workers in the case were sentenced to 5 to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty and testifying against Gosnell.
(SFC, 6/27/14, p.A6)
2011 Mar 8, The Archdiocese of Philadelphia said it has suspended 21 priests from active ministry in connection with a grand jury’s Feb 10 accusations that they sexually abused or otherwise acted inappropriately with minors.
(SFC, 3/9/11, p.A5)
2011 Mar 8, In central Pennsylvania a farmhouse fire killed 7 of 8 children of Theodore and Janelle Clouse. A propane heater was suspected as the cause.
(SFC, 3/10/11, p.A8)
2011 Mar 22, In central Pennsylvania 5 people were killed in an apartment fire in Altoona.
(SFC, 3/23/11, p.A4)
2011 Apr 27, The city of Altoona, Pa., enacted a 60-day name change to "POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold," after the latest film by sarcastic documentarian Morgan Spurlock, in order to make some money and to help Spurlock make a point about the proliferation of advertising in American life.
(AP, 4/27/11)
2011 May 5, A federal judge in Pennsylvania sentenced conman Donald Young (39) to nearly two decades in prison for a $23 million pyramid scheme.
(SFC, 5/6/11, p.A8)
2011 May 23, Reputed Philadelphia mob boss Joseph Ligambi and 12 others were indicted with charges of racketeering and gambling.
(SFC, 5/24/11, p.A4)
2011 May, Joseph Cohen, Dan Getelman and Jim Grandpre quit the Univ. of Pennsylvania to launch Coursekit, soon rebranded as Lore, a social learning network for the classroom.
(Economist, 8/25/12, p.52)
2011 Jun 1, Pennsylvania and the city of Philadelphia embarked on a 25-year, $2 billion effort to reduce storm water pollution through eco-friendly measures.
(SFC, 6/2/11, p.A6)
2011 Jun 2, In Maryland Sukanya Roy (14) of South Abington Township, Pa., won the 84th Scripps national Spelling Bee.
(SFC, 6/3/11, p.A7)
2011 Jun 6, Former Pennsylvania congressman Rick Santorum, a social conservative, announced that he is a candidate for the Republican nomination for president.
(LAT, 6/6/11)
2011 Jun 18, In Warrington, Pa., Christopher Moyer killed his wife, Irina (39), and their son (7) and then committed suicide on a set of train tracks. Financial problems were suspected.
(SSFC, 6/19/11, p.A8)
2011 Jul 4, In Pennsylvania Mark Richard Geisenheyner (51) was killed by a SWAT team in Trainer for shooting 5 people, 2 of them fatally, a day earlier in a suburban Philadelphia home over an insurance fraud scheme.
(SFC, 7/5/11, p.A6)
2011 Jul 12, A federal indictment unsealed in St. Louis said The Wheels of Soul motorcycle club, with a "Mother Chapter" in Philadelphia, was responsible for killings, robberies, drug distribution and other crimes. The indictment accused 18 men in seven states of racketeering, with some of the men also accused of crimes that include murder, attempted murder, robbery and kidnapping.
(AP, 7/12/11)
2011 Aug 8, The US Justice department and 4 the attorney generals of California, Illinois, Florida, and Indiana accused Pittsburgh-based Education Management Corp. of paying recruiters to enroll students in an $11 billion fraud case.
(SFC, 8/8/11, p.A5)
2011 Aug 10, Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania reported the first clear success with a new approach for treating leukemia, turning the patients' own blood cells into assassins that hunt and destroy their cancer cells.
(AP, 8/10/11)
2011 Aug 15, In Philadelphia Corey White (22) was shot to death hours after a judge held two people for trial for conspiring to kill him in a murder-for-hire plot on Facebook.
(SFC, 8/17/11, p.A6)
2011 Aug 28, In Pennsylvania Leonard John Egland (37) of Fort Lee, Va., an Army officer suspected of killing four people in Pennsylvania and Virginia, was found dead in Bucks County. He had fired a semiautomatic rifle at SWAT team members who discovered his truck and found him before dawn in a trash bin. Officers earlier in the day had found the bodies of Egland's ex-wife, her boyfriend and his child. His former mother-in-law, Barbara Reuhl (66) of Buckingham, was believed to have been killed the previous night.
(AP, 8/28/11)
2011 Sep 8, Tropical Storm Lee dumped heavy rain in the Northeast. The Susquehanna River and its tributaries in New York and Pennsylvania swamped thousands of homes. At least 15 deaths were blamed on the storm and its aftermath: 7 in Pennsylvania, 3 in Virginia, one in Maryland and 4 others when it came ashore on the Gulf Coast a week earlier.
(SFC, 9/10/11, p.A6)
2011 Oct 12, The City Council in Harrisburg, Pa., filed for bankruptcy, despite opposition by the Mayor Linda Thompson and state Gov. Tom Corbett. Harrisburg faced $300 million in debt connected to a city-owned rubbish incinerator.
(SFC, 10/13/11, p.A8)(Econ, 12/3/11, p.89)
2011 Oct 15, In Philadelphia apartment landlord Turgut Gozleveli found 4 mentally disabled adults held inside a basement boiler room. Police arrested 3 people for kidnapping, false imprisonment and other charges. Linda Ann Weston (51), Eddie Wright (50) and Gregory Thomas (47) were implicated in a broad scheme to steal disability checks from vulnerable people.
(SFC, 10/18/11, p.A5)
2011 Oct 20, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett signed a state law giving him unprecedented power to force Harrisburg to pay off its staggering debt on a $300 million trash incinerator.
(SFC, 10/21/11, p.A7)
2011 Nov 5, Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky (67) was arrested for 40 sex crimes against boys dating from 1994 to 2005. All of the boys were under the care of the Second Mile Foundation, a charity that Sandusky founded in 1977.
(SFC, 11/9/11, p.A12)(http://tinyurl.com/864sytk)
2011 Nov 7, Joe Frazier (67), the boxer who first beat Muhammad Ali in March 1971, died in Philadelphia after a brief battle with liver cancer.
(AP, 11/7/11)(Econ, 11/19/11, p.106)
2011 Nov 10, Thousands of enraged Penn State students tore through the streets of State College, Pa., overnight to protest the firing of Joe Paterno after the longtime head football coach was removed from his position effective immediately. The turmoil followed the arrest of former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, charged with abusing at least eight boys over 15 years. Paterno and Univ. Pres. Graham Spanier, who was also fired, have come under intense pressure because they were also told of at least one incident, but did not alert police.
(http://tinyurl.com/7algouk)
2011 Nov 16, Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez (21), a man with an apparent obsession with President Barack Obama, was arrested in Pennsylvania after the Secret Service discovered two bullets struck the White House while the president was away.
(AP, 11/17/11)
2011 Dec 7, In Pennsylvania prosecutors abandoned their 30-year push for the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal, a former Black Panther convicted in 1982 of killing police Officer Daniel Faulkner. Abu-Jamal (58) will spend the rest of his life in prison.
(SFC, 12/8/11, p.A11)
2011 Dec 19, In, Webster, Pennsylvania, police shot and killed Eli Franklin Myers (58) during a standoff hours after he killed East Washington officer John David Dryer during a traffic stop.
(SFC, 12/20/11, p.A8)
2011 Skee-ball Inc. (SBI), the Pennsylvania maker of the skee-ball machine, sued the Brooklyn-based Brewskee-ball League for infringing on its century-old trademark.
(Econ, 7/19/14, p.29)
2011 In Pennsylvania Gene Carter (39) was sentenced up to 216 years in prison for running a major heroin ring while serving time in a halfway house. In 2015 an appeals court overturned the sentence calling it unreasonable and excessive.
(SFC, 9/5/15, p.A7)
2012 Jan 22, Joe Paterno (85), the longtime Penn State coach, died. He won more games than anyone in major college football but was fired amid a child sex abuse scandal that scarred his reputation for winning with integrity.
(AP, 1/22/12)
2012 Feb 6, In Pennsylvania Democrat state Rep. Bill DeWeese (61) was convicted of conspiracy, conflict of interest and theft in a investigation into the use of taxpayer resources for political purposes. 11 other Democrats and 9 Republicans have already been convicted or pleaded guilty in the investigation.
(SFC, 2/7/12, p.A9)
2012 Feb 14, Hackers claimed to have broken into Combined Systems Inc.'s website and stolen personal information belonging to clients and employees of the Jamestown, Pennsylvania-based firm, whose tear gas has been used against Egyptian demonstrators. They accused the company of being run by war profiteers who sell "mad chemical weapons to militaries and cop shops around the world."
(AP, 2/14/12)
2012 Mar 8, In Pennsylvania John Shick (30) opened fire at a psychiatric clinic at the Univ. of Pittsburgh killing Michael Schaab (25) and wounding 6 others before killing himself.
(SFC, 3/9/12, p.A6)(SFC, 3/10/12, p.A5)
2012 Mar 29, In Pennsylvania the bodies of Charles (81) and Adrienne Snelling (81) were found in their home in Trexlertown. Charles killed his wife and himself. He had written in the NY Times last December about his love for his Alzheimer’s-stricken wife.
(SFC, 3/31/12, p.A5)
2012 Mar 30, The US government agreed with Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New York and Pennsylvania to cut red tape and speed up consideration for wind farms in the Great Lakes.
(SFC, 3/31/12, p.A5)
2012 Apr 9, In Pennsylvania 2 firefighters were killed while battling a massive blaze in an abandoned warehouse in Philadelphia.
(SFC, 4/10/12, p.A7)
2012 Apr 10, Rick Santorum suspended his campaign during a press conference in Pennsylvania, his home state.
(SFC, 4/11/12, p.A1)
2012 Jun 19, In Pennsylvania Patricia Smith (58), the former controller of the Baierl Automotives auto dealership, was sentenced to 78 months in prison and pay restitution of $10,349,569.14 for embezzling from her former boss in a stunning case of a trusted employee looting the business then squandering the cash on luxuries.
(http://tinyurl.com/74sosfk)
2012 Jun 22, In Pennsylvania Jerry Sandusky (68), former defensive coach at Penn State, was convicted of sexually assaulting 10 boys over 15 years.
(SFC, 6/23/12, p.A4)
2012 Jul 18, The city of Scranton, Pa., restored the salaries of its 400 civil servants. Earlier this month Mayor Chris Doherty had slashed all municipal employees’ salaries to the federal minimum wage because the city did not have funds to pay their wages.
(Econ, 7/21/12, p.26)
2012 Jul 23, The US NCAA imposed penalties on Penn State and its football program related to the cover-up of pedophile charges against former defensive coach Jerry Sandusky. The penalties included $60 million and the abdicating of all wins since 1998.
(SFC, 7/25/12, p.A10)
2012 Jul 27, In Pennsylvania Kevin Cleeves (35) confronted his estranged wife about custody arrangements for their daughter and shot the woman to death and killed her boyfriend and his mother in Quincy Township. He then fled with his daughter (4) before the two were found the next day about 250 miles away in Ohio.
(AP, 7/28/12)
2012 Aug 18, Philadelphia police Officer Moses Walker (40) was shot to death, while out of uniform, by a suspected street robber near his station.
(SSFC, 8/19/12, p.A12)
2012 Sep 23, It was reported that Germany has launched a war crimes investigation against Johann Breyer, (b.1925) a Philadelphia man it accuses of serving as an SS guard at the Auschwitz death camp.
(AP, 9/23/12)
2012 Oct 2, Pennsylvania's divisive voter identification requirement became the latest of its kind to get pushback from the courts ahead of Election Day, delivering a hard-fought victory to Democrats who said it was a ploy to defeat President Barack Obama and other opponents who said it would prevent the elderly and minorities from voting.
(AP, 10/2/12)
2012 Oct 11, A batch of newly designed $100 bills, that aren't going into circulation until next year, was stolen from a plane that arrived at Philadelphia International Airport around 10:25 a.m. from Dallas. The Benjamins are easy to spot. The new bills have sophisticated elements to thwart counterfeiters, like a disappearing Liberty Bell in an orange inkwell and a bright blue security ribbon.
(AP, 10/12/12)
2012 Oct 14, Arlen Specter (b.1930), Pennsylvania's longest-serving US senator and prominent Republican moderate in Congress, died at his home in Philadelphia.
(AP, 10/15/12)(SFC, 10/15/12, p.A4)
2012 Nov 7, A wintry storm dropped snow and rain on the Northeast, bringing dangerous winds and knocking out power in a region where hundreds of thousands were still in the dark after Superstorm Sandy. A mix of rain and snow fell on parts of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, causing airport delays.
(Reuters, 11/7/12)
2012 Dec 21, In Pennsylvania Jeffrey Lee Michael of Geeseytown (44) fatally shot a woman decorating for a children's Christmas party at a tiny church hall and killed two men elsewhere in a rural township before he was shot dead in a gunfight with state troopers.
(AP, 12/22/12)(AP, 12/22/12)
2013 Jan 26, Pennsylvania police said Stephen Baker (62), a Franciscan brother, was found dead of a self-inflicted knife wound at the St. Bernardine monastery. Baker was named in recent settlements involving 11 men who alleged that he sexually abused them 3 decades ago in Ohio. More people soon came forward with abuse claims in Pennsylvania, where Baker had taught and coached.
(SSFC, 1/27/13, p.A6)(SFC, 2/25/13, p.A4)
2013 Jan 31, In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a federal indictment charged 9 judges with fixing traffic tickets for friends, relatives, business associates and political allies.
(SFC, 2/1/13, p.A7)
2013 Feb 21, Suspended Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin along with her aide and sister, Janine Orie, were convicted on campaign corruption charges. They could join a third sister — former state Sen. Jane Orie — in state prison.
(AP, 2/22/13)
2013 Feb 25, In Pennsylvania an inmate assaulted and killed a guard with a homemade weapon at the Canaan federal penitentiary.
(SFC, 2/27/13, p.A4)
2013 Mar 16, In Pennsylvania a tour bus carrying a women’s lacrosse team from Seton Hill Univ. crashed killing a pregnant coach and the driver.
(SSFC, 3/17/13, p.A9)
2013 Apr 20, In Pennsylvania Dr. Autumn Klein (41) died after falling ill at home. A coroner later found cyanide in her system. On July 25 her husband, Univ. of Penn. researcher Dr. Robert Ferrante, was arrested on charges that he had poisoned her. On Nov 7, 2014, Ferrante (66) was convicted of 1st degree murder. On Feb 4, 2015, Ferrante was sentenced to mandatory life in prison.
(SFC, 7/26/13, p.A7)(SFC, 11/8/14, p.A5)(SFC, 2/5/15, p.A5)
2013 May 6, The SEC issued a long report on the financial misdeeds of Harrisburg, Pa. The state capital has been bankrupt since 2011.
(Econ, 5/11/13, p.80)
2013 May 12, In Pennsylvania a late night house fire in Pottsville killed 4 children, their father and an aunt as the mother did laundry at a friend’s house across the street.
(SFC, 5/14/13, p.A5)
2013 May 13, Pennsylvania Dr. Kermit Gosnell (72) was convicted of first-degree murder in the deaths of 3 babies and involuntary manslaughter in the overdose death of an abortion patient. The next day Gosnell gave up his right to appeal in exchange for a life sentence.
(SFC, 5/14/13, p.A4)(SFC, 5/15/13, p.A6)
2013 May 18, In Pennsylvania Richard DeCoatsworth (27), a former Philadelphia police officer, was arraigned on charges including rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, trafficking of persons, false imprisonment and aggravated assault. His bail was set at $60 million. He had hailed as a hero after he was shot in the face during a traffic stop in September 2007 but still managed to chase after his attacker, who was later sentenced to 36 to 72 years in prison.
(AP, 5/19/13)
2013 May 22, In Pennsylvania Herbert (44) and Catherine Schaible (43), advocates of faith healing, were arrested following the death of their 9th child, 8 months old, in April. Herbert said “Medicine is against our religious beliefs." They had received a 10 year probation in Feb, 2011, following the death of their son, Kent.
(SFC, 5/25/13, p.A7)
2013 Jun 5, In Pennsylvania a four-story building being demolished collapsed on the edge of downtown Philadelphia. 6 people were killed and at least 14 others injured. On June 7 police said Sean Benschop (42), a heavy equipment operator with a lengthy rap sheet, was high on marijuana when the building collapsed. Benschop turned himself in on June 8. On Nov 25 contractor Griffin Campbell was charged with 6 counts of third-degree murder. In 2014 a judge upgraded charges against Benschop to 3rd degree murder. On Oct 9, 2015, Campbell was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. On Jan 8, 2016, Campbell was sentenced to 15-30 years in prison. Benschop was sentenced to 7.5-15 years in prison.
(AP, 6/5/13)(SFC, 6/6/13, p.A8)(AP, 6/8/13)(SSFC, 6/9/13, p.A12)(SFC, 11/26/13, p.A8)(SFC, 2/19/14, p.A5)(SFC, 10/20/15, p.A7)(SFC, 1/9/16, p.A5)
2013 Jul 15, In Philadelphia Michael Scripps (36), a descendent of the founder of the Detroit News, was sentenced to 9 years in priuson for stealing $3.6 million from his mother and disabled uncle.
(SFC, 7/16/13, p.A4)
2013 Jul 24, In Pennsylvania at least 5 same-sex couples obtained marriage licenses in Montgomery County. It was up to Republican Gov. Tom Corbett or other state officials to challenge the actions. A 1996 state law defined marriage as a civil contract in which a man and a woman take each other as husband and wife.
(SFC, 7/25/13, p.A11)
2013 Jul 28, William Scranton (b.1917), former US ambassador to the UN (1976-1977) and the 38th governor of Pennsylvania (1964-1967), died in southern, California.
(SFC, 8/2/13, p.D7)
2013 Aug 5, In Pennsylvania Rockne Newell (59) blasted shots through a wall of the state municiple building in Ross Township and then barged into a meeting room and continued firing. 3 people were killed before he was tackled by a local official and shot with his own gun. Newell was taken into police custody.
(SFC, 8/6/13, p.A6)
2013 Oct 19, In Pennsylvania an SUV crossed a center line and ran into two motocycles. 4 people on the motorcycles and one person in the SUV were killed in Franklin County.
(SFC, 10/21/13, p.A3)
2013 Nov 11, In Pennsylvania Troy LaFerrara was stabbed to death. His body was found the next day in an alley in Sunbury. He had responded to an online ad for companionship in exchange for money and was stabbed to death a day earlier. On Dec 6 Elytte Barbour (22) and wife Miranda (18) were arrested. The couple, married for three weeks, said they had wanted to kill someone together. On Sep 18, 2014, the Barbours were sentenced to life in prison.
(SSFC, 12/8/13, p.A12)(SFC, 9/19/14, p.A6)
2014 Jan 2, In Pennsylvania Monsignor William Lynn left prison after 18 months behind bars. He was the first US church official ever charged for hiding complaints that priests were molesting children.
(SFC, 1/3/14, p.A6)
2014 Jan 6, In Pennsylvania Colleen LaRose (50), aka “Jihad Jane," was sentenced to ten years in prison for plotting to kill a Swedish artist. She had pleaded guilty and helped in the indictment of two others.
(SFC, 1/7/14, p.A6)
2014 Jan 17, A Pennsylvania judge struck down a state requirement that voters show photo identification at the polls.
(SFC, 1/18/14, p.A6)
2014 Jan 17, In Pennsylvania a school shooting wounded two students at the Delaware Valley Charter High School. Raisheem Rochwell (17) was charged the next day as an adult.
(SSFC, 1/19/14, p.A8)
2014 Feb 6, In Pennsylvania a winter storm left some 849,000 people without power for a 2nd day. The 2nd winter storm this week in the mid-Atlantic had dumped more than a foot of snow in some places.
(SFC, 2/7/14, p.A8)
2014 Feb 16, In Pennsylvania the FBI said it was in contact with Sunbury police regarding Miranda Barbour (19) who says she wants to plead guilty to the killing Troy LaFerrara last November. She said she has also killed at least 22 people across the country over the last six years as part of her involvement in a satanic cult.
(SFC, 2/17/14, p.A6)
2014 Feb 19, In Pennsylvania Herbert and Catherine Schaible were sentenced to 3½ to seven years in prison in the death of a 2nd child who never saw a doctor despite being stricken with pneumonia.
(SFC, 2/20/14, p.A6)
2014 Apr 9, In Pennsylvania Alex Hribal (16) stabbed and slashed 21 fellow students and a security guard at the Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville.
(SFC, 4/10/14, p.A7)
2014 May 20, A US federal judge overturned Pennsylvania’s ban on same-sex marriage.
(SFC, 5/21/14, p.A8)
2014 May 31, Lewis Katz (72), a co-owner of the Philadelphia Inquirer, was among 7 people killed in the crash of his small plane in Bedford, Mass.
(AP, 6/1/14)(SFC, 6/3/14, p.A6)
2014 Jun 14, Pres. Obama intervened in a commuter rail strike in Philadelphia, granting Gov. Tom Corbett’s request to create an emergency board to mediate a contract dispute.
(SSFC, 6/15/14, p.A10)
2014 Jun 15, In Pennsylvania Jeff Hooten (47), the pilot of a hot air balloon, fell from the basket while trying to land near Philadelphia and died after becoming trapped under it.
(SFC, 6/17/14, p.A7)
2014 Jun 17, US authorities in Philadelphia arrested Johann Breyer (89) after a German warrant charged him with 158 counts of complicity in the killing of Jews while he was a guard at Auschwitz in 1944. Breyer died on July 22, hours before a ruling on his extradition to Germany.
(SFC, 6/19/14, p.A9)(SFC, 7/24/14, p.A8)
2014 Jul 5, In Philadelphia, Pa., an infant and three children (4) died as a fire engulfed at least 10 houses.
(SSFC, 7/6/14, p.A11)
2014 Jul 8, US East Coast states experienced severe storms and high winds. 4 people were killed in New York and one in Maryland. CNN reported nearly 500,000 homes and businesses without power, mostly in Pennsylvania and New York state.
(AP, 7/9/14)
2014 Jul 25, In Philadelphia two men forced a woman into the back seat of her vehicle and drove off. They later lost control and plowed into a group of people near a fruit stand killing 3 children. Both men fled the scene.
(SFC, 7/26/14, p.A7)
2014 Jul 30, US government agents arrested six Philadelphia narcotics officers on charges they robbed and in some cases kidnapped drug dealers, including dangling one over an 18th story balcony to force him to give up a computer password. The men were accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and items including a Rolex watch and a designer suit. In one instance, they are accused of seizing cocaine and reselling it on the street.
(Reuters, 7/30/14)
2014 Aug 27, In in Stratford, Pa., Raymond Wychowanec (63) shot and killed his hospitalized wife (62) and then tried to kill himself, prompting investigators to search their New Jersey home, where their son (35) was found fatally shot.
(AP, 8/27/14)
2014 Sep 12, In Pennsylvania a deadly ambush at a state police barracks in Blooming Grove left Cpl. Bryon Dickinson dead and trooper Alex Douglass critically wounded. Police soon identifed Eric Frein (31) as the prime suspect.
(SFC, 9/15/14, p.A6)(SFC, 9/18/14, p.A7)
2014 Oct 21, In Pennsylvania 84 former students who were sexually molested by Franciscan Brother Stephen Baker at a Catholic high school in Altoona settled their legal claims for $8 million. Baker worked at the school as an athletic trainer from 1992 to 2001.
(SFC, 10/22/14, p.A7)
2014 Oct 30, In Pennsylvania Eric Frein (31) was captured after a seven-week manhunt for killing a state trooper. US Marshals found Frein in an abandoned airplane hangar in Tannersville with his weapons inside.
(Reuters, 10/31/14)
2014 Oct 31, It was reported that a Pennsylvania coroner is auctioning off some 100 guns used in suicides and accidental deaths due to a state law requiring local governments to sell off unclaimed property.
(SFC, 10/31/14, p.A10)
2014 Nov 4, Tom Wolf was elected governor of Pennsylvania with 54.9% of the vote.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Wolf)
2014 Dec 9, Philadelphia firefighter Joyce Craig Lewis died after becoming trapped in the basement of a burning home. She was the first female member of the city’s fire department to die in the line of duty.
(SFC, 12/10/14, p.A8)
2014 Dec 15, In Pennsylvania Bradley William Stone (35), an Iraqi war veteran, shot dead 5 people at three locations outside Philadelphia and remained at large. Stone had recently been in court fighting his ex-wife over custody of their two children. Stone was found dead the next day in woods near his home.
(AFP, 12/15/14)(SFC, 12/16/14, p.A9)(SFC, 12/17/14, p.A10)
2014 Dec 22, Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) said it imposed a $999,900 fine on US oil and natural gas company Vantage Energy Inc, one of the largest given to a driller by DEP this year, for several environmental regulations violations.
(Reuters, 12/23/14)
2014 The US federal government confirmed the arrival of lanternflies, a planthopper native to southeast Asia, in southeastern Pennsylvania. By 2019 the insects threatened $18 billion worth of the state's agriculture and had expanded into Delaware, New Jersey and Virginia.
(SFC, 9/27/19, p.A10)
2015 Feb 4, In Pennsylvania Ryan Mangan (16) of Jeanette was found sitting in a chair with a single gunshot wound to his face. Police soon arrested Maxwell Morton (16) after the mother of a third boy called to say that her son had received a selfie that showed the victim shot in the face.
(SFC, 2/10/15, p.A4)
2015 Jan 7, In Pennsylvania a 2 people died in an 18-vehicle crash on I-80 after a snow squall left drivers with little visibility.
(SFC, 1/9/15, p.A6)
2015 Jan 20, Tom Wolf (b.1948) began serving as the 47th governor of Pennsylvania.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Wolf)
2015 Feb 20, Western Pennsylvania recorded record temperatures in New Castle (-18), in Butler (-15) and in Pittsburgh (-6).
(SFC, 2/21/15, p.A6)
2015 Mar 5, In Philadelphia, Pa., Officer Robert Wilson III (30) was gunned down during a robbery at a video game store where he had gone to buy a present for his 9-year-old son. The next day two brothers, Ramone Williams (24) and Carlton Hipps (29) were charged with murder, attempted murder, robbery and other offenses.
(AP, 3/6/15)(AP, 3/15/15)
2015 May 4, A report on drinking water in Bradford County, Pa., revealed traces of a compound commonly found in Marcellus Shale drilling fluids.
(SFC, 5/5/15, p.A6)
2015 Mar 24, In Pennsylvania Hummelstown police Officer Lisa J. Mearkle (36) was charged with criminal homicide after investigators concluded she shot an unarmed motorist in the back as he lay facedown after a traffic stop over an expired inspection sticker.
(AP, 3/24/15)(SFC, 3/25/15, p.A8)
2015 May 12, In Pennsylvania an Amtrak derailment late today killed 8 people. Brandon Bostian (32) was at the helm of the train when it derailed while traveling at 106 miles per hour, more than double the limit.
(AFP, 5/13/15)(SFC, 5/15/15, p.A7)
2015 May 21, In Pennsylvania Xi Xiaoxing (47), the chairman of Temple University's physics department, appeared in U.S. District Court on four counts of wire fraud. Federal prosecutors said he had sought prestigious appointments in China in exchange for providing data on electronics technology invented by a US firm and offered to make the country a leader in the field of superconductivity.
(AP, 5/22/15)
2015 Jun 3, In Pennsylvania two semi-trucks crashed with a charter bus killing Italian tourists Marco Fornasetti and Rino Guerra, along with NYC bus driver Alfredo Telemaco. In 2017 truck driver Franklin Wyatt (57) was arraigned on 34 charges, including three counts of involuntary manslaughter.
(http://tinyurl.com/y9ynag3y)(AP, 7/6/17)
2015 Jun 24, In the northeast US a fast moving storm hit Connecticut, New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania overnight leaving two people dead and nearly 400,000 customers without power.
(SFC, 6/25/15, p.A6)
2015 Jul 6, In Philadelphia a 2005 deposition testimony by former TV star Bill Cosby was unsealed. In it Cosby admitted that he had obtained quaaludes to give young women before sex. More than two dozen women have accused Cosby of sexual misconduct dating back more than four decades.
(SFC, 7/8/15, p.A8)
2015 Jul 9, In Pennsylvania Gary Machinshok (29) of Wilkes-Barre was sentenced to up to 27 years in prison for raping his wife's daughter (15) in an effort to conceive a baby the couple could raise. Machinshok testified against his wife, who was sentenced in April to 15 to 30 years in prison. She pleaded guilty in January to charges including rape, assault, endangering the welfare of a child and conspiracy.
(Reuters, 7/10/15)
2015 Jul 29, In Pennsylvania US Rep. Chaka Fattah (58) was indicted with four associates in a racketeering case stemming from the alleged misappropriation of hundreds of thousands of dollars after a failed 2007 run for mayor of Philadelphia.
(SFC, 7/30/15, p.A6)
2015 Jul, Surgeons at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia completed a double-hand transplant for Zion Harvey (8) of Maryland, who had lost his hands and feet to a serious infection.
(SFC, 7/30/15, p.A6)
2015 Aug 1, HitchBOT, the adorable hitch-hiking robot cobbled together from household odds-and-ends, prematurely ended its summer travels across America, after being destroyed by vandals and abandoned on the side of a road in Philadelphia. The little talking automaton had hitchhiked unscathed last summer across thousands of miles in Canada, and had traversed parts of Europe as well without so much as a scratch. Canadian creators Frauke Zeller and David Smith considered rebuilding it.
(AFP, 8/3/15)(SFC, 8/3/15, p.A4)(SFC, 8/4/15, p.A3)
2015 Aug 6, Pennsylvania’s Attorney Gen’l. Kathleen Kane was charged with leaking secret grand jury information and lying about her actions under oath.
(SFC, 8/7/15, p.A5)
2015 Aug 13, A Pennsylvania judge, citing new DNA evidence, vacated the murder conviction of Lewis Fogle (63), who has been in prison for 34 years in the shooting death of a girl (15).
(SFC, 8/14/15, p.A6)
2015 Sep 26, Pope Francis traveled to Philadelphia to promote the issue of religious freedom on the penultimate day of his first visit to the United States.
(Reuters, 9/26/15)
2015 Sep 27, In Philadelphia, Pa., Pope Francis met with victims of child sexual abuse on the final day of his US visit and promised to hold accountable those responsible for the scandal in the church.
(AP, 9/27/15)
2015 Oct 13, In Pennsylvania Army veteran James Vernon (75) fended off a knife attack by Dustin Brown (19), a mentally ill man, at the Morton Public Library in Pittsburgh. Vernon suffered two slashed arteries and a damaged tendon in a finger. In 2017 he was one of 18 people honored with a Carnegie medal for heroism.
(SFC, 9/20/17 p.A6)
2015 Nov 17, Pennsylvania-based Education Management Corp. agreed to pay $96 million to settle claims it illegally paid recruiters based on the number of students they enrolled. Five states had participated in four lawsuits.
(SFC, 11/18/15, p.A12)
2015 Dec 7, Lawyers hired by the Turkish government filed a civil suit against cleric Fethullah Gulen, a political enemy of President Tayyip Erdogan, in a US court alleging human rights abuses. Gulen has lived in Pennsylvania since 1999.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 16, Total Trib Media said it is closing the Valley Independent in Monessen and the Daily News in McKeesport, western Pennsylvania on Dec 31, putting 87 employees out of work.
(SFC, 12/17/15, p.A12)
2016 Jan 7, In Philadelphia policeman Jesse Hartnett (33) was shot three times in his left arm as he sat in his patrol car late today. Edward Archer (30), claiming allegiance to the Islamic State extremist group, opened fire multiple times at point-blank range with a stolen police gun before he was arrested.
(AFP, 1/8/16)
2016 Jan 12, In Pennsylvania philanthropist H.F. Lenfest, owner of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News and Philly.com, said he has turned over the Philadelphia Media Network to the newly formed nonprofit Institute for Journalism in New Media in an effort to develop a new business model. He also donated $20 million to endow the enterprise.
(SFC, 1/13/16, p.C6)
2016 Feb 13, A dangerous cold snap bringing life-threatening cold was settling in across the northeastern United States. A snow squall triggered a pileup of dozens of vehicles on a Pennsylvania highway that left several people dead.
(Reuters, 2/13/16)
2016 Mar 9, In Pennsylvania an ambush-style shooting at a backyard barbecue in the Pittsburgh suburb of Wilkinsburg killed 5 people and an 8-month old fetus. Two gunmen working as a team remained on the run.
(AFP, 3/10/16)(SFC, 3/10/16, p.A7)
2016 Mar 12, In Pennsylvania police officers in Chester engaged in a shootout that left one suspect dead after trying to stop a vehicle.
(SFC, 3/14/16, p.A5)
2016 Mar 15, A 2nd Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice, Michael Eakins, quit the bench over a widening scandal over raunchy and otherwise offensive emails that he and others exchanged with friends and lawyers.
(SFC, 3/16/16, p.A6)
2016 Mar 15, In Pennsylvania three leaders of a Franciscan religious order were charged with allowing a friar who was a known sexual predator to take on jobs that enabled him to molest more than 100 children.
(SFC, 3/16/16, p.A6)
2016 Mar 20, In Pennsylvania retired state trooper Clarence Briggs killed turnpike toll collector Danny Crouse and security guard Ronald Heist in a holdup attempt in Fort Littleton. Biggs was shot dead by state troopers while trying to escape. Briggs had filed for banktuptcy in 2015 with debts of $315,000.
(SFC, 3/21/16, p.A6)(SFC, 3/22/16, p.A5)
2016 Apr 3, Amtrak Train 89 struck a piece of heavy equipment on the tracks outside Philadelphia, causing the train's lead engine to derail and killing two Amtrak workers.
(CSM, 4/4/16)
2016 Apr 17, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf signed a bill legalizing a comprehensive medical marijuana program, making his state the 24th to do so.
(SFC, 4/18/16, p.A7)
2016 Apr 17, In Pennsylvania a suspect surrendered to police following a short standoff at a Philadelphia home where 3 people were found killed by shotgun blasts to the head.
(SFC, 4/18/16, p.A7)
2016 May 6, Federal authorities in Pittsburgh said two men have been charged by authorities in Belarus with receiving $1.35 million stolen in a phishing scheme from the bank account of a Pennsylvania oil and gas drilling company. Aleskey Yaroshevich (34) and Egor Pavlenko (41) reportedly received a $1.35 million transfer made in September 2012. Both men were in custody in Minsk.
(AP, 5/6/16)
2016 May 25, In Pennsylvania the Swiss-made Solar Impulse 2 landed in Allentown 17 hours after taking off from Dayton in the latest leg of its journey around the world.
(SFC, 5/26/16, p.A6)
2016 Jun 12, In San Jose, Ca., the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup after Game 6 of the NHL hockey finals against the San Jose Sharks, seven years to the day after last holding the Cup.
(AP, 6/12/16)
2016 Jun 16, Philadelphia became the first major US city to approve a soda tax. The City Council gave final approval to a 1.5 cent-per-ounce tax on sugary and diet beverages with collections to begin next Jan 1.
(SFC, 6/17/16, p.A15)
2016 Jul 8, In Pennsylvania Grace Packer (14), the adopted daughter of Sara Packer, was raped and smothered to death in a “rape-murder fantasy" shared by the mother and her boyfriend Jacob Sullivan. The couple dismembered the body in October and it was found by two hunters in Luzerne County on Oct 31. On Jan 6 Sullivan began confessing to the murder.
(SFC, 1/9/17, p.A12)
2016 Jul 24, Democratic national leader Debbie Wasserman, D.-Fla., announced that she will step down at the end of the convention week following leaked internal party e-mails.
(SFC, 7/25/16, p.A4)
2016 Jul 25, In Philadelphia, Penn., the Democratic National Convention got off to a rocky start Monday, with a major internal row over leaked emails playing havoc with nominee Hillary Clinton's bid to present a united front against Donald Trump.
(AFP, 7/25/16)
2016 Jul 26, In Pennsylvania Humberto Martinez (32), a man with a lengthy criminal history, died following a scuffle with police officers. A year later his family sued Pittsburg and its police department for wrongful death.
(SFC, 7/27/17, p.D2)
2016 Jul 27, In Philadelphia President Barack Obama implored Americans to help Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump, warning the 2016 race was not just about politics, but the nature of US democracy.
(AFP, 7/28/16)
2016 Jul 28, At the Democratic convention in Philadelphia, Pa., Hillary Clinton became the first woman to accept a major party’s nomination for president.
(SFC, 7/29/16, p.A1)
2016 Aug 15, Pennsylvania’s Attorney Gen’l. Kathleen Kane was convicted on nine charges including perjury and conspiracy for illegally leaking documents from a grand jury proceeding. She resigned the next day.
(Econ, 8/20/16, p.25)
2016 Sep 25, American golfer Arnold Palmer (87) died in Pittsburgh. Palmer first played the British Open in 1960, finishing runner-up in an appearance that invigorated a tournament which Americans had been ignoring for years. Palmer won the British Open, golf's oldest major, in 1961 and 1962.
(AP, 9/26/16)(Econ, 10/8/16, p.82)
2016 Nov 8, In the US presidential election Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin all swung for Donald Trump with margins of one percent or less. Wisconsin’s voter ID law impacted an unknown number of eligible voters as Trump defeated Clinton by roughly 22,000 votes.
(Econ, 11/19/16, p.25)(SFC, 5/9/17, p.A4)
2016 Nov 9, From New York to Los Angeles thousands of people in around 10 cities rallied late today against president-elect Donald Trump. Protesters burned a giant orange-haired head of Trump in effigy, lit fires in the streets and blocked traffic as rage over the billionaire's election victory spilled onto the streets of Oakland, Ca., Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Portland and Washington DC.
(AFP, 11/10/16)
2016 Nov 16, Journalist and author Peter Binzen (1922) died in Pennsylvania. His books included “Whitetown, USA" (1970).
(SFC, 11/24/16, p.D2)
2016 Nov 24, It was reported that the former Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein has raised the necessary $1.1 million to request a vote recount in Wisconsin. Donald Trump also won by a slim margin in Pennsylvania, where a recount filing fee costs $500,000, due on November 28. The filing fee in Michigan, where Trump has a razor-thin lead in unofficial results so far, is $600,000 due by November 30.
(AFP, 11/24/16)
2016 Nov 24, In Pennsylvania Demetrius Coleman (22) of Pittsburgh fled police and crashed into a car that burst into flames killing two adults and a child.
(SFC, 11/26/16, p.A3)
2016 Dec 30, Pennsylvania state Trooper Landon Weaver (23) was shot and killed while responding to a domestic complaint in Huntingdon County. Jason Robison (32) was arrested the next day at a mobile home in the area.
(SSFC, 1/1/17, p.A7)
2017 Jan 31, US federal energy regulators approved construction of Energy Transfer Partners LP's Rover natural gas pipeline from Pennsylvania to Ontario.
(Reuters, 2/3/17)
2017 Jan 31, In Pennsylvania Daniel Dimitri (50) was killed in Philadelphia by a speeding police officer. Adam Soto was soon fired and in 2019 he was ordered to serve three to twelve months in county jail for killing Dimitri while drag racing with another officer.
(SSFC, 1/13/19, p.A8)
2017 Feb 2, In Pennsylvania the Punxsutawney Phil groundhog saw his shadow and predicted six more weeks of winter.
(SFC, 2/3/17, p.A6)
2017 Feb 4, Penn State student Timothy Piazza (19) died two days after falling several times with toxic levels of alcohol following a Feb 2 Beta Theta Pi fraternity pledge ceremony. Friends failed to summon immediate help. 18 fraternity members faced criminal charges. On Sep 1, 2017, a judge threw out involuntary manslaughter charges and felony assault counts and ordered 12 fraternity members to stand trial on lesser counts. Piazza had been given at least 18 drinks in less than 90 minutes. In 2019 three former Penn. State fraternity members were issued minimum jail sentences of one to three months.
(SFC, 5/6/17, p.A6)(SFC, 9/2/17, p.A9)(SFC, 11/14/17, p.A7)(SFC, 4/4/19, p.A6)
2017 Feb 26, In Philadelphia a visitor to the Jewish Mount Carmel Cemetery discovered more than 100 headstones vandalized. This came less than a week after a Jewish cemetery in suburban St. Louis reported more than 150 headstones vandalized.
(SFC, 2/27/17, p.A4)
2017 Mar 13, Two former Penn State administrators pleaded guilty to mishandling child-sex allegations against Jerry Sandusky, more than five years after the scandal rocked the university and led to the downfall of football coach Joe Paterno.
(SFC, 3/14/17, p.A7)
2017 Mar 14, Winter Storm Stella dumped snow and sleet across the northeastern United States, forcing airlines to ground flights and schools to cancel classes. Airlines canceled about 5,700 flights across the United States. Airports in New York, Boston, Baltimore, Washington and Philadelphia were hit the hardest.
(AP, 3/14/17)(AFP, 3/14/17)
2017 Mar 24, Former Penn State Pres. Graham Spanier (68) was convicted of hushing up complaints in 2001 of child sex abuse by assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.
(SFC, 3/25/17, p.A5)
2017 Mar, A Pennsylvania judge ruled that Allentown-based, long-term care insurer Penn Treaty American Corp. was insolvent. This left health insurers across the country on the hook for the company’s losses. Analysts estimated the company’s long-term liabilities near $4 billion, but assets at only about $700 million.
(SFC, 8/14/17, p.D1)
2017 Apr 14, Henry Hillman (b.1918), Pittsburgh-based billionaire, died. He had steered his family’s coal and coke fortune into real estate, venture capital and private equity. In 1972 his $4 million investment provided half the startup money for the Menlo Park, Ca., Kleiner Perkins venture capital firm.
(SSFC, 4/16/17, p.C10)
2017 Apr 17, In Pennsylvania Cuban national Yoandy Perez Llanes pleaded guilty to his role in an international conspiracy to file 900 phony federal tax returns seeking $2.2 million in refunds by using employee information stolen from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Sentencing was set for August 18.
(AP, 4/17/17)
2017 Apr 18, Ohio murder suspect Steve Stephens (37) shot himself in the head following a police chase in Pennsylvania.
(SFC, 4/19/17, p.A8)
2017 Apr 19, In Pennsylvania the new Museum of the American Revolution opened in Philadelphia.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_the_American_Revolution)(Econ, 4/29/17, p.69)
2017 Jun 6, In Pennsylvania Lee Donald Kaplan (52) was convicted of sexually assaulting six girls in the same family and fathering two children by one of them. Authorities alleged that the girls’ parents had “gifted" their oldest daughter to Kaplan because he helped the family out of financial ruin. On July 19 a judge sentenced Daniel Stoltzfus (44) and his wife Savilla (43) up to seven years in prison each for gifting their oldest daughter to Kaplan.
(SFC, 6/7/17, p.A6)(SFC, 7/27/17, p.A6)
2017 Jun 15, James McCord Jr., former CIA agent and head of the burglers in the 1972 Watergate scandal, died at his home in Pennsylvania.
(SSFC, 4/21/19, p.C9)
2017 Jun 17, A Pennsylvania judge declared a mistrial as jurors deadlocked on charges that Bill Cosby had drugged and molested a woman more than a decade ago. Prosecutors said they would seek a 2nd trial.
(SSFC, 6/18/17, p.A8)
2017 Jun 20, GE Transportation said it has signed a $575 million deal with Egypt's national railway system to provide 100 locomotives. Most of the company's international locomotives are built in Erie, Pennsylvania.
(AP, 6/20/17)
2017 Jun 29, In Pennsylvania Seth Williams (50), the District Attorney of Philadelphia, pleaded guilty to a corruption charge and resigned from office. He had been charged with 29 counts of bribery, extortion and fraud.
(SFC, 6/30/17, p.A6)
2017 Jun 28, In Pennsylvania Bianca Roberson (18), a recent high school graduate, was shot in the head during a road rage confrontation in West Goshen Township. David Desper (28), who fled the scene, turned himself in on July 2 and was charged with first and third degree murder.
(SFC, 7/3/17, p.A4)
2017 Jul 7, In Pennsylvania three young men went missing in suburban Philadelphia. A 4th had gone missing two days earlier. Links between the men were being investigated.
(SFC, 7/11/17, p.A6)
2017 Jul 13, In Pennsylvania drug dealer Cosmo DiNardo (20) confessed to killing four men separately after selling them marijuana and then burning their bodies on his family’s farm. A cousin of DiNardo was also charged the next day, but said DiNardo had shot all the victims.
(SFC, 7/14/17, p.A6)(SFC, 7/15/17, p.A5)
2017 Jul 25, In Pennsylvania the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the conviction of Joseph Maurizio (71), accused of sexually abusing orphans during missionary trips to Honduras, and denied his request for a new trial. The suspended priest has maintained his innocence. Maurizio was incarcerated at a low-security federal prison in Ohio with a projected release date of April 2029.
(AP, 7/26/17)
2017 Aug 2, In Pennsylvania 32 CSX freight cars derailed in Hyndman and caused a propane fire that burned itself out by August 4. Smaller sulfur fires continued to burn.
(SFC, 8/5/17, p.A6)
2017 Aug 31, In Pennsylvania Temple Univ. student Jenna Burleigh (22) was last seen on surveillance tape leaving a bar in Philadelphia with Joshua Hupperterz (29). Her body was found Sep 2 on property belonging to the man’s grandmother. On Sep 3 Hupperterz was charged with murder.
(SFC, 9/5/17, p.A4)
2017 Sep 19, Oil and gas pipeline company Energy Transfer Partners LP said it has received approval from US energy regulators to resume drilling along its $4.2 billion Rover pipeline project. The Rover project from Pennsylvania to Ontario is the biggest gas pipeline under construction in the United States.
(Reuters, 9/19/17)
2017 Oct 4, Republican congressman Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania announced that he will not run for a 9th term, amid tawdry revelations of an extramarital affair in which the antiabortion lawmaker urged his mistress Shannon Edwards to get an abortion when he thought she was pregnant.
(SFC, 10/5/17, p.A5)
2017 Oct 23, In Pennsylvania a law took effect that allows casino-style gambling on mobile phones and websites. It also put video gaming terminals in big truck stops.
(CSM, 11/3/17)
2017 Nov 3, Philadelphia officials announced that they will move the statue of former Mayor and Police Commissioner Frank Rizzo from its location in the shadow of City Hall. Rizzo served as mayor form 1973-1980 and his critics argue that he led a corrupt police department that alienated minorities.
(SFC, 11/4/17, p.A5)
2017 Nov 13, In Pennsylvania Yinyan Wang (25), a Chinese citizen, was arrested on visa and passport fraud charges. She had reportedly taken the GRE graduate school entry exam for other people.
(AP, 11/15/17)
2017 Nov 17, In Pennsylvania rookie police Officer Brian Shaw (25) died after being shot following a traffic stop that led him to chase someone on foot in New Kensington. On Nov. 21 suspect Rahmael Sal Holt (29) was arrested in Pittsburgh following a 4-day manhunt.
(SSFC, 11/19/17, p.A8)(SFC, 11/20/17, p.A5)(SFC, 11/22/17, p.A6)
2017 Dec 15, A federal judge in Philadelphia ordered the Trump administration not to enforce new rules that could significantly reduce women’s access to free birth control.
(SFC, 12/16/17, p.A6)
2018 Jan 8, In Pennsylvania the Pi Delta Psi national fraternity was banned from the state for ten years and ordered to pay a fine of more than $110,000 as it was sentenced for its role in the 2013 death of Baruch College freshman Chun Deng (19). Four former fraternity members were also sentenced from time served up to 24 months.
(SFC, 1/9/18, p.A10)
2018 Jan 20, A New York Times online story reported that US Rep. Patrick Meehan of Pennsylvania used taxpayer money to settle a complaint that stemmed from his hostility toward a former aide who rejected his romantic overtures.
(SFC, 1/22/18, p.A4)
2018 Jan 22, The Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down the boundaries of the state’s 18 congressional districts, saying they violate the state constitution. Democratic voters had argued that the districts were gerrymandered to benefit Republicans.
(SFC, 1/23/18, p.A6)
2018 Jan 28, In Pennsylvania four people were shot and killed at a carwash in Saltlick Township. Suspect Tim Smith, driven by apparent jealousy, was on life support with a possibly self-inflicted gunshot wound after the shooting.
(SFC, 1/29/18, p.A5)
2018 Feb 4, Philadelphia Eagles fans celebrated their first NFL title since 1960 as the Eagles defeating the favored New England Patriots 41-33 in Super Bowl LII. Quarterback Nick Foles led a late-game comeback to cap a season that began as a backup and ended as Super Bowl 52 MVP.
(AP, 2/5/18)
2018 Feb 15, Pennsylvania’s Attorney General said seven guards have been charged with sexually abusing inmates at the Lackawanna County Prison in Scranton.
(SFC, 2/17/18, p.A4)
2018 Feb 19, Pennsylvania’s high court issued a new congressional district map for the state’s 2018 elections. Republicans had held seats in bizzarely contorted districts.
(SFC, 2/20/18, p.A5)
2018 Mar 7, The second winter storm within a week crept into New York and surrounding states. New York’s three major airlines reported a total of 1,431 canceled flights, about 40 percent of their normally scheduled flights. The governors of New Jersey and Pennsylvania declared states of emergency.
(Reuters, 3/7/18)
2018 Mar 18, In Bermuda Mark Dombroski (19), a US student at Philadelphia's St. Joseph Univ., went missing early today in Hamilton. His body was found the next day. An autopsy later concluded that Dombroski had died from an apparent fall with no signs of foul play.
(SFC, 3/20/18, p.A2)(SFC, 3/23/18, p.A2)
2018 Mar 23, In Pennsylvania Jonathan Foster (35) and his wife Grace (34), members of the Faith Tabernacle Congregation, were convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the 2016 death of their daughter (2). Prosecutors said they declined to seek medical care for the child on religious grounds.
(SSFC, 3/25/18, p.A10)
2018 Mar 26, Pennsylvania environmental regulators issued another notice of violation to Energy Transfer Partners LP's Sunoco Mariner East 2 natural gas liquids pipeline for releasing drilling fluids into a wetland.
(Reuters, 3/27/18)
2018 Mar 27, In Pennsylvania Taiwanese exchange student An Tso Sun (18) was arrested for threatening to shoot up the Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast High School, which he attended in Upper Darby.
(AP, 3/30/18)
2018 Apr 17, A Southwest Airlines Co. jet landed in Philadelphia after an engine blew up in mid air, killing a passenger in the first deadly US commercial airline accident in nine years. The engine explosion occurred about 20 minutes after the Dallas-bound Southwest Flight 1380 with 149 on board took off from New York's LaGuardia Airport.
(Reuters, 4/18/18)(SFC, 4/17/18, p.A7)
2018 Apr 27, Philadelphia mob boss Joseph Merlino pleaded guilty to an illegal gambling charge as part of a deal allowing him to avoid a retrial in in a NYC racketeering case.
(SFC, 4/28/18, p.A5)
2018 May 15, A violent spring storm left at least five people dead in the northeastern United States. The next morning more than 370,000 residents were without power in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, down from more than 600,000.
(AP, 5/16/18)
2018 Jun 6, A US federal judge ruled that the Trump administration cannot cut off grants to Philadelphia over the way the city deals with immigrants in the country illegally.
(SFC, 6/7/18, p.A7)
2018 Jun 19, In Pennsylvania police Officer Michael Rosfeld (30) shot and killed Antwon Rose Jr. (17) in East Pittsburgh after stopping an unlicensed taxi that was said to match a vehicle wanted in a shooting in a nearby town. Zaijuan Hester, a passenger in the same car, later pleaded guilty for shooting a man in the abdomen. Protests soon followed after the unarmed black teenager was reportedly shot three times in the back. On June 27 Officer Rosfeld was charged with criminal homicide. On August 1 Rose's family filed a wrongful death suit against Rosfeld. On March 22, 2019, a jury acquitted former Officer Rosfeld.
(SFC, 6/27/18, p.A5)(SFC, 6/28/18, p.A6)(SFC, 8/3/18, p.A6)(SFC, 3/20/19, p.A10)(SFC, 3/23/19, p.A5)
2018 Jul 18, Pennsylvania's highest court upheld Philadelphia's tax on soda and other sweetened drinks.
(SFC, 7/18/18, p.A4)
2018 Jul 25, Rescuers pulled people from inundated cars on flooded streets near Baltimore as heavy rain soaked the US mid-Atlantic coast for a fifth day. Authorities closed highways and roads in parts of Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia because of flooding.
(AP, 7/25/18)
2018 Aug 14, Pennsylvania officials released a grand jury report that identified more than 300 "predator priests" who molested children in six dioceses since the 1940s.
(SFC, 8/15/18, p.A6)(SFC, 8/16/18, p.A4)
2018 Sep 10, Pennsylvania's state prisons resumed normal visits 12 days after officials imposed restrictions while they addressed a spate of illnesses linked to synthetic drugs.
(SFC, 9/11/18, p.A5)
2018 Sep 18, Philadelphia announced an agreement to overhaul its civil forfeiture laws limiting what law enforcement officers can seize and what proceeds from the confiscated property can fund.
(SFC, 9/19/18, p.A4)
2018 Sep 26, Comedian Bill Cosby (81) began serving his three to ten year sentence for sexual assault at he SCI Phoenix state prison in Collegeville, Pa.
(SFC, 9/27/18, p.A6)
2018 Sep 29, In Pennsylvania a car exploded in Allentown leaving three men dead. Police called it a criminal incident. Jacob Schmoyer (26) was killed along with his son (2) and friend David Hillman (66). Police later said Schmoyer had sent letters indicating he used an explosive to kill himself, his son and friend.
(SFC, 10/1/18, p.A4)(SFC, 10/5/18, p.A6)
2018 Oct 15, In Pennsylvania a charter bus crashed into trees near Scranton killing one person and injuring at least three others.
(SFC, 10/16/18, p.A6)
2018 Oct 17, In Pennsylvania Rev. David Lee Poulson (65) of Oil City admitted that he sexually abused children and pleaded guilty to corruption of minors and child endangerment.
(SFC, 10/18/18, p.A9)
2018 Oct 24, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced thirteen winners of its Safety and Justice Challenge grants to cities and counties for implementing criminal justice reforms to reduce jail populations. Philadelphia's award of $4 million was the largest and followed a $3.5 million grant during the first awards in 2016.
(SFC, 10/25/18, p.A8)
2018 Oct 27, In Pittsburgh, Pa., Robert Bowers (46) killed eight men and three women inside the Tree of Life Synagogue during worship services before a tactical police team shot and wounded him. Bowers told officers afterward that Jews were committing genocide and that he wanted them all to die.
(AP, 10/28/18)
2018 Nov 19, In Pennsylvania two men and two women were found fatally shot in a basement of a house being renovated in Philadelphia.
(SFC, 11/20/18, p.A5)
2019 Jan 24, In Pennsylvania Jordan Witmen opened fire at a hotel bar in State College killing two people and wounding a woman. He then broke into a home and fatally shot another man before killing himself.
(SFC, 1/26/19, p.A6)
2019 Jan 21, Harris Wofford (92), former Pennsylvania senator (1991-1995), died in Washington DC.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harris_Wofford)(SSFC, 1/27/19, p.C9)
2019 Feb 21, Moshe Journo (53), an Israeli man who allegedly had been on the run for 15 years after being accused of raping a teenage girl in Pennsylvania, was extradited back to the United States.
(AP, 2/22/19)
2019 Mar 18, Former Pennsylvania pediatrician Johnnie Barto was sentenced to at least 79 years in prison for the sexual assault of 31 children, most of them patients.
(SFC, 3/19/19, p.A8)
2019 Mar 20, Philadelphia health officials said 74 people have contracted mumps at Temple Univ. This included 15 confirmed and 59 probable cases.
(SFC, 3/21/19, p.A6)
2019 Mar 26, An attorney said the Pennsylvania Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie has agreed to pay $2 million to a man who was sexually abused as a child by a priest who made him say confession after the assaults. Defrocked priest David Poulson was sentenced this year to 2½ to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to the sexual assault of one boy and attempted sexual assault of another.
(AP, 3/26/19)
2019 Apr 9, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto signed legislation restricting military-style assault weapons and banning most uses of armor-piercing ammunition and high-capacity magazines, defying the state's prohibition on municipal gun regulation.
(SFC, 4/10/19, p.A5)
2019 May 19, In Bethlehem, Pa., Martin Tower, the former world headquarters of Bethlehem Steel, was imploded to make way for a $200 million development project.
(SFC, 5/20/19, p.A6)
2019 May 30, Leon Redbone (b.1949), Cyprus-born American guitar playing singer, died in Pennsylvania. His albums included “On the Track" (1975), “Double Time" (1977) and “Up a Lazy River" (1992).
(SSFC, 6/2/19, p.C1)
2019 Jun 16, In Pennsylvania a shooting at a graduation party in Philadelphia left Isiaka Meite (24) dead and five other people wounded, including three teenagers. The shooter remained at large.
(SFC, 6/18/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 18, US authorities seized about 33,000 pounds of cocaine, valued at more than $1 billion, at the packer Marine Terminal in Philadelphia. Federal authorites soon raised the amount of cocaine seized to 35,000 pounds.
(SFC, 6/19/19, p.A5)(SSFC, 6/23/19, p.A10)
2019 Jul 2, In Pennsylvania Bill Courtright, the former Democratic mayor of Scranton, pleaded guilty to charges that he shook down businesses for bribes and campaign contributions throughout his term and a half in office. He had resigned from office a day earlier.
(SFC, 7/3/19, p.A4)
2019 Jul 18, Philadelphia police Commissioner Richard Ross suspended 17 officers for 30 days and is moving to fire 13 of them over social media posts he called "sickening".
(ABC News, 7/19/19)
2019 Jul 18, The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board said that two casinos passed this week's tests to begin operating online gambling portals 24 hours a day for patrons statewide who are at least 21 years old.
(AP, 7/18/19)
2019 Jul 28, In Pennsylvania one man was killed and five others were wounded in a shooting during a rap video production in Philadelphia.
(AP, 7/29/19)
2019 Jul 31, In Pennsylvania Kathleen Kane, a former state attorney general who was convicted of leaking grand jury material, walking free after serving eight months behind bars. Kane resigned after being convicted in 2016 of perjury, obstruction and other counts for leaking grand jury material to a Philadelphia newspaper and lying about it.
(AP, 7/31/19)
2019 Jul 31, In Pennsylvania John Miller (44) was released from prison after spending more than two decades behind bars for a murder he didn't commit. The key witness against him confessed multiple times to be the real shooter and even sent a letter to Miller's mother apologizing for lying.
(AP, 8/1/19)
2019 Aug 1, The Philadelphia Police Department said seven officers whose Facebook posts were flagged in an investigation into offensive and sometimes threatening social media activity have resigned.
(AP, 8/1/19)
2019 Aug 1, Philadelphia's longest-serving sheriff, John Green (68), was sentenced to five years in prison for using bribes from a businessman to help buy two homes and then awarding him millions in city contracts.
(AP, 8/1/19)
2019 Aug 1, Florida’s Surgeon General declared a public health emergency, allowing health officials to test and treat people suspected of carrying the Hepatitis A virus. 56 new cases of Hepatitis A were reported statewide in the week since the last reporting period. Philadelphia also declared an emergency.
(http://tinyurl.com/y4tdgtcz)(SSFC, 8/4/19, p.A8)
2019 Aug 5, In a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Pittsburgh-based US Steel said it expects to let go fewer than 200 workers following its decision to halt production at a Michigan facility. In mid-June the company said it would idle two blast furnaces at its Great lakes and Gary Works plants, citing lower steel prices and softening demand.
(Reuters, 8/19/19)
2019 Aug 11, In Pennsylvania five children died and other people were rescued from an early-morning fire at a home that operated as a daycare center in Erie.
(Reuters, 8/12/19)
2019 Aug 15, In Pennsylvania an hours-long standoff where gunman Maurice Hill (36) shot at police, wounding six of them, as he was barricaded inside a Philadelphia home, ended early today with his arrest and no fatalities.
(AP, 8/15/19)
2019 Aug 20, Philadelphia's police Commissioner Richard Ross Jr. resigned amid allegations that members of his department engaged in sexual harassment and racial and gender discrimination against two women serving in the ranks.
(AP, 8/20/19)
2019 Sep 3, In Pennsylvania the body of Nalani Johnson, who was to turn 2 this month, was found in Pine Ridge Park in Blairsville, about 37 miles (60 km) east of Penn Hills, where authorities allege the girl was kidnapped the evening of August 31. Sharena Islam Nancy (25), who authorities say had been romantically involved with the child's father, remained in custody in Allegheny County on charges of kidnapping of a minor, custodial interference and concealment of the whereabouts of a child, all felonies.
(AP, 9/4/19)
2019 Sep 16, In Pennsylvania Dulce Maria Alavez (5) of New Jersey vanished from Bridgeton City Park about 30 miles south of Philadelphia. Authorities believe a man lured the little girl into a van and drove off.
(APCBS News, 9/21/19)
2019 Sep 22, Pittsburgh police said three people died and four were hospitalized in what was believed to be a drug overdose at a single residence. Authorities were concerned about a potentially deadly batch of tainted drugs in the community.
(SFC, 9/23/19, p.A6)
2019 Oct 30, In Pennsylvania a mother, stepfather and two brothers, including a 6-year-old, were found shot to death. Maurice Louis (29), a mentally unstable son, soon confessed to killing them in their west Philadelphia home.
(AP, 10/31/19)
2019 Nov 1, A clash of storm fronts that began on Halloween created havoc that caused flooding, knocked over trees, downed power lines and damaged homes from the Deep South throughout the Northeast. More than 100,000 homes and businesses were without electricity in the Philadelphia suburbs. More than 200,000 customers were without power in New York state. In Maine, more than 120,000 customers were without power. In Vermont more than 20,000 customers were without power and in New Hampshire it was about 16,000.
(AP, 11/1/19)
2019 Nov 26, Pennsylvania overhauled its child sexual abuse laws. Gov. Tom Wolf signed legislation that give future victims of child sex abuse more time to file lawsuits and ends time limits for police to file criminal charges.
(SFC, 11/27/19, p.A5)
2019 Dec 10, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that Ravitej Reddy, the owner of Personalized Genetics LLC in Pittsburgh and Med Health Services Management in Monroeville, is scheduled to plead guilty to federal charges that he conspired with out-of-state marketing companies to pay kickbacks for lucrative lab tests at his two testing facilities.
(AP, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 21, Joseph Segel (88), the founder of home shopping television channel QVC, died in Pennsylvania. Segel founded QVC, which stands for Quality Value Convenience, in 1986 as an alternate to the Home Shopping Network (HSN).
(Reuters, 12/22/19)
2019 Dec 27, It was reported that Pennsylvania's Roman Catholic dioceses have paid nearly $84 million to 564 victims of sexual abuse. The tally was expected to grow as backlog claims are processed.
(SFC, 12/27/19, p.A7)
2019 Dec 30, Danielle Outlaw was announced as the first female black police commissioner in Philadelphia.
(The Independent, 12/31/19)
2020 Jan 5, At least five people were killed and dozens were injured in a crash early today involving multiple vehicles on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
(AP, 1/5/20)
2020 Jan 18, In Pennsylvania Delbert Orr Africa, a member of the Move 9 group who has been imprisoned for 42 years for a crime he says he did not commit, was released from prison. He is the eighth of the nine Move members – five men and four women – to be released or to have died while in prison. The nine were arrested and sentenced to 30 years to life following a dramatic police siege of their communal home in Philadelphia which culminated with a shootout on 8 August 1978.
(The Guardian, 1/18/20)
2020 Jan 22, The Environmental Working Group (EWG) reported that the contamination of US drinking water with man-made "forever chemicals" is far worse than previously estimated with some of the highest levels found in Miami, Philadelphia and New Orleans. The chemicals, resistant to breaking down in the environment, are known as perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.
(AP, 1/22/20)
2020 Jan 30, In Pennsylvania a boy (4) apparently shot himself with a gun found in the home of his father Edward Williams (28). Williams told police that robbers had invaded the house. He was soon charged with involuntary manslaughter.
(SSFC, 2/1/20, p.A8)
2020 Feb 1, It was reported that Philip Elvin Riehl's suspected $60 million scheme "targeted members of the Mennonite and Amish communities in Pennsylvania and elsewhere and is one of the largest Pennsylvania-based alleged Ponzi schemes in history".
(USA Today, 2/1/20)
2020 Feb 2, Punxsutawney Phil, Pennsylvania's most famous groundhog, declared: “Spring will be early, it's a certainty".
(AP, 2/2/20)
2020 Feb 11, The US Attorney's Office in Philadelphia said five men have been arrested and charged with trying to trade in Iranian oil in violation of US trade sanctions.
(AP, 2/11/20)
2020 Mar 2, In Pennsylvania the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia filed for Bankruptcy seeking protection from debt brought by construction efforts.
(SFC, 3/3/20, p.A4)
2020 Mar 13, In Pennsylvania Philadelphia police Cpl. James O'Connor (46) was shot and killed early today as he served a homicide warrant at a home. Several people were arrested including the subject of the warrant, Hassan Elliott, a fugitive wanted in a robbery and slaying last year not far from the scene.
(AP, 3/13/20)
2020 Mar 25, Pennsylvania lawmakers voted to delay the state's primary election to June 2 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
(SFC, 3/26/20, p.A5)
2020 Mar 30, In Pennsylvania Roderick Bliss IV (38), upset over losing his job due to the coronavirus pandemic, shot his girlfriend and then killed himself in an attempted murder-suicide in Wilson Borough.
(NBC News, 4/1/20)
2020 Apr 2, Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine said initial tests in mice of a potential COVID-19 vaccine delivered via a fingertip-sized patch have shown it can induce an immune response against the new coronavirus at levels that might prevent infection.
(Reuters, 4/2/20)
2020 Apr 12, In Pennsylvania Jucontee Thomas Woewiyu, a former lietenant for Liberian warlord Charles Taylor, died in Philadelphia of COVID-19 complications.
(SFC, 4/15/20, p.A3)
2020 Apr 18, Pennsylvania reported 80 new coronavirus deaths, the most on a single day, taking statewide fatalities to 836. The health department had 1,628 new cases, bringing the state’s total to 31,069.
(Bloomberg, 4/18/20)
2020 Apr 18, Paul O'Neill (84), the blunt-spoken former head of Alcoa Corp who was fired after two rocky years as US President George W. Bush's Treasury secretary, died at his home in Pittsburgh.
(Reuters, 4/18/20)
2020 Apr 27, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced he would lift some restrictions on outdoor recreation. Not just because the virus was starting to be contained, but also because people simply needed it.
(AP, 4/28/20)
2020 May 26, Former biotech executive Robert Repella (61), a resident of Ambler, Pa., pleaded guilty to a federal charge and admitted paying $50,000 to Georgetown University's former tennis coach to get his daughter admitted to the prestigious school.
(NBC News, 5/26/20)
2020 Jun 2, In Philadelphia Joe Biden blistered President Donald Trump a day after police drove back peaceful protesters near the White House so Trump could pose with a Bible before a damaged church.
(AP, 6/2/20)
2020 Jun 3, Philadelphia took down a statue of former mayor Frank Rizzo, who aggresively policed black and gay people in the 1960s and 1970s. Mayor Jim Kenney said the statue, unveiled in 1999, represented bigotry, hatred and oppression for too many people for too long.
(SFC, 6/4/20, p.A3)
2020 Jun 3, Authorities said explosions have hit 50 cash machines in and near Philadelphia since the weekend in a coordinated effort to steal them or take the money inside. Authorities also said Talib Crump (25) has been taken into custody during an undercover buy. His vehicle was found to have enough dynamite to blow up at least four more ATMs. One man (24) died a day earlier hours after he tried to break into an ATM.
(AP, 6/3/20)
2020 Jun 5, Walter Ogrod (55), a man who spent 28 years behind bars, was released from prison after a Pennsylvania judge vacated his 1996 conviction in the murder of a 4-year-old girl.
(NBC News, 6/6/20)
2020 Jun 8, In Pennsylvania the dismembered body of Dominique “Rem’mie" Fells, a transgender woman, was found in Philadelphia's Schuylkill River. On June 16 police identified Akhenaton Jones (38) as a suspect in the murder.
(nbcnbc, 6/18/20)
2020 Jun 21, In Pennsylvania Amish woman Linda Stoltzfoos (18) was last seen walking home from church in the Bird-in-Hand area of Lancaster County. On July 10 police arrested Justo Smoker (34) on felony kidnapping and misdemeanor false imprisonment charges. Stoltzfoos remained missing.
(NBC News, 7/12/20)
2020 Jul 20, In Pennsylvania Nathan Joseph Quidetto (20), angry over a botched drug deal, fired several shots into a residence in Derry where he mistakenly thought someone involved in the deal lived, killing Tracy Marie Squib (52), who was asleep in her bed. Quidetto was arrested on July 22.
(AP, 7/24/20)
2020 Aug 12, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that understaffing and inadequate supervision of staff and patients plagued campuses of the nonprofit Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health organization, where at least 41 intellectually disabled children have reported sexual assaults over the past quarter-century.
(AP, 8/13/20)
2020 Aug 21, Six states led by Pennsylvania sued the US Postal Service and the new postmaster general, saying service changes in recent weeks have harmed the ability of states to conduct free and fair elections.
(Reuters, 8/21/20)
2020 Sep 3, Speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania, Pres. Donald Trump mocked Joe Biden for wearing a mask and once again encouraged his supporters to try to vote twice if they vote by mail.
(NY Times, 9/4/20)
2020 Sep 9, Tom Ridge, a former Republican governor of Pennsylvania, called on that state’s Legislature to make a small change to how mail-in ballots are counted that could make a huge difference in how quickly election results are reported in November.
(Yahoo News, 9/9/20)
2020 Sep 13, In Pennsylvania protests in Lancaster degenerated into rioting that damaged the city's police headquarters and produced an arson fire that blocked a downtown intersection. Ricardo Munoz (27) was shot by police earlier in the day after a reported domestic dispute. 13 people were soon arrested and accused of committing crimes during the demonstrations.
(AP, 9/15/20)
2020 Sep 17, The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that ballots had to be rejected if not enclosed in the proper security envelope.
(https://tinyurl.com/y52v3sjg)(SFC, 9/25/20, p.A8)
2020 Sep 24, The US Attorney's Office in the Middle District of Pennsylvania said that nine ballots had been found in a dumpster next to the elections building with seven cast for Trump and the other two resealed inside their envelopes. A day later Luzerne County Manager said a temporary independent contractor, who was assigned to sort mail at the elections bureau "incorrectly discarded into the office trash UMOVA ballots," which is an acronym for ballots from military and overseas voters.
(ABC News, 9/25/20)
2020 Sep 25, Christian Dunbar, the treasurer of Philadelphia, was fired after federal prosecutors charged him with embezzling money from customers at a bank where he previously worked and entering into a sham marriage to win US citizenship.
(AP, 9/25/20)
2020 Sep 28, In Pennsylvania officers found Mia Green (29), a Philadelphia resident and Black transgender woman, shot in the neck in the passenger’s seat of a car driven by Abdullah lbn El-Amin Jaamia (28) when he was stopped for running a stop sign. The next day Jaamia was charged with murder and related offenses.
(NBC, 9/30/20)
2020 Oct 1, The Pennsylvania House of Representatives canceled its floor session on the news that a second Republican member had tested positive.
(AP, 10/3/20)
2020 Oct 10, A federal judge in Pennsylvania emphatically rejected the Trump campaign’s attempt to limit the availability of drop boxes, saying that Republicans had failed to make the case that their use could lead to fraud.
(AP, 10/11/20)
2020 Oct 19, The US Supreme Court in a 4-4 vote allowed Pennsylvania to count mailed-in ballots received up to three days after the Nov. 3 election, rejecting a Republican plea in the presidential battleground state.
(AP, 10/19/20)
2020 Oct 23, Pennsylvania's Supreme Court ruled that mail-in ballots cannot be refused because a voter's signature does not appear to match the one on file, a decision that could help Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.
(AP, 10/23/20)
2020 Oct 23, Two Bartonsville, Pennsylvania, men and a company that ran hotels in Stroudsburg and Bartonsville were convicted of sex and drug trafficking offenses by a jury in federal court in Scranton in a case the US Attorney’s Office said is precedent setting.
(USA Today, 10/29/20)
2020 Oct 26, The Philadelphia police fatally shot Walter Wallace Jr., a 27-year-old Black man, who they said was armed with a knife, touching off protests and violent clashes hours later. More than a dozen people were arrested and more than 30 officers injured in the protests.
(NY Times, 10/27/20)(AP, 10/27/20)
2020 Oct 28, The US Supreme Court allowed election officials in two battleground states, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, to accept absentee ballots for several days after Election Day.
(NY Times, 10/29/20)
2020 Oct 28, Philadelphia enforced a 9 p.m. curfew amid protests after the fatal police shooting of Walter Wallace Jr., a 27-year-old Black man. In the days since the shooting, people have set fire to cars, and the police have arrested dozens of people.
(NY Times, 10/29/20)
2020 Oct 29, More looting was reported across Philadelphia overnight despite a citywide curfew in the wake of the deadly police shooting of Walter Wallace Jr. More than half the stores in a northeast Philadelphia strip mall were vandalized.
(CBS News, 10/29/20)
2020 Oct 30, The Pennsylvania National Guard arrived in Philadelphia to help quell the unrest following the Oct 26. death of Walter Wallace Jr.
(SFC, 10/31/20, p.A4)
2020 Nov 2, US mall operators CBL and Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust filed for bankruptcy. They said their malls will remain open as they go through the bankruptcy process. CBL, which operates 107 malls, said more than 30 of its tenants have filed for bankruptcy protection this year and are shutting stores. PREIT, based in Philadelphia, has more than 20 properties.
(AP, 11/2/20)
2020 Nov 4, City officials in Philadelphia released officer body camera footage and 911 calls in the police shooting of Walter Wallace Jr. The 27-year-old's shooting last week led to demonstrations and unrest in the city. City officials said the Philadelphia Police Department will take a number of steps to train officers to respond better to situations involving mental health crises after the death of Walter Wallace Jr.
(Insider, 11/4/20)(CBS News, 11/5/20)
2020 Nov 5, The US Postal Service (USPS) said about 1,700 ballots had been identified in Pennsylvania at processing facilities during two sweeps today and were being delivered to election officials.
(Reuters, 11/5/20)
2020 Nov 6, Joe Biden overtook Donald Trump in the number of ballots counted in Pennsylvania, which Trump must win to have a shot at reelection. Biden now holds a nearly 6,000-vote advantage. Votes in the state were still being counted.
(AP, 11/6/20)
2020 Nov 7, Joe Biden (77) crossed 270 Electoral College votes with a win in Pennsylvania. Biden defeated President Donald Trump to become the 46th president of the United States, positioning himself to lead a nation gripped by historic pandemic and a confluence of economic and social turmoil. It was unclear whether Trump would publicly concede.
(AP, 11/7/20)
2020 Nov 7, Pres. Donald Trump persisted in misrepresenting developments at ballot-counting centers, falsely tweeting that campaign observers in Pennsylvania were blocked from seeing what was going on as Biden overtook him in the vote count, which continues. Twitter flagged a series of Trump's tweets as dubious.
(AP, 11/7/20)
2020 Nov 12, Pennsylvania's Commonwealth Court barred county election officials from counting provisional ballots that were cast on Election Day by voters whose absentee or mail-in ballots were received on time.
(Reuters, 11/12/20)
2020 Nov 12, An FBI fugitive task force arrested Leonard Rayne Moses without incident at his home in Grand Blanc, Michigan. Moses was 16 when he was convicted in the 1968 killing of Mary Amplo during civil unrest in Pittsburgh following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Authorities said Moses and his friends fire-bombed Amplo’s house. Badly burned, Amplo (72) died a few months later. Moses had escaped from custody while attending his grandmother’s 1971 funeral in Pittsburgh.
(AP, 11/14/20)
2020 Nov 21, US District Court Judge Matthew Brann threw out yet another lawsuit filed by the Trump campaign seeking to block the certification of the presidential election results in Pennsylvania.
(AP, 11/21/20)
2020 Nov 22, Trump campaign lawyers filed an appeal of a federal judge's decision to throw out Trump's effort to block the certification of Pennsylvania's election results.
(The Week, 11/23/20)
2020 Nov 24, Democrat Joe Biden was certified as winner of the presidential election in Pennsylvania, culminating three weeks of vote counting and a string of failed legal challenges by President Donald Trump.
(AP, 11/24/20)
2020 Nov 25, Pennsylvania will not allow bars and restaurants to sell alcohol after 5 p.m. today, in an effort to dissuade gatherings on what is usually one of the busiest bar nights of the year.
(NY Times, 11/25/20)
2020 Nov 27, The Trump campaign suffered another legal defeat when the Third Circuit Court of Appeals denied an attempt to challenge a lower court loss. The original lawsuit, based on unfounded claims of voter fraud, sought to stop or reverse the certification of Pennsylvania's vote.
(The Week, 11/28/20)
2020 Dec 8, The US Supreme Court rejected a last-ditch request from Pennsylvania Republicans to overturn the state’s election results.
(NY Times, 12/8/20)
2020 Dec 25, A soggy, wet and dark Christmas morning greeted more than 250,000 US power customers in New York, Pennsylvania and the Northeast who had their electricity knocked out by clobbering winds and drenching, icy rain.
(Reuters, 12/25/20)
2020 Dec 31, In Pennsylvania about 50 people, all in black, vandalized the historic US Customs House in Philadelphia. Seven people soon faced felony charges after at least two federal buildings were attacked.
(AP, 1/2/21)
2020 Dec 31, Former Pennsylvania Gov. Dick Thornburgh (88) died in Pittsburgh. He had made integrity and efficiency the hallmarks of his public service as a governor, US attorney general and under-secretary-general of the UN.
(AP, 12/31/20)
2021 Jan 4, Advaccine Biopharmaceuticals Suzhou Co Ltd said it will manufacture and sell Pennsylvania-based Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc's COVID-19 vaccine candidate in China. Inovio's vaccine candidate, INO-4800, is being tested in two trials, a mid-stage study in China in partnership with Advaccine and a mid-to-late stage trial in the United States.
(Reuters, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 24, The NY Times reported that Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania arranged for Donald Trump earlier this month to meet Jeffrey Bossert Clark, a Justice Department official who Trump considered naming to replace Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen.
(Reuters, 1/24/21)
2021 Feb 2, Pennsylvania's famous groundhog emerged from his tree stump to predict another six weeks of winter, just as the northeastern US got blanketed with its second day of snow.
(Reuters, 2/2/21)
2021 Feb 22, The US Supreme Court brought a formal end to eight lingering disputes pursued by former President Donald Trump and his allies related to the Nov. 3 presidential election including a Republican challenge to the extension of Pennsylvania's deadline to receive mail-in ballots. Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch dissented from the decision not to hear the Pennsylvania case.
(Reuters, 2/22/21)
2021 Mar 5, The US government said it had released all families detained at the 96-bed Berks County family detention center in Leesport, Pennsylvania. The detention center will instead be used by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hold adults.
(AP, 3/5/21)
2021 Mar 24, The US Senate voted 52-48 to confirm former Pennsylvania Health Sec. Rachel Levine as the top assistant secretary for health, making her the highest ranking openly transgender person to serve in the US government.
(AP, 3/24/21)
2021 Mar 24, A federal indictment said that Christopher D. Casamento (42), the University of Pittsburgh’s former director of emergency management, stole more than 13,600 face masks meant for school employees and students and sold them online in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
(AP, 3/24/21)
2021 Apr 6, Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania together reported 44% of the nation's new COVID-19 infections, or nearly 197,500 new cases, in the latest available seven-day period.
(AP, 4/6/21)
2021 May 7, Chad Salsman, a Pennsylvania district attorney who had cast the sex case against him as a pack of “vicious lies." pleaded guilty to pressuring clients for sex when he was a defense attorney and then coercing them to keep quiet about it.
(AP, 5/7/21)
2021 May 13, Philadelphia's top health official was compelled to resign after the city's mayor learned partial human remains from the 1985 bombing of the headquarters of a Black organization had been cremated and disposed of without notifying family members.
(AP, 5/13/21)
Go to http://www.timelinesdb.com
Subject = Pennsylvania
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ALH: http://www.usgennet.org/~alhnpaus/
City Links: http://www.50states.com/city/penn.htm
Facts: http://www.50states.com/pennsylv.htm
Moving to Philadelphia: https://www.movebuddha.com/blog/moving-to-philadelphia-pa/
PA.GOV: http://www.pa.gov/
330Mil BC The body impressions of salamander-like creatures, estimated to be 330 million years old, were later found in sandstone rocks collected in eastern Pennsylvania and stored in the museum in Reading, Pa.
(AP, 10/30/07)
1612 The French explorer Etienne Brule is believed to be the first European to see the Great Lakes. Brule, believed to have been born in 1592, journeyed to North America with Samuel de Champlain in 1608 and helped found Quebec. Brule explored Lake Huron in 1612 and is believed to have also explored Lakes Ontario, Erie and Superior after 1615. Brule is the first European to live among the Indians and was probably the first European to set foot in what is now Pennsylvania. Brule was eventually killed by the Hurons, for reasons never known, in 1632.
(HNQ, 6/29/98)
1643 Tinicum township, founded by Swedes, was the first European settlement in Pennsylvania.
(AP, 8/22/19)
1644 Oct 14, William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, or Penn's Woods, was born.
(HN, 10/14/98)
1681 Mar 4, England's King Charles II granted a charter to William Penn (37) for 48,000 square miles that later became Pennsylvania. Penn’s father had bequeathed him a claim of £15,000 against the king. Penn later laid out the city of Philadelphia as a gridiron about 2 miles long, east to west, and a mile wide.
(PCh, 1992, p.259)(AP, 3/4/98)(SFEC, 8/16/98, p.T1)
1682 Oct 26, William Penn accepted the area around the Delaware River from Duke of York.
(MC, 10/26/01)
1682 Oct 29, The founder of Pennsylvania, William Penn, landed at what is now Chester, Pa. William Penn founded Philadelphia. Penn founded Pennsylvania as a "Holy Experiment" based on Quaker principles.
(AP, 10/29/97)(SFEC, 6/21/98, Z1 p.8)(SSFC, 8/5/01, p.C10)
1682 William Penn established Bucks County as one of Pennsylvania’s 3 original counties.
(WSJ, 3/22/08, p.R7)
1683 Jun 23, William Penn signed a friendship treaty with Lenni Lenape Indians in Pennsylvania. It became the only treaty "not sworn to, nor broken."
(HN, 6/23/98)(MC, 6/23/02)
1683 Oct 6, 13 Mennonite families from Krefeld, Germany, arrived in present-day Philadelphia to begin Germantown, one of America's oldest settlements. They were encouraged by William Penn's offer of 5,000 acres of land in the colony of Pennsylvania and the freedom to practice their religion.
(AP, 10/6/97)(www.ulib.iupui.edu/kade/germantown.html)
1686 The Lenape Indians allegedly sold land along the Lehigh River to William Penn.
(ON, 1/03, p.6)
1687 William Penn authored “The Excellent Privilege of Liberty and Property Being the Birth-Right of the Free-born subjects of England."
(www.magnacartaworldheritage.com/magna-carta-us-history/)(Econ, 12/20/14, p.35)
1688 Feb 18, At a Quaker meeting in Germantown, Pa, German Mennonites penned a memorandum stating a profound opposition to Negro slavery. Quakers in Germantown, Pa., adopted the fist formal antislavery resolution in America.
(HN, 2/18/99)(www.germanheritage.com/Publications/cronau/cronau4.html)
1692 Mar 18, William Penn was deprived of his governing powers.
(HN, 3/18/98)
1699 Jonathan Dickinson, after resuming his mercantile business in Philadelphia, authored "God’s Protecting Providence," a journal of his Florida ordeal.
(ON, 9/00, p.5)
1700 May 7, William Penn began monthly meetings for Blacks advocating emancipation.
(MC, 5/7/02)
1701 Oct 28, William Penn presented a Charter of Privileges for the Province of Pennsylvania during his 2nd and last visit to the colony. Among its provisions was one establishing total religious freedom and tolerance to those who wanted to live in peace in the colony. It remained as Pennsylvania's constitution until the outbreak of the American Revolution (1775-1783).
(www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/pa07.htm)
1712 Jun 7, The Pennsylvania Assembly banned the importation of slaves.
(HN, 6/7/98)
1718 Jul 30, William Penn, English Quaker, colonizer (No cross, no crown), died.
(MC, 7/30/02)
1720s The Ephrata Cloister communal society in Amish country near Philadelphia was founded by a former elder of the German Dunkers (German Baptists who later became the Church of the Brethren).
(Hem, 6/96, p.107)(http://www.cob-net.org/cloister.htm)
1722 Quaker Jonathan Dickinson died. He had become one of the wealthiest men in the city and served as twice as mayor.
(ON, 9/00, p.5)
1726 Jul 23, Benjamin Franklin sailed back to Philadelphia.
(MC, 7/23/02)
1726 Oct 11, Benjamin Franklin returned to Philadelphia from England.
(MC, 10/11/01)
1730 Benjamin Franklin became the official printer for Pennsylvania. He ultimately became the official printer for several colonial governments.
(AH, 2/06, p.48)
1730s German gun makers located in Pennsylvania began producing the Kentucky rifle, so named because it was intended for use on the Kentucky frontier. Its gunpowder was ignited with sparks struck when the hammer, containing a piece of flint, was released. The flintlock Kentucky rifle, with its extra long barrel and small caliber, was the most accurate rifle of its day and was used widely in the French and Indian Wars and American Revolution.
(HNQ, 12/21/99)
1731 Jul 1, The “Instrument of Association" for the Library Company of Philadelphia was signed under the leadership of Benjamin Franklin. It was America’s first circulating library.
(www.librarycompany.org/Lemay1.pdf)(AH, 2/06, p.56)
1732 Feb 26, The 1st mass celebrated in American Catholic church was at St Joseph's Church, Philadelphia.
(SC, 2/26/02)
1732 Nov 14, 1st US professional librarian, Louis Timothee, was hired in Phila.
(MC, 11/14/01)
1732 Dec 28, The first Poor Richard's Almanac was published along with the 1st known ad in the Pennsylvania Gazette. The Almanack was published by Richard Saunders (really Ben Franklin). [see Dec 19]
(HFA, '96, p.20)(MC, 12/28/01)
1733 The Pennsylvania city of Reading became one of America's first producers of iron and was for nearly a century the foremost in the country. Settled in 1733 by the sons of William Penn, the city is situated on the Schuylkill River in the southeastern part of the state. The Reading foundries furnished cannon for the American forces in the Revolutionary War and the Union during the Civil War.
(HNQ, 5/6/98)
1738 Benjamin Franklin wrote in Poor Richard's Almanack "Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor Liberty to purchase power."
(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin)
1740 Sep 11, The first mention of an African American doctor or dentist in the colonies was made in the Pennsylvania Gazette.
(HN, 9/11/98)
1741 Feb 13, Andrew Bradford of Pennsylvania published the first American magazine. Titled "The American Magazine, or A Monthly View of the Political State of the British Colonies." Bradford introduced his American Magazine just days before Benjamin Franklin founded his periodical called General Magazine in Philadelphia. Bradford’s survived 3 months while Franklin’s survived for 6 months.
(HFA, '96, p.24)(HNQ, 9/3/98)(AP, 2/13/01)
1741 Feb 16, Benjamin Franklin's General Magazine (2nd US Mag) began publishing.
(MC, 2/16/02)
1743 Benjamin Franklin and John Bartram founded the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia as an American counterpart to the British Royal Society.
(WSJ, 4/25/09, p.W3)(www.amphilsoc.org/library/exhibits/nature/stork.htm)
1745 Dec 24, Benjamin Rush, American medical pioneer and signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born in Byberry, Pa.
(HN, 12/24/98)(MC, 12/24/01)
1746 Linden Hall, a girls’ boarding school, opened in Lititz, Pa.
(SSFC, 4/13/03, p.D6)
1750 Benjamin Franklin drew up plans for a “sentry box," designed to prove his theory that lightning as an electrical phenomenon.
(ON, 2/12, p.11)
1750 Teedyuscung, a Lenape Indian, joined the Christian mission of Gnadenhutten, founded by Swiss Moravian settlers in the Lehigh Valley town of Bethlehem.
(ON, 1/03, p.6)
1751 May 11, The 1st US hospital was founded in Pennsylvania. [see Feb 11, 1752]
(MC, 5/11/02)
1752 Jan 1, Betsy Ross (d.1836), flag maker who contributed to the design of the American flag, was born in Philadelphia as Elizabeth Griscom.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betsy_Ross)
1752 Feb 11, Pennsylvania Hospital, the 1st hospital in the US, opened.
(MC, 2/11/02)
1752 May 11, The 1st US fire insurance policy issued in Philadelphia.
(MC, 5/11/02)
1752 May, Dutch botanist Thomas Francois Dalibard (1709-1799) successfully performed Benjamin Franklin’s “sentry box" experiment proving that lightning is an electrical phenomenon.
(ON, 2/12, p.12)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas-Fran%C3%A7ois_Dalibard)
1752 Jun 15, Benjamin Franklin and his son tested the relationship between electricity and lightning by flying a kite in a thunder storm. Some sources date this to June 10.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin)
1752 Sep 1, The Liberty Bell arrived in Philadelphia.
(MC, 9/1/02)
1752 In the summer of this year Benjamin Franklin installed the world’s 1st lightning rods at the Pennsylvania State House.
(WSJ, 8/15/05, p.D8)
1753 Dec 12, George Washington, the adjutant of Virginia, delivered an ultimatum to the French forces at Fort Le Boeuf, south of Lake Erie, reiterating Britain’s claim to the entire Ohio river valley.
(HN, 12/12/98)
1753 Dec 14, French Captain Jacques Le Gardeur rejected the pretensions of the English to ownership of the Ohio Valley, but promised to forward Virginia Gov. Dinwiddie’s letter of trespass to his superiors in Canada.
(ON, 9/05, p.2)
1753 The Georgian-style colonial legislature (later Pennsylvania State House) was completed at 520 Chestnut St. in Philadelphia for the Province of Pennsylvania. It became the location where both the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted and thus became known as Independence Hall.
(SSFC, 5/25/14, p.P5)
1753 Benjamin Franklin use the pages of his Poor Richard’s Almanac to make a case for using lightning rods atop tall structures making storms less dangerous.
(WSJ, 8/15/05, p.D8)
1754 Jan 6, Major George Washington, while returning to Virginia, encountered a party of English settlers and militiamen at Will’s Creek sent by Gov. Dinwiddie to establish a fort and trading post at the Forks of the Ohio.
(ON, 9/05, p.2)
1754 Apr 2, A small expeditionary force of 159 men under Lt. Col. George Washington arrived at Will’s Creek and learned that the French had taken over the new Fort Prince George at the Forks of the Ohio from British soldiers and frontiersmen and renamed it Fort Duquesne.
(ON, 9/05, p.2)
1754 Apr, Teedyuscung, a Lenape Indian, joined the Iraquois Indians in the Wyoming Valley along the banks of the Susquehanna River.
(ON, 1/03, p.6)
1754 May 9, The first American newspaper cartoon was published. The illustration in Benjamin Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazette showed a snake cut into sections, each part representing an American colony; the caption read, "Join or die."
(AP, 5/9/97)(HN, 5/9/98)
1754 May 28, Col. George Washington led a 40-man detachment that defeated French and Indian forces in a skirmish near Great Meadows, Pa.
(ON, 9/05, p.3)
1754 Jun 19, The Albany Congress opened. New York colonial Gov. George Clinton called for the meeting to discuss better relations with Indian tribes and common defensive measures against the French. The attendees included Indians and representatives from Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. Benjamin Franklin attended and presented his Plan of Union, which was adopted by the conference. The meeting ended on July 11.
(AH, 2/06, p.45)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albany_Congress)
1754 Jul 3, George Washington surrendered the small, circular Fort Necessity (later Pittsburgh) in southwestern Pennsylvania to the French, leaving them in control of the Ohio Valley. This marked the beginning of the French and Indian War also called the 7 Years' War. In 2005 Fred Anderson authored “The War That Made America: A Short History of the French and Indian War."
(HN, 7/13/98)(Arch, 1/05, p.46)(WSJ, 12/14/05, p.D15)
1754 Nov 29, The Gnadenhutten mission, Pa., was attacked by renegade Lenape Indians and 11 white people were killed.
(ON, 1/03, p.7)
1755 Jul 9, General Edward Braddock was mortally wounded when French and Indian troops ambushed his force of British regulars and colonial militia, which was on its way to attack France's Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh). Gen. Braddock's troops were decimated at Fort Duquesne, where he refused to accept Washington's advice on frontier style fighting. British Gen'l. Braddock gave his bloody sash to George Washington at Fort Necessity just before he died on Jul 13.
(A & IP, ESM, p.11)(HN, 7/9/98)(WSJ, 1/5/98, p.A20)
1755 Jul 13, Edward Braddock (60), British general, died following the July 9, 1755 battle at Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania). Out of the 1,400 British soldiers who were in involved in the battle, 900 of them died. Future President George Washington carried Braddock from the field and officiated at his burial ceremony. The general was buried in a road his men had built. The army then marched over the grave to obliterate any traces of it and continued to eastern Pennsylvania. After the French and Indian War (1754-1763), the Braddock Road remained a main road. In 1804, some workmen discovered human remains in the road near where Braddock was supposed to have been buried. The remains were re-interred on a small knoll adjacent to the road. In 1913 the marker was placed there. Braddock was born in Perthshire, Scotland, about 1695, the son of Major-General Edward Braddock (died 1725).
(www.nps.gov/fone/braddock.htm)
1755 Dec 31, Teedyuscung, a Lenape Indian, led 30 Lenape Indians on a raid against English plantations along the Delaware River. Over the next few days his band killed 7 men and took 5 prisoners.
(ON, 1/03, p.6)
1755 Benjamin Franklin, a patriot of the American Revolution, served as a colonel of the Pennsylvania militia in the French and Indian War. Benjamin Franklin, at forty-nine, had already lived through two wars between the French and the English and their colonists. His face was puffy and smooth from gout, his once-powerful swimmer’s body overweight and rounded into a barrel shape.
(HNQ, 8/6/01)
1756 Jun 4, Quakers left the assembly of Pennsylvania.
(MC, 6/4/02)
1756 Nov 12, Teedyuscung, a Lenape Indian, spoke with Gov. Denny at Easton, Pa., to discuss grievances.
(ON, 1/03, p.6)
1756 German-speaking Moravians founded the town of Lititz, 35 miles southeast of Harrisburg, Pa. Non-Moravians were not allowed to live there until 1855.
(SSFC, 4/13/03, p.D6)
1757 Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) helped set up America’s first street cleaning service in Philadelphia.
(Econ, 2/28/09, SR p.5)
1757 Benjamin Franklin sailed for England. He spent almost two decades there as colonial agent, a combination lobbyist, ambassador, and banker, for Pennsylvania and, eventually Georgia, New Jersey and Massachusetts. He lived in London at 36 Craven St.
(WSJ, 8/8/95, p. A12)(USAT, 9/22/03, p.16A)
1758 Nov 25, In the French and Indian War British forces under General John Forbes captured Fort Duquesne (the site of present day Pittsburgh, est. 1754). George Washington participated in the campaign. Forbes renamed the site Fort Pitt after William Pitt the Elder, who directed British military policy in the Seven Years' War of 1756-'63. Before his arrival, the French had burned the fort and retreated.
(AP, 11/25/97)(ON, 9/05, p.5)(HNQ, 7/17/98)
1758 Feb 15, The 1st mustard manufactured in America was advertised in Philadelphia.
(440 Int’l., 2/15/99)(HCB, 2003, p. 94)
1760 Feb 14, Richard Allen (d.1831), 1st black ordained by a Methodist-Episcopal church, was born in Philadelphia.
(HN, 2/14/98)
1760s-1770s John Cadwalader, Revolutionary War General, commissioned dozens of furniture pieces from the finest craftsmen in Pennsylvania. He had married Elizabeth Lloyd, the wealthiest woman in colonial America.
(WSJ, 9/24/99, p.W9)
1761 French and Indians forces in the Ohio Valley were defeated.
(ON, 1/03, p.7)
1762 Benjamin Franklin returned to Philadelphia from London and remained until 1764.
(www.ideafinder.com/history/inventors/franklin.htm)
1763 Apr 19, Teedyuscung, a Lenape Indian leader, burned to death while sleeping in his cabin in the Wyoming Valley, Pa. The fire destroyed the whole Indian village. A few days later settlers from Connecticut arrived to resume their construction of a town.
(ON, 1/03, p.6)
1763 May 7, Indian chief Pontiac began his attack on a British fort in present-day Detroit, Michigan. Ottawa Chief Pontiac led an uprising in the wild, distant lands that later became Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
(HN, 7/24/98)(HN, 5/7/99)
1763 Aug 5, Colonel Henry Bouquet decisively defeated the Indians at the Battle of Bushy Run in Pennsylvania during Pontiac's rebellion.
(HN, 8/5/98)
1763 Nov 15, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon began surveying Mason-Dixon Line between Pennsylvania and Maryland. They surveyed 233 miles by 1767 when Indians of the Six nations told them they could not proceed any further west.
(MC, 11/15/01)(ON, 2/04, p.10)
1767 Oct 9, The survey party of Mason and Dixon came to a halt after 233 miles when Indians of the Six Nations said they had reached the end of their commission. [see Oct 18]
(ON, 2/04, p.10)
1767 Oct 18, The boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania, the Mason-Dixon line, was agreed upon. It was first surveyed in 1763 to 1767 by two British astronomers, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, in order to settle a dispute between the Calvert and Penn families, the owners at that time of the two states in question. The survey, begun in 1763 and completed four years later, done by English surveyors Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon to resolve a land-grant boundary dispute between the families of Lord Baltimore and William Penn, resulted in the Mason-Dixon Line. The line, extended in 1784, came to be known as the dividing line between free-soil states and slave states.
(AP, 10/18/97)(HNQ, 9/8/99)
1771 Jun 12, Patrick Gass, Sgt. of Lewis & Clark Expedition, was born in Falling Springs, PA.
(MC, 6/12/02)
1773 Feb 26, Construction was authorized for Walnut St. jail in Philadelphia, (1st solitary).
(SC, 2/26/02)
1773 Dec 26, Expulsion of tea ships from Philadelphia.
(MC, 12/26/01)
1774 Jul 12, Citizens of Carlisle, Penn., passed a declaration of independence.
(MC, 7/12/02)
1774 Sep 5, The first Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia in a secret session in Carpenter's Hall with representatives from every colony except Georgia. Tensions had been tearing at relations between the colonists and the government of King George III. The British taking singular exception to the 1773 shipboard tea party held in Boston harbor. The dispute convinced Britain to pass the "Intolerable Acts"- 4 of which were to punish Mass. for the Boston Tea Party. Peyton Randolph of Williamsburg, Va., chaired the 1st Continental Congress. Its first official act was a call to prayer.
(AP, 9/5/97)(HNQ, 6/25/00)(AH, 10/04, p.14)(AH, 4/07, p.31)
1774 Sep 26, John Chapman (d.1845), later known as Johnny Appleseed, was born in Massachusetts. A pioneer agriculturalist of early America, Chapman began his trek in 1797, collecting apple seedlings from western Pennsylvania and establishing apple nurseries around the early American frontier. Chapman was a Swedenborgian missionary, a land speculator, a heavy drinker and an eccentric dresser (he hated shoes and seldom wore them. He planted orchards across western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana from seed.
(www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=94)(T&L, 10/1980, p.42)(HNQ, 9/4/01)(ON, 4/09, p.10)
1774 Oct 26, The first Continental Congress, which protested British measures and called for civil disobedience, concluded in Philadelphia. The Congress had met at the Philadelphia Carpenter's Hall.
(AP, 10/26/97)(HN, 10/26/98)(SFEC, 2/20/00, Z1 p.2)
1774 Nov, Thomas Paine, English pamphleteer, arrived in Philadelphia. He had been urged to come to America by Ben Franklin.
(ON, 6/2011, p.1)
1775 Feb, Englishman Thomas Paine became editor of the Pennsylvania Magazine, owned by printer Robert Aitken.
(ON, 6/2011, p.1)
1775 Apr 13, Lord North extended the New England Restraining Act to South Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland. The act forbade trade with any country other than Britain and Ireland.
(HN, 4/13/99)
1775 Apr 14, The first American society for the abolition of slavery was organized by Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush in Philadelphia.
(AP, 4/14/97) (HN, 4/14/98)
1775 May 5, Benjamin Franklin arrived in Philadelphia, from London where he had lived since 1757. He soon began working with Thomas Paine on a pamphlet urging independence from Britain, an idea proposed by physician Benjamin Rush.
(AH, 2/06, p.52)(ON, 6/2011, p.2)
1775 May 10, The Second Continental Congress convened in Pennsylvania. It named George Washington as supreme commander. Benjamin Franklin represented Pennsylvania soon presented his reworked Plan of Union under the title The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Continental_Congress)(AH, 2/06, p.47)
1775 Jul 26, The Continental Congress established a postal system for the colonies with Benjamin Franklin as the first postmaster general in Philadelphia.
(AP, 7/26/97)(HN, 7/26/98)
1775 Nov 10, The US Continental Marines were organized under authority of the Continental Congress. Congress commissioned Samuel Nicholas to raise two Battalions of Marines. That very day, Nicholas set up shop in Philadelphia’s Tun Tavern. He appointed Robert Mullan, then the proprietor of the tavern, to the job of chief Marine Recruiter serving, of course, from his place of business at Tun Tavern. The naval infantry later became the US Marine Corps.
(AP, 11/10/97)(www.usmcpress.com/heritage/usmc_heritage.htm)(Economist, 4/4/20, p.22)
1776 Jul 4, The Continental Congress approved adoption of the amended Declaration of Independence, prepared by Thomas Jefferson and signed by John Hancock--President of the Continental Congress--and Charles Thomson, Congress secretary, without dissent. However, the New York delegation abstained as directed by the New York Provisional Congress. On July 9, the New York Congress voted to endorse the declaration. On July 19, Congress then resolved to have the "Unanimous Declaration" inscribed on parchment for the signature of the delegates. Among the signers of the Declaration of Independence, two went on to become presidents of the United States, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. The Declaration of Independence was signed by president of Congress John Hancock and secretary Charles Thomson. John Hancock said, "There, I guess King George will be able to read that." referring to his signature on the Declaration of Independence. Most delegates signed the parchment copy on August 2. Other signers later included Benjamin Rush and Robert Morris. Of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, eight were born outside North America. In 2007 David Armitage authored “The Declaration of Independence: A Global History."
(SFC,12/19/97,p.B6)(SFC,2/9/98, p.A19)(WSJ, 1/4/07, p.B11)(SFC, 7/4/13, p.A14)
1776 Jul 5, The Declaration of Independence was first printed by John Dunlop in Philadelphia. 200 copies were prepared July 5-6 and distributed to the states.
(HN, 7/5/98)(HNQ, 7/4/99)(SFC, 7/4/01, p.A3)
1776 Jul 6, The US Declaration of Independence was announced on the front page of "PA Evening Gazette."
(MC, 7/6/02)
1776 Jul 8, Col. John Nixon gave the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence to a crowd gathered at Independence Square in Philadelphia. The reading was announced by the "Liberty Bell." The bell had the inscription: "proclaim liberty throughout all the land onto all the inhabitants thereof."
(AP, 7/8/97)(SFEC, 8/16/98, p.T5)
1776 Aug 2, In Philadelphia most members of the Continental Congress began attaching their signatures to the parchment copy of the Declaration of Independence. Benjamin Harrison was one of the signers. His son and grandson later became the 9th and 23rd presidents of the US. Most of the 55 signatures were affixed on August 2, but Matthew Thornton of New Hampshire, who was not a member of Congress when the declaration was adopted, added his name in November.
(Civil., Jul-Aug., '95, p.61)(SFC, 5/7/96, p.A-6)(AP, 8/2/97)(HNQ, 7/4/99)
1775 Dec 18-1775 Dec 27, In Philadelphia Benjamin Franklin, John Jay and Francis Daymon, members of the Committee of Secret Correspondence, met 3 times at Carpenter’s Hall with French agent Chevalier Julien-Alexandre Achard de Bonvouloir regarding French support for American Independence.
(AH, 2/06, p.58)
1775 Nov 10, The US Marines were organized under authority of the Continental Congress. Congress commissioned Samuel Nicholas to raise two Battalions of Marines. That very day, Nicholas set up shop in Philadelphia’s Tun Tavern. He appointed Robert Mullan, then the proprietor of the tavern, to the job of chief Marine Recruiter serving, of course, from his place of business at Tun Tavern.
(AP, 11/10/97)(www.usmcpress.com/heritage/usmc_heritage.htm)
1776 Jan 10, Thomas Paine (1737-1809), British émigré and propagandist, anonymously published "Common Sense," a scathing attack on King George III's reign over the colonies and a call for complete independence. The first 1,000 sold within days at 2 shillings. By the end of the year some 150,000 copies were sold, greatly affecting public sentiment and the deliberations of the Continental Congress leading up to the Declaration of Independence. An instant bestseller in both the colonies and in Britain, Paine baldly stated that King George III was a tyrant and that Americans should shed any sentimental attachment to the monarchy. America, he argued, had a moral obligation to reject monarchy.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Paine)(AP, 1/10/98)(ON, 6/2011, p.3)
1776 Mar 2, The American Secret Committee of Correspondence appointed Connecticut lawyer Silas Deane as a special envoy to negotiate with the French government for aid.
(AH, 2/06, p.59)
1776 Dec 2, George Washington's army began retreating across the Delaware River from New Jersey to Pennsylvania. In 2004 David Hackett Fischer authored "Washington's Crossing."
(WSJ, 2/6/04, p.W8)
1776 Dec 8, George Washington's retreating army in the American Revolution crossed the Delaware River from New Jersey to Pennsylvania.
(AP, 12/8/97)
1776 Dec 23, Thomas Paine’s pamphlet, “The American Crisis," which included the line "These are the times that try men's souls…" was read out loud by George Washington to the Continental Army.
(ON, 6/2011, p.4)
1776 Dec 25, Gen. George Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware River for a surprise attack against Hessian forces at Trenton, N.J.
(AP, 12/25/97)
1776 The Quakers of Pennsylvania abolished slavery within the Society of Friends and then took their crusade to society at large by petitioning the state legislature to outlaw the practice.
(AH, 10/02, p.50)
1777 Jun 14, The Continental Congress in Philadelphia adopted the Stars and Stripes as the national flag. America's Flag Day, commemorates the date when John Adams spoke the following words before the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. "Resolved, that the Flag of the thirteen United States shall be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the Union be thirteen stars, white on a blue field, representing a new constellation." Over the years, there have been 27 versions of the American flag. The present version was adopted on July 4, 1960, when Hawaii became the 50th state.
(AP, 6/14/97)(HNQ, 6/14/98)
1777 Jul 4, No member of Congress thought about commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence until July 3 - one day too late. So the first organized elaborate celebration of independence occurred the following day: July 4, 1777, in Philadelphia.
(http://tinyurl.com/mpsa8y)
1777 Sep 11, General George Washington and his troops were defeated by the British under General Sir William Howe at the Battle of Brandywine in Pennsylvania. Posing as a gunsmith, British Sergeant John Howe served as General Gage's eyes in a restive Massachusetts colony.
(HN, 9/11/98)
1777 Sep 20, British Dragoons massacred sleeping Continental troops at Paoli, Pa.
(MC, 9/20/01)
1777 Sep 26, The British army launched a major offensive during the American Revolution, capturing Philadelphia.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_campaign)(AP, 9/26/97)
1777 Sep 30, The Congress of the United States, forced to flee in the face of advancing British forces, moved to York, Pennsylvania.
(AP, 9/30/00)
1777 Oct 4, George Washington's troops launched an assault on the British at Germantown, Penn., resulting in heavy American casualties. British General Sir William Howe repelled Washington's last attempt to retake Philadelphia, compelling Washington to spend the winter at Valley Forge.
(AP, 10/4/97)(HN, 10/4/98)
1777 Nov 15, The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation in York, Pa. These instituted the perpetual union of the United States of America and served as a precursor to the U.S. Constitution. The structure of the Constitution was inspired by the Iroquois Confederacy of six major northeastern tribes. The matrilineal society of the Iroquois later inspired the suffragist movement.
(PCh, 1992, p.325)(AP, 11/15/97)(SFEC, 4/19/98, BR p.2)(HN, 11/15/98)
1777 Dec 2, British officers under Gen. Howe met in the Philadelphia home of Lydia Darragh to discuss plans to the attack American forces on December 5, just prior to Gen. Washington’s planned move to Valley Forge. Mrs. Darragh listened in on the plans and sent word to Whitemarsh of the impending attack.
(ON, 8/07, p.8)
1777 Dec 5, A British advance column met unexpected resistance at Germantown, Penn. Gen. Howe refrained from a direct attack on Whitemarsh, where Gen. Wasinington was based, and the battle dissolved in a series of inconclusive skirmishes that lasted 3 days. The Americans lost 90 men killed or wounded and the British lost 60.
(ON, 8/07, p.8)
1777 Dec 8, Britain’s Gen. Howe withdrew to Philadelphia following a failed attempt on American forces encamped at Whitemarsh.
(ON, 8/07, p.8)
1777 Dec 19, Gen. George Washington led his army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge, Pa., to camp for the winter. [see Dec 17]
(AP, 12/19/97)
1777 George Washington led a campaign against the British and their Iroquois allies in Pennsylvania, New York, and the Ohio country. These included the Six Nations Indians: Mohawk, Cayuga, Onondaga, Seneca, Oneida, and Tuscarora. In 2005 Glenn F. Williams published “The Year of the Hangman: George Washington’s Campaign Against the Iroquois.
(WSJ, 7/26/05, p.D8)
1777-1778 Some 2,000 American soldiers died at Washington’s Valley Forge encampment over a harsh weather period of 7 months.
(WSJ, 1/3/02, p.A7)
1778 Jun 18, American forces entered Philadelphia as the British withdrew during the Revolutionary War.
(AP, 6/18/97)(HN, 6/18/98)
1778 Jun 19, General George Washington’s troops finally left Valley Forge after a winter of training. Washington left to intercept the British force on its way to New York City.
(HN, 6/19/98)(MC, 6/20/02)
1778 Jun 27, The Liberty Bell came home to Philadelphia after the British left.
(MC, 6/27/02)
1778 Jun, George Washington appointed Benedict Arnold as military governor of Philadelphia.
(ON, 11/01, p.1)
1778 Jul 3, The Wyoming Massacre occurred during the American Revolution in the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania. As part of a British campaign against settlers in the frontier during the war, 360 American settlers, including women and children, were killed at an outpost called Wintermoot's Fort after they were drawn out of the protection of the fort and ambushed.
(HNQ, 11/5/98)(MC, 7/3/02)
1778 Sep 17, The 1st treaty between the US and Indian tribes was signed at Fort Pitt.
(MC, 9/17/01)
1779 May 23, Benedict Arnold, military governor of Philadelphia, wrote a query to the British asking what they would pay for his services. He had already begun trading with the British for personal profit and faced charges.
(ON, 11/01, p.1)
1779 Dec 25, A court-martial was convened against Benedict Arnold. He defended himself successfully on 6 of 8 charges but was convicted of illegally issuing a government pass and using government wagons to transport personal goods.
(ON, 11/01, p.2)
1780 Mar 1, Pennsylvania became the first U.S. state to abolish slavery (for new-borns only). It was followed by Connecticut and Rhode Island in 1784, New York in 1785, and New Jersey in 1786. Massachusetts abolished slavery through a judicial decision in 1783 (see July 8 1777).
(http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/clementsmss/umich-wcl-M-230dau?view=text)
1780 Apr, George Washington censured Benedict Arnold for his misdeeds as governor of Philadelphia.
(ON, 11/01, p.2)
1782 Jan 7, The 1st US commercial bank, Bank of North America, opened in Philadelphia.
(MC, 1/7/02)
1782 Jun 20, Congress approved the Great Seal of the United States and the eagle as its symbol.
(AP, 6/20/97)(MC, 6/20/02)
1783 May 30, The first American daily newspaper, The Pennsylvania Evening Post, began publishing in Philadelphia.
(HN, 5/30/01)
1785 Jan 6, Haym Salomon (44) died in Philadelphia. He helped finance the US revolution.
(MC, 1/6/02)
1785 Mar 1, Philadelphia Society for the Promotion of Agriculture was organized.
(SC, 3/1/02)
1785 May 9, James Pollard Espy, meteorologist (Philosophy of Storms), was born in Pennsylvania.
(MC, 5/9/02)
1785 Oct 18, Benjamin Franklin was elected president of Pennsylvania. Special balloting unanimously elected Franklin the sixth President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, replacing John Dickinson.
(AH, 2/06, p.47)(http://help.com/post/275760-why-is-benjamin-franklin-important)
1787 Apr 12, Philadelphia's Free African Society formed.
(MC, 4/12/02)
1787 May 25, The Constitutional Convention convened in Philadelphia after enough delegates showed up for a quorum. The Founding Fathers turned to the Rushworth's Collections of England for revolutionary precedents. George Washington presided. [see May 25, 1777] Rhode Island refused to send delegates.
(AP, 5/25/97)(WSJ, 3/10/99, p.A22)(HN, 5/25/99)(Econ, 9/16/06, p.44)
1787 Aug 6, The Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia began to debate the articles contained in a draft of the United States Constitution.
(AP, 8/6/97)
1787 Sep 17, The Constitution of the United States was completed and signed by a majority of delegates (12) attending the constitutional convention in Philadelphia. The US Constitution went into effect on Mar 4, 1789. Clause 3 of Article I, Section 8 empowered Congress to "regulate Commerce with foreign nations, among the several states, and with the Indian Tribes." Two of the signers went on to become presidents of the United States. George Washington, the president of the Constitutional Convention, and James Madison both signed the Constitution. The US Constitution is the world's oldest working Constitution. George Mason of Virginia refused to sign the document because he thought it made the federal government too powerful believed that it should contain a Bill of Rights.
(AP, 9/17/97)(WUD, 1994, p.314)(WSJ, 4/9/99, p.W17)(HNQ, 5/19/99)(WSJ, 3/31/06, p.A1)
1787 Sep 17, The US Constitution included the Connecticut, or "Great," Compromise in which every state was conceded an equal vote in the Senate irrespective of its size, but representation in the House was to be on the basis of the "federal ratio," an enumeration of the free population plus three fifths of the slaves. The convention decided that ratification by nine states would be sufficient for their document to replace the 1777 Articles of Confederation.
(SSFC, 11/2/03, p.M6)(Economist, 9/30/17, p.23)
1787 Sep 17, The "College of Electors" (electoral college) was established at the Constitutional Convention with representatives to be chosen by the states. Pierce Butler of South Carolina first proposed the electoral college system. [see Sep 13, 1788]
(SFC, 11/9/00, p.A14)(WSJ, 11/9/00, p.A26)
1787 Sep 17, The Electoral College, proposed by James Wilson, was the compromise that the Constitutional Convention reached. In 2004 George C. Edwards III authored “Why the Electoral College Is Bad for America."
(www.usconstitution.net/consttop_elec.html)(SSFC, 10/17/04, p.M3)
1787 Dec 10, Thomas H. Gallaudet, a pioneer of educating the deaf, was born in Philadelphia.
(AP, 12/10/07)
1787 Dec 12, Pennsylvania became the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
(AP, 12/12/97)
1787 Peter Markoe (1752?-1792) authored “An Algerine Spy in Pennsylvania." His satirical provocation helped to push the US Congress authorized a Navy and to dispatch Marines to subdue the pirates of Tripoli.
(WSJ, 6/2/07, p.P8)
1787 Rev. Richard Allen and Absalom Jones decided to form the Free African Society, a non-denominational religious mutual aid society for the black community. Eventually this society grew into the African Church of Philadelphia.
(www.pbs.org)
1789 Mar 2, Pennsylvania ended the prohibition of theatrical performances.
(SC, 3/2/02)
1789 Dec 28, Lydia Darrragh (b.1729), American spy, died in Philadelphia. Her exploits in 1777 did not become public until the publication of an anonymous article in 1827.
(ON, 8/07, p.8)(www.lexidigital.com/bcdarwomen4.htm)
1790 Mar 1, President Washington signed a measure authorizing the first US Census. The Connecticut Compromise was a proposal for two houses in the legislature-one based on equal representation for each state, the other for population-based representation-that resolved the dispute between large and small states at the Constitutional Convention. Connecticut delegate Roger Sherman's proposal led to the first nationwide census in 1790. The population was determined to be 3,929,625, which included 697,624 slaves and 59,557 free blacks. The most populous state was Virginia, with 747,610 people and the most populous city was Philadelphia with 42,444 inhabitants. The average cost of this year’s census was 1.13 cents per person.
(HNQ, 7/13/01)(AP, 3/1/08)(http://www.genealogybranches.com/censuscosts.html)
1790 Apr 17, Benjamin Franklin (born 1706), American statesman, died in Philadelphia at age 84. He mechanized the process of making sounds from tuned glass with his glass armonica. In 2000 H.W. Brands authored his Franklin biography: "The First American." In 2003 Walter Isaacson authored "Benjamin Franklin: An American Life."
(AP, 4/17/97)(SFEC,12/28/97, DB p.17)(WSJ, 9/20/00, p.A24)(WSJ, 7/3/03, p.D8)
1790 Jun 9, The "Philadelphia Spelling Book" was the first US work to be copyrighted.
(WSJ, 6/14/00, p.A1)(MC, 6/9/02)
1790 Aug 2, The enumeration for the first US census began. It showed that 3,929,326 people were living in the US of which 697,681 were slaves, and that the largest cities were New York City with 33,000 inhabitants; Philadelphia, with 28,000; Boston, with 18,000; Charleston, South Carolina, with 16,000; and Baltimore, with 13,000. Census records for Delaware, Georgia, New Jersey, and Virginia were lost sometime between 1790 and 1830.
(AP, 8/2/06)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1790_United_States_Census)
1790 Dec 6, Congress moved from New York City to Philadelphia, where Washington served out his two terms. He is the only president who never resided in the White House.
(AP, 12/6/97)(HNPD, 12/22/98)
1791 Mar 11, Samuel Mulliken of Philadelphia was the 1st to obtain more than 1 US patent.
(MC, 3/12/02)
1791 Apr 23, James Buchanan, was born in Franklin County, Pa. He was the fifteenth U.S. president (1857-1861) and the only president not to marry.
(AP, 4/23/97)(HN, 4/23/99)
1791 Jul 25, Free African Society (FAS) leaders drew up a plan to organize a church for African-Americans.
(www.pbs.org)
1791 William Sprague opened the 1st US carpet mill in Philadelphia.
(SFCM, 10/10/04, p.8)
1793 Jan 9, The first US manned balloon flight occurred as Frenchman Jean Pierre Blanchard, using a hot-air balloon, flew between Philadelphia and Woodbury, N.J. He stayed airborne for 46 minutes, traveled close to 15 miles and set down at the "old Clement farm" in Deptford, New Jersey. [see Jun 23, 1784, Mar 9, 1793]
(WSJ, 3/31/98, p.A1)(AP, 1/9/99)(ON, 6/09, p.2)
1793 Jun 20, Eli Whitney petitioned for a cotton gin patent in Philadelphia.
(www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part3/3h1517t.html)
1793 The 1st US half-cent and one cent coins were minted in Philadelphia. For almost 6 decades the obverse side carried an image of Lady Liberty. The first coins were related to the silver dollar. The half-dollar contained half as much silver, the quarter had one-fourth as much. The dime had a 10th and the half dime has a 20th as much silver as the dollar. Only the penny was made of copper. In 1866 the Mint decided to produce a larger five-cent coin. In 2012 a one-cent copper coin minted this year fetched $1 million at a Florida auction. By 2018 only about 500 pennies were left in existence and one put up for auction was valued at $300,000.
(SFC, 9/11/96, p.A4)(WSJ, 12/12/03, p.W15)(SSFC, 9/27/09, Par p.25)(AP, 1/8/12)(SFC, 1/6/18, p.A6)
1793 There was a yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia. About 5,000 people were killed. Stephen Girard risked his life and fortune in stopping the epidemic.
(WSJ, 1/2/97, p.6)(Econ, 5/14/16, p.52)
1794 Feb 14, 1st US textile machinery patent was granted, to James Davenport in Phila.
(MC, 2/14/02)
1794 May, Richard Allen purchased a blacksmith shop in Philadelphia and had it moved near St. Thomas. There he founded an African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church he called Bethel, "House of God." The Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia was founded by Richard Allen after he was pulled from his knees one Sunday by a white usher while praying at St. George Methodist Episcopal Church. It later stood as the oldest parcel of land continuously owned by African Americans. The Richard Allen Museum contains 19th century artifacts from the church. In 1997 it was the world’s oldest AME church. The church elected its first female bishop in 2000.
(SFC, 6/24/96, p.A19)(SFC, 7/12/00, p.A3)(www.pbs.org)
1794 Jul 17, In Philadelphia the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, one of the first black churches in the country, opened its doors.
(www.pbs.org)
1794 Aug 7, George Washington issued a proclamation telling a group of Western Pennsylvania farmers to stop their Whiskey Rebellion. In the US in western Pennsylvania, angry farmers protested a new federal tax on whiskey makers. The protest flared into the open warfare known as the Whiskey Rebellion between US marshals and whiskey farmers.
(http://www.ttb.gov/public_info/whisky_rebellion.shtml)(A&IP, ESM, p.16)(HNQ, 10/14/99)
1794 French Azilum near Towanda was planned as an asylum for Marie-Antoinette, her children and other loyalists of the monarchy seeking refuge from the French Revolution. Loyalists who kept their heads did come and settle.
(HT, 5/97, p.18)
1797 Jul 10, 1st US frigate, the "United States," was launched in Philadelphia.
(MC, 7/10/02)
1798 Jan 30, A brawl broke out in the House of Representatives in Philadelphia. Matthew Lyon of Vermont spat in the face of Roger Griswold of Connecticut, who responded by attacking him with a hickory walking stick. Lyon was re-elected congressman while serving a jail sentence for violating the Sedition Acts of 1798.
(AP, 1/30/98)(SFC, 4/27/00, p.A5)(WSJ, 10/29/04, p.W10)
1798 The first big US bank robbery was at the Philadelphia Carpenter's Hall, which was leased to the Bank of Philadelphia.
(SFEC, 2/20/00, Z1 p.2)
1799 Feb 15, The 1st US printed ballots were authorized in Pennsylvania.
(440 Int’l., 2/15/99)
1799 In Pennsylvania the Lazaretto Quarantine Station was built in Tinicum Township to protect the Port of Philadelphia against the introduction of diseases that could lead to epidemics. The Lazaretto closed as a hospital in 1890 but then served as a resort and seaplane base before the start of World War I. In 2019 plans called for converting the structure into township offices.
(AP, 8/22/19)
1803 Feb 14, An apple parer was patented by Moses Coats in Downington, Penn.
(MC, 2/14/02)
1803 Sep 13, Commodore John Barry, considered by many the father of the American Navy, died in Philadelphia.
(AP, 9/13/97)
1804 Feb 6, Joseph Priestley (b.1733), English-born US writer, philosopher and chemist, died in Pennsylvania. He became best known for having discovered oxygen. Priestley also figured out how to manufacture carbonated water and is sometimes called “the father of the soft-drink industry." In 2008 Steven Johnson authored “The Invention of Air: A Story of Science, Faith, Revolution, and the Birth of America."
(www.britannica.com/eb/article-9061366)(ON, 10/05, p.1)(SFC, 1/9/09, p.E3)
1805 The Philadelphia harbor was dredged with a high-pressure steam engine invented by Oliver Evans. He was unable to get a proper patent for it.
(WSJ, 6/4/08, p.A19)
1806 Shoemakers in Philadelphia formed a union.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R27)
1807 May 22, Townsend Speakman 1st sold fruit-flavored carbonated drinks in Phila.
(MC, 5/22/02)
1808 Feb 11, Anthracite coal was 1st burned as fuel, experimentally, in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
(MC, 2/11/02)
1810 Feb 28, The 1st US fire insurance joint-stock company was organized in Philadelphia.
(MC, 2/28/02)
1810 Apr 17, Lewis Norton of Troy, PA., introduced his pineapple cheese.
(440 Int'l, 4/17/03)
1811 Oct 29, The 1st Ohio River steamboat left Pittsburgh for New Orleans.
(MC, 10/29/01)
1811 A group of amateur naturalists formed the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia.
(AH, 10/04, p.20)
1812 Dec 4, Peter Gaillard of Lancaster, Pa., patented a horse-drawn mower.
(MC, 12/4/01)
1812 The steamboat New Orleans was built in Pittsburgh and steamed to New Orleans but lacked sufficient power to return upstream.
(ON, 7/02, p.9)
1813 Aug 23, Alexander Wilson (b.1766), Scottish-born poet and naturalist, died in Philadelphia. He had completed 7 volumes of “American Ornithology" and was working on an 8th volume when he died.
(AH, 10/04, p.23)(www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/PA_Env-Her/alexandar_wilson.htm)
1814 Dec 1, The shallow-draft steamboat Enterprise, completed in Pittsburgh under the direction of keelboat captain Henry Miller Shreve, left for New Orleans to deliver guns and ammunition to Gen. Jackson.
(ON, 7/02, p.9)
1814 Dec 14, The steamboat Enterprise, designed by keelboat captain Henry Miller Shreve, arrived in New Orleans with guns and ammunition for Gen. Jackson. It was immediately commandeered for military service.
(ON, 7/02, p.9)
1815 Sep 8, Alexander Ramsey (d.1903), territorial governor of Minnesota (1849-1853), was born near Harrisburg, Pa.
(www.bioguide.congress.gov)
1816 Dec 2, The first savings bank in the United States, the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society, opened for business.
(AP, 12/2/99)
1816 Pittsburgh was incorporated on the site of old Fort Pitt.
(SFC, 1/29/00, p.E3)
1817 Mar 2, The 1st US Evangelical church building was dedicated in New Berlin, PA.
(SC, 3/2/02)
1818 Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH) was founded in Philadelphia as John A. Brown and Company, an importer of linen. On January 1, 1931, Brown Brothers And Company merged with Harriman Brothers & Company, an investment company started in 1912 with railway money.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_Brothers_Harriman_%26_Co.)
1819 In Philadelphia Dr. Thomas W. Dyott, (druggist, patent-medicine vendor, and physician) purchased the Kensington Glass Works. He expanded the business and changed the name to the Dyottville Glass Works. He was forced out of the firm in 1838, but the glassworks continued operating until about 1923.
(SFC, 1/14/98, Z1 p.2)
1821 Feb 23, College of Apothecaries, the 1st US pharmacy college, was organized in Philadelphia.
(MC, 2/23/02)
1821 Nov 9, The 1st US pharmacy college held 1st classes in Philadelphia.
(MC, 11/9/01)
1824 The Second Bank of the United States, established by federal charter in 1791, was completed in Philadelphia by William Strickland. It was modeled after the Parthenon. From 1841-1934 it served as a Custom House. It was acquired by the National Park Service in 1939 and in 1974 became the home of the Peale portraits. The renovated museum reopened Dec 1, 2004.
(WSJ, 2/22/05, p.D10)
1825 Philadelphia druggist Elie Magliore Durand first touted the effervescent soda water as a health drink. Shortly afterward, New York inventor John Matthews originated the fountain apparatus that conveniently rested on a pharmacist's counter to dispense carbonated drinks.
(HNQ, 6/12/98)
1829 Jul 4, Cornerstone laid for 1st US mint (Chestnut & Juniper St, Phila).
(Maggio, 98)
1829 Oct 23, The Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia received its 1st prisoner, burglar Charles Williams (18). It was based on the Quaker idea of reform through solitude and reflection. In 1913 the Pennsylvania System of isolation was abandoned and the isolation practices ended. The prison was designed by John Haviland and was built on the outskirts of Philadelphia. The whole fortress-like exterior was just a façade hiding the radial structure of the inner prison. It opened to tourists in 1971 after being closed to prisoners.
(WSJ, 9/19/97, p.B1)(AHHT, 10/02, p.18)(Insider, 8/14/20)
1829 In Pennsylvania David G. Yuengling (d.1877), an immigrant from Germany, established the Eagle Brewery on Centre St. in Pottsville. As of 2016 the D.G. Yuengling & Son brewery was recognized as the oldest in the United States.
(http://www.yuengling.com/our_story/)(WSJ, 3/23/04, p.B5)(SFC, 6/23/16, p.C6)
1830 Sep 20, The National Negro Convention convened in Philadelphia with the purpose of abolishing slavery.
(HN, 9/20/98)
1830 George Brinton began constructing a home later called Rondelay in Chadds Ford. After extensive renovations the 6 bedroom home on 38.9 acres was listed for sale in 1998 for $2.9 mil.
(WSJ, 4/3/98, p.W8)
1830-1850 The Pennsylvania German community made traditional hand-stitched show towels and most show towels date from this period. They were hung on a door in the main room of a house.
(SFC,12/10/97, Z1 p.9)
1831 Feb 19, The 1st practical US coal-burning locomotive made its 1st trial run in Penn.
(MC, 2/19/02)
1832 Aug, In Pennsylvania 57 Irish immigrants died of cholera after traveling there to build a railroad. In 2009 their bones were found at a woodsy site known as Duffy's Cut, named after Philip Duffy, who hired the immigrants from Donegal, Tyrone and Derry to help build the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad. In 2010 evidence indicated that at least some of the men’s remains showed signs of violence.
(AP, 3/25/09)(AP, 8/16/10)
1832 Nov 29, Louisa May Alcott (d.1888), American author who wrote "Little Women," was born in Germantown, Pa. Under the pen name A.M. Barnard she wrote stories of violence and revenge that included "Pauline’s Passion and Punishment." "It takes people a long time to learn the difference between talent and genius, especially ambitious young men and women."
(WUD, 1994, p.35)(SFC, 6/17/97, p.E3)(AP, 7/12/98)(HN, 11/29/98)
1832 The Girard Bank of Pennsylvania was founded.
(Panic, p.16)
1832 The Pittsburgh riverfront home of coal baron Abraham Hays flooded. Hays built a new mansion, which later became a stop on the Underground Railroad, harboring slaves who traveled a tunnel from the Monongahela River to the vast brick-lined basement.
(www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_640258.html)
1833 Aug 7, Powell Clayton, Brig. General (Union volunteers), (Gov-R-Ark), was born in Pa.
(MC, 8/7/02)(Internet)
1833 Dec 4, American Anti-Slavery Society was formed by Arthur Tappan in Phila.
(MC, 12/4/01)
1833 John Mohler Studebaker was born in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. In 1858 joined his two older brothers in a South Bend firm producing wagons. The company went on to become the world’s largest producer of farm wagons and carriages.
(WSJ, 6/13/96, p.A12)(HNQ, 1/21/02)
1833 Richard Allen (73) published his autobiography: "The Life, Experience, and Gospel Labors of the Rt. Rev. Richard Allen."
(www.pbs.org)
1833 American Navy pensioners moved into what was then called the Naval Asylum, a 180-room stone building on the bank of the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. The name was later changed to the Naval Home. It closed in 1977.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Naval_Asylum)
1834 William Russell Birch (b.1755), English-born artist, died. He had settled in Philadelphia with his son in 1794 and in 1800 published 28 drawn and engraved hand-colored images of Philadelphia.
(SFC, 5/18/02, p.E6)
1835 Jul 6, John Marshall, the third chief justice of the Supreme Court, died at the age of 79. Two days later, while tolling in his honor in Philadelphia, the Liberty Bell cracked.
(HN, 7/6/98)
1835 Jul 8, The US Liberty Bell in Philadelphia cracked while being tolled for Chief Justice John Marshall. It was never rung again.
(HFA, ‘96, p.34)(HN, 7/6/98)(WSJ, 12/10/96, p.A20)
1835 John Wise built and took off from Philadelphia in his first homemade balloon. In 1859 he attempted an express mail service by balloon from St. Louis to NYC.
(ON, 11/00, p.6)
1836 The LaPorte house was built by John LaPorte, son of one of the founders of French Azilum
(HT, 5/97, p.18)
1837 Feb 25, Cheyney University was established in Pennsylvania through the bequest of Richard Humphreys, and became the oldest institution of higher learning for African Americans. It was initially named the African Institute. However, the name was changed several weeks later to the Institute for Colored Youth (ICY). In subsequent years, the university was renamed Cheyney Training School for Teachers (July 1914), Cheyney State Teacher’s College (1951), Cheyney State College (1959), and eventually Cheyney Univ. of Pennsylvania (1983).
(www.cheyney.edu/pages/index.asp?p=428)
1838 Jul 11, John Wanamaker (d.1922), US merchant who founded a chain of stores in Philadelphia, was born.
(HN, 7/11/98)(ON, 12/05, p.6)
1839 Feb 24, A steam shovel was patented by William Otis, Philadelphia.
(MC, 2/24/02)
1839 Dec 4, The Whig Party opened a national convention in Harrisburg, Pa., where delegates nominated William Henry Harrison for president. Soon after the Whigs constructed a 10-foot ball of twine, wood and tin, covered with Whig slogans, and rolled it from Cleveland to Columbus, Ohio, and across the country. This was later deemed the first modern presidential and led to the expression "Keep the ball rolling."
(AP, 12/4/99)(SSFC, 1/11/04, p.D6)(Econ, 12/5/15, p.35)
1840 Apr 2, The Association of American Geologists held its first meeting in Philadelphia.
(www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/society/history/1840aagn.html)
1840 A US no-bail-out policy forced some state into default. Several US states had loaded up on unsustainable debt following an extended period of easy credit. These states consequently found payments on their existing bonds increasingly unaffordable. Between 1841 and 1843 Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Pennsylvania and one territory – a proto-state called Florida – defaulted.
(Econ, 2/11/12, p.57)(http://tinyurl.com/6pgf4wq)
1840s The Chain Gang, the earliest Mummers club, was formed in Philadelphia.
(SFC, 12/31/00, p.A10)
1841 Dentist Joseph Wilson authored “Sketches of the Higher Classes of Coloured Society in Philadelphia."
(Econ, 8/6/16, p.67)
1841 In Philadelphia Volney B. Palmer began the first advertising agency. He sold newspaper space to out-of-town advertisers.
(SFC, 7/5/97, p.E3)
1841 The Bartleson-Bidwell Party made the trek to California. John Bidwell was on the 1st wagon train over the Sierra Nevada and later founded Chico. Also in the group was Paul Geddes, who had robbed a bank in Philadelphia, and renamed himself Talbot Green. His true ID was exposed in 1850 as he was about to run for mayor of SF.
(SFC, 12/7/02, p.E4)(SSFC, 9/24/06, p.B3)(SFC, 6/14/14, p.C2)(SFC, 2/6/21, p.B2)
1844 May 22, Mary Cassatt, impressionist painter, was born in Alleghany City (later Pittsburgh). [see May 22, 1845]
(HFA, ‘96, p.30)(AHD, p.209)(HN, 5/22/98)(WSJ, 11/5/98, p.A20)
1845 Apr 10, Over 1,000 buildings were damaged by fire in Pittsburgh, Pa.
(MC, 4/10/02)
1845 May 22, Mary Cassatt (d.1926), American impressionist painter and printmaker, was born in Alleghany, Pa. Much of Cassatt’s early life was spent in Europe with her wealthy family. She attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from 1861 to 1865 and worked briefly with Charles Joshua Chaplin in Paris, but preferred working her own way and copying old masters. She was a close friend of and greatly influenced by Edgar Degas. He admired her entry in the Salon of 1874, and at his invitation she joined the Impressionists and afterward showed her works at their exhibits. Degas’ influence is apparent in Cassatt’s mastery of drawing and in her unposed, asymmetrical compositions. Initially, Cassatt was a figure painter whose subjects were groups of women drinking tea or on outings with friends. After the great exhibition of Japanese prints held in Paris in 1890, she brought out her series of 10 colored prints, such as "Woman Bathing," and "The Coiffure," in which the influence of the Japanese masters Utamaro and Toyokuni is apparent. Cassatt urged her wealthy American friends and relatives to buy Impressionist paintings, and in this way, more than through her own works, she exerted a lasting influence on American taste. She was largely responsible for selecting the works that make up the H.O. Havemeyer Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
(HFA, ‘96, p.30)(AHD, p.209)(FAMSF, Mar, 98)
1846 Feb 23, The Liberty Bell in Philadelphia tolled for the last time, to mark George Washington’s birthday. A hairline fracture had developed since 1817 and a failed attempt to repair it resulted in the crack. In 2010 Tristram Riley-Smith authored “"The Cracked Bell: American and the Afflictions of Liberty."
(HN, 2/23/98)(SFEC, 8/16/98, p.T5)(Econ, 1/30/10, p.93)
1847 May 7, The American Medical Association was founded in Philadelphia.
(AP, 5/7/97) (HN, 5/7/98)
1847 Sep 11, Stephen Foster’s "Oh! Susanna" was first performed in a saloon in Pittsburgh.
(HN, 9/11/00)
1848 Oct 16, The 1st US homeopathic medical college opened in Pennsylvania.
(MC, 10/16/01)
1849 Dec 19, Henry Clay Frick (d.1919), coal and steel magnate, was born in West Overton, Penn.
(www.netstate.com/states/peop/people/pa_hcf.htm)
1850 Mar 11, The Pennsylvania legislature passed an act to incorporate the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, the first regular medical school for women in America.
(http://homeoint.org/cazalet/histo/pennsylvfem.htm)
1850 Oct 12, The 1st women's medical school, the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, opened to students.
(http://homeoint.org/cazalet/histo/pennsylvfem.htm)
1850 Oct, Paul Geddes, who had robbed a bank in Philadelphia and renamed himself Talbot H. Green in California, was exposed as he was about to run for mayor of SF.
(https://goldfieldsbooks.com/2017/05/16/the-sensational-saga-of-talbot-h-green/)
1850-1859 The Lehigh Valley town of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, became an iron-making center in the 1850s thanks to discoveries of coal and iron ore nearby.
(WSJ, 10/8/08, p.A15)
1851 Sep 11, Edward Gorsuch, a wealthy slave owner from Maryland, confronted William Parker and accused him of harboring 4 runaway slaves near the abolitionist town, Christiana, Pennsylvania. This was one year after the second fugitive slave law (first law was on February 12, 1793) was passed by Congress, requiring the return of all escaped slaves to their owners in the South. Gorsuch was killed during the skirmish and Parker was forced to flee to Canada.
(AH, 10/02, p.49)
1851 Dec 11, In Philadelphia 37 men, on trial in federal court for defying the Fugitive Slave Law, were deemed not guilty by a jury with 15 minutes of deliberation.
(AH, 10/02, p.54)
1851 In Pennsylvania Bernard Lauth, founded the American Iron Company. The firm of Jones and Lauth was founded in 1852 by B. F. Jones a few miles (~4 km) south of Pittsburgh along the Monongahela River. Lauth's interest was bought in 1854 by James H. Laughlin.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jones_and_Laughlin_Steel_Company)
1852 Feb 16, Charles Taze Russell (d.1916) was born in Pittsburgh. In 1872 Russell abandoned the Adventist movement and formed the International Bible Students Association, which was later named Jehovah’s Witnesses (1931).
(www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/302393/Jehovahs-Witness)(AH, 4/07, p.30)
1852 John Neumann, Catholic missionary, became the bishop of Philadelphia. he was later made a saint.
(SFEC, 9/14/97, p.A18)
1853 Keebler Foods was founded in Philadelphia. It was acquired by Kellogg in 2001.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keebler_Company)(AP, 4/1/19)
1855 Jul 18, In Philadelphia William Still, a leader in the Underground Railroad, liberated Jane Johnson and her 2 sons from Col. John H. Wheeler, the recently appointed US Minister to Nicaragua. Still was tried and acquitted. "The Underground Railroad" by William Still was published in 1871.
(ON, 10/01, p.5)
1855 Organic chemist Benjamin Stillman laid the foundations for the Pennsylvania oil rush by his discovery that petroleum could be distilled into lubricants and kerosene for cooking and illumination. Suddenly there was a use for the crude oil that seeped to the surface, annoying farmers by ruining the land and polluting the water supply.
(HNPD, 10/4/98)
1856 Jun 17, In Philadelphia, the Republican Party opened its first national convention. John C. Fremont (1830-1890), American explorer, was the 1st Republican presidential candidate. His platform pledged to end polygamy and slavery. He lost to James Buchanan by about 500,000 votes. Fremont went on to serve as territorial governor of Arizona from 1878 to 1883. In 2003 Lewis L. Gould authored "Grand Old Party: A History of the Republicans."
(AP, 6/17/97)(HN, 6/17/98)(SFEC, 2/13/00, BR p.5)(HNQ, 3/11/00)(WSJ, 9/7/01, p.W17)(SSFC, 11/23/03, p.M1)
1856-1930 Henry Chapman Mercer, archeologist and collector. He designed and constructed the Mercer Museum in Doylestown.
(AH, 4/01, p.18)
1857 Jan 6, Patent for reducing zinc ore was granted to Samuel Wetherill in Penn.
(MC, 1/6/02)
1857 Sep 13, Milton S. Hershey, chocolate manufacturer and philanthropist, was born in Dauphin County, Pa.
(www.hersheys.com/about/milton.shtml)(AP, 9/13/07)
1857 Nov 5, Ida M. Tarbell (d.1944), muckraking journalist, was born in Erie County, Pa.
(AP, 11/5/07)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_Tarbell)
1858 Mar 23, Eleazer A. Gardner of Philadelphia patented the cable street car, which ran on overhead cables.
(HN, 3/23/98)
1858 Mar 30, Hyman L. Lipman of Philadelphia patented the pencil.
(HN, 3/30/98)
1858 The Market Square Presbyterian Church was built in Harrisburg.
(SSFC, 4/13/03, p.D6)
1859 Mar 21, Zoological Society of Philadelphia, the 1st in US, was incorporated.
(MC, 3/21/02)
1859 Aug 27-28, The US oil business was born in Titusville, Pa. Former army officer Colonel Edwin L. Drake drilled the first oil well in Titusville, Pa., striking oil at 70 feet and setting off a wild scramble for wealth similar to the California gold rush of 1849. The land belonged to the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company. Until that time, the company had simply collected oil that seeped out of the ground. Drake's plan was to produce it in large quantities for use in heating and illumination. Overnight oil fields sprang up in Pennsylvania but competition, disorganization and oversupply kept oil prices low. It was not until John D. Rockefeller and the Standard Oil Company came onto the scene in 1870 that the petroleum industry developed into a vastly profitable, although much hated, monopoly.
(HFA, '96, p.36)(AP, 8/27/97)(HNPD, 10/4/98)(WSJ, 10/4/96, p.A9)(HNQ, 2//99)
1860 Jul 14, Owen Wister (d.1938), novelist, was born in Germantown, Pa. His 1902 novel "The Virginian" inspired 5 films.
(HN, 7/14/01)(SFC, 1/9/02, p.D8)(AH, 10/02, p.18)
1860 William McGillin began opened McGillin’s Olde Ale House in Philadelphia. In 2009 it celebrated its sesquicentennial.
(SFC, 8/5/09, p.A4)
1860 John and Frank Wyeth established a drugstore in Philadelphia. It grew to become Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories in 1926 and was later acquired by American Home Products.
(SFC, 1/21/98, p.B2)
1860 John Neumann, the 4th Bishop of Philadelphia, died. He was later made the patron saint of the Mummers.
(SFC, 12/31/00, p.A10)
1861 Feb 5, The kinematoscope was patented by Coleman Sellers in Philadelphia.
(MC, 2/5/02)
1861 William Wrigley, Jr., was born in Philadelphia. He began his business career by selling soap manufactured by his father. In 1891, Wrigley moved to Chicago where he founded and became president of Wm. Wrigley, Jr. Company, manufacturers of chewing gum, earning him the money to acquire the Chicago Cubs and to build Wrigley‘s Stadium. Wrigley is especially noted for his effective advertising techniques.
(AP, 4/9/00)
1861 James Buchanan, 15th President of the United States, retired to Wheatland, his Pennsylvania home, on the eve of the American Civil War. Attracted to the privacy, quiet and beauty of its rural location, Buchanan bought the 22-acre property in 1848 while he was finishing out his term as secretary of state under President James Polk. The Federal-style house was built in 1828 for William Jenkins, a wealthy lawyer and banker who named his estate "The Wheatlands" because of its setting among wheat fields.
(HNQ, 4/15/01)
1861 The Bassett family became making ice cream in Philadelphia. The ice cream was later called Bassetts and considered by some to be the best in the world.
(WSJ, 8/1/00, p.A24)
1861 In Philadelphia John Wanamaker (1838-1922) and Nathan Brown (d.1868) purchased a 6-story men’s clothing store called McNeill’s Folly and renamed it the Oak Hall Clothing Bazaar.
(ON, 12/05, p.4)
1861 John Wallace Cowden founded the Cowden pottery in Harrisburg, Pa. It became Cowden & Son from 1888-1904.
(SFC, 3/29/06, p.G6)
1862 Feb 26, Cornelius Felton (b.1807), president of Harvard Univ., died in Chester, Pen., after 2 years in office.
(WSJ, 2/21/06, p.A3)(www.nndb.com/people/711/000107390/)
1862 May 18, William High Keim (b.1813), US Union Brigadier-General, died in camp of fever in Harrisburg, Pa.
(SC, 5/18/02)(http://home.ptd.net/~nikki/usagen3.htm)
1862 A dam across the South Fork Creek, a tributary of the Little Conemaugh River, collapsed and damaged some property in Johnstown.
(ON, 12/99, p.9)
1863 Jun 26, Jubal Early and his Confederate forces moved into Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
(HN, 6/26/98)
1863 Jun 28, General Meade replaced General Hooker three days before the Battle of Gettysburg.
(HN, 6/28/98)
1863 Jun 28, Officers of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia’s Second Corps were looking at Harrisburg through field glasses from across the Susquehanna River just a day or two before a developing battle at Gettysburg called them away. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the Keystone State’s capital was a major hub for rail traffic from every direction. Consequently, it was also the point through which the hard, slow-burning coal used by ships, locomotives, and furnaces traveled on its way from the mines of north central Pennsylvania to military and industrial customers. Philadelphia, an important ocean port east of Harrisburg and connected to it by rail, would have been virtually defenseless against an attack from its landward side. If Lee had taken Harrisburg, he would also have been perfectly positioned to threaten Washington, D.C., from the north.
(HNQ, 3/5/02)
1863 Jun 29, Lee ordered his forces to concentrate near Gettysburg, PN.
(MC, 6/29/02)
1863 Jun 30, Union and Confederate cavalries clashed at Hanover, Pennsylvania.
(HN, 6/30/98)
1863 Jun, A Civil War-era shipment of Union gold was either lost or stolen on its way to the US Mint in Philadelphia. In 2018 an FBI excavation searched for the lost gold after a father-and-son duo, Dennis and Kem Parada, provided a tip-off to the federal agency. The FBI claimed nothing was found at an area called Dent’s Run, northeast of Pittsburgh.
(https://tomrizzo.com/the-hunt-for-lost-civil-war-gold/)(The Independent, 3/9/21)
1863 Jul 1, The opening shot at the Battle of Gettysburg was at 7:30 a.m. In the first day's fighting at Gettysburg, Federal forces retreated through the town and dug in at Cemetery Ridge and Cemetery Hill. Gen. Robert E. Lee's ordered Lt. Gen. Richard Ewell, "Take the hill if practicable, but do not bring on a general engagement..." Books on the campaign included "The Gettysburg Campaign, A Study in Command," by Edwin B. Coddington and "Gettysburg: Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill," by Harry W. Pfanz. The novel "While Gods and Generals" by Jeff Shaara, son of Michael Shaara, describes the years leading up to the battle.
(HFA, '96, p.32)(AP, 7/1/97)(SFEC, 6/21/98, p.D5)(HN, 7/1/98)
1863 Jul 1, John Fulton Reynolds (42), Union general, died in battle at Gettysburg.
(MC, 7/1/02)
1863 Jul 1-3, From the opening shot at 7:30 a.m. on July 1, 1863, to 4 p.m. on July 3, when the last rebel assault was repulsed, the Union and Confederate armies suffered an estimated 50,000 casualties in the Battle of Gettysburg. It was the bloodiest battle the country had yet seen. Upon whom the responsibility for the South's failure at Gettysburg rests has been widely debated, but five months after the epic battle, Confederate General Robert E. Lee admitted, "I thought my men were invincible." The fighting in the small Pennsylvania town marked a pivotal point in the Union's ascent to victory and helped decide the outcome of the Civil War.
(HNPD, 7/6/98)
1863 Jul 2, The Union left flank held at Little Round Top during 2nd day of the Battle of Gettysburg. Union Gen. Daniel Sickles was severely wounded and had his leg amputated. In 2002 Thomas Keneally authored "American Scoundrel: The Life of the Notorious Civil War General Dan Sickles."
(WSJ, 3/29/02, p.W10)(SFC, 4/17/02, p.D1)(AH, 2/05, p.49)
1863 Jul 3, The Civil War's Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania ended after three days in a major victory for the North as Confederate troops retreated. The last Confederate assault at Gettysburg was Pickett’s Charge against the center of the Union line that left some 7,000 of 13,000 [15,000] Confederate troops dead. Lt. Gen. James Longstreet gave Maj. Gen. George Pickett the assent. General Lee took responsibility. In 1974 Michael Shaara published "The Killer Angels," a novel about the 3-day battle.
(SFC, 7/7/96, T6)(SFC,2/17/97, p.A3)(AP, 7/3/97)(SFEC, 6/21/98, p.D5)(HN, 7/3/98)(WSJ, 9/11/98, p.W10)
1863 Jul 4, General Lee’s army limped toward Virginia after defeat at Gettysburg. 28,063 of 75,000 confederate soldiers were lost. General Meade’s army suffered 23,049 soldiers killed, wounded and missing.
(SFC, 7/7/96, T6)
1863 Jul 4, Paul Joseph Revere, US grandson of Paul Revere, Union brig-gen, died from wounds at Gettysburg.
(MC, 7/4/02)
1863 Jul 6, Vincent Strong (b.1837), US Union brig-general, died from wounds at Gettysburg.
(MC, 6/17/02)(MC, 7/6/02)
1863 Nov 19, President Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address as he dedicated a national cemetery at the site of the Civil War battlefield in Pennsylvania. Lincoln had been asked to deliver a few "appropriate remarks" to the crowd at the dedication of the National Cemetery at the site of the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. His address was almost ignored in the wake of the lengthy oration by main speaker Edwin Everett, the former governor of Massachusetts. In fact, Lincoln's speech was over before many in the crowd were even aware that he was speaking. Lincoln concluded his speech with this vow: "We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
(http://condor.stcloudstate.edu/~brixr01/theTIMEMACHINE.html)(AP, 11/19/97)(ON, 8/07, p.1)
1863 Nov, In Pennsylvania the Harrisburg Patriot and Union newspaper described Pres. Lincoln’s speech at Gettysburg as “silly remarks" that deserved a “veil of oblivion." In 2013 the Patriot-News of Harrisburg retracted the editorial penned by its predecessor.
(SFC, 11/15/13, p.A7)
1863 The Mütter Museum was founded as part of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia was an educational service for practicing physicians.
(NW, 11/18/02, p.14)
1863 A locomotive named the Gov. Stanford was built by Richard Norris & Son in Philadelphia and shipped around Cape Horn to California by schooner. It hauled the Central Pacific’s 1st freight and passenger trains and later was made a centerpiece at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento.
(SSFC, 8/8/04, p.D5)(SSFC, 2/9/14, p.P2)
1864 Jul 30, Gen. Jubal Early ordered Confederate troops to attack Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. The town was burned by Confederate forces under Gen. McCausland (1836-1927).
(ON, 10/20/11, p.11)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCausland)
1865 Daniel C. Ripley founded a lamp manufacturing firm in Pittsburgh, Pa. the following year he joined with 5 partners to form Ripley & Co. Ripley was granted a patent in 1868 for a glass oil lamp. The company merged with others in 1891 to form the U.S. Glass Co. of Pittsburgh.
(SFC, 12/14/05, p.G4)(SFC, 4/4/07, p.G2)
1865-1877 In eastern Pennsylvania the Molly McGuires, a secret society of Irish miners, waged a war with arson, murders and beatings, on coal-mine owners.
(WSJ, 10/7/97, p.A20)
1868 Aug 11, Thaddeus Stevens (1792-1868), Pennsylvania Republican and architect of Radical Reconstruction, died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaddeus_Stevens)
1869 Jun 9, Charles Elmer Hires sold his 1st root beer in Phila.
(MC, 6/9/02)
1869 Sep 6, 110 miners, a number of them young boys, were killed in coal mine disaster which occurred early in the morning in Avondale, Pennsylvania, when a fire broke out in a mineshaft, cutting off the miners' escape route and their only source of air.
(MC, 9/6/01)
1869 The first Lithuanian community was established in Danville, Pennsylvania.
http://w3.arobas.net/~simunye/coalmine.html
1869 Henry J. Heinz partnered with L.C. Noble to form Heinz & Noble in Sharpsburg, Pa., selling fruit and vegetable preserves. They produced tomato and walnut ketchup for 24 cents per gallon and sold them from whiskey barrels.
(SFC, 8/27/03, p.E4)(www.hfp.heinz.org/aboutus/heinzhistory.html)
1870 Feb 5, The 1st motion picture was shown to a theater audience in Philadelphia.
(MC, 2/5/02)
1870 Mar 21, The grave of Ellen Shannon in Girard, Pennsylvania reads: Ellen Shannon, Who was fatally burned March 21, 1870 by the explosion of a lamp filled with "R.E. Danforth’s Non-Explosive Burning Fluid."
(e-mail, Riddiough, 5/16/99)
1870 Harry "the Sundance Kid" Longabaugh was born in Lancaster County.
(MesWP)
1870-1882 Alexander Conrad was a stoneware manufacturer in southwestern Pennsylvania during this time.
(SFC, 4/15/98, Z1 p.6)
1871 The construction of City Hall in Philadelphia began.
(SFEC, 8/16/98, p.T1)
1871 The Red Star Line, an ocean passenger line, was founded as a joint venture between the International Navigation Company of Philadelphia, which also ran the American Line, and the Société Anonyme de Navigation Belgo-Américaine of Antwerp, Belgium.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Star_Line)(SSFC, 4/21/13, p.H4)
1871 The Knights of Labor organization was started as a secret order at a meeting of tailors called by Uriah Stephens in Philadelphia. The Knights of Labor was organized on a national basis in 1878. It was an industrial union open to all gainfully employed skilled or unskilled workers and headed by a General Assembly. By 1886 there were 5,892 local assemblies and more than 700,000 members. Among other reforms, the Knights supported an 8-hour day, graduated income tax, boycotts, arbitration, and consumer and producer cooperatives. The organization began to decline after 1886. [other sources give 1869 as the founding year.]
(HNQ, 9/5/99)
1872 Aug 1, The first long-distance gas pipeline in the U.S. was completed. Designed for natural gas, the two-inch pipe ran five miles from Newton Wells to Titusville, Pennsylvania.
(HN, 8/1/00)
1872 The International Bible Students Association was founded in Pittsburgh by Charles Taze Russell. During the 1870s, Charles Taze Russell established himself as an independent and controversial Adventist teacher. Russell was succeeded as president in 1917 by Joseph Franklin Rutherford (Judge Rutherford; 1869–1942), who changed the group’s name to Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1931 to emphasize its members’ belief that Jehovah, or Yahweh, is the true God and that the Witnesses were his specially chosen followers.
(AH, 4/07, p.30)(www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/302393/Jehovahs-Witness)
1874 Feb 3, Gertrude Stein (d.1946), poet and novelist, was born in Pittsburgh, Pa. Her older brother, Michael, managed the family business, which included San Francisco's Market Street railway line. Her parents were Daniel and Milly. The family returned to America from Europe in 1878, and settled in Oakland, California, where Gertrude attended First Hebrew Congregation of Oakland's Sabbath school. Her relationship with her brother, Leo (1872-1947), abruptly ended in 1914. Her work included "Three Lives," "G.M.P." and "Tender Buttons." Stein coined the term "Lost Generation" in reference to the disillusioned intellectuals and aesthetes of the post-World War I years. The 40-year relationship between Gertrude and Leo is told by Brenda Wineapple in "Sister Brother, Gertrude and Leo Stein." "Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense." "It is awfully important to know what is and what is not your business."
(SFEC, 8/11/96, DB, p.10)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Stein)(AP, 12/27/97)(AP, 9/3/98)
1874 Jun 25, Rose Cecil O’Neill (d.1944), illustrator, writer and creator of the Kewpie doll, was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
(AH, 2/05, p.24)(www.britannica.com/ebi/article?tocId=9331987)
1874 Jul 1, The 1st US zoo opened in Philadelphia.
(MC, 7/1/02)
1875 Nov 16, William Bonwill (1833-1899), a Philadelphia dentist, provided specifications for a patent for an electrical tooth-filling Instrument, a dental mallet to impact gold into cavities. The patent application was filed in 1873 and accepted in 1888.
(www.todayinsci.com/Events/Patent/DentalMallet170045.htm)
1875 John Wanamaker purchased an abandoned railroad depot in Philadelphia and converted it into a large store, called John Wanamaker & Co. "The Grand Depot". Wanamaker's is considered the first department store in the city.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wanamaker)
1876 Mar 12, In Philadelphia the first department store, The Grand Depot, opened. John Wanamaker turned an abandoned railway depot into one of the world’s 1st department stores.
(https://tinyurl.com/y88twtou)(HN, 3/12/98)
1876 May 10, Centennial Fair opened in Philadelphia. Centennial Hall was built in Philadelphia, Pa., to commemorate the country’s 100th birthday. The US Centennial Exhibition was a world’s fair celebrating the founding of the US and drew over 9.9 million people. The US population at this time was 46 million.
(Hem, 6/96, p.108)(SFC,12/10/97, Z1 p.9)(MC, 5/10/02)
1876 Jun 5, Bananas became popular in US following the Centennial Exposition in Phila.
(MC, 6/5/02)
1876 Jun 26, Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated his telephone at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia.
(SFC, 2/3/97, p.D1)
1876 Dec 6, The 1st US crematorium began operation in Washington, Penn.
(MC, 12/6/01)
1876 Edward Mitchell Bannister, African-American artist, won a 1st place prize at the Centennial Exposition, but was turned away from the exhibition hall when he went to collect his medal.
(WSJ, 8/8/00, p.A20)
1876 In the US the Workingmen’s Party of the United States (WPUS) was founded in Philadelphia, Pa. In 1878 it reformed as the Socialist Labor Party.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workingmen%27s_Party_of_the_United_States)
1876 The high-wheel bicycle was introduced in the US at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia.
(ON, 2/10, p.3)
1878 Mar 20, Thomas Fisher, an alleged member of the Molly McGuires, was hung at the Carbon County Prison of Mauch Chunk, Pa. He had been convicted of the murder of Morgan Powell, a supervisor for the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company. Fisher insisted up to his death on his innocence.
(HT, 4/97, p.20)
1878 Jul 3, John Wise flew the first dirigible in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
(HN, 7/3/98)
1878 Dec 26, The 1st US store to install electric lights was in Philadelphia.
(MC, 12/26/01)
1878 The Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) painting "The Gross Clinic" was bought for $200 by Thomas Jefferson University, a medical and health sciences school in Philadelphia. In 2006 The National Gallery of Art agreed to buy the painting for a record $68 million, however the deal was matched by local institutions and the painting remained in Philadelphia.
(AP, 11/11/06)(WSJ, 12/26/06, p.D8)
1879 Apr 9, W.C. Fields (Claude William Dukinfield [Dukenfield]), comedian, was born in Philadelphia. He began his career as a vaudeville juggler, appeared on Broadway and in motion pictures. [see Jan 29, 1880]
(HN, 4/9/98)(HNQ, 9/30/01)
1879 Jun 21, F.W. Woolworth opened his 1st store. It failed almost immediately. Frank Woolworth added 10-cent items to the Great 5-Cent Store in Lancaster, Pa., and created Woolworth’s five-and-ten. This was his 2nd attempt after a failure in Utica. He took in $127 during his first day of business.
(WSJ, 9/26/96, p.B1)(SFC,10/20/97, p.B2)(MC, 6/21/02)
1879 In downtown Philadelphia the Provident Life and Trust Building was completed. It was designed by Frank Furness (1839-1912).
(WS, 6/26/01, p.A21)
1879 Lt. Col. Richard Henry Pratt persuaded Washington to hand over the mothballed Carlisle military barracks in Pennsylvania for use as a school for American Indians. In the early 20th century the school became a football powerhouse, beating Army in 1912. In 1918 the school was turned into a hospital to receive soldiers wounded in WW I.
(WSJ, 1/7/07, p.P9)
1880 Jan 6, Tom Mix, silent screen cowboy actor (Dick Turpin), was born in Mix Run, Pa.
(MC, 1/6/02)
1880 Jan 29, W.C. Fields, comedian and actor, was born as Claude William Dukinfield [Dukenfield]. His films included David Copperfield and My Little Chickadee. [see Apr 9 1879]
(HN, 1/29/99)
1880 Jun 18, John Sutter (b.1803), Swiss-born California settler (gold discovered on his land), died in Lititz, Pa.
(SSFC, 4/13/03, p.D6)(MC, 6/18/02)
c1880-1920 In Philadelphia the Juvenile Aid Society was begun by the 15,000 Jews of German extraction to deal with the wave of some 200,000 East European Jews who arrived during this time.
(WSJ, 6/18/99, p.A20)
c1881 The Norristown State Hospital was established. It served the chronically mentally ill and the worst of the criminally insane.
(SFC, 6/19/99, p.A4)
1881 The South Fork Hunting and Fishing Club purchased the old damn site across a tributary of the Little Conemaugh River and rebuilt the old damn without the original sluice pipes. They blocked the spillway to prevent fish from escaping.
(ON, 12/99, p.9)
1881 The Wharton School was founded in Pennsylvania. In 2003 it was recognized as the oldest and best business school in the US.
(WSJ, 9/17/03, p.A1)
1883 Feb 23, American Anti-Vivisection Society was organized in Philadelphia.
(MC, 2/23/02)
1883 Haverford College was founded in Haverford, Pa., by Quakers.
(WSJ, 7/24/03, p.A1)
1884 French artist Paul Philippoteaux (1846-1923) and team of 20 created in Paris the massive Cyclorama painting titled “The Battle of Gettysburg." It was originally 377 feet in circumference. They then shipped it to the US, where it was first displayed in Boston. The US National Park Service acquired it in 1942. In 2008 a 5-year, $15 million restoration project was completed and it was reopened to the public at the Gettysburg National Military Park in Gettysburg, Pa.
(SSFC, 9/28/08, p.E2)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Philippoteaux)
1885 Mar, In Loganville, Pa., Dr. George E. Holtzapple (22) saved Fred Gable (16), who was suffering from pneumonia, by supplying the boy with pure oxygen. Oxygen therapy became the only effective treatment for pneumonia until antibiotics became available in the 1940s.
(ON, 4/07, p.10)
1885 The Cincinnati Stock Exchange was founded. It closed its trading floor in 1980 and became America's first fully computerized exchange. Bernard Madoff, a former chairman of the NASDAQ Stock Market and founder of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, was one of the few NASDAQ market-makers who competed with the New York Stock Exchange, by trading stocks listed on the Big Board. His broker/dealer firm did this through an electronic market that was operated at the Cincinnati Stock Exchange.
(http://tinyurl.com/58xb7g)
1885 Isaac Mayer Wise united pockets of Jewish immigrants and assembled 15 rabbis in Pittsburgh to articulate a platform for the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the Hebrew Union College, and the Central Conference of American Rabbis. The organization of Reform Judaism discussed the Mitzvot, the 613 commandments in the Torah, and accepted only the moral laws as binding.
(WSJ, 6/4/99, p.W15)
1885 Elizabeth Cochran (21) began to produce article for the Pittsburgh Dikspatch under the name “Nelie Bly." In 1887 she moved to NYC hoping to find work at the New York World.
(ON, 6/20/11, p.11)
1886 Feb 13, Painter Thomas Eakins resigned from the Philadelphia Academy of Art over controversial use of male nudes in a coed art class.
(MC, 2/13/02)
1887 Feb 2, People began gathering at Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pa., to witness the groundhog's search for its shadow.
(WSJ, 2/2/99, p.B1)
1887 Ford City, Pa., was founded by John B. Ford, head of the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. on the shore of the Allegheny River. Later some 47 acres of the factory grounds were fenced off due to contamination from arsenic left behind by decades of industrial glassmaking.
(WSJ, 8/12/97, p.B1)
1887 The Pennsylvania Railroad train station at Harrisburg opened.
(SSFC, 4/13/03, p.D6)
1887 Pennsylvania House was founded in Lewisburg, Pa., to make high-quality case furniture. In 2000 La-Z-Boy bought the company and in 2004 moved production to China.
(SFC, 6/4/08, p.G3)
1887 The Lanston Monotype Machine Company was founded by Tolbert Lanston in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Lanston had a patented mechanical method of punching out metal types from cold strips of metal which were set (hence typesetting) into a matrix for the printing press.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monotype_Imaging)(Econ, 6/28/14, p.52)
1888 Mar 6, William Bonwill of Philadelphia patented revolving-hammer mechanical dental pluggers, by which the plugging-tool is hit a rapid series I 5 of blows to impact the gold in the teeth.
(http://www.google.com/patents/US378920)
1888 Aug 7, The revolving door, the brainchild of Philadelphia inventor Theophilus Van Kannel (1841-1919), was patented. In 1889 he founded the Van Kannel Revolving Door Company.
(http://tinyurl.com/mdqrqxs)
1889 Jan 9, A tornado struck Brooklyn, NY, when Flatbush was farmland. A twister blew through what are now the neighborhoods of Carroll Gardens, Boerum Hill, Downtown, Fort Greene and Williamsburg, blowing roofs off houses and uprooting trees, but killing no one. 14 people were killed by the tornado in Pittsburg, Pa.
(http://tinyurl.com/349275)(http://tinyurl.com/395f4q)
1889 May 31, Johnstown, Pennsylvania was destroyed by a massive flood. The South Fork Dam across a tributary of the Little Conemaugh River collapsed under pressure from the rain-swollen Lake Conemaugh. Water slammed into Johnstown, Pa., 55 miles southeast of Pittsburgh and killed 2,209 people in a flood and related fire. Torrential rains had weakened the poorly constructed dam, located 14 miles upstream from the city. By the afternoon of May 31, after desperate efforts to shore up the earthen dam had failed, it broke and unleashed a 40-foot-high wave of water and debris into Johnstown with the force of Niagara Falls. Buildings and trees, along with animals and people--both dead and alive--piled up against the Pennsylvania Railroad Company's Stone Bridge. The mountain of debris then caught fire, trapping hundreds. More than 2,000 people lost their lives in the devastating Johnstown Flood. The South Fork Dam had been constructed to create Lake Conemaugh, a playground for the wealthy members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club. In 1959 Richard O'Connor published "Johnstown, the Day the Dam Broke." In 1968 David McCullough authored “The Johnstown Flood."
(SFC, 3/24/97, p.C2)(AP, 5/31/97)(HN, 5/31/98)(WSJ, 1/27/06, p.P8)
1889 Nov 16, George S. Kaufman, American playwright and screenwriter, was born in Pittsburgh, Pa. His plays included "Dinner at Eight," "You Can't Take it With You" and "The Man Who Came to Dinner."
(HN, 11/16/99)(MC, 11/16/01)
1889 Clara Barton and her Red Cross group spent 5 months helping victims of the Johnstown flood.
(SFC, 9/17/01, p.A6)
1890 Aug 27, Man Ray (d.1976) was born as Emmanuel Radinski in Philadelphia, Pa. A painter and photographer, he and Marcel Duchamp founded the Dadaism movement.
(Reuters, 8/28/01)
1890 The Westmoreland Glass Co. began making glass containers in Grapeville, Pa. Operations continued to 1984.
(SFC, 7/11/07, p.G4)
1891 Pennsylvania’s first free library was chartered.
(Econ, 2/14/09, p.40)
1892 Mar 3, 1st cattle tuberculosis test in US was made at Villa Nova, PA.
(SC, 3/3/02)
1892 In Pennsylvania the Reading Railroad station opened in Philadelphia. It later became the home of the Reading /Terminal Market.
(SSFC, 5/25/14, p.P4)
1892 Pennsylvania’s Mansfield Univ. played college football’s first night game.
(WSJ, 9/26/08, p.A1)
1892 Henry Clay Frick, partner of Andrew Carnegie, engineered a bloody clash with the labor union at the Pittsburgh Homestead Mill. 9-10 workers and 3 Pinkerton guards were killed and the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers union was crushed.
(SFEC,1/20/97, p.D1)(WSJ, 5/12/03, p.A6)
1893 Feb 28, Edward Acheson of Pennsylvania, patented an abrasive he named "carborundum."
(MC, 2/28/02)
1893 Jun 14, Philadelphia observed the first Flag Day.
(HN, 6/14/98)
1894 Apr 5, 11 strikers were killed in riot at Connellsville, Penn.
(MC, 4/5/02)
1894 May 11, Martha Graham, choreographer (Appalachian Spring), was born in Allegheny, Penn.
(MC, 5/11/02)
1894 Milton Hershey (1857-1945) founded Hershey Foods in Pennsylvania. He built an industrial town near where he was born and named it after himself.
(WSJ, 7/26/02, p.B1)(SSFC, 4/13/03, p.D1)(Econ, 3/24/07, p.18)
1895 Sep 3, The first professional American football game was played in Latrobe, Pennsylvania between the Latrobe Young Men’s Christian Association and the Jeannette Athletic Club. Latrobe wins 12-0.
(HN, 9/3/00)
1896 Feb 28, Philip Showalter Hench, physician (cortisone-Nobel), was born in Pittsburgh.
(MC, 2/28/02)
1896 May 7, Dr. Henry Howard Holmes (b.1860), serial killer, was hanged to death in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Born as Herman Webster Mudgett in Gilmantown, New Hampshire, to a devout Methodist family, Holmes spent much of his childhood torturing animals. He later graduated from the University of Michigan with a medical degree. Holmes financed his education with a series of insurance scams whereby he requested coverage for nonexistent people and then presented corpses as the insured. In 1886, Holmes moved to Chicago to work as a pharmacist. A few months later, he killed the elderly owner of the store but told everyone that the man had left him in charge. With a new series of cons, Holmes raised enough money to build a giant, elaborate home across from the store. The home, which Holmes called "The Castle," had secret passageways, fake walls, and trapdoors. Young women in the area, along with tourists who had come to see the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, and had rented out rooms in Holmes' castle, suddenly began disappearing. Medical schools purchased many human skeletons from Dr. Holmes during this period but never asked how he obtained the anatomy specimens. Holmes was finally caught after attempting to use another corpse, his assistant Benjamin Pitezel, in an insurance scam. He confessed, saying, "I was born with the devil in me. I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than a poet can help the inspiration to sing." Reportedly, authorities discovered the remains of over 200 victims on his property.
(www.thecrimeweb.com/hhholmes.htm)
1896 In Pennsylvania American Rabbi Joseph Krauskopf bought 118 acres of land about 25 miles north of Philadelphia. The National Farm School (later Delaware Valley College), open to all faiths, began the following year with 10 students. Krauskopf had met Leo Tolstoy on an 1894 trip to Russia, during which the author of "War and Peace" said US immigrants would be better off tilling soil than living in cramped industrial cities. In 2010 the Warwick Foundation of Bucks County gave the school an estimated $30 million in property and cash.
(AP, 11/7/10)
1897 Feb 2, Fire destroyed the Pennsylvania state capitol in Harrisburg. A new statehouse was dedicated on the same site nine years later.
(AP, 2/2/97)
1897 May 14, "Stars and Stripes Forever" by John Phillip Sousa was performed for the first time in Philadelphia.
(HN, 5/14/01)
1897 Sep 10, Police shot at striking mine workers in Pennsylvania and 20 people were killed.
(MC, 9/10/01)
1897 Sep 11, A strike by some 75,000 coal miners in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia ended after 10 weeks. Concessions included an eight-hour work day, semi-monthly pay, and the abolition of company stores (which were famous for over charging workers). The day before, about 20 miners were killed when sheriff's deputies opened fire on them in Pennsylvania.
(AP, 9/11/97)(MC, 9/11/01)
1899 W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963) published "The Philadelphia Negro," a sociological study of African Americans in Philadelphia.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Philadelphia_Negro)(Econ., 12/19/20, p.43)
1899 The Univ. of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology opened.
(WSJ, 5/7/03, p.D10)
1900 The construction of the rococo City Hall in Philadelphia was completed. The architect was John McArthur Jr.
(SFEC, 8/16/98, p.T1)
1900 In Philadelphia, Pa., the 8-million, 110-room Lynnewood Hall, home to the uber-wealthy Widener family, was completed. It came to be called "the last of the American Versailles." French landscape architect Jacques Greber designed the formal French gardens, which were graced by his brother Henri-Louis Greber's fountain of bronze and marble statuary. P.A.B. Widener's son, Joseph, died there in 1943 and the younger generation deemed the property too large to maintain. Much of the acreage was sold to developers and the opulent furnishings were auctioned. In 1952, the Rev. Carl McIntire of Collingswood, N.J., a controversial fundamentalist preacher, bought the property for $190,000 and established a Christian seminary. In 1993 New York physician Richard Sei-Oung Yoon, a former student of McIntire and one-time chancellor of the cash-strapped seminary, bought its mortgage for $1.6 million with plans of establishing his own church there.
(AP, 7/26/10)
1901 Jan 1, The 1st annual Mummers parade was held in Philadelphia.
(SFC, 12/31/00, p.A10)
1901 Feb 25, United States Steel Corp. was incorporated by J.P. Morgan Charles Schwab and Andrew Carnegie. Morgan combined Federal Steel and Carnegie Steel to form US Steel. It was the biggest corporate merger of the time. As president of US Steel Schwab acquired the Bethlehem Steel. In 1904 Schwab resigned his position at US Steel to run Bethlehem Steel.
(AP, 2/25/98)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R42)(WSJ, 5/12/03, p.A6)(WSJ, 10/8/08, p.A15)
1901 Jan 28, Byron Bancroft Johnson announced that the American League would play the 1901 baseball season as a major league and would not renew its membership in the National Agreement. The new league would include Baltimore and Washington, DC, recently abandoned by the National League. The league would also invade 4 cities where National League teams existed: Boston, Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia. The 8 charter teams included: the Baltimore Orioles, Boston Americans, Chicago White Stockings, Cleveland Blues, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Athletics, and Washington Senators.
(ON, 6/09, p.11)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_League)
1901 Jul 15, Over 74,000 Pittsburgh steel workers went on strike.
(HN, 7/15/98)
1901 The first US escalator, manufactured by the Otis Elevator Company, was installed in a Philadelphia office building. It was patented in 1859 and first displayed at the 1900 Paris Exposition.
(HN, 8/9/00)
1901 The Pittsburgh Lamp, Brass & Glass Co. (Pilabrasgo) began operations and continued to 1926.
(SFC, 2/21/07, p.G3)
1902 May 10, David O. Selznick, film producer (Gone with the Wind, Rebecca), was born in Pittsburgh, Pa.
(HN, 5/10/02)(MC, 5/10/02)
1902 May 12, Over 100,000 miners in northeastern Pennsylvania called a strike and kept the mines closed all summer. Owners refused arbitration and Pres. Roosevelt intervened. [see Oct 3]
(LCTH, 10/3/99)(SFC, 10/4/02, p.A17)
1902 Jun 9, The 1st Automat restaurant opened at 818 Chestnut Street, Phila.
(MC, 6/9/02)
1902 Oct 3, President Theodore Roosevelt met with miners and coal field operators in an attempt to settle the anthracite coal strike, then in its fifth month. The country relied on coal to power commerce and industry and anthracite or "hard coal" was essential for domestic heating. Pennsylvania miners had left the anthracite fields demanding wage increases, union recognition, and an eight-hour workday. As winter approached, public anxiety about fuel shortages and the rising cost of all coal pushed Roosevelt to take unprecedented action. The meeting failed to resolve differences. A presidential commission awarded the workers a 10% wage increase and a shorter work week. [see May 12] J.P. Morgan came up with a compromise proposal that provided for arbitration and the miners returned to work on Oct 23.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_strike_of_1902)(SFC, 10/4/02, p.A17)(AH, 2/03, p.48)
1902 Oct 25, Henry Steele Commanger, American historian, was born in Pittsburg, Pa. He wrote the fifty-five volume "Rise of the American Nation."
(HN, 10/25/98)(MC, 10/25/01)
1903 Oct 1, The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the home team Boston Pilgrims (Red Sox), 7-3, in the first World Series game. Boston, however, went on to win the series, five games to three.
(AP, 10/1/03)
1903 Oct 13, Boston defeated Pittsburgh in baseball’s first World Series. In 2003 Roger I. Abrams authored "The First World Series and the Baseball Fanatics of 1903;" Louis P. Masur authored "Autumn Glory: Baseball's First World Series;" and Bob Ryan authored "When Boston Won the World Series."
(WSJ, 7/8/96, p.A8)(HN, 10/13/98)(WSJ, 3/28/03, p.W9)(SSFC, 6/8/03, p.M6)
1903 The 1st trolley with an electric 3rd rail was installed in Scranton, Pa.
(SFEC, 9/26/99, p.B8)
1903 Andrew Carnegie donated $1.5 million for the construction of 2 dozen libraries in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
(Econ, 2/14/09, p.40)
1904 Jan 25, Two-hundred (179) coal miners were entombed in an explosion in Cheswick, Pennsylvania.
(HN, 1/25/99)(MC, 1/25/02)
1904 Feb 29, Jimmy Dorsey (d.1957), orchestra leader, was born in Shenandoah, Pa.
(HN, 2/29/00)(AP, 2/29/04)
1904 Dec 10, Charles M. Schwab incorporated a revamped Bethlehem Steel. As president of US Steel he had acquired the Pennsylvania steel maker in 1901. Schwab resigned his position at US Steel to run Bethlehem Steel. In 2008 Kenneth Warren authored “Bethlehem Steel: Builder and Arsenal of America."
(WSJ, 10/8/08, p.A15)
1905 Jan 31, John O'Hara, novelist (Appointment at Samarra), was born in Pottsville, Penn.
(SSFC, 8/31/03, p.M2)
1905 Jun 11, Pennsylvania Railroad debuted the fastest train in world (NY-Chicago in 18 hrs).
(SC, 6/11/02)
1905 Jun, In Pittsburgh, Penn., the world's 1st theater geared exclusively for motion pictures opened.
(SFC, 9/28/99, p.A27)
1905 Nov 19, Tommy Dorsey, band leader, was born in Shenandoah, Pa.
(AP, 11/19/05)
1905 Dec 7, Leonard H. Goldenson (d.1999), later chief of ABC broadcasting, was born in Scottdale.
(SFC, 12/28/99, p.B3)
1906 Apr 16, In Pennsylvania 3 men were shot dead in a riot among striking coal miners at Windber. An appeal was made to Gov. Pennypacker for troops.
(SFC, 4/17/06, p.A9)
1906 Jul 17, American playwright Clifford Odets was born in Philadelphia.
(AP, 7/18/06)
1906 Oct 22, 3000 blacks demonstrated and rioted in Philadelphia.
(MC, 10/22/01)
1906 Dec 27, Oscar Levant, American composer and actor, was born in Pittsburgh.
(AP, 12/27/06)
1906 The Capital building in Harrisburg, Pa., featured a dome modeled on St. Peter’s in Rome.
(SSFC, 4/13/03, p.D6)
1906 The John C. Bell building was completed in Philadelphia, Pa. It was later listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
(SFC, 1/13/14, p.A4)
1907 May, The idea of a day set apart every year to honor motherhood is credited to Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia, who, in 1907, suggested the wearing of carnations on the second Sunday in May to honor mothers. Her enthusiastic campaign for a nationwide observance attracted enough public support that President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation designating the second Sunday in May 1914 the first national Mother’s Day.
(HNPD, 5/9/00)
1907 Dec 19, A gas explosion killed 239 workers in a coal mine in Jacobs Creek, Pa.
(AP, 12/19/97)(MC, 12/19/01)
1907 Dec 23, The 1st all-steel passenger railroad coach was completed at Altoona, Pa.
(MC, 12/23/01)
1907 Dec 24, I.F. Stone (d.1989), American investigative journalist, was born in Philadelphia. "Those who nobly set out to be their brother's keeper sometimes end up by becoming his jailer. Every emancipation has in it the seeds of a new slavery, and every truth easily becomes a lie."
(AP, 10/17/99)(AP, 12/24/07)
1907 Milton Hershey, chocolate tycoon, opened Hershey Park, an admission-free amusement park in Hershey, Pa.
(SSFC, 4/13/03, p.D6)
1907 Clayton S. Reaser purchased a 5-year old Pennsylvania furniture company named Gettysburg Manufacturing Co. and renamed it Reaser Furniture Manufacturing Co.
(SFC, 1/10/07, p.G2)
1907 Charles B. Gillespie, physician and artist, died in Pennsylvania. He had traveled to California during the gold rush and made a number of sketches, including depictions of Sutter’s Mill, some of which he turned into paintings upon returning to Freeport in 1851. In 2008 119 pen-and-ink sketches and 5 oil paintings were put up for auction.
(SSFC, 11/23/08, p.B9)
1908 May 10, The first Mother’s Day observance took place during church services in Grafton, W.Va., and Philadelphia. In 1997 Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia first proposed the idea that all mothers wear a carnation on the 2nd Sunday of May.
(AP, 5/10/97)(SFC, 9/30/99, p.E5)
1908 May 20, Jimmy Stewart, actor, was born in Indiana, Pa. He is best remembered for his roles in "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington."
(WSJ, 5/20/97, p.A18)(HN, 5/20/99)(AP, 5/20/08)
1908 Nov 18, Imogene Coca d.2001), later co-star with Sid Caesar of the 1950s "Your Show of Shows" TV program, was born in Philadelphia.
(SSFC, 6/3/01, p.A29)(AP, 11/18/08)
1908 Nov 28, 154 men died in a coal mine explosion at Marianna, Pa.
(MC, 11/28/01)
1908 In Pennsylvania the Rotunda Building in Philadelphia opened as the Girard Trust. It was built as a replica of the Pantheon in Rome. In 2000 it was converted from a bank into a Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
(SSFC, 5/25/14, p.P4)
1908 The Univ. of Pittsburgh introduced the 1st football jerseys with numbers on the back.
(SFC, 10/1/99, p.B6)
1909 Nov 13, In Pennsylvania the Cherry Mine disaster killed 259 men and boys. In 2002 Karen Tintori authored “Trapped: The 1909 Cherry Mine Disaster."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1909_Cherry_Mine_disaster)(AH, 2/03, p.61)
1909 Dec 14, The Labor Conference in Pittsburgh ended with a "declaration of war" on U.S. Steel.
(HN, 12/14/98)
1909 Harry V. Warehime established Hanover Pretzel Company in Pennsylvania with a single recipe, Hanover Olde Tyme Pretzels.
(http://factorytoursusa.com/full.htm)
1909 In Hershey, Pennsylvania, Milton Hershey and his wife Catherine established the Milton Hershey School for the "maintenance, support and education of as many poor, white orphan boys as it could afford." The racial restriction ended in 1970. By 2002 the 1200-student school had an endowment of some $5.4 billion.
(WSJ, 8/12/99, p.A1)(SFC, 7/26/02, p.B3)
1909 The Pittsburgh Pirates, led by pitcher Honus Wagner, defeated the Detroit Tigers 4-3 in the World Series. This marked the last world series appearance by Ty Cobb.
(SFC, 10/2/99, p.A20)
1910 May 23, Franz Kline (d.1962), American painter of abstract expressionist style, was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
(www.guggenheimcollection.org/site/artist_bio_77.html)
1910 Aug 15, Hugo Winterhalter, composer, was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
(MC, 8/15/02)
1910 Nov 27, In NYC the Pennsylvania Railroad began service at Pennsylvania Station. It was begun under the direction of PRR president Alexander J. Cassatt (d.1906) and designed by the architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White. In 2007 Jill Jonnes authored “Conquering Gotham: A Gilded Age Epic: The Construction of Penn Station and its Tunnels." Penn Station was demolished in 1963.
(AP, 11/27/06)(Econ, 4/14/07, p.95)(SSFC, 7/8/07, p.M2)
1910 Dec 19, Rayon was 1st commercially produced by Marcus Hook in Penn.
(MC, 12/19/01)
1910 In Philadelphia John Wanamaker’s The Grand Depot department store, was replaced by a 250-foot tall, 12-story edifice known as Wanamaker’s.
(ON, 12/05, p.6)
1911 Oct, The Philadelphia Athletics, forerunners of the Oakland A’s, won the World Series, beating the New York Giants of the National League, today’s SF Giants.
(SMTS, 10/1/86, p.4)
1912 May 18, Richard Brooks, director (Blackboard Jungle, In Cold Blood), was born in Philadelphia, PA.
(SC, 5/18/02)
1912 Aug 23, Gene Kelly, dancer and actor who starred in "An American in Paris" and "Singing in the Rain," was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as Eugene Curan. Kelly debuted on Broadway in 1938 musical "Pal Joey" and in the film "For Me and My Gal" four years later
(HN, 8/23/98)(MC, 8/23/02)
1912 Nov 9, The football team of Pennsylvania’s Carlisle Indian School, with running back Jim Thorpe, defeated the Army team, with Dwight D. Eisenhower as linebacker, 27-6. In 2007 Sally Jenkins authored “The Real Americans: The Team That Changed a Game, a People, a Nation."
(WSJ, 1/7/07, p.P9)(www.footballfoundation.com/news.php?id=242)
1912 Engraver George T. Morgan is believed to have produced 5 Liberty Head V nickels at the Philadelphia Mint with a 1913 stamped date. In 2004 one sold for $3 million.
(WSJ, 5/20/04, p.C1)(SFC, 4/27/13, p.A4)
1912-1938 Leopold Stokowski was the music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
(Hem, 6/96, p.107)(WSJ, 2/11/99, p.A24)
1913 May 18, Perry Como (Pierino Roland Como, d. 2001), singer, was born in Canonsburg, Pa.
(SSFC, 5/13/01, p.A27)
1913 Dec 1, The first drive-in automobile service station, built by Gulf Refining Co., opened in Pittsburgh. [see Cincinnati in 1912]
(AP, 12/1/06)
1913 In Pennsylvania a fire at the Red Ash colliery ignited a coal mine. As of 2009 it was still burning and was the oldest of 36 ongoing mine fires.
(Econ, 3/14/09, p.34)
1914 Apr 19, Charles Sanders Peirce (b.1839), American polymath, philosopher and scientist, died in Milford, Pa. In 1883 he used randomization in a psychological experiment at Johns Hopkins Univ.
(www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Charles_Peirce)(Econ, 5/5/12, p.17)
1914 John Wanamaker (1838-1922), Philadelphia retailer and former US Postmaster General (188901893), dispatched 2,000 tons of food aid to Belgium.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wanamaker)(Econ., 5/9/20, p.21)
1915 Geisinger Health Systems was founded in Pennsylvania.
(Econ, 6/18/11, p.75)
1916 Jul 28, Laird Cregar, actor (Charley's Aunt, Hangover Square), was born in Phila.
(SC, 7/28/02)
1916 The Mercer Museum in Doylestown was completed by Henry Chapman Mercer (1856-1930), archeologist and collector.
(AH, 4/01, p.18)
1916 Charles Taze Russell (b.1852) died. He founded the International Bible Students Association. In the 1870’s Russell abandoned the Adventist movement and formed his own in Pennsylvania, which was later named Jehovah’s Witnesses. His early followers were called "Russellites."
(HN, 2/16/02)
1917 Apr 10, A munitions factory explosion at Eddystone, PA., killed 133 workers.
(MC, 4/10/02)
1917 Jul 12, Andrew Wyeth, painter who focused on the northeastern United States, was born in Chadds Ford, Pa. In 1998 Beth Venn and Adam Weinberg published "Unknown Terrain," a companion piece to a Whitney Museum exhibition of his art.
(HN, 7/12/98)(MC, 7/12/02)(www.wyethcenter.com)
1917 Sep 26, Australian Private Thomas Hurdis (26) was wounded in Belgium, and died on Oct. 3 in a US field hospital in France. His skull with a bullet lodged in bone between his eyes was later put on display at the Mutter Museum of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia. On July 20, 2018, the skull was buried in Hurdis' grave at the French Mont Huon Military Cemetery in Le Treport in a ceremony attended by Hurdis' family and Australian troops.
(AP, 7/21/18)
1917 Oct 22, Leopold Stokowski led Philadelphia Orchestra in its first recording.
(MC, 10/22/01)
1917 Theresa Bernstein, artist, helped found the Philadelphia Ten, a female art group. It was created in response to the Eight, a male-dominated group later called the Ashcan School.
(SFC, 3/1/01, p.E2)
1917 John G. Johnson, Philadelphia lawyer, died and left to the city a collection in his home of Renaissance art. Within 20 years the collection was taken over by the Pennsylvania Museum of Art.
(WSJ, 7/18/03, p.W18)
1918 May 18, A TNT explosion in chemical factory in Oakdale, PA, killed 200.
(SC, 5/18/02)
1918 Jul 25, A race riot in Chester, Pennsylvania, left 3 blacks and 2 whites dead.
(SC, 7/25/02)
1918 Sep 28, In Pennsylvania a parade to sell war bonds resulted in an epidemic of the “Spanish flu" that caused mass death in Philadelphia.
(https://tinyurl.com/yycfvbfj)
1918 Milton Hershey endowed the Milton Hershey School with $60 million in stock.
(WSJ, 8/12/99, p.A1)
1918 The influenza epidemic killed 11,000 people in Philadelphia.
(LSA, Fall/06, p.58)
1919 Feb 18, Jack Palance (d.2006), later film and TV star, was born as Volodymir Ivanovich Palahniuk in Latimer Mines, Pa.
(SFC, 11/11/06, p.B6)
1919 Nov 17, Hershy Kay, composer and arranger, was born Philadelphia, Penn.
(MC, 11/17/01)
1920 Jan 15, John J. "Cardinal" O'Connor, Roman Catholic Archbishop of NY, was born in Philadelphia.
(MC, 1/15/02)
1920 Nov 2, The first radio broadcast of presidential elections in the United States was made by radio. Westinghouse had built radio station KDKA on its factory roof in Pittsburgh and was among the first to broadcast returns from the Harding-Cox presidential election. 8MK, the first US station owned by a newspaper (the Detroit News), also broadcast the election returns.
(www.oldradio.com/current/the1st.htm)(WSJ, 1/12/98, p.A19)(HN, 11/2/98)(AP, 11/2/99)
1920 Nov 25, The 1st Thanksgiving Parade was held in Philadelphia.
(MC, 11/25/01)
1921 Jan 2, Religious services were first broadcast on radio when KDKA aired the regular Sunday service of Pittsburgh's Calvary Episcopal Church.
(AP, 1/2/00)
1921 Jan 31, Mario Lanza (d.1959), actor, singer (Great Caruso, Toast of New Orleans), was born in Philadelphia.
(MC, 1/31/02)
1921 Mar 6, Police in Sunbury, Penn., issued an edict requiring Women to wear skirts at least 4 inches below the knee.
(MC, 3/6/02)
1921 May 10, Nancy Walker, Bounty ads, actress (Rhoda, McMillan & Wife), was born in Philadelphia.
(MC, 5/10/02)
1921 Aug 5, The first radio broadcast of a baseball game took place in Pittsburgh.
(WSJ, 10/15/98, p.B8)
1921 Aug 20, Jacqueline Susann, author (Valley of the Dolls), was born in Phila., Pa.
(MC, 8/20/02)
1921 Aug 21, Nancy Kulp, actress (Jane-Beverly Hillbillies), was born in Harrisburg, Pa.
(SC, 8/21/02)
1921 Nov 3, Charles Bronson (d.2003), [Buchinsky], actor (Death Wish, Dirty Dozen), was born in Pennsylvania.
(SFC, 9/1/03, p.A2)
1921 Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia built Engine 2472. In 1975 it was acquired for the San Mateo Fairgrounds in California.
(SSCM, 12/2/01, p.15)
1922 Aug 26, The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs 26-23.
(SFEC, 7/25/99, Z1 p.2)
1922 Dec 12, John Wanamaker (b.1938), US merchant who founded a chain of stores in Philadelphia, died. He introduced department stores and price tags to the US and became the first modern advertiser when he bought ads in newspapers to promote his stores.
(http://tinyurl.com/ck74o)(Econ, 7/8/06, p.61)(Econ, 7/15/06, p.15)
1922 Mennonites from Canada and Pennsylvania fled persecution and settled near Chihuahua, Mexico.
(SFEC, 6/1/97, p.T3)(SFEC, 11/5/00, p.T4)
1923 Jul 10, Jean Kerr (d.2003), playwright and author, was born in Scranton, Pa. Her later books included "Please Don’t Eat the Daisies."
(SFC, 1/7/03, p.A22)
1924 In Philadelphia, Pa., the 18-story Philadelphia Inquirer building was completed as home for the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper.
(WSJ, 8/29/07, p.B1)
1925 Jun 25, Robert Venturi, architect (Levittown NY, Las Vegas), was born in Phila.
(MC, 6/25/02)
1925 Dr. Albert C. Barnes (1872-1951) built a mansion to house his collection of French impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces in Merion, Pennsylvania. The collection grew to some 2,500 objects and their setup and access was highly restricted by Dr. Barnes’ trust indenture. Barnes had made his fortune with a pediatric antibiotic called Argyrol. By 2000 his foundation was broke. In 2003 John Anderson authored ""Art Held Hostage," an account of the Barnes collection.
(WSJ, 11/28/95, p.A-12)(WSJ, 7/18/03, p.W18)
1925 The Pottsville Maroons beat the Chicago Cardinals for the NFL championship, but lost it on a technicality after they played a college all-star team in Philadelphia.
(Econ, 11/1/03, p.30)
1926 Sep 23, Gene Tunney (1897-1978), an ex-marine, defeated Jack Dempsey for the World Heavyweight Boxing championship in Philadelphia. Tunney defeated Dempsey again in a 1927 rematch and retired undefeated in 1928. In 2006 Jack Cavanaugh authored “Tunney: Boxing’s Brainiest Champ and His Upset of the Great Jack Dempsey."
(Smith., 5/95, p.12)(SFC, 10/19/99, p.A22)(WSJ, 11/17/06, p.W6)
1926 Oct 13, Ray Brown (d.2002), jazz bass player, was born in Pittsburgh.
(HN, 10/13/00)(SFC, 7/4/02, p.A21)
1927 Feb 2, Stan Getz, jazz saxophonist, was born in Philadelphia.
(SFC, 12/28/99, p.C4)
1927 Mar 11, The 1st armored commercial car hold-up in US took place in Pittsburgh.
(MC, 3/12/02)
1927 Sep 17, George Blanda, NFL kicker and quarterback (Bears, Oilers, Raiders), was born in Pennsylvania.
(MC, 9/17/01)
1927 Elsie Driggs created her painting "Pittsburgh."
(WSJ, 4/9/98, p.A21)
1928 Mar 20, Fred Rogers, television performer (Mr. Roger's Neighborhood), was born in Latrobe, Pa.
(HN, 3/20/01)
1928 May 19, "Firedamp" exploded in Mather, Pa. coal mine killing 195 of 273 miners.
(DT internet 5/19/97)
1928 Nov 2, L. Stokovski conducted the premiere of Dmitri Shostakovitch's 1st Symphony, in Phila.
(MC, 11/2/01)
1928 Andy Warhol (d.1987) was born in Pittsburgh. He went to school there and graduated from the Carnegie Institute of Technology.
(SFEC, 8/13/00, p.T11)
1928 Walter E. Diemer (23), an accountant for Fleer Chewing Gum in Philadelphia, began testing recipes for a gum base. He invented the first batch of bubble gum, making it pink because that was the only shade of food coloring on hand. It was sold under the Dubble Bubble name for a penny.
(SFC, 1/13/98, p.A19)(SFC, 8/2/99, p.A22)
1929 In Pennsylvania the Rodin Museum opened in Philadelphia. In 2012 it re-opened following a 3-year, $9 million restoration.
(SFC, 7/13/12, p.A8)
1929 Lefty O’Doul hit .398 becoming the National League batting champ of the Philadelphia Phillies. He went on to manage the San Francisco Seals and in 1958 opened Lefty’s, a bar in San Francisco.
(SFC, 3/5/96, p.C1)(SFC, 7/18/97, p.A9)(SSFC, 8/28/11, p.A2)
1930 Mar 17, James Benson Irwin, Col. USAF, astronaut (Apollo 15), was born in Pittsburgh, Penn.
(MC, 3/17/02)
1930 Jun 2, Charles Conrad (d.1999), astronaut, was born in Philadelphia. He walked on the moon during the Apollo XII mission in 1969.
(SFC, 7/9/99, p.A6)
1930 In Philadelphia, Pa., Pat’s King of Steak’s opened at Ninth and Passyunk Ave. They helped make famous the Philadelphia cheese steak sandwich.
(SSFC, 9/17/06, p.G5)
1930s Hubley Manufacturing of Lancaster, Pa., made cast-iron toys that later became valued as collectibles. The Arcade Manuf. Co. of Freeport, Ill., also made similar toys.
(SFC, 1/28/98, Z1 p.3)
1931 Jan 20, Gifford Pinchot (1865-1946) began serving a 2nd term as the 28th governor of Pennsylvania and continued to 1935. His first term was from 1923-1927. Following the of Prohibition in 1933, Pinchot kept restrictions on the sale of alcohol.
(Econ, 3/30/13, p.34)
1931 Apr 7, Donald Barthelme (d.1989), US writer, was born in Philadelphia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Barthelme)(WSJ, 2/21/09, p.W8)
1932 Apr 4, Vitamin C was 1st isolated by C.C. King at the Univ. of Pittsburgh.
(MC, 4/4/02)
1932 Jul 25, Paul J. Weitz, astronaut (Skylab 2, STS 6), was born in Erie, Pennsylvania.
(SC, 7/25/02)
1933 Mar 7, George Darrow added some copyrighted art work to the board game Monopoly and began selling it commercially in Philadelphia. He sold it to Parker Brothers in 1934. The game had originally been patented in 1904 as the Landlord’s Game by Elizabeth J. Magie. In Oct 1929 Ruth Hoskins brought a version to Atlantic City, refined the rules and street names. It was later introduced to George Darrow.
(http://richard_wilding.tripod.com/history.htm)(HN, 3/7/98)(WSJ, 2/3/05, p.W12)
1933 Mar 31, Shirley Jones, actress (Partridge Family, Elmer Gantry), was born in Smithton, Pa.
(MC, 3/31/02)
1933 May 7, Johnny Unitas (d.2002), the son of Lithuanian immigrants, was born in Pittsburgh, Pa. He became a NFL Quarterback for the Baltimore Colts and San Diego Chargers. He was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Unitas)
1933 Nov 7, Pennsylvania voters overturned blue law, by permitting Sunday sports.
(MC, 11/7/01)
1933 Dec 21, Dried human blood serum was 1st prepared at the Univ. of Pennsylvania.
(MC, 12/21/01)
1933 Hugh J. Ward author a rule book on Bingo. He had standardized the modern game at carnivals in and around the Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania areas in the early 1920's and went on to copyright the name.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bingo_%28U.S.%29)
1933 In Pennsylvania the Pymatuning Dam impounded the Pymatuning Reservoir. It was constructed to regulate the flow of the Shenango and Beaver rivers. The reservoir later became a major attraction for tourists, who came to feed the local carp.
(www.dnr.state.oh.us/parks/parks/pymatuning.htm)(WSJ, 6/16/07, p.A1)
1933 Milton Hershey, chocolate tycoon, opened Hotel Hershey in Hershey, Pa.
(SSFC, 4/13/03, p.D6)
1933 Art Rooney founded the Pittsburgh Pirates football team for $2,500.
(WSJ, 7/8/08, p.A17)
1934 Feb 17, 1st high school auto driving course was offered by State College, Penn.
(MC, 2/17/02)
1934 Jun 27, Anna Moffo, soprano (Lucia, Traviata), was born in Wayne, Penn.
(MC, 6/27/02)
1934 Aug 24, In Philadelphia, Pa., Philo T. Farnsworth (28), a San Francisco scientist, produced a televised picture of the moon, the first recorded use of television in astronomy.
(SSFC, 8/16/09, p.46)
1934 Pennsylvania passed legislation to limit alcohol consumption and protect the state's brewers from outside competition.
(WSJ, 3/23/04, p.B5)
1935 Feb 10, Pennsylvania RR began passenger service with new electric locomotive.
(MC, 2/10/02)
1935 Apr 21, Charles Grodin, actor, Woman in Red, Lonely Guy, Heartbreak Kid), was born in Pittsburgh.
(MC, 4/21/02)
1935 Dec 4, Some 1,200 at St Joseph's College, Philadelphia, enrolled in an anticommunism class.
(MC, 12/4/01)
1935 The Pittsburgh Crawfords were considered to have been the greatest Negro League baseball team of all time.
(SFEC, 4/12/98, p.T4)
1936 Jun 11, Presbyterian Church of America was founded at Philadelphia.
(SC, 6/11/02)
1936 Aug 21, Wilt Chamberlain (d.1999 at age 63), later basketball star, was born in Philadelphia. From 1952-1955 he led Overbrook High School to a 56-3 record.
(SFC, 10/13/99, p.D4)
1936 Aug, Pres. Franklin Delano Roosevelt accepted his re-nomination and gave his "rendezvous with destiny" speech in Philadelphia.
(SFEC, 7/30/00, p.C17)
1936 Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Fallingwater house near Mill Run in Western Pennsylvania. He was warned by structural engineers that there was not enough support for the cantilevered floors, but dismissed their warnings. Sag began immediately after construction and in 1997 steel support beams were added as a temporary measure. Edgar Kaufmann Jr. later published "Fallingwater, A Frank Lloyd Wright House."
(WSJ, 10/24/97, p.B18)(SFEC, 2/20/00, p.T10)
1936 Moses Annenberg bought the Philadelphia Enquirer, a reputed bible of Republican politics.
(SFC, 10/2/02, p.A2)
1936 A major flood hit Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania soon passed a 10% tax on alcohol in an emergency measure to help cover the flood damage. Repairs were completed in about 5 years, but the tax remained and was later increased twice to 15% and then 18%.
(WSJ, 6/29/99, p.A1)(WSJ, 8/15/08, p.A11)
1938 Jun 24, A 500 ton meteorite landed near Pittsburgh.
(MC, 6/24/02)
1938 Jul 4, 1st game at Shribe Park, Phila; Braves beat Phillies 10-5.
(Maggio)
1938 Jul 14, Owen Wister (b.1860), novelist, died. His 1902 novel "The Virginian" inspired 5 films. He had earlier begun a novel set in his native Philadelphia but stopped work on it when his wife died during childbirth on Aug 24, 1913.
(HN, 7/14/01)(SFC, 1/9/02, p.D8)
1938 Nov 8, Crystal Bird Fauset of Pa., became the first African American woman to be elected to a state legislature.
(HN, 11/6/98)
1938 Tennessee Williams wrote his play "Not About Nightingales." It was based on an incident in Pennsylvania's Philadelphia County prison, where 4 inmates died after 25 inmates, who threatened a hunger strike due to bad food, were locked in an isolation chamber with giant radiators pumping 200-degree heat.
(WSJ, 3/3/99, p.A17)
1938 Byron White signed a $15,800 contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates becoming the NFL’s first big money player. He later served for 31 years as a US Supreme Court Justice.
(WSJ, 7/8/08, p.A17)
1939 Jun 6, In Pennsylvania the first Little League baseball game was played. The league was founded by Carl Stotz in Williamsport. The Little League World Series began in 1947. Girls were banned from 1951-1974.
(SSFC, 6/1/14, Par. p.8)
1939 Aug 11, Moses Annenberg, owner of the Philadelphia Enquirer, was indicted by a federal jury in Chicago for evading some $3.2 million in income taxes.
(SFC, 10/2/02, p.A2)
1939 St. John Terell (d.1998 at 81), actor and impresario, founded the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope.
(SFC, 10/21/98, p.C3)
1939 Jim Rex founded the Ranger Joe Breakfast Food Co. in Philadelphia. It was sold in the 1940s to Philadelphia businessman Moses Berger and sold again in 1954 to Nabisco and renamed "Wheat and Rice Honeys."
(SFC,11/19/97, Z1 p.7)
1939 Latrobe Brewing of Latrobe, Pa., began making Rolling Rock, a pale lager. It was later acquired by InBev SA. In 2006 Rolling Rock was acquired by Anheuser-Busch, which moved operations to Newark NJ. In 2008 Anheuser-Busch was acquired by InBev SA.
(www.nytimes.com/2006/08/08/nyregion/08brew.html?fta=y)(WSJ, 4/13/09, p.B1)
1940 Apr 20, RCA publicly demonstrated its new and powerful electron microscope in Philadelphia, Pa.
(AP, 4/20/97)(HN, 4/20/98)(MC, 4/20/02)
1940 Jun 24, The Republican Convention, opened in Philadelphia. In 2005 Charles Peters authored “Five Days in Philadelphia." An account of the convention and how it freed FDR to move against Hitler.
(WSJ, 7/6/05, p.D10)(http://tinyurl.com/e3xrw)
1940 Jun 28, The Republican Convention, held in Philadelphia, nominated Wendall Willkie (d.1944) for US president on 6th ballot. Senator Charles L. McNary from Oregon was his running mate. They were defeated by President Franklin Roosevelt who won his third term. In 2005 Charles Peters authored “Five Days in Philadelphia." An account of the convention and how it freed FDR to move against Hitler.
(WSJ, 7/6/05, p.D10)(SFEC, 7/30/00, p.C17)(http://tinyurl.com/e3xrw)
1940 Oct 1, The first section of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, 160 miles in length, was opened to the public.
(AP, 10/1/00)
1940 Oct 24, F. Murray Abraham, actor (Amadeus, Mad Man), was born in Pittsburgh, Pa.
(MC, 10/24/01)
1940 Nov 1, 1st US air raid shelter was made in Fleetwood, Pa.
(MC, 11/1/01)
1940 Art Rooney renamed the Pittsburgh Pirates football team to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
(WSJ, 7/8/08, p.A17)
1940-1953 John W. Nason (d.2001 at 96) served as president of Swarthmore College. From 1942-1945 he served as chairman of the National Japanese American Student Relocation Council and helped over 3,000 students out of detention camps and into institutions of higher learning.
(SFC, 11/24/01, p.A21)
1941 May 26, American Flag House, the Betsy Ross Home, was given to the city of Phila.
(MC, 5/26/02)
1941 Aug 28, Paul Peter Plishka, bass (Met Opera), was born in Old Forge, Penn.
(MC, 8/28/01)
1941 Matt Cvetic (d.1962 at 53) infiltrated the Communist party in Pittsburgh. The 1951 film "I Was a Communist for the FBI" was based on his true story. In 2001 Daniel J. Leab authored "I Was a Communist for the FBI."
(WSJ, 2/12/00, p.A25)
1942 Jan 10, Jim Croce, (d.1973) rock vocalist (Time in a Bottle, Workin' At The Car Wash Blues), was born in Philadelphia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Croce)
1942 Mar 26, 20 tons of gelignite killed 21 in a stone quarry in Easton, PA.
(SS, 3/26/02)
1942 Nov 20, Joseph Biden, later US Senator for Delaware, was born in Scranton, Pa. In 2008 Barack Obama named Biden as his vice presidential running mate.
(SSFC, 8/24/08, p.A15)
1942 Moses Annenberg, owner of the Philadelphia Enquirer, died. His son Walter took over as editor and publisher.
(SFC, 10/2/02, p.A2)
1943 May 31, Joe Namath, NFL QB (NY Jets), $400,000 man (1969 Superbowl), was born in PA.
(MC, 5/31/02)
1943 Jun 17, Newt Gingrich, later Republican Speaker of the House (1995-1998), was born in Hummelstown, Pa.
(SFC, 11/7/98, p.A4)
1943 Richard James (d.1974) observed a torsion spring balance bounce off a ship’s deck while working at a Philadelphia shipyard and conceived the idea of a "slinky" toy for children, named by his wife Betty James (d.2008). In 1945 they founded James Industries. In 1998 the company was sold to POOF Products of Michigan.
(IBCC, 10/97, #9)(SSFC, 11/23/08, p.B9)
1944 Jan 28, Leonard Bernstein's "Jeremiah," premiered in Pittsburgh.
(MC, 1/28/02)
1945 Milton Hershey (b.1857), Philadelphia chocolate tycoon, died.
(WSJ, 8/12/99, p.A1)
1946 Jul 6, Jamie Wyeth, artist (An American Vision-Boston), was born in Pennsylvania.
(MC, 7/6/02)
1947 Feb 9, Bank robber Willie Sutton escaped jail in Philadelphia.
(MC, 2/9/02)
1947 Sep 13, WPVI TV channel 6 in Philadelphia, PA., (ABC) began broadcasting.
(MC, 9/13/01)
1948 Feb 14, Winthrop Rockefeller (1912-1973), later governor of Arkansas (1967-1971), married Barbara Sears (1916-2008), the Pennsylvania-born daughter of Lithuanian immigrants. They had one child, Winthrop Paul Rockefeller, but the marriage dissolved in a high-profile divorce in 1954. Barbara Bobo Rockefeller, born as Jievute Paulekiute in Noblestown, Pa., was featured as Miss Lithuania at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. She later was known as Eva Paul.
(www.thetimes.co.za/PrintEdition/Insight/Article.aspx?id=772208)
1948 Jun 2, Albert Innaurato, playwright, director (Age in Soho), was born in Phila.
(SC, 6/2/02)
1948 Jun 17, A United Air Lines DC-6 crashed near Mount Carmel, Penn., killing all 43 people on board.
(AP, 6/17/98)
1948 Jun 21, The Republican national convention opened in Philadelphia. The delegates ended up choosing Thomas E. Dewey to be their presidential nominee.
(AP, 6/21/07)
1948 Jun 24, The Republican National Convention, meeting in Philadelphia, nominated New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey for president.
(AP, 6/24/98)
1948 Jun 25, The Republican national convention in Philadelphia chose California Gov. Earl Warren to be Thomas E. Dewey's running mate.
(AP, 6/25/98)
1948 Jul 12, The Democratic national convention opened in Philadelphia.
(AP, 7/12/98)
1948 Jul 15, President Truman was nominated for another term of office by the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
(AP, 7/15/97)
1948 Jul 24, Henry A. Wallace accepted the presidential nomination of the Progressive Party in Philadelphia.
(AP, 7/24/08)
1948 Oct 31, By this date some 20 people died and 6,000 were made ill by smog from steel and zinc plants in Donora, Pennsylvania. Between October 26 and October 31, 1948, an air inversion trapped fluoride effluent from the Zinc Works. In three days, 18 people died. After the inversion lifted, another 50 died. Hundreds more finished the rest of their lives with damaged lungs and hearts. Both plants closed in 1966. In 2002, “When Smoke Ran Like Water" was published by Devra Davis.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donora,_Pennsylvania)(SSFC, 11/2/08, p.A6)
1948 The John Murtha Airport opened in Jonestown, Pennsylvania. From 1989-2009 Congressman John Murtha steered some $150,000,000 to the airport. In 2009 there were a total of 18 commercial flights per week, all of which went to Dulles Airport in Washington, DC.
(http://tinyurl.com/nsdv8k)(Econ, 1/23/10, p.26)
1949 Jun 16, A gas turbine, electric locomotive was demonstrated in Erie, Pa.
(MC, 6/16/02)
1949 Aug 31, Richard Gere, actor (Breathless, Cotton Club), was born in Phila., Pa.
(YN, 8/31/99)
1949 Pennsylvania enacted a state law requiring the reading of 10 Bible verses each day in schools followed by joint recitation of the Lord's Prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
(SFC, 11/24/03, p.A18)
1949 There was a cholera outbreak in Philadelphia, Pa.
(SFC, 3/8/14, p.C3)
1951 Jun 14, UNIVAC, the first computer built for commercial purposes, was demonstrated in Philadelphia by Dr. John W. Mauchly and J. Prosper Eckert, Jr.
(HN, 6/14/98)
1951 Jun 15, 1st commercial electronic computer was dedicated in Philadelphia. [see Jun 14]
(MC, 6/15/02)
1951 Jul 24, Dr. Albert C. Barnes, eccentric collector of impressionist art, died in an automobile crash. [see 1925 Barnes] His will specified that his art collection be kept forever in Lower Merion Township, Pa. In 2004 a judge allowed trustees to move the collection to Philadelphia.
(WSJ, 11/28/95, p.A-12)(SFC, 12/15/04, p.E5)(www.barnesfoundation.org/h_bio.html)
1951 Pennsylvania passed a law requiring a loyalty oath from candidates for public office. In 2006 the oath was deemed unconstitutional.
(SFC, 8/28/06, p.A3)
1951 Elizabeth Ralph, physicist at the Univ. of Pennsylvania, created the Museum Applied Science Center for Archeology (MASCA).
(AM, 11/04, p.30)
1952 Mar 18, The 1st plastic lens for cataract patients was fitted in Phila.
(MC, 3/18/02)
1952 Oct 7, The 1st "Bandstand" broadcast in Philadelphia on WFIL-TV. Dick Clark joined in 1955 as a substitute-host. American Bandstand premiered as a local show in Philadelphia.
(SFC, 11/10/99, p.E3)(SFC, 4/15/00, p.D3)
1952 John J. Rigas founded Adelphia Communications in Coudersport, Pa., with a dream and a $300 check for a local cable franchise.
(WSJ, 5/28/02, p.A1)(USAT, 7/9/04, p.3B)
1952 Crigler-Najjar syndrome was named for two doctors who identified it this year. Patients began living longer in the 1970s when doctors realized that the wavelength and energy of blue light changes the nature of the bilirubin, allowing it to be excreted from the body. In 2007 there were about 110 known cases of Crigler's worldwide, including about 35 in the US. About 20 are among the Amish and Mennonite in Pennsylvania.
(AP, 5/19/07)
1953 Mar 26, Dr. Jonas Salk of the University of Pittsburgh announced that a vaccine against polio had been successfully tested in a small group of adults and children. By April 1955, the vaccine had undergone further testing and gained federal approval for public use, as shown in this photo of Salk administering the vaccine at Colfax School in Pittsburgh. Salk’s polio vaccine was so successful that by 1961 the incidence of polio had decreased by 95 percent.
(HNPD, 3/26/99)
1954 Feb 23, The first mass inoculation of children against polio with the Salk vaccine began in Pittsburgh. Jonas Salk created the Salk vaccine against polio. It used a killed virus to induce immunization. Poliomyelitis is a viral attack of the central nervous system and can cause paralysis and death by asphyxiation. [see Apr 26] In 2005 David M. Oshinsky authored “Polio: An American Story – The Crusade That Mobilized the Nation Against the 20th Century’s Most Feared Disease."
(SFC, 6/21/96, p.A10)(HN, 2/23/98)(AP, 2/23/98)(Econ, 6/18/05, p.79)
1956 Jul 4, Independence National Historical Park formed in Philadelphia.
(Maggio)
1956 Dick Clark (27) joined the TV show "American Bandstand" in Philadelphia after one of the 2 original hosts was arrested fro drunk driving. He was replaced by David Hirsch for the last season in 1989.
(SFC, 11/10/99, p.E3)(SFC, 5/2/02, p.D1)
1956 Whirling disease infecting the salmon family of fish was first detected in the US in 1956 in Pennsylvania. It was native to Eurasia and caused by a fungus carried in spores hosted by the Tubifex tubifex worm. In 1995 it was detected in Montana fish.
(WSJ, 3/26/99, p.W10)
1957 Jan 3, The Hamilton Watch Company was the first to introduce an electric watch in Lancaster, Pa.
(http://rondeau.net/history.html)
1957 Aug 5, "American Bandstand," a teenage dance show hosted by Dick Clark (1929-2012) in Philadelphia, made its network debut on ABC-TV.
(WSJ, 3/24/97, p.B1)(SFC, 11/10/99, p.E3)(AP, 8/5/07)(SFC, 4/19/12, p.C5)
1957 Aug 21, Kim Sledge, vocalist (Sister Sledge-We are Family), was born in Phila.
(SC, 8/21/02)
1957 Dec 2, The Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, the first full-scale commercial nuclear facility to generate electricity in the US, went critical. [see July 12] It was taken out of service in 1982.
(SSFC, 4/8/07, p.A18)(AP, 12/2/07)
1957 Dec 18, The Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, the first nuclear facility to generate electricity in the United States, went on line [see July 12].
(AP, 12/18/07)
1957 Bill and Daisy Myers became the first Black couple to buy a house in Levittown (Willingboro), Pa. State police were required to protect them. They lived there until 1961. In 1999 Daisy was given a reception and an apology from the Bristol Township Mayor Sam Fenton. Levittown was created by William Levitt, who kept costs down by bringing in ready made walls and buying appliances directly from manufacturers. In 2009 David Kushner authored “Levittown: Two Families, One Tycoon, and the Fight for Civil Rights in America’s Legendary Suburb."
(SFC, 12/9/99, p.A6)(Econ, 5/31/08, p.28)(WSJ, 2/5/08, p.A11)
1957 Dr. Hilary Koprowski of the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia developed an oral polio vaccine and tested it in Africa (Congo). The Wister polio vaccine was given to some 300,000 people in the Belgian Congo from 1957-1960. A later theory held that reuse of needles during the immunization program caused AIDS via “serial passage" that transformed the SIV virus into HIV. In 1999 Edward Hooper authored “The River," a detailed hypothesis for the origin of AIDS in Africa. Hooper suspected that the Wister polio vaccine, produced from monkey kidney cells, contained SIV virus. In 2000 a computerized study indicated that the AIDS virus was introduced to humans about 1930.
(SFC, 2/2/00, p.A19)(SFC, 1/15/01, p.A11)(SFC, 4/13/05, p.A5)(www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/gen-info/pandemics.htm)
1958 The Hearst Corp. launched WTAE-TV, Pittsburgh.
(SFC, 8/7/99, p.A9)
1959 The Rev. Willie James launched a lawsuit that led to the desegregation of Willingboro (Levittown), Pa.
(Econ, 5/31/08, p.29)
1959 Bassetts produced 50 tubs of borscht sorbet in honor of Premier Nikita Khrushchev’s visit to Philadelphia.
(WSJ, 8/1/00, p.A24)
1959 Mario Lanza (b.1921) died in Italy at age 38. He was born as Freddy Cocozza in South Philly. A museum dedicated to the Italian singer is tucked inside of the Settlement Music School of Philadelphia.
(Smith., 4/1995, p.95)(SFEC, 3/21/99, DB p.9)
1960 Jul 4, The 50-star flag made its debut in Philadelphia. A 50th star was added to the American flag in honor of Hawaii's admission into the Union on August 21, 1959.
(HN, 7/4/98) (IB, Internet, 12/7/98)
1960 Aug 23, Broadway librettist Oscar Hammerstein II (65) died in Doylestown, Pa.
(AP, 8/23/08)
1960 Oct 13, The Pittsburgh Pirates won the World Series at Forbes Field with a 9th inning homerun by Bill Mazeroski. A Univ. of Pittsburgh academic building was later built on the site.
(WSJ, 3/25/04, p.D1)
1960 A mutated gene on the "Philadelphia chromosome" was found to be responsible for chronic myelogenous leukemia. It caused white blood cells to divide uncontrollably.
(WSJ, 6/6/00, p.A1)
1962 Feb 26, Wilt Chamberlain of NBA Philadelphia Warriors scored 67 points vs. New York.
(SC, 2/26/02)
1962 Mar 5, The US Supreme Court in Griggs v. Allegheny County ruled that airports must compensate people living in the near vicinity for noise and vibrations.
(http://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/369/84/)
1962 Mar 10, The Phillies baseball club left the Jack Tar Harrison Hotel due to its refusal to admit black players, and moved to Rocky Point Motel, 20 miles outside Clearwater, Florida.
(http://tinyurl.com/mdtvxu)
1962 Jul 28, 19 died in a train crash in Steelton, Pa.
(SC, 7/28/02)
1962 The Philadelphia Warriors basketball franchise with star Wilt Chamberlain moved to the SF Bay Area.
(SFC, 10/13/99, p.D4)
1962 Walter Annenberg, owner of the Philadelphia Enquirer, established the M.L. Annenberg School for Communication at the Univ. of Pennsylvania.
(SFC, 10/2/02, p.A2)
1962 A fire broke out in a garbage dump above an abandoned coal mine in Centralia, Pen. The property had been deeded to the town in 1954 for $1. The fire spread and burned for years. In 1983 US Congress approved $42 million to help the residents move, and by 2005 only about a dozen residents remained. In 2007 Joan Quigley authored “The Day the Earth Caved In: An American Mining Tragedy."
(WSJ, 4/17/07, p.D6)
1963 Jun 17, The US Supreme Court ruled 8-1 to strike down rules requiring the recitation of the Lord's Prayer or reading of Biblical verses in public schools. The case began in 1956 when Edward L. Schempp (d.2003), on behalf of his son, objected to a 1949 Pennsylvania law requiring 10 Bible verses each day followed by the Lord's Prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
(AP, 6/17/97)(HN, 6/17/98)(SFC, 11/24/03, p.A18)
1963-1976 Albert W. Johnson (d.1998 at 92) served in the US Congress. He was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1946.
(SFC, 9/7/98, p.A21)
1964 Aug 28, Race riots took place in Philadelphia.
(MC, 8/28/01)
1964 Nov 3, Philadelphia voters approved $25 million to build a new sports stadium.
(MC, 11/3/01)
1964 Roger Abrahams (1933-2017), American folklorist, authored “Deep Down in the Jungle: Negro Narrative Folklore from the Streets of Philadelphia."
(SSFC, 7/2/17, p.C8)
1964 Stefan Lorant (1901-1997), Hungarian-born filmmaker and writer, authored "Pittsburgh: the Story of an American City." He wrote the book following a chance meeting with Edgar Kaufman, the Pittsburgh department store mogul.
(SFC,11/19/97, p.C5)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Lorant)
1965 Jan 13, The SF Warriors traded Wilt Chamberlain to the Philadelphia 76ers for three players and a reported $3 million in cash. The 76ers assumed Wilt’s $65,000 annual salary.
(SSFC, 1/11/15, DB p.42)
1965 Sep 10, Father Divine (b.~1876), African-American preacher, died in Philadelphia. His full self-given name was Reverend Major Jealous Divine, and he was also known as "the Messenger" early in his life. He founded the International Peace Mission movement, formulated its doctrine, and oversaw its growth from a small and predominantly black congregation into a multiracial and international church. Due to his ideology, many consider him to be a cult leader.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Divine)
1965 The American Conservatory Theater was founded by William Ball in 1965 in Pittsburgh. ACT moved west and settled in at the Geary Theater in SF in 1967.
(SFEC, 3/8/98, p.W29)
1965 Richard Scaife (1932-2014) of Pittsburgh, heir to the Mellon banking fortune, inherited $500 million. With more family bequests, income from trust funds and investments he nearly tripled his net worth over his lifetime.
(SFC, 7/5/14, p.C4)
1967 Mar 7, Convicted Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa began an eight-year prison term at Lewisburg Federal Prison in Pennsylvania for defrauding the union and jury tampering. The sentence was commuted by President Nixon Dec 23, 1971.
(HN, 3/7/98)(www.moldea.com/One-9.html)
1967 May 6, 400 students seized the administration building at Cheyney State College, Pa.
(MC, 5/6/02)
1968 Feb 1, The Pennsylvania Railroad and NYC Central merged into Penn Central.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn_Central)
1968 Sep, The Big Mac was created by McDonald’s franchisee Jim Delligatti in Pittsburgh. It sold for 49 cents.
(SFC, 9/10/98, p.B2)
1968 Oct 1, The cult horror movie "Night of the Living Dead" had its world premiere in Pittsburgh.
(AP, 10/1/98)
1968 The Delfonics soul singing group of Philadelphia recorded their hit "La-la Means I Love You."
(SFEC, 1/25/98, DB p.45)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Delfonics)
1969 Jul 21, Riots in York, Pa., left 2 people dead, Lillie Belle Allen (27) along with rookie officer Henry Schaad (22). Schaad was mortally wounded 3 days before Allen was killed. Over 60 people were arrested as one city block burned. In 2001 Arthur (47) and Robert Messersmith (52) were arrested for the slaying of Allen. In 2001 Rick Lynn Knouse (48) and Gregory Henry Neff (53), former members of the Girarders white street gang, were also charged in the murders. In 2001 York Mayor Charles Robertson was arrested on homicide charges for allegedly handing out ammunition to white gang members and exhorting them to "Kill as many niggers as you can." In 2001 Thomas P. Smith was accused in the ambush shooting of Allen. In 2001 Stephen Freeland (49) and Leon Wright (53) were charged in the murder of officer Schaad. Robertson was acquitted in 2002. Messersmith and Neff were found guilty of 2nd degree murder. 6 white men were sentenced up to 3 years in prison. Wright's brother Michael implicated himself in 2003 and was charged for the murder of Schaad. In 2005 York city officials announced a $2 million settlement with the children and sisters of Lillie Belle Allen.
(SFC, 4/28/01, p.A5)(SFC, 5/10/01, p.A7)(SFC, 5/17/01, p.A2)(SFC, 5/22/01, p.A5)(YD, 5/24/01)(YD, 6/25/00)(SFC, 10/31/01, p.C2)(SSFC, 10/20/02, p.A7)(SFC, 11/14/02, p.A8)(BS, 6/26/03, 5A)(SFC, 12/7/05, p.A3)
1969 Dec 31, In Clarksville Joseph Yablonski was murdered with his wife and daughter.
(SFC, 11/8/99, p.C2)
1969 Philadelphia initiated a program of “career academies," which combined academic and technical curriculums and gave students work experience.
(Econ, 6/19/10, p.34)
1969 Leonard Tose (1915-2003) and several others bought the Philadelphia Eagles pro football team for $15.155 million. Tose bought out his partners in 1977. He sold the team in 1985 to Norman Braman of south Florida for $65 million.
(SFC, 4/17/03, p.A23)
1970 Jan 5, Joseph A. Yablonski, an unsuccessful candidate for the presidency of the United Mine Workers, was found murdered with his wife and daughter at their Clarksville, Pa., home. Nine people were later charged in the killing including UMW Pres. W.A. Boyle.
(AP, 1/5/98)(SFC, 11/8/99, p.C2)
1970 Jun 21, Penn Central was forced into bankruptcy. The default caught the market by surprise, largely because commercial paper ratings were in their infancy. Fed chairman Arthur Burns reacted by making discount window loans to banks that lent to CP issuers.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn_Central_Transportation)(WSJ, 8/30/07, p.A3)
1970 Apr 22, The first Earth Day and Earth Week was celebrated and millions protested pollution on Earth and their concern for the environment. The event was organized by a 33-member committee in Philadelphia. Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson suggested Earth Day as a means to focus national attention on ecological issues. Gaylord selected Pete McCloskey as co-chairman. Organizers later identified 12 anti-environment members of the US House and Senate, 7 of whom soon lost their seats.
(AP, 4/22/97)(WSJ, 5/12/99, p.A23)(SSFC, 4/18/04, p.E3)(http://www.nelsonearthday.net/)
1970 The Shostakovich (1906-1975) 13th symphony "Babi Yar," smuggled on microfilm to the US, was premiered in the US by the Philadelphia Orchestra.
(WSJ, 6/29/99, p.A12)(http://tinyurl.com/69xuxx)
1971 Jan 25, The Philadelphia mint made its 1st trial strike of the Eisenhower dollar.
(www.usmint.gov/search/index.cfm?flash=yes&criteria=&hf=1&group=166)
1971 Jan, Fred Speaker (1930-1996), attorney general of Pennsylvania, ordered the dismantling of the electric chair at the Rockview Correctional Institution on his last day in office.
(SFC, 9/17/96, p.A22)(http://tinyurl.com/6qxtu6)
1971 Mar 8, Catholic radicals in Media, Pa., broke into the local FBI offices and stole documents that revealed the agency’s illegal activities against radical groups and leaked them to the media. In 2014 Betty Medsger authored “The Burglary: The Discovery of J. Edgar Hoover’s Secret FBI." Prof. John Raines (1933-2017) and his wife Bonnie were among the eight antiwar activists who took part in the burglary.
(SSFC, 1/12/14, p.F1)(SSFC, 11/19/17, p.C9)(SSFC, 3/7/21, p.A1)
1971 Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia opened. Demolition felled it in 2004.
(WSJ, 3/25/04, p.D1)
1971 Rev. Leon Sullivan (1922-2001), a noted Philadelphia minister, became GM’s 1st black board member. In 1998 Sullivan authored “Moving Mountains."
(SFC, 6/8/04, B7)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Sullivan)
1972 Apr 5, The Harrisburg 7 trial ended in mistrial after 11 weeks. Philip Berrigan & Sister Elizabeth McAllister were declared guilty, but only of smuggling letters in & out of prison. Librarian Zoia Horn (d.2014) had refused to testify at the trail, becoming the first US librarian to be jailed for refusing to testify. She was freed after 20 days when a jury deadlocked on conspiracy charges.
(www.well.com/~mareev/TIMELINE/1971-1972.html)(SFC, 7/16/14, p.E5)
1972 Sep 18, In Pennsylvania the body of Morgan Peters was found along the Pennsylvania Turnpike. In 2019 Ohio inmate Larry Joseph Via (75) was charged with criminal homicide and robbery in the death of Peters (29), who had been shot in the back, following a grand jury investigation that began in 2017. Police cited writing by Via published in biker magazines.
(http://tinyurl.com/y48ypqlg)(AP, 9/7/19)
1972 Nov 8, The Green Channel of Manhattan became Home Box Office (HBO). Time Life gained control of HBO in March, 1973. HBO soon began transmitting programs to cable TV subscribers in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. The 1st cablecast was a National League Hockey game.
(WSJ, 1/11/00, p.B1)(SFC, 4/3/01, p.C1)
1972 John J. Rigas incorporated Adelphia Communications in Pennsylvania. The name came from the Greek word for “brother." He took the company public in 1986.
(USAT, 7/9/04, p.3B)(www.answers.com/topic/adelphia-communications)
1972-1975 Soul music peaked in Philadelphia. In 2004 John A. Jackson authored “A House on Fire: The Rise and Fall of Philadelphia Soul."
(SSFC, 11/7/04, p.M3)
1973 Eugene Ormandy (1899-1985) ended his direction of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
(WSJ, 2/11/99, p.A24)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Ormandy)
1974 Feb 5, John Murtha (1932-2010), became Pennsylvania’s Democratic representative following a special House election. He became the first Vietnam veteran to serve in Congress.
(SFC, 2/9/10, p.A6)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Murtha)
1974 Apr 11, United Mine Workers president W. A. "Tony" Boyle was found guilty of first-degree murder, for ordering the assassination of union reformer Joseph A. "Jock" Yablonski in 1969. Yablonski, his wife and daughter were murdered on December 30, 1969. Boyle had defeated Yablonski in the UMW election earlier in the year-an election marred by intimidation and vote fraud. In 1972 the election was set aside by a federal court after Boyle had been convicted of illegal use of UMW funds in the federal elections of 1968. In a new election held in December, 1972, Boyle was defeated by rank and file reformist Arnold Miller. Soon after the election Boyle was put on trial for murdering the Yablonskis and was sentenced to three consecutive life terms in prison.
(HNQ, 11/8/99)(SFC, 11/8/99, p.C2)
1974 Jul 29, The Episcopal Church ordained female priests in Philadelphia.
(www.episcopalchurch.org/41685_42321_ENG_HTM.htm)
1974 The Pittsburgh Area Theater Organ Society acquired a Mighty Wurlitzer from the Prospect Theater in Brooklyn for $5,000.
(WSJ, 6/29/99, p.A1,4)
1974 The $2.5 million, 393-foot Gettysburg National Tower was erected on private land on the edge of the Gettysburg Civil War battlefield site. It was destroyed in 2000.
(SFC, 7/4/00, p.A3)
1974 The firefly was named as the official state insect.
(SFEC, 11/21/99, Z1p.2)
1975 Jan 12, The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Minnesota Vikings (16-6) in the Superbowl in New Orleans. Bob McCurry of Chrysler Corp. introduced the auto rebate in a 1975 Superbowl commercial.
(www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/results.nsf/Teams/1974-pit)
1975 May 6, In hockey the Philadelphia Flyers won the semifinal series over Boston 4 games to 1.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975-76_Philadelphia_Flyers_season)
1975 In Pennsylvania a company called McAdoo Associates began operating to extract and recycle metals from chemical wastes. The company accepted hundred of thousands of gallons of paint sludge, waste oils, used solvents, PCBs, cyanide, pesticides and many other known or suspected carcinogens. In 1979, when the EPA stepped in, McAdoo Associates had stockpiled enough chemicals to nearly fill an Olympic-size swimming pool. The EPA placed it on the Superfund list and began a cleanup. The US Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry began looking into polycythemia vera (PCV) in August 2006 after 97 cases in Schuylkill, Carbon and Luzerne counties were reported to the state cancer registry between 2001 and 2005.
(AP, 10/23/07)
1976 Jan 23, Paul Robeson (b.1898), black athlete, lawyer, singer, died in Philadelphia. Lloyd L. Brown later wrote the biography "The Young Paul Robeson: On My Journey Now." His granddaughter Susan Robeson in 1981 wrote "The Whole World in His Hands: A Pictorial Biography of Paul Robeson."
(SFC, 3/26/98, p.A26)(WSJ, 4/9/98, p.A21)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Robeson)
1976 Apr 27, Jimmy Carter clinched the Democratic presidential nomination by beating Henry “Scoop" Jackson and Morris Udall in the Pennsylvania primary.
(www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carter/timeline/index.html)(Econ, 4/12/08, p.31)
1976 May 16, The Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup hockey finals in 4 games over the Philadelphia Flyers.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975-76_Philadelphia_Flyers_season)
1976 Jul 4, The nation held a 200th anniversary party across the land in celebration of America's 200 years of independence. President Ford made stops in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, Independence Hall in Philadelphia, and New York, where more than 200 ships paraded up the Hudson River in Operation Sail.
(TMC, 1994, p.1976)(IB, 12/7/98)(AP, 7/4/01)
1976 Jul 4, The National Museum of American Jewish History opened in Philadelphia. It was established to tell the story of the American Jewish experience.
(SFC, 7/3/08, p.E15)(www.ushistory.org/tour/tour_jewish.htm)
1976 Jul 21, "Legionnaire's Disease" struck in Philadelphia, Pa. 29 people died from the disease. The disease was first identified after an outbreak at the Bellevue Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia. It was identified as Legionella pneumophila and found to infest water systems in general and the hotel ventilation system in this case.
(OGA, 11/24/98)(SFC, 4/13/96, p.A-17)
1976 Jul 27, Air Force veteran Ray Brennan became the first person to die of so-called "Legionnaire’s Disease" following an American Legion convention in Philadelphia.
(AP, 7/27/00)
1976 J. Howard Marshall II (d.1995), Texas oil tycoon and alumnus of Haverford College, Pa., pledged $4 million to Haverford. In 1994 Marshall married Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith (26) and by his death had donated less than $2 million to the college.
(WSJ, 7/24/03, p.A1)
1977 Jun 19, Pope Paul VI proclaimed a 19th-century Philadelphia bishop, John Neumann, the first male US saint.
(AP, 6/19/07)
1977 Jul 20, A flash flood hit Johnstown, Pa., killing more than 80 people and causing $350 million worth of damage.
(AP, 7/20/08)
1978 Aug 8, James Ramp (52), Philadelphia police officer, was killed during a standoff with MOVE. 9 members of MOVE, a Black group that espoused equality with animals and preached against technology, were convicted. Members of the group adopted the surname Africa.
(SFC, 3/16/98, p.A20)(www.odmp.org/officer/10987-police-officer-james-j.-ramp)
1977 Sep, In Philadelphia Helen "Holly" Maddux, a Bryn Mawr College graduate from Tyler, Texas, was murdered and stuffed into a steamer trunk for 18 months until her body was discovered. Ira Einhorn, "hippie guru" was arrested for the murder in 1979 but released on bail. He fled to hide in France. Fred Maddux, Holly's father, committed suicide in 1988. Einhorn was convicted in absentia in 1993. In June,1997, he was arrested in France. A French court ruled against extradition and released Einhorn. Einhorn was arrested in 1998 under a new extradition warrant. The events were broadcast as a TV crime story in 1999 titled "The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer." In 1999 The French Supreme Court ruled that Einhorn should be returned to the US. In 1999 a civil suit ordered Einhorn to pay $907 million to the Maddux family. Einhorn was extradited to the US in 2001. he was convicted of murder Oct 17, 2002.
(SFC, 6/17/97, p.A2)(SFC,12/5/97, p.A17)(SFC, 9/22/98, p.A3)(WSJ, 5/3/99, p.A20)(WSJ, 5/12/99, p.A23)(SFC, 5/28/99, p.D3)(SFC, 7/29/99, p.A8)(SFC, 7/20/01, p.A14)(SFC, 10/18/02, p.A7)
1978 Dec 13, The Philadelphia Mint began stamping the Susan B. Anthony dollar, which went into circulation the following July. This was the 1st US coin to honor a woman.
(AP, 12/13/97)(MC, 12/13/01)
1979 Jan 21, The Pittsburgh Steelers became the first team to win three Super Bowls as they defeated the Dallas Cowboys 35-31 in Super Bowl 13.
(AP, 1/22/04)
1979 Mar 28, America's worst commercial nuclear accident occurred inside the Unit Two reactor at the Three Mile Island plant near Middletown, Pa., almost to meltdown. Thousands living near the plant left the area before the 12-day crisis ended, during which time some radioactive water and gases were released. A combination of mechanical and human factors allowed the Unit 2 reactor to lose cooling water. It cost more than $1 billion and more than a decade to remove the damaged nuclear fuel. A 1997 study indicated increased cancer rates for people living downwind.
(TMC, 1994, p.1979)(SFC, 6/8/96, p.A2)(SFC, 2/24/96, p.A3)(AP, 3/28/97) (HN, 3/28/98)(MC, 3/28/02)
1979 Nov 1, Mamie Doud Eisenhower (b.1896), wife of former Pres. "Ike" Eisenhower, died at a family farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
(AP, 11/1/99)(www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/me34.html)
1979 August Wilson, playwright, wrote "Jitney." It was set in the Hill District of Pittsburgh and first performed in 1982.
(WSJ, 8/4/99, p.A20)
1979 The song "We Are Family" by Sister Sledge became a hit. It was made the theme song for the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Are_Family_%28song%29)
1980 Oct 2, Michael Myers (D-Pa) became the 1st representative expelled in over 100 years (ABSCAM).
(MC, 10/2/01)
1980 Ron Perelman acquired MacAndrews & Forbes, a Philadelphia candymaker, for $45 million. Howard Gittis (1934-2007) advised Perelman on the acquisition and in 1985 joined Perelman and his MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings.
(WSJ, 9/22/07, p.A8)(www.forbes.com/free_forbes/2005/1010/050.html)
1980 Norman, Bruce and David Johnston were sentenced to life in prison for the murder of 4 teenagers to cover up a family burglary ring.
(SFC, 8/21/99, p.A3)
1981 Dec 9, In Philadelphia Mumia Abu Jamal shot and killed Officer Daniel Faulkner shortly after the officer stopped William Cook, Jamal’s brother (see July 3, 1981).
(SFC, 3/28/08, p.A4)
1981 Philadelphia school teachers stage a strike.
(SFC, 10/28/00, p.A9)
1982 Jul 3, Mumia Abu-Jamal (b.1954), radio reporter and former Black Panther, was convicted for the 1981 murder of police officer Daniel Faulkner in Pittsburgh. Jamal supporters said he was framed. Prosecutors said Jamal shot Faulkner after seeing the officer struggling with Jamal’s brother, William Cook, who had been stopped for a traffic violation. In 1996 Jamal was still on death row. In 1999 Gov. Tom Ridge signed a 2nd death warrant for lethal injection on Dec 2. In December, 2001, a federal judge affirmed his murder conviction but ordered that Abu-Jamal should either receive a new sentencing hearing or have his sentence commuted to life in prison because of an error by the trial judge in presenting rules of sentencing to the jury (see March 27, 2008).
(SFC, 10/14/99, p.A3)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_of_Mumia_Abu-Jamal)
1982 Sep 9, Robert Thibadeau at CMU-10A: Pittsburgh Zoo Options: The zoo is a worthwhile place to visit, but in my three years in Pittsburgh I have watched it deteriorate for lack of funds. Fortunately they have this wonderful 'adopt an animal' program. The adoption can be a day or month. Orangutanns (sic) eat light at $.75 a day or $22.50 a month, and for $15 a day or $450 a month you get yourself an entire elephant. Double that and you can probably have his name changed to Clyde. Triple it and I bet they will let you dye him pink. Visitation rights come with any adoption. The flyer is on my office door -- 5321.
(http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~sef/Orig-Smiley.htm)
1982 Sep 25, Pennsylvania prison guard George Banks killed 13 people including 4 that were his own children.
(www.internationaljusticeproject.org/illnessGBanks.cfm)
1982 The Philadelphia Evening and Sunday Bulletin closed.
(SFC, 11/24/16, p.D2)
1983 Jan 23, Joseph Coogan (28), an auditor from Pennsylvania, was swept into the sea at Pescadero Point, Ca. His remains washed up at Point Reyes six months later but remained unidentified until 2005.
(SFC, 4/14/05, p.A1)
1982 Rich Skrenta (b.1967), a freshman in Pennsylvania, developed Elk Cloner as a practical joke. It was the 1st virus to hit computers worldwide and later became known as a "boot sector" virus. When it boots, or starts up, an infected disk places a copy of the virus in the computer's memory. Whenever someone inserts a clean disk into the machine and types the command "catalog" for a list of files, a copy gets written onto that disk as well. The newly infected disk is passed on to other people, other machines and other locations.
(AP, 9/1/07)(SFC, 9/3/07, p.C3)
1983 Oct 23, Jessica Savitch (36), news anchor (NBC-TV), died in an automobile accident with Martin Fischbein in New Hope, Pa.
(www.accuracyproject.org/cbe-Savitch,Jessica.html)
1983 Nov 8, Wilson Goode was elected as the first black mayor of the city of Philadelphia.
(AP, 11/8/08)
1984 May 26, A frisbee was kept aloft for 1,672 seconds in Philadelphia.
(MC, 5/26/02)
1984 Aug 3, In Pennsylvania Barbara Rowan (14) was raped and killed. Her body was found two weeks after she went missing in Bensalem, Bucks County. In 2015 George Franz Shaw (55) and Robert Scott Sanders were arrested for her rape and murder.
(http://tinyurl.com/ngrbarn)(AP, 10/2/15)
1984 Aug 22, The VW plant at Westmoreland, Pa., produced its last Volkswagen Rabbit.
(http://tinyurl.com/34j6lf)
1984 A 60-by-13-foot tile mural was created by Romare Beardon for a Pittsburgh subway station. In 2008 the mural was valued at $15 million as the station faced demolition.
(WSJ, 4/25/08, p.A2)
1985 Mar 12, Conductor Eugene Ormandy (85), director of the Philadelphia Philharmonic for more than four decades, died.
(AP, 3/12/05)
1985 May 13, Police in Philadelphia dropped a bomb on the headquarters of the radical group MOVE. A fire resulted that killed 11 people, 5 of them children. Ramona Africa and her 13 year old son were the only two people to escape the inferno at 6221 Osage St. Africa was charged with rioting and conspiracy, was convicted and served 7 years in state prison. No charges have ever been filed against any city officials or employee. The lawsuit was re-opened in 1996. On Jun 24, 1996, a jury in Philadelphia awarded $1.5 mil to the survivors of the MOVE cult. In 2013 the documentary “Let the Fire Burn," directed by Jason Osder, covered the MOVE story with archival footage.
(SFC, 4/3/96, p.A-4)(USAT, 6/25/96, p.3A)(AP, 5/13/97)(SFC, 11/1/13, p.E7)
1985 May 31, Some 41 tornadoes swept through parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York and Ontario, Canada, during an eight-hour period killing 88 people with over 1,000 injured.
(AP, 5/31/05)
1985 Berry Prevor and Steven Shore of Long Island, NY, opened their first Steve and Barry’s store Philadelphia, selling discount Univ. of Pennsylvania apparel. In 2008 the 276-store chain faced Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
(WSJ, 7/9/08, p.B1)(WSJ, 7/14/08, p.A1)
1986 Aug 5, It was revealed that Andrew Wyeth secretly created 240 drawings and paintings of his neighbor Helga Testorf, in Chadds Ford, Pa.
(MC, 8/5/02)
1986 A consent decree in Philadelphia limited the number of prisoners who could be held in city jails. Over the next 18 months police rearrested 9,732 defendants. In 2002 Ross Sandler and David Schoenbrod authored "Democracy by Decree," a critique of "institutional reform litigation."
(WSJ, 12/30/02, p.A1)
1986 The Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center opened.
(SFC, 3/9/98, p.A7)
1986 Abhay Ashtekar, a physicist at Pennsylvania State Univ., proposed an explanation called “loop quantum gravity" to relate quantum mechanics with general relativity. This rivaled a popular alternative model called string theory.
(Econ, 9/30/06, p.89)
1986-1994 Robert P. Casey (d.2000 at 68) served as governor.
(SFC, 6/2/00, p.D4)
1987 Jan 22, R. Budd Dwyer, Penn. State Treasurer, facing prison for conspiracy & perjury, shot himself to death at a televised news conference.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Budd_Dwyer)
1987 Sep 17, The city of Philadelphia, birthplace of the U.S. Constitution, threw a big party to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the historic document.
(AP, 9/17/97)
1987 In the Philadelphia mayor’s race Frank Rizzo lost to black accountant Wilson Goode. Rizzo took 97% of the white vote while Goode won with 98% of the black vote.
(WSJ, 1/6/98, p.A20)
1987 Pennsylvania officials declared the city of Aliquippa as economically distressed.
(WSJ, 5/27/04, p.A1)
1987 Hawks Aloft Worldwide was conceived as a cooperative project by the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, in Kempton, Pennsylvania.
(NH, 10/96, p.41)
1988 Jan 2, An Ashland Oil Company tank collapsed at Floreffe near Elizabeth, Penn., sending more than 700,000 gallons of diesel oil into the Monongahela River.
(AP, 1/2/98)
1988 Jan 4, Drinking water began to dry up in Pittsburgh suburbs because of a massive diesel oil spill two days earlier that fouled the Monongahela and Ohio rivers.
(AP, 1/4/98)
1988 William Post III (1940-2006) won a $16.2 million Pennsylvania lottery jackpot. His annual installment payments of $498,000 after taxes led to problems with siblings, his wife and girlfriend, who successfully sued for a third of his earnings. In 1996 a bankruptcy judge auctioned off the remainder of his prize payments to pay off his debts leaving him with $1 million.
(SFC, 1/23/06, p.B4)
1989 Apr 12, Abbie Hoffman (52), radical activist, was found dead at his home in New Hope, Penn. He suffered from bipolar mental illness that was only diagnosed in 1980. In 1996 Jonah Raskin wrote: "For the Hell of It: The Life and Times of Abbie Hoffman." In 1994 Jack Hoffman, Abbie’s brother, wrote a biography, as did Marty Jezer in 1992. His wife, Anita, died in 1998. She wrote "Trashing," a fictional memoir of her activity as a Yippie. In 1999 Larry Sloman published "Steal This Dream: Abbie Hoffman and the Countercultural Revolution in America."
(SFC, 12/29/96, BR p.5,6)(SFC, 12/31/98, p.D4)(SFEC, 2/14/99, BR p.7) (AP, 4/12/99)
1989 May 11, The Franklin Mills mega-mall, the former Liberty Bell Racetrack, opened in Philadelphia.
(SFC, 5/27/97, p.A15)(www.northeasttimes.com/2000/1108/franklinmills.html)
1989 Jul 29, Ji Yun Lee (20) died in a fire at a church camp near East Stroudsburg, Pa. Her father Han Tak Lee (54), a South Korean-born operator of a clothing store in NYC, was arrested for arson. He was convicted of murder on Sep 17, 1990. In 2006 Lee’s attorneys appealed to the state Supreme Court citing new advances in arson investigations.
(SSFC, 12/10/06, p.A39)
1989 Oct, Al Martino, pop singer, was inducted into the Philadelphia Hall of Fame.
(SFEC, 10/5/97, DB p.74)
1989 Nov 1, Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander (b.1898), the first African-American to earn a PhD in economics (1921), died in Philadelphia. She was also the first woman to receive a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadie_Tanner_Mossell_Alexander)(Econ., 12/19/20, p.42)
1989 Nov 18, Pennsylvania became the 1st state to restrict abortions after Supreme Court gave states the right to do so.
(http://tinyurl.com/fef7u)
1989 Philip Berman (d.1997 at 82), art collector and philanthropist, became chairman of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He had prospered and retired from the trucking business and led a capital campaign that raised $63.4 million for the museum between 1989 and 1993.
(SFC, 12/2/97, p.A22)
1990 Apr 25, Dexter Gordon (67), jazz saxophonist, died in Philadelphia.
(SS, 4/25/02)
1990 Aug 17, Pearl Bailey (b.1918), Broadway actress, singer, died in Philadelphia from a heart attack at age 72.
(www.blackpressusa.com/history/Archive.asp?week=33)
1990 Nov 11, Stormie Jones, the world’s first heart-liver transplant recipient, died at a Pittsburgh hospital at age 13.
(AP, 11/11/00)
1991 Apr 4, Pennsylvania Senator John Heinz III, a leading 3-term Republican voice on health and trade policy, and six other people, including two children, were killed when a helicopter collided with Heinz’s plane over a schoolyard in Merion, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Teresa Heinz took his place as head of the family philanthropies. In 1995 she married Sen. John Kerry.
(SFC, 9/25/99, p.A21)(AP, 4/4/01)(WSJ, 4/16/04, p.A1)
1991 Jun 30, The federal base-closing commission voted to shut down 17 military bases, including the massive Philadelphia Navy Shipyard, in addition to seven facilities ordered closed two days earlier.
(AP, 6/30/01)
1991 Jul 16, Frank Rizzo (70), (Mayor-D-Phila, 1972-80), died of a heart attack.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Rizzo)
1991 Alex Wolszczan and Dale Frail at Pennsylvania State Univ. reported evidence of 3 extra-solar planets (exoplanets) orbiting around the spinning remains of Pulsar B1257+12. They found the pulsar in 1990 using the Arecibo radio telescope.
(SSFC, 9/30/01, Par p.5)(www.economicexpert.com/a/PSR:1257:plus:12.htm)
1992 Oct 27, In Oil City, Pennsylvania, Shauna Howe (11) was kidnapped while walking home from a pre-Halloween party. Her battered body was found 3 days later. For every year afterward, the City Council voted to allow trick-or-treating in the afternoon only. In 2004 a witness came forward and police turned to DNA evidence. Two brothers were arrested and convicted of murder and sexual assault. A third man pleaded guilty to murder. In 2008 the city council voted to allow Halloween back to night hours.
(AP, 10/30/08)
1992 Scranton, Pa., entered Act 47, a state program that provides assistance to financially distressed cities.
(Econ, 7/21/12, p.26)
1993 Jan 10, An unidentified 62-year-old man at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center underwent the world's second baboon liver transplant. The man died less than a month later without regaining full consciousness.
(AP, 1/10/98)
1993 Mar 18, In Pennsylvania Amish man Edward Gingerich outraged his normally peaceful religious community of Rockdale Township, where he crushed his wife's skull and used a kitchen knife to remove her stomach organs from her dead body. Gingerich was diagnosed with schizophrenia and convicted of manslaughter in 1994. After serving his maximum sentence of four years in prison for the killing, moved to a mental institution in Michigan before going to Indiana and eventually returning to Pennsylvania and the Brown Hill Amish community in 2007. In 2011 Gingerich (44) committed suicide in a barn in Cambridge Springs, Pa.
(www.bellaonline.com/articles/art68724.asp)(Reuters, 1/16/11)
1993 Jul 26, Ret. Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway (98), US Army Chief of Staff (1953-55), died in Fox Chapel, Pa.
(AP, 7/26/98)
1993 Oct 16, The Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-5, in game one of the World Series.
(HN, 10/16/98)
1993 Oct 17, The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-4, evening the World Series at one game each.
(AP, 10/17/98)
1993 Oct 19, The Toronto Blue Jays took a 2-1 lead in the World Series by defeating the Philadelphia Phillies 10-3.
(AP, 10/19/98)
1993 Oct 20, Toronto took a 3-1 lead in the World Series as the Blue Jays defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 15-14.
(AP, 10/20/98)
1993 Oct 21, The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Toronto Blue Jays 2-0 in game five of the World Series; Toronto still led the Series 3-2.
(AP, 10/21/98)
1994 Jun 7, Vicki Van Meter 912) of Meadville, Pa., completed a trans-Atlantic flight, landing in Glasgow, Scotland. She was accompanied by her flight instructor.
(www.zinkle.com/p/articles/mi_m1590/is_n3_v51/ai_15823355)
1994 Sep 8, A US Air Boeing 737 from Chicago crashed near Pittsburgh Int’l. Airport and killed all 132 people onboard. USAir Flight 427 crashed 6 minutes before it was due to land.
(SFC, 5/12/96, p.A-14)(AP, 9/8/97)(SFC, 11/13/01, p.A12)
1994 Nov 1, In Cherry Hill, Pa., Len Jenoff and Paul Daniels clubbed to death Carol Neulander (52), the wife of Rabbi Fred J. Neulander (53), under a contract from Rabbi Neulander. Neulander stood trial in 2001 in New Jersey. He was convicted of murder Nov 20, 2002 and sentenced to life in prison.
(SFC, 10/20/01, p.A18)(SFC, 11/21/02, p.A6)(SFC, 11/23/02, p.A4)
1994 Nov 11, Eddie Polec (16), a Fox Chase high school student, died after being clubbed to death by students of Abington High School. On March 20, 1996, Carlo Johnson (20) and Bou Khathavong (18) – believed by prosecutors to be the ring leaders in the assault, although neither beat Polec – received maximum five- to 10-year sentences for conspiracy. Prosecutors believe the two organized the rumble and provided the baseball bats. Anthony Rienzi and Nick Pinero, both 18, were sentenced to the maximum 15- to 30-year terms for third-degree murder and conspiracy. Thomas Crook (19) sobbed and apologized to his family before receiving 14.5 years to 30 years on the same charges. Dawan Alexander (18) who was convicted of manslaughter for kicking Polec, received an eight- to 20-year term. Seventh defendant Kevin Convey (19) had pleaded guilty earlier to third-degree murder in exchange for testifying against the others. In February he had been sentenced to five to 20 years. In 2000 Bryn Freedman and William Knoedelseder authored "In Eddie’s Name: One Family’s Triumph Over Tragedy."
(SFEC, 5/14/00, BR p.12)(www.cnn.com/US/9603/teen_sentencing/)
1994 The Andy Warhol Museum opened in Pittsburgh.
(SFEC, 8/13/00, p.T11)
1994 Steven Spielberg helped establish the Righteous Persons Foundation. In 2008 $1 million from the foundation was given toward establishing a new Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia.
(SFC, 7/4/08, p.E15)
1994 Judith Rodin (b.1944) began serving as president of the Univ. of Pennsylvania. She served until 2004 and in 2005 became president of the Rockefeller Foundation.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Rodin)(Econ, 12/16/06, p.68)
1995 Aug 7, Ten days before he was to be put to death for the murder of a police officer, black activist and radio reporter Mumia Abu-Jamal won a reprieve from the original trial judge in Philadelphia. As of 2008, his legal appeals are still unsettled and he is a prisoner at State Correctional Institution Greene near Waynesburg, Pennsylvania.
(AP, 8/7/00)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal)
1995 Oct, Jonny Gammage died from asphyxiation when police officers subdued him following a traffic stop in Overbrook. In 1999 the Justice Dept. closed its case against the officers due to lack of evidence that they used unreasonable force.
(SFC, 2/19/99, p.A5)
1995 Dec 24, Fire broke out at the Philadelphia Zoo, killing 23 rare gorillas, orangutans, gibbons and lemurs.
(AP, 12/24/05)
1995 Erie’s congressman Tom Ridge became governor.
(WSJ, 7/13/00, p.A28)
1995 Abu-Jamal, in jail for a 1981 murder conviction, published "Live from Death Row."
(SFC, 1/22/99, p.A2)
1996 Jan 14, The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Indianapolis Colts, 20-to-16, to win the AFC championship. The Dallas Cowboys beat the Green Bay Packers, 38-to-27, to win the NFC championship.
(AP, 1/14/01)
1996 Jan 26, Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz was fatally shot at the suburban Philadelphia estate of John E. du Pont; du Pont surrendered 48 hours later. Du Pont was later convicted of third-degree murder but mentally ill; he's serving a 13- to 30-year sentence.
(AP, 1/26/06)
1996 Jun 27, Anne Marie Fahey (30), the secretary of Delaware Gov. Thomas Carper, disappeared from Wilmington after dining at a Philadelphia restaurant with Thomas Capano. Capano, a prominent lawyer who had dated Fahey, was later accused of her murder based on testimony from his two brothers. In 1998 Capano admitted that he disposed Fahey’s body but insisted that her death was an accident. In 1998 Capano testified that Fahey was shot accidentally by former mistress Deborah MacIntyre, who denied the charge. Capano was convicted by a jury on Jan 17, 1999. On Mar 16, 1999, Capano was sentenced to death.
(SFEC,12/14/97, p.A4)(SFEC, 10/5/98, p.A5)(SFC, 10/27/98, p.A2)(SFC, 12/22/98, p.A2)(SFC, 1/18/99, p.A2)(SFC, 3/17/99, p.A2)
1996 Nov 13, An all-white jury in Pittsburgh acquitted a suburban police officer, John Vojtas, in the death of black motorist Jonny Gammage in a verdict that angered black activists.
(AP, 11/13/97)
1996 Binney & Smith Inc. established the Crayola Factory Museum in Easton, Pa.
(WSJ, 4/30/98, p.A1)
1996 Peter Wright (1917-2007), founder of started Wright’s Keystone Helicopter Corp. (1953), served as the founding chairman of the American Helicopter Museum in West Chester, Pa.
(WSJ, 6/16/07, p.A6)
1996 David Nam broke into the Philadelphia house of Anthony Schroeder (75) to rob him and killed the retired police officer when he resisted with his own gun. Nam was arrested in 1997 but fled to South Korea in 1998 while under house arrest. In 2008 Nam was arrested by police in South Korea.
(AP, 3/19/08)
1997 Feb 23, In Philadelphia a group of white men attacked a black family in the Grays Ferry section. Nine men were tried in 1998 and 6 were convicted on a variety of felony accounts.
(SFC, 2/10/98, p.A3)
1997 Feb 25, A jury in Media, Pa., convicted multimillionaire John E. du Pont of third-degree murder, deciding he was mentally ill when he killed world-class wrestler David Schultz. Du Pont was sentenced to serve 13- to 30-years in prison.
(AP, 2/25/07)
1997 Mar 26, Former drug counselor John G. Bennett Jr. pleaded no contest in Philadelphia to charges stemming from a $100 million charity fraud. Bennett was sentenced to 12 years in prison for fraud, tax violations and money laundering.
(AP, 3/25/07)
1997 Aug 12, Steel workers in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania ended a 10-month strike at Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp. with a new contract. It was the longest strike by a major steel company.
(SFC, 8/13/97, p.A3)
1997 Sep, Devon Capital Management under John Gardner Black was shut down by the SEC. Mr. Black was charged with fraud after losing millions in high-risk bonds and derivatives and then trying to cover up the losses. Some $70 million was lost from the investments of 64 cash-strapped school districts in the state.
(WSJ, 12/26/97, p.A1)
1997 Oct 24, A firebomb killed a grandmother, her daughter and three children in a blighted neighborhood of crack houses.
(SFC,10/24/97, p.A4)
1997 Oct 25, The Million Woman March was in Philadelphia to revitalize black families and communities drew an estimated 300,000 to one million people.
(SFC, 10/10/97, p.A3)(SFEC,10/26/97, p.A1)(AP, 10/25/98)
1997 Nov 26, It was reported that Philadelphia agreed with the Norwegian shipbuilder Kvaerner ASA to a 99-year lease on 114 acres of the former Naval Shipyard that includes 2 drydocks with the option to buy the property for 1 dollar at the end of the lease.
(WSJ, 11/26/97, p.B8)
1997 Dec 21, Johnny Coles (71), jazz trumpeter, died in Philadelphia. His records included "The Warm Sound of Johnny Coles" and "Little Johnny C."
(SFC,12/26/97, p.B6)
1997 The Zippo Manufacturing Co. opened a Zippo museum in Bradford to celebrate its 65th anniversary.
(Hem., 10/97, p.78)
1997 John Street, Philadelphia City Council president and later mayor, proposed a rigid anti-loitering law aimed at clearing city streets of panhandlers. An estimated 4,500 homeless lived in Philadelphia at the time. A campaign to move the homeless into shelters reduced the number on the streets to 130 in 2004.
(SSFC, 6/13/04, A22)
1997 In Pennsylvania Ghassan Saleh escaped from a federal prison near Bradford while working on a grounds crew. He had been serving a sentence of almost six years after being convicted of cocaine trafficking in Michigan. In November, 2017, Saleh (66) was arrested after flying into New York City from Lebanon, his native country.
(AP, 12/20/17)
1998 Jan 7, The book "A Prayer for the City" by Buzz Bissinger was about Philadelphia mayor Ed Rendell and his last 3 years in office. Rendell served 2 terms from 1990-1998.
(WSJ, 1/6/98, p.16)(SFC, 1/4/00, p.A7)
1998 Mar 22, In Miles Township, Pa., 11 students were killed in a cabin fire while on a camping trip.
(SFC, 3/23/98, p.A2)
1998 Apr 13, An Amtrak train collided with Conrail freight cars near Pittsburgh and injured 20 people.
(WSJ, 4/14/98, p.A1)
1998 Apr 24, In Pennsylvania a 14-year-old boy was arrested after he shot a teacher to death and injured 2 others during a dance for 8th graders in Edinboro. Andrew Wurst (14) later pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison.
(SFC, 4/25/98, p.A3)(AP, 4/24/03)
1998 May 10, In Clearfield, Pa., Kimberly Jo Dotts (15) was hanged to death by teenagers who planned to run away to Florida. Seven young people 14-24 were arrested for murder and the trial of Jessica Holtmeyer (16) and Aaron Straw (19) began in 1999. Holtmeyer was convicted Jan 28.
(SFC, 1/18/99, p.A8)(SFC, 1/29/99, p.A6)
1998 Jun 1, In Philadelphia the largest transit union went on strike and shut down a system that served 435,000 people a day. This followed 3 months of negotiations with the transportation authority (SEPTA).
(SFC, 6/2/98, p.A5)
1998 Jun 10, Dr. Stephen Grosse, a flamboyant gay dentist, was found shot dead in his burning car near Philadelphia.
(SFC, 6/20/98, p.A3)
1998 Jun 15, Police and federal agents and garbage trucks began Operation Sunrise in Philadelphia to clean up a blighted neighborhood.
(SFC, 6/16/98, p.A3)
1998 Jun 20, Seven people were killed on the Pennsylvania Turnpike when a Greyhound bus crashed into a tractor-trailer parked on the shoulder. At least 18 people were hurt. The driver was on his last run before retirement. he was among the dead with his wife and boy that they took care of.
(SFEC, 6/21/98, p.A10)(WSJ, 6/22/98, p.A1)
1998 Jun 23, Laboratory grown adult nerve cells were implanted into a human brain for the first time to treat a stroke at the Univ. of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
(SFC, 7/2/98, p.A2)
1998 Jun, Federal prosecutors accused 2 Amish men of buying cocaine from a local chapter of the Pagan Motorcycle Club and distributing it to their friends at "running around" parties (rumschpringes in Dutch).
(SFC, 7/2/98, p.A7)
1998 Jul 11, Public transit resumed and the 40-day transit strike came to a tentative end after a contract agreement was reached.
(SFEC, 7/12/98, p.A8)
1998 Aug 5, Marie Noe of Philadelphia (69), was arrested and charged with murdering 8 of 10 children by suffocation over a 19 year period (1949-1968). In 1999 Noe (70) pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 years probation.
(SFC, 8/6/93, p.A3)(SFC, 6/29/99, p.A2)(AP, 8/5/99)
1998 Sep 17, In Apollo, Pennsylvania, nuclear-processing plant operators were ordered to pay 8 cancer-stricken victims $36.5 million.
(WSJ, 9/18/98, p.A1)
1998 Sep, The brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys), an insect not previously seen in North America, was first collected in Allentown, Pa. It had probably arrived several years earlier. It is known as an agricultural pest in its native range of China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan.
(Econ, 9/10/11, p.36)(http://tinyurl.com/nkexo3)
1998 Dec 17, In Gabon Karen Phillips (37), a US Peace Corps worker from Philadelphia, was raped and stabbed to death in Oyem. 3 people were arrested in connection with her death.
(SFEC, 12/20/98, p.C10)
1999 Feb 19, In Allentown, Pa., An explosion at a chemical processing plant in the Lehigh Valley Industrial Park killed 5 people and injured 14.
(SFEC, 2/21/99, p.A7)(WSJ, 2/22/99, p.A1)
1999 Jun 18, In Norristown Dennis Czaikowski (40) shot and killed Carol Kepner (54) and wounded Maria Jordan (37) before being subdued by police following a standoff at the Norristown State Hosp. where he had been fired.
(SFC, 6/19/99, p.A4)
1999 Aug 7, In China Song Yongyi, a research librarian at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., was imprisoned while collecting data on the Cultural Revolution. On Dec 12 he was charged with "the purchase and illegal provision of intelligence to foreigners." Yongyi was released on Jan 28, 2000.
(SFC, 1/26/00, p.A8)(SFC, 1/29/00, p.A8)
1999 Aug 16, Gov. Tom Ridge ordered a lockdown of all state prisons following the escape Michael McCloskey (43) and Anthony Yang (31) from the State Correctional Institution at Dallas.
(SFC, 8/17/99, p.A3)
1999 Sep 7-19, Hurricane Floyd caused one death in Caribbean and 56 in United States. Storm hit Bahamas before striking Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Delaware, New York, Connecticut, and Vermont.
(AP, 9/11/04)(www.wunderground.com)
1999 Oct, The plum pox virus made its first appearance in North America in Pennsylvania orchards.
(SFC, 11/27/99, p.A20)
1999 Nov 2, Democrat John F. Street became the 2nd black mayor of Philadelphia with his win over Sam Katz.
(SFC, 11/3/99, p.A17)
1999 Nov 21, A Penn State student and a bus driver were killed when 4 charter buses crashed on I-80 in heavy fog.
(SFC, 11/22/99, p.A9)
1999 Dec 5, W. Russell G. Byers (59), a Daily News columnist, was stabbed to death as he fought off a robber by a convenience store in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia.
(SFC, 12/6/99, p.B2)
2000 Feb 3, Nancy Hershey Bromer, publisher of "Old News," died at age 78. Old News had begun as a monthly magazine about Pennsylvania history in the 1980s and later expanded to national and world history.
(ON, 3/00, p.3)
2000 Feb 5, An oil pipeline began leaking and released some 25,000 gallons below the surface of a frozen pond in the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge in southwest Philadelphia.
(SFC, 2/7/00, p.A10)
2000 Mar 1, In Pennsylvania Ronald Taylor (39) killed 3 people and wounded 2 at an apartment and 2 fast food restaurants in Wilkinsburg. In 2001 Taylor was sentenced to death for the killing of 3 white men.
(SFC, 3/2/00, p.A3)(AP, 3/1/01)(SFC, 11/12/01, p.A12)
2000 Mar 19, At Bloomsburg Univ. a fire at the off-campus Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity killed 3 members.
(SFC, 3/20/00, p.A10)
2000 Apr 21, In Sinking Spring Carlos Angel Diaz Santiago (22) pushed the car of his former girlfriend onto the tracks of an oncoming train. Candace Wertz (20), her son (2), Cynthia Jacques (22), and her daughter (2) were killed.
(SFC, 4/22/00, p.A3)
2000 Apr 28, In Pennsylvania Richard Baumhammers (34) shot and killed 5 people in a racially motivated shooting spree in McKees Rocks. He was sentenced to death in 2001.
(SFC, 4/29/00, p.A3)(BS, 5/12/01, p.3A)
2000 May 18, In Philadelphia a 91-year-old pier at a new open-air bar collapsed into the Delaware River and 3 people were killed.
(SFC, 5/19/00, p.A3)(WSJ, 10/10/01, p.B1)
2000 May 21, In Pennsylvania a commuter plane, returning from Atlantic City, NJ, crashed near Wilkes-Barre and all 19 people aboard were killed.
(SFC, 5/22/00, p.A1)
2000 Jun 26, The new United Religions organization planned a charter signing ceremony at Carnegie Mellon Univ. in Pittsburgh. Episcopal Bishop William Swing first announced his dream June, 1995, at Grace Cathedral in SF. A 41-member Global Council will coordinate activities. 24 members will be chosen by a worldwide membership in 8 regional elections, with a dozen at-large trustees and 5 seats from the current board. The basic unit of the organization will be a group of 7 or more people from a mix of religious traditions.
(SFC, 6/19/00, p.A1,5)
2000 Jun 18, A US F-14 Tomcat fighter jet crashed during an air show at Willow Grove, Pa. Two naval aviators were killed.
(SFC, 6/20/00, p.A9)
2000 Jul 3, The $2.5 million, 393-foot Gettysburg National Tower, erected in 1974, was destroyed.
(SFC, 7/4/00, p.A3)
2000 Jul 12, In Philadelphia a WPVI News camera showed city police beat and kick Thomas Jones (30) over nationwide TV. Jones had stolen a patrol car and shot at an officer. Jones later pleaded guilty to carjacking and other crimes, and was sentenced to 18 to 36 years in prison. Ballistic tests later showed that Officer Michael Livewell was shot in the thumb by another officer during their struggle with Jones. 13 police officers were later suspended for up to 15 days in connection with the incident.
(SFC, 7/14/00, p.A1,16)(SFC, 8/8/00, p.A5)(AP, 7/12/05)
2000 Jul 31, The Republican National Convention opened in Philadelphia.
(SFEC, 7/30/00, p.A1)
2000 Aug 1, In Philadelphia police arrested at least 280 protesters and raided a warehouse site used as a staging area for passive resistance demonstrations. 15 police officers were injured.
(SFC, 8/2/00, p.A9)(SFC, 8/5/00, p.A3)
2000 Sep, In Pennsylvania Jamal Kelly was killed. Donald Outlaw spent 15 years in prison for Kelly's murder when he found out the man he was convicted of killing had told police with his dying breath that someone else named “Shank" had shot him. At Outlaw’s trial in 2004 the victim’s dying declaration that “Shank" did it was never disclosed. On Dec. 29, 2020, Outlaw was officially exonerated. In 2021 he filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Philadelphia and the two detectives who investigated the killing.
(https://painnocence.org/RobertOutlaw?locale=en)(AP, 3/17/21)
2000 Oct 1, Pope John Paul II on China’s national day, canonized as martyrs 87 Chinese believers and 33 European missionaries killed between 1648 and 1930. He also canonized Mother Katherine Drexel (d.1955), a Philadelphia heiress, who became a nun.
(SFC, 10/2/00, p.A12)(Econ, 12/18/10, p.78)
2000 Oct 27, Philadelphia teachers called a strike. Mayor John Street planned a talk with Gov. Tom Ridge on arranging a "friendly takeover" of the school system by the state to force teachers back to work.
(SFC, 10/28/00, p.A9)
2000 Dec 28, Masked men shot and killed 7 people in a suspected drug house in Philadelphia.
(SFC, 12/29/00, p.A3)
2001 Mar 7, In Williamsport a 14-year-old girl at Bishop Neumann High School shot and wounded a 13-year-old classmate with a .22 caliber handgun.
(SFC, 3/8/01, p.A5)
2001 Apr 13, In Philadelphia a fire at a boarding house killed 7 people. The unlicensed house was home to seniors and disabled people.
(SFC, 4/14/01, p.A5)
2001 Apr 28, It was reported that researchers at the Univ. of Pennsylvania had used gene therapy to reverse a form of congenital blindness in dogs.
(SFC, 4/28/01, p.A3)
2001 Apr, Willie Stargell (61), former Pittsburgh Pirates baseball Hall of Fame star (1962-1982), died in North Carolina of a stroke.
(WSJ, 4/10/01, p.A1)
2001 May 13, Jason Miller (62), actor-playwright, died in Scranton, Pa.
(AP, 5/13/02)
2001 Jun 17, Tropical Strom Allison moved into southeastern Pennsylvania and killed 4 people. This raised the toll from Allison to at least 43.
(SFC, 6/18/01, p.A7)
2001 Sep 11, 10:10 a.m. United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757 carrying 45 people, crashed southeast of Pittsburgh. The plane had left Newark for SF but was believed to be directed by hijackers to Camp David. Passengers appeared to have overcome the hijackers. In 2002 it was reported that Congress was the target.
(SFC, 9/12/01, p.A6,10,12)(WSJ, 9/12/01, p.A1)(SFC, 11/6/01, p.A6)(WSJ, 9/12/01, p.A1,3) (WSJ, 2/24/05, p.A1)
2001 Sep 13, The data flight recorder for United Flight 93 was found at the Pennsylvania crash site. 18 hijackers were identified as ticketed passengers in the Sep 11 terrorist attack.
(WSJ, 9/14/01, p.A1)
2001 Sep 20, Pres. Bush named Gov. Tom Ridge (56) of Pennsylvania to direct the new office of Homeland Security.
(SFC, 9/21/01, p.A16)
2001 Oct 19, In Philadelphia luggage, from a baggage locker that was deposited Sep 29, was found to contain C-4 plastic explosives.
(SFC, 10/20/01, p.A17)
2001 Dec 9, An Amtrak Acela train killed 3 people on tracks northeast of Philadelphia.
(WSJ, 12/10/01, p.A1)
2001 Dec 10, In Philadelphia a gunman opened fire outside the Great Valley Shopping Center in East Whiteland Township and killed 2 people. A 3rd was wounded.
(SFC, 12/11/01, p.A9)
2001 Dec 18, A federal judge in Philadelphia threw out Mumia Abu-Jamal's death sentence for the 1981 shooting of a Philadelphia police officer and ordered a new sentencing hearing for the former Black Panther alternately portrayed as a vicious cop-killer and a victim of a racist frame-up. Both sides appealed the ruling.
(SFC, 12/19/01, p.A1)(AP, 12/17/02)
2001 Dec 21, Gov. Mark Schweiker announced an agreement on a state takeover of the Philadelphia school system. Plans called Edison Schools Inc. to help run the district.
(SFC, 12/22/01, p.A4)
2001 Dec 28, In Pennsylvania a 30-50 car crash on snow-slickened I-80 left 5 people dead near Williamsport. Another 50 cars were involved in 2 pileups that left at least 2 people dead.
(SFC, 12/29/01, p.A6)
2001 Dec, The $265 million Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts approached completion. The Philadelphia structure was designed by Rafael Viñoly.
(WSJ, 12/20/01, p.A13)
2001 Verizon Hall, home of the Philadelphia Orchestra, opened at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, Pa.
(WSJ, 5/18/06, p.D8)
2002 Jan 7, Louis Pollak, a federal judge in Philadelphia, challenged the scientific validity of fingerprint evidence. In March Pollak declared fingerprint id to be the "bedrock of forensic science."
(SSFC, 2/24/02, p.A1)(SFC, 3/14/02, p.A3)
2002 Jan 25, In Pittsburgh 2 masked gunmen killed 2 men and a young girl in a sandwich shop.
(SSFC, 1/27/02, p.A17)
2002 Feb 4, A New Jersey teenager (16) began a 2-day shooting spree on the outskirts of Philadelphia that left 6 people dead. He was arrested Feb 22.
(SSFC, 2/24/02, p.A1)
2002 Apr 18, Researchers in Pittsburgh reported a strain of Group A streptococci resistant to erythromycin (the macrolide class of antibiotics).
(SFC, 4/18/02, p.A4)(WSJ, 4/18/02, p.A1)
2002 Jul 23, Chaim Potok (73), rabbi and author of novels that included "The Chosen," died at his home in suburban Philadelphia. "Literature presents you with alternative mappings of the human experience."
(SFC, 7/24/02, p.A1)
2002 Jul 24, John Rigas (78), CEO of Adelphia Comm. Corp., was arrested with his 2 sons on charges of that they looted the company of more than $1 billion.
(SFC, 7/25/02, p.A1)
2002 Jul 24, In Pennsylvania 9 coal miners were trapped by a flood 240 feet underground. All 9 were rescued Jul 27.
(WSJ, 7/26/02, p.A1)(SSFC, 7/28/02, p.A1)
2002 Jul 25, Encouraged by a tinny tapping sound coming up from the depths, rescuers in Somerset, Pa., brought in a huge drill in a race to save nine coal miners trapped 240 feet underground by a flooded shaft.
(AP, 7/25/03)
2002 Jul 26, Hershey Foods in Hershey, Pa., announced that it would put itself up for sale under directions by the Hershey Trust Co.
(SFC, 7/26/02, p.B3)
2002 Jul 28, In Somerset, Pennsylvania 9 coal miners, trapped July 24 by a flood 240 feet underground, were rescued after 77 hours underground in the Quecreek Mine.
(SSFC, 7/28/02, p.A1)(AP, 7/28/03)
2002 Aug 7, Destiny Wright disappeared at a sleepover with other children in Philadelphia. Abdul El-Shabazz (18) was arrested the next day and led police to her body.
(SFC, 8/10/02, p.A5)
2002 Aug 10, Leaders of Roman Catholic religious orders, meeting in Philadelphia, approved details of their plan to keep sexually abusive clergy away from children, while retaining them in the priesthood, creating review boards to monitor how their communities handle offenders.
(AP, 8/10/07)
2002 Oct 1, Walter H. Annenberg (94), media tycoon, philanthropist and former ambassador, died in Wynnewood, Pa. Biographies included "Legacy: A Biography of Moses and Walter Annenberg" by Christopher Ogden and "The Annenbergs" by John Cooney.
(SFC, 10/2/02, p.A2)
2002 Oct 15, A listeria outbreak blamed for at east 7 deaths in the northeast was traced to a Wampler Foods plant in Franconia, Pa.
(SFC, 10/16/02, p.A5)
2002 Oct 17, Ira Einhorn, the '70s hippie guru who had fled to Europe after being charged with murder, was convicted in Philadelphia of killing his girlfriend, Holly Maddux, and stuffing her corpse in his closet a quarter-century earlier. He was later sentenced to life without parole.
(AP, 10/17/03)
2002 Nov 10, A series of pulverizing storms barreled through more than a half-dozen US states including Tennessee, Ohio, Alabama, Mississippi and Pennsylvania, killing at least 36 people. More than 100 were injured.
(SFC, 11/12/02, p.A4)(AP, 11/10/07)
2002 Semion Mogilevich (b.1946), a Ukrainian businessman, and Igor Fisherman were indicted in Philadelphia on charges of money laundering and securities fraud in connection with the collapse of YBM Magnex, Inc. in which investors lost some $150 million. In 2006 Mogilevich was under investigation for possible links to natural gas deals between Russia and Ukraine.
(WSJ, 12/22/06, p.A11)
2002 The US Geological Survey estimated there may be 1.9 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Marcellus Shale of Pennsylvania. In 2008 Prof. Terry Engelder of Pennsylvania State Univ. estimated the amount at 168 trillion cubic feet. US consumption in 2007 was 23.05 trillion. The Marcellus shale formation stretched some 600 miles along the Appalachians from New York to West Virginia.
(WSJ, 4/2/08, p.A2)(Econ, 3/16/13, SR p.6)
2003 Mar, Philadelphia school officials began an inventory of stored art. By 2004 some 1,200 works were counted with an estimated value in the millions.
(SFC, 7/8/04, p.A2)
2003 Apr 19, In northeast Pennsylvania Hadley Bilger (13) was abducted by her uncle after he shot and killed her parents. Bilger was released the next day and Robert Lee Hixson (42) surrendered to police.
(AP, 4/20/03)(SFC, 4/21/03, p.A3)
2003 Apr 24, In Red Lion, Pa. James Shetts (14), a student armed with at least two handguns, fatally shot Eugene Segro (51), his school principal, in a crowded cafeteria before killing himself.
(Reuters, 4/24/03)(SFC, 4/25/03, A7)
2003 Jun 17, John Redwood (60), actor and playwright, died in south Philadelphia. His plays included "No Niggers, No Jews, No Dogs" (2001).
(SFC, 7/1/03, p.A17)
2003 Aug 28, In Erie, Pa., Brian Douglas Wells (46), pizza delivery man, was killed when a bomb strapped to his chest exploded while under police custody. Wells claimed a customer had strapped on the bomb and ordered him to rob a bank. In 2007 a grand jury indicted 2 people in connection with the crime. Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong (59), described as the ringleader, pleaded guilty but mentally ill for killing her boyfriend to keep him silent about the robbery. Diehl-Armstrong was trying to raise money to hire Kenneth Barnes to kill her father due to an inheritance dispute. In 2008 Kenneth Barnes (54) pleaded guilty to conspiracy. In 2010 Diehl-Armstrong was convicted for her role in the robbery. In 2011 she was sentenced to life plus 30 years in prison.
(SSFC, 8/31/03, p.A8)(AP, 7/11/07)(SFC, 9/4/08, p.A7)(SFC, 11/2/10, p.A5)(SFC, 3/1/11, p.A4)
2003 Nov 14, In Pittsburgh, Pa., a 3rd person died from an outbreak of hepatitis A that infected nearly 600 people. They all had recently eaten at a Chi-Chi's Mexican mall restaurant. Green onions were blamed for the outbreak.
(SFC, 11/15/03, p.A3)(AP, 11/16/03)(SFC, 11/22/03, p.A5)
2003 Dec 4, Federal prosecutor Jonathan Luna was attacked after leaving his office in Baltimore around midnight. His body was found 6 hours later, stabbed 36 times apparently in a furious fight for his life before drowning in a Pennsylvania creek. Luna was involved in the prosecution of rapper Deon Lionel Smith (32) and Walter Oriley Poindexter.
(AP, 12/5/03)(SFC, 12/5/03, p.A6)
2003 Dec 15, Charles Cullen (43), a former nurse, was charged with murder after telling prosecutors that he killed 30-40 severely ill patients in Pennsylvania and New Jersey since 1987 by injecting them with drugs. Cullen later pleaded guilty to killing 29 people and attempting to kill six others; he was sentenced to 18 life prison terms.
(SFC, 12/17/03, p.A3)(WSJ, 4/30/04, p.A1)(SFC, 5/20/04, p.A3)(AP, 12/15/08)
2003 Dec 29, Paul Goldman, a native of Uzbekistan, stabbed and killed Faina Zonis in the Philadelphia suburb of Bensalem. Goldman soon fled the country. Police found his parents dead by suicide on Jan 13. Goldman was captured in France on Jan 20, 2004. Zonis committed suicide Apr 11, 2004.
(SFC, 1/17/04, p.A4)(SFC, 1/21/04, p.A3)(AP, 4/13/04)
2003 Pittsburgh joined 14 other Pennsylvania cities classified as economically distressed.
(WSJ, 5/27/04, p.A1)
2004 Jan 19, The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission voted to raise tolls an average of 42% for all vehicles.
(USAT, 1/20/04, p.12A)
2004 Mar 21, Veterans Stadium (b.1971) in Philadelphia was demolished in 62 seconds following 2,800 explosions.
(WSJ, 3/25/04, p.D1)
2004 Mar 27, Edward J. Piszek (87), founder of Mrs. Paul's Kitchens, died in Fort Washington, Pa.
(SFC, 4/1/04, p.B7)
2004 Jul 5, Gov. Ed Rendell signed laws authorizing 61,000 slot machines in Pennsylvania, more than any other state except Nevada. Most of the state's share will pay for a $1 billion cut in property taxes a year.
(AP, 7/5/04)
2004 Jul 8, John Rigas (79), founder of Adelphia Communications Corp. (1952), was convicted along with his son Timothy of looting the cable company to line their own pockets.
(SFC, 7/9/04, p.C1)(USAT, 7/9/04, p.1B)
2004 Jul 12, A foot or more of rain fell in parts of the Northeast. No injuries had been reported in the stricken areas of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
(AP, 7/13/04)
2004 Jul 16, PNC Financial, based in Pennsylvania, agreed to by Riggs National of Washington DC for $779 million. Riggs was fined $25 million in May for violating money laundering regulations.
(Econ, 7/24/04, p.69)
2004 Sep 1, It was reported that for about $10 million, Philadelphia city officials planned to turn all 135 square miles of the city into the world's largest wireless Internet hot spot. EarthLink was given the contract and planned to rent 4,000 city light posts for its equipment. Completion of the network was expected in Spring 2007.
(AP, 9/1/04)(SFC, 3/2/06, p.C2)
2004 Oct 18, The Dover, Pa., school district voted 6-3 to mandate the teaching of “intelligent design" in public schools along with the theory of evolution. A number of parents soon filed suit. In 2007 Edward Humes authored “Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education, Religion, and the Battle for America’s Soul."
(SFC, 11/30/04, p.A1)(SFC, 12/15/04, p.A4)(WSJ, 2/8/07, p.D7)
2004 Nov 19, Police in Abington, Pennsylvania, arrested Michael Cornelius Burke Jr. (38) for the assault and rape of 2 girls ages 10 & 13. In Apr 2006 Burke pleaded guilty but failed to show up for sentencing. In 2009 Burke was arrested in Mexico’s in central Veracruz state.
(www.amw.com/fugitives/brief.cfm?id=66637)(AP, 12/9/09)
2004 Dec 13, A Montgomery County, Pa., judge allowed trustees of the Barnes Foundation to move the Barnes art collection to downtown Philadelphia from Lower Meriod Township.
(SFC, 12/15/04, p.E5)
2005 Jan 23, The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Atlanta Falcons 27-10 to win the NFC championship game; the New England Patriots won the AFC championship by beating the Pittsburgh Steelers, 41-27.
(AP, 1/23/06)
2005 Feb 25, Hall of Fame basketball coach John Chaney was suspended for the rest of the regular season by Philadelphia’s Temple Univ. for ordering rough play by one of his players during a game against Saint Joseph's.
(AP, 2/25/06)
2005 Mar 26, A small plane, carrying 2 Rhode Island families from vacation in Florida, crashed near Penn. State Univ. All 6 people aboard were killed.
(SSFC, 3/27/05, p.A3)
2005 Jun 7, Terry Long, former Pittsburgh Steelers lineman, died in a hospital about five hours after he was found unresponsive in his suburban Pittsburgh home. An Oct 19 revised death certificate indicated that he had committed suicide by drinking antifreeze, and did not die as a direct result of football-related head injuries.
(AP, 1/26/06)
2005 Jun 12, I fire in Philadelphia left 5 children dead. Security bars on windows may have hampered escape attempts.
(SFC, 6/13/05, p.A3)
2005 Jul, Pennsylvania legislators increase their salaries 16 percent to 34 percent to at least $81,050, more than any state except California, and crafted the package in secret without debate or public scrutiny. They also found a way around a constitutional provision barring them from collecting any salary increase during the term in which it is approved. Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell signed the bill into law. A lawsuit was soon filed in state court challenging the legality of paying the raises early as unvouchered expenses, though no hearing date has been set. A ruling against the unvouchered expenses would nullify the entire law, including their raises.
(AP, 8/11/05)
2005 Jul 18, LaToyia Figueroa, who was five months' pregnant, was last seen in West Philadelphia. Police recovered her remains a month later. On August 20, 2005, They arrested Steven Poaches, her former boyfriend and the father of the unborn child. On October 17, 2006, in a nonjury trial, Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina found Stephen Poaches, guilty of two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of 24-year-old LaToyia Figueroa and her fetus. Poaches waived his right to appeal and, in exchange, prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty. He was given an automatic life sentence with no parole.
(AP, 8/20/05)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaToyia_Figueroa)
2005 Sep 24, Monica Lozada-Rivadineira (26), an immigrant from Bolivia, disappeared in NYC. Her daughter, Valery, was found in the evening wandering barefoot in Queens. On Oct 6 Police found her body in a Pennsylvania landfill and police said she was killed by her boyfriend. In 2006 Cesar Ascarruna (32) pleaded guilty to manslaughter and reckless endangerment. He was sentenced to 32 years in prison.
(AP, 10/7/05)(SFC, 3/16/06, p.A3)
2005 Oct 7, John Rigas and his son, founders of bankrupt Adelphia Communications, were indicted for failure to pay some $300 million in taxes.
(SFC, 10/8/05, p.C1)
2005 Oct 31, A transit strike in Philadelphia brought the city’s buses, subways and trolleys to a halt.
(SFC, 11/1/05, p.A3)
2005 Nov 8, Pennsylvania voters came down hard on school board members who backed a statement on intelligent design being read in biology class, ousting eight Republicans and replacing them with Democrats who want the concept stripped from the science curriculum.
(AP, 11/9/05)
2005 Nov 13, In Lititz, Pennsylvania, David G. Ludwig (18) killed 14-year-old Kara Beth Borden's parents, Michael F. and Cathryn Lee Borden, after they and their daughter argued about her curfew. David and Kara were arrested Nov 14 in Indiana following a police chase and crash. On June 14, 2006, Ludwig agreed to a plea deal and was sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment without chance of parole.
(AP, 11/14/05)(SFC, 11/15/05, p.A10)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_G._Ludwig)
2005 Nov 15, Harold Wilson of Philadelphia was acquitted, based on DNA evidence, of a triple homicide after serving sixteen years in prison.
(Econ, 12/19/15, p.33)
2005 Nov 17, Pennsylvania Democratic congressman John Murtha argued that it was time to bring US troops home from Iraq.
(Econ, 11/26/05, p.35)
2005 Nov 18, In Pennsylvania an oil painting by Jackson Pollock and a silkscreen by Andy Warhol were stolen from the Everhart Museum by thieves who shattered a glass door in the back of the building. The thieves had disappeared by the time police arrived, four minutes after the alarm sounded at 2:30 a.m.
(AP, 11/19/05)
2005 Dec 6, Philadelphia won the first NHL scoreless game that was decided by a shootout, beating Calgary 1-0.
(AP, 12/6/06)
2005 Dec 20, A US federal court in Pennsylvania ruled it was unconstitutional to teach schoolchildren the intelligent design theory of life as an alternative to evolution, dealing a blow to religious conservatives. Local parents had sued the Dover, Pa., school board after the board required that ninth-grade biology students be read a statement critical of evolution.
(AFP, 12/21/05)(SFC, 12/21/05, p.A1)
2005 Dec 23, In a NYC probe, first reported by the Daily News in October, authorities confirmed this week that investigators found paperwork indicating that bones of British broadcaster Alistair Cooke had been removed and sold by Biomedical Tissue Services, before he was cremated in 2004. Human bone, skin and tendons were allegedly removed from the bodies of hundreds of others without required permission from their families. The Brooklyn case stemmed from a deal struck between Michael Mastromarino (42), a Fort Lee, NJ, dentist who started Biomedical Tissue Services, and Joseph Nicelli (49), an embalmer and funeral parlor operator from Staten Island. In 2006 seven funeral directors pleaded guilty to undisclosed charges and agreed to cooperate with investigators. In 2008 Mastromarino pleaded guilty to hundreds of counts of abusing corpses, forgery, theft and other allegations stemming from the operation, which he ran with 3 Philadelphia funeral directors.
(AP, 12/23/05)(SFC, 2/24/06, p.A2)(SFC, 10/19/06, p.A7)(SFC, 8/30/08, p.A2)
2006 Jan 3, In Pennsylvania the Dover School Board rescinded its policy of presenting intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in high school biology classes.
(SFC, 1/4/06, p.A2)
2006 Jan 4, In a triple-overtime game that began Jan. 3 and finished after midnight, No. 3 Penn State beat No. 22 Florida State 26-23 in the Orange Bowl.
(AP, 1/4/07)
2006 Jan 25, It was reported that Wyoming rancher Allen Cook (57), with no connection to the University of Pittsburgh, has given the school 4,700 acres of land littered with dinosaur fossils.
(AP, 1/25/06)
2006 Feb 5, In Detroit, Mich., the Pittsburgh Steelers won the Super Bowl over the Seattle Seahawks 21-10.
(AP, 2/6/06)
2006 Feb 16, Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter asked the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate whether a top aide improperly helped direct nearly $50 million in Pentagon spending to clients represented by her husband. His request followed a USA TODAY report that he secured $48.7 million in projects for six clients of the aide's spouse's firm.
(USAT, 2/17/06)
2006 Feb 23, A New Zealand teenager hacked into the University of Pennsylvania computer system. Owen Thor Walker (18), known by his online name "AKILL," also was linked to a network accused of infiltrating 1.3 million computers and skimming millions of dollars from victims' bank accounts. In 2008 Walker was ordered to pay more than $11,000 in fines but avoided a conviction so that he can help police solve computer crimes.
(AP, 7/15/08)
2006 Apr 12, Police checking on a home in Leola, Pennsylvania, discovered a gruesome scene: the bodies of six people, some wrapped in sheets and blankets in the basement, and blood, bone fragments and a hammer upstairs. Jesse Dee Wise (21) was charged the next day for the murder of 6 relatives.
(AP, 4/13/06)(SFC, 4/14/06, p.A3)
2006 May 11, The Philadelphia City Council unanimously approved a plan to blanket the city's 135 square miles with a high-speed wireless Internet connection, a measure the mayor is expected to sign soon.
(AP, 5/12/06)
2006 Jun 29, East Coast rains, which began over the weekend, have been blamed for five deaths in Pennsylvania, four in Maryland, one in Virginia and three in New York.
(AP, 6/29/06)
2006 Jul 11, The American League edged the National League 3-2 in the All-Star Game in Pittsburgh.
(AP, 7/11/07)
2006 Jul 13, Hazleton, Pa., passed Mayor Louis Barletta’s Illegal Immigration Relief Act in an effort to get rid of undocumented immigrants. In August federal lawsuits were filed against Hazleton and other local governments for attempting to regulate immigration. A 1976 US Supreme Court decision said regulation of immigration is exclusively a federal power. In 2007 a federal judge struck down the Hazleton anti-illegal immigration law.
(SFC, 8/16/06, p.A5)(SFC, 7/27/07, p.A13)
2006 Jul 18, A heat wave in the US left at least 7 people dead including 5 in Oklahoma and 2 in Pennsylvania.
(SFC, 7/19/06, p.A2)
2006 Aug 4, In Philadelphia Danieal Kelly (14), a disabled girl, was found dead in her mother's squalid house covered with bone-deep, maggot-infested bedsores. She weighed 42 pounds. In 2008 4 social workers were among 9 people charged in relation to her death. In 2008 Andrea Kelly, the mother, was charged with murder and Daniel, the father, was charged with child endangerment. Both parents retained lawyers who filed suits against their criminal co-defendants, blaming them for the girl's demise. In 2009 mother Andrea Kelly pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20-40 years in prison. In 2010 case worker Julius Murray was sentenced to 11 years in prison on fraud and obstruction in the case. He had skipped visits and still faced involuntary manslaughter charges.
(AP, 8/1/08)(www.philly.com/philly/news/26859869.html)(SFC, 4/30/09, p.A4)(SFC, 6/12/10, p.A9)
2006 Sep 6, Philadelphia’s Art Commission voted 6-2 to move a 2,000-pound bronze statue of Rocky Balboa, commissioned by actor Sylvester Stallone, out of storage and onto a street-level pedestal near the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
(SFC, 9/7/06, p.A2)
2006 Sep 17, In Pennsylvania 5 Duquesne basketball players were shot and wounded during an apparent act of random violence on campus. As of 2007 two alleged gunmen and two women who allegedly helped facilitate the shooting awaited trial.
(AP, 9/17/07)
2006 Oct 2, In Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, Charles Carl Roberts IV (32), a local truck driver, lined at least 11 girls against a blackboard and shot them in the head at a one-room Amish schoolhouse in Lancaster County. He shot himself as police stormed the schoolhouse. Two young students were killed, along with a female teacher's aide who was slightly older than the students. Seven others, most shot at point-blank range, were taken to hospitals, and two of them died early the next day.
(AP, 10/3/06)(SFC, 10/3/06, p.A1)(Econ, 10/7/06, p.38)
2006 Oct 4, A Philadelphia jury awarded a woman $1 million and her husband $500,000 in compensatory damages after finding that Wyeth's hormone replacement drug Prempro was a cause of her breast cancer. In the first federal Prempro trial, a jury last month in Little Rock, Arkansas found Wyeth was not negligent and had adequately warned patients and doctors of the cancer risk associated with the drug. Wyeth faced some 5,000 lawsuits involving its hormone replacement drugs.
(Reuters, 10/4/06)
2006 Oct 13, A jury in Philadelphia said US retail giant Wal-Mart must pay 78 million dollars for violating labor laws in Pennsylvania.
(SFC, 10/14/06, p.C1)
2006 Oct 20, In Pennsylvania 24 rail cars carrying ethanol derailed and 9 caught fire on a bridge over the Beaver River in New Brighton, 25 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.
(SSFC, 10/22/06, p.A5)
2006 Nov 16, A state regulatory board approved Gov. Ed Rendell's proposal to make deeper cuts in mercury emissions from Pennsylvania's coal-fired power plants, despite opposition from power plants and mining companies.
(AP, 11/16/06)
2006 Dec 20, Pennsylvania cleared the way for 2 slot machine casino licenses in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
(SFC, 12/21/06, p.A3)
2006 Dec 22, Rafael Robb (56), tenured economics professor at the Univ. of Pennsylvania, bludgeoned his wife (39) to death in Norristown. In 2007 he pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
(SFC, 11/27/07, p.A8)
2006 Dec 29, In Allentown, Pa., a fire swept through 4 downtown row houses killing 5 people. An extension cord overload was blamed.
(SFC, 12/30/06, p.A3)
2006 An auto accident in Pennsylvania that left 2 men dead was later attributed to a defective replacement tire from China. In 2007 it was estimated that some 450,000 tires imported by Foreign Tire Sales Inc. of New Jersey from Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co. were defective.
(WSJ, 6/26/07, p.A1)
2007 Feb 12, In Philadelphia, Penn., 3 men were shot to death in a marketing company conference room and another was critically injured by a gunman who killed himself as police closed in. The gunman had put a gig sum in a failed venture.
(AP, 2/13/07)(WSJ, 2/14/07, p.A1)
2007 Feb 15, Hundreds of drivers became stranded on a stretch of eastern Pennsylvania that had been hit by a monster storm. The National Guard was called in to deliver food and other necessities to a 50-mile line of vehicles trapped on I-78.
(WSJ, 2/16/07, p.A1)(AP, 2/16/08)
2007 Feb 16, A thick layer of ice kept major highways closed, a day after hundreds of drivers became stranded on a stretch of eastern Pennsylvania that had been hit by a monster storm.
(AP, 2/16/07)
2007 Feb 17, In southwestern Pennsylvania fire swept through a house in Waynesburg, killing six young children and a woman and injuring one other person.
(AP, 2/17/07)
2007 Jun 19, James Cockayne (21) of New Hope, Pa., was beaten and stabbed to death in the Virgin Islands. 3 men, Anselmo Boston, Kamal Thomas and Jahleel Ward, were arrested after the parents of Cockayne appeared on US news programs and accused Virgin Islands detectives of botching an investigation into their son's death. On Oct 10, 2008, Ward was found guilty of first-degree murder and other charges. Anselmo Boston and Kamal Thomas were found guilty on two counts each of third-degree assault, among other charges.
(AP, 10/6/08)(AP, 10/10/08)
2007 Jul 8, In Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell ordered a range of government services shutdown after last minute negotiations failed to break a budget stalemate. The shutdown took about 24,000 workers off the job. A budget deal was hammered out the following night.
(AP, 7/9/07)(SFC, 7/9/07, p.A3)(AP, 7/8/08)
2007 Jul 10, Railroad Development Corp., a Pittsburgh-based railroad company under Henry Posner III, planned to shut down Guatemala's only train service after years of fighting thieves, squatters and government-backed lawsuits. Posner expected to take his case to int’l. arbitration under CAFTA with a demand for $65 million in lost revenues and investments.
(AP, 7/10/07)(WSJ, 1/23/07, p.A14)
2007 Aug 15, Pennsylvania Superior Court Judge Michael Thomas Joyce, an appeals court judge, was indicted on charges of scamming $440,000 from insurers by claiming he suffered debilitating injuries in a car crash, even while he golfed, skated and went scuba diving.
(AP, 8/16/07)
2007 Aug 27, Police arrested Paul Devoe III (43) in Shirley, NY, following 5 recent murders in Texas and one in Pennsylvania. On December 19, 2007, the Texas Travis County District Attorney announced his office's intention to pursue the death penalty.
(SFC, 8/28/07, p.A6)(www.nytimes.com/2007/08/28/us/28texas.html)
2007 Sep 10, It was reported that John Kanzius of Erie, Pa., had accidentally discovered a way to burn salt water when he tried to desalinate seawater with a radio-frequency generator he developed to treat cancer. He discovered that as long as the salt water was exposed to the radio frequencies, it would burn.
(AP, 9/10/07)
2007 Sep 13, In Philadelphia police chief Sylvester Johnson acknowledged that police alone could not quell the city’s deadly violence and planned to introduce “Call to Action: 10,000 Men," an effort to get volunteers on the streets as of Oct 21.
(SFC, 9/14/07, p.A5)
2007 Sep 17, The Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh said it has created a $1.25 million fund to settle 32 lawsuits alleging abuse or injury by priests.
(AP, 9/17/07)
2007 Oct 4, In Philadelphia Mustafa Ali (36), a convicted bank robber, shot and killed two armored car guards servicing an ATM outside a bank. Several schools were locked down amid a massive manhunt for the gunman, who was arrested the next day.
(AP, 10/4/07)(AP, 10/6/07)
2007 Oct 12, In Norristown, Pa., Michele Cossey (46), the mother of a 14-year-old who authorities say had a cache of guns, knives and explosive devices in his bedroom for a possible school attack, was charged with buying her son 3 weapons. Authorities said the teenager felt bullied and tried to recruit another boy for a possible attack at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School.
(AP, 10/12/07)
2007 Oct 26, Friedman Paul Erhardt (63), television's "Chef Tell," died in Upper Black Eddy, Pa.
(AP, 10/26/08)
2007 Oct 29, Democrats Barack Obama and John Edwards sharply challenged Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's candor, consistency and judgment in a televised debate in Philadelphia.
(AP, 10/30/08)
2007 Oct 30, It was reported that John Murtha, US Democratic Congressman from Johnstown, Pa., and chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, had steered at least $600 million in earmarks to his district over the past 4 years. Since 1992 he has sent some $2 billion to his home district.
(WSJ, 10/30/07, p.A1)
2007 Nov 3, Boss, a robotic Chevrolet Tahoe from Carnegie Mellon Univ., won the annual DARPA sponsored race in San Bernadino County, Ca. 6 of 11 starting vehicles finished the 10-mile race, designed to simulate a town. No car finished the first race in 2004.
(Econ, 11/10/07, p.100)
2007 Nov 12, It was reported that a donor had given a staggering $100 million to the Erie Community Foundation in Pennsylvania, and all of the charities would receive a share.
(AP, 11/12/07)
2007 Nov 12, A new study said US researchers have developed a method of producing hydrogen gas from biodegradable organic material, potentially providing an abundant source of this clean-burning fuel. The method used by engineers at Pennsylvania State University combines electron-generating bacteria and a small electrical charge in a microbial fuel cell to produce hydrogen gas.
(AFP, 11/13/07)
2007 Nov 30, New Zealand officials said police have questioned the suspected teenage kingpin of an international cyber crime network accused of infiltrating 1.3 million computers and skimming millions of dollars from victims' bank accounts. Earlier this month, Ryan Goldstein, 21, of Ambler, Pa., was indicted in the case. Authorities allege that the New Zealand suspect and Goldstein were involved in crashing a University of Pennsylvania engineering school server Feb. 23, 2006. On Feb 29 Owen Thor Walker (18) was charged with two counts of accessing a computer for dishonest purpose, damaging or interfering with a computer system and possessing software for committing crime, and two counts of accessing a computer system without authorization.
(AP, 11/30/07)(AP, 2/29/08)
2007 Dec 16, Street and highway crews were at work trying to clear roads across the Great Lakes states into New England as a storm blamed for three deaths spread a hazardous mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain. The storm was blamed for at least 10 deaths including 4 in Indiana, 2 in Michigan and Wisconsin, one in Pennsylvania and one in Nova Scotia.
(AP, 12/16/07)(SFC, 12/18/07, p.A19)
2007-2008 Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., sponsored $14.7 million in defense earmarks for Kuchera Defense Systems, a campaign donor. The Pentagon went along with it, despite the fact that two convicted drug dealers had been deeply involved with the company.
(AP, 6/5/09)
2008 Jan 30, In Philadelphia Nurse Lee Cruceta (35) admitted he cut body parts from 244 corpses and helped forge paperwork so the parts, some of them diseased, could be used in unsuspecting patients. Cruceta has also pleaded guilty to related charges in New York and negotiated pleas to serve concurrent sentences of 6 1/2 to 20 years.
(AP, 1/30/08)
2008 May 1, Philadelphia’s Mayor Michael Nutter and police commissioner hoped to have 200 more police officers on the streets by this time as part of a new 33-page crime-fighting plan. Murders in the city had reached 392 in 2007. Gov. Ed Rendell agreed to help foot the bill.
(Econ, 2/9/08, p.33)
2008 Mar 27, A US appeals Court in Philadelphia overturned the death sentence of Mumia Abu Jamal, who had been convicted of killing Officer Daniel Faulkner on Dec 9, 1981.
(SFC, 3/28/08, p.A4)
2008 Apr 7, In Ohio 9 mortgage lenders agreed to modify adjustable-rate mortgages for borrowers facing foreclosure. In Pennsylvania mortgage companies and consumer advocates opened talks to help cash-strapped homeowners avoid foreclosure. Last week Maryland’s Gov. signed a measure creating a 150-day moratorium on foreclosures.
(WSJ, 4/8/08, p.A4)
2008 Apr 22, In Pennsylvania Hillary Clinton won the primary with about 55% of the vote to 45% for Obama.
(AP, 4/23/08)
2008 May 1, Philadelphia’s Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey announced a major reorganization of the department's command structure and the addition of nearly 250 officers on street patrols, part of a crime-fighting strategy he said was already showing results. Mayor Michael Nutter and the police commissioner had hoped to have 200 more police officers on the streets by this time as part of a new 33-page crime-fighting plan. Murders in the city had reached 392 in 2007. Gov. Ed Rendell agreed to help foot the bill.
(Econ, 2/9/08, p.33)(http://ydr.inyork.com/ci_9120792)
2008 May 3, In Philadelphia police officer Liczbinski was shot with an assault rifle after a robbery. One suspect was fatally shot by police soon after, another was arrested the next day and a third was captured May 7.
(AP, 5/8/08)
2008 May 5, Philadelphia police stopped the suspects' car while investigating a triple shooting. No weapons were found in the car or on the suspects, but officers said they had seen them shoot three people on a drug corner moments earlier. Video shot by WTXF-TV from a helicopter showed officers gathered around the vehicle as they pulled three men out. About a half-dozen officers held two men on the ground on the driver's side. Both were kicked repeatedly, while one was punched; one also appeared to be struck with a baton. A review of the video led to the firing of 4 officers with disciplinary action for 4 others. In 2009 a grand jury cleared the officers involved saying no excessive force was used.
(AP, 5/8/08)(WSJ, 5/20/08, p.A2)(SFC, 8/7/09, p.A5)
2008 May 13, EarthLink said it is pulling out of its high-speed Internet network in Philadelphia, and that it would shut down the operation on June 12.
(SFC, 5/14/08, p.C3)
2008 Jun 12, Deaths due to the heat wave across the US East Coast climbed past 30 with at least 15 dead in Philadelphia and 7 in NYC.
(WSJ, 6/13/08, p.A2)
2008 Jul 9, In western Pennsylvania the bodies of 22-year-old Ashley Guarino, her 2-year-old daughter Dreux and 11-month-old son Orlando Jr. were found by relatives. Orlando Maurice Guarino (38) was arrested the next day and charged with the murders of his wife and children.
(AP, 7/11/08)
2008 Jul 14, In Pennsylvania Luis Ramirez (25), an illegal Mexican migrant worker, died in Shenandoah after being beaten by white youths. 4 young men were charged and found responsible for the fight, but most of the federal charges against them were dropped. Local police were later accused of tampering with evidence and witnesses or lying to the FBI. In 2010 Derrick Donchak and Brandon Piekarsky were convicted for a federal hate crime. In 2011 former police chief Matthew Nestor was found guilty of falsifying his police report, a charge that carries up to 20 years in prison. Officer William Moyer was found guilty of lying to the FBI but was acquitted of four other counts. Officer Jason Hayes, who's engaged to the mother of one of Ramirez's attackers, was acquitted of both charges against him. In all, the jury convicted on two of nine counts. On Feb 23, 2011, Donchak and Piekarsky were sentenced to nine years each in prison for roles in the death of Ramirez.
(www.maldef.org/luis_ramirez_petition/)(SFC, 10/15/10, p.A6)(AP, 1/27/11)(Reuters, 2/24/11)
2008 Jul 15, In Pennsylvania Betty Schirmer (56) was killed in an apparent car accident. In 2010 her husband, Pastor Arthur Burton Schirmer, was charged with killing her and staging the car accident. The charge also prompted an investigation into the suspicious death of his 1st wife, Jewel Schirmer, in 1999.
(SFC, 9/14/10, p.A4)(www.delmarvanow.com/article/20100914/NEWS01/100914005)
2008 Jul 25, Randy Pausch (47), a Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist, died at his home in Virginia. His "last lecture" in September 2007, about facing terminal cancer, has become an Internet sensation and a best-selling book.
(AP, 7/25/08)
2008 Oct 3, The Great Lakes Governors (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin) applauded President George W. Bush for signing a joint resolution of Congress providing consent to the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact. It barred new diversions beyond the Great Lakes Basin.
(www.cglg.org/projects/water/CompactConsent.asp)(Econ, 5/22/10, p.36)
2008 Oct 17, In Philadelphia college student Jocelyn Kirsch (23) was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay more than $100,000 in restitution. She and her former boyfriend, Edward Anderton, had stolen the identities of friends and neighbors in 2006 and 2007 to net more than $116,000 in goods and services. Anderton’s sentence was pending.
(AP, 10/17/08)
2008 Oct 29, The Philadelphia Phillies won the baseball World Series over the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 with the conclusion of Game 5, which had been stopped by rain 2 days earlier.
(SFC, 10/30/08, p.D1)
2008 Nov 6, Philadelphia’s Mayor Nutter said a budget deficit crises will force the city to close libraries and swimming pools, suspend planned tax reductions, cut more than 800 jobs and trim salaries to deal with a $1 billion shortfall.
(SFC, 11/7/08, p.A7)
2008 Nov 19, FBI agent Sam Hicks was shot and killed while serving a warrant at a home near Pittsburgh, during a roundup of drug suspects in the greater Pittsburgh area. Christina Korbe was charged with homicide. Her husband, Robert Korbe, was one of 35 people charged in a 27-count drug-trafficking indictment.
(AP, 11/19/08)(SFC, 11/20/08, p.A4)
2008 Dec 26, In Philadelphia a duplex fire apparently caused by fuel spilling from an overfilled kerosene heater killed seven people, including 3 kids, in a basement that had only one exit.
(AP, 12/27/08)
2008 Dec 31, SF ended the year with 98 homicides. In Milwaukee, Wisc., the total number of homicides dropped 32%, from 105 in 2007 to 71 in 2008, the lowest number since 1985. Detroit had 344 slayings, a 13% drop from the 396 in 2007; Philadelphia's 332 killings were a 15% drop from the 392 in 2007; and the 234 homicides in Baltimore were 17% less than the 392 the year before. Cleveland recorded 102 homicides in 2008, down from a 13-year high of 134 in 2007. Homicides in New York rose 5.2%, to 522 from 496 the year before. Slayings in Los Angeles were down to 376 in 2008 compared to 400 the prior year. Preliminary data in Chicago showed 508 homicides were reported in 2008, the first time the city had more than 500 murders since 2003 and about 15% more than the 442 homicides reported in 2007. Washington, D.C., ended 2008 with 186 homicides, up from 181 in 2007.
(SFC, 1/2/09, p.1)(AP, 1/3/09)
2009 Jan 7, The SEC charged Joseph S. Forte of Broomall, Pennsylvania, an investment fund manager, with running a Ponzi scheme since at least 1995. Losses to investors were estimated at $50 million.
(WSJ, 1/28/09, p.A12)(www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2009/lr20847.htm)
2009 Jan 16, Artist Andrew Wyeth (b.1917), American artist, died at his home in the Philadelphia suburb of Chadds Ford. He had portrayed the hidden melancholy of the people and landscapes of Pennsylvania's Brandywine Valley and coastal Maine in works such as "Christina's World."
(AP, 1/16/09)
2009 Jan 22, US federal agents raided Kuchera Industries and Kuchera Defense systems, 2 small Pennsylvania defense contractors. They were given millions in federal funding by Rep. John Murtha, chairman of the defense appropriations committee. In 2007 the WSJ identified Murtha as the largest earmarker in the House.
(WSJ, 1/22/09, p.A6)
2009 Feb 1, In Super Bowl XLIII at Tampa, Florida, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals 27-23.
(SFC, 2/2/09, p.A1)
2009 Jan 26, Two Pennsylvania judges were charged with taking millions of dollars in kickbacks to send teenagers to two privately run youth detention centers. Prosecutors later said Luzerne County Judges Mark Ciavarella (58) and Michael Conahan (56) took $2.6 million in payoffs to put juvenile offenders in lockups run by PA Child Care LLC and a sister company, Western PA Child Care LLC. Conahan soon pleaded guilty to a single count of racketeering. The “kids for cash" trial against Ciavarella began in 2011. On Feb 18, 2011, Ciavarella was convicted of racketeering. On Aug 11, 2011, Ciavarella was sentenced to 28 years in prison. On Sep 23 Conahan was sentenced to 17.5 years in prison. On Nov 4, 2011, Robert Powell, the former owner of 2-for profit juvenile detention centers, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his role in the scheme. In 2014 builder Robert Mericle was sentenced to a year in jail and fined $250k for his role in the kids for cash scandal. On August 10, 2015, a federal judge approved a $4.75 million settlement between Powell and some 2,400 juveniles.
(AP, 2/11/09)(SFC, 2/7/11, p.A4)(SFC, 2/19/11, p.A6)(SFC, 8/12/11, p.A5)(SFC, 9/24/11, p.A4)(SFC, 11/5/11, p.A5)(SFC, 4/26/14, p.A6)(SFC, 8/13/15, p.A6)
2009 Feb 19, In Pennsylvania Roger Leon Barlow (19) was charged with setting 9 fires in arson-prone Coatesville, 35 miles west of Philadelphia.
(SFC, 2/20/09, p.A10)
2009 Feb 20, In Wampum, Pennsylvania, Jordan Brown (11) shot his father's pregnant fiancee, Kenzie Marie Houk (26), in the back of the head as she lay in bed. He then put his youth model 20-gauge shotgun back in his room before going out to catch his school bus. On March 29, 2010, a judge ruled that boy will be tried as an adult.
(AP, 2/22/09)(SFC, 3/30/10, p.A10)
2009 Feb 21, The Journal Register Co., a Yardley, Pa.-based company, filed for bankruptcy protection. The company owned 2o daily and 159 nondaily newspapers with some 3,500 employees.
(SSFC, 2/22/09, p.A8)
2009 Mar 2, A massive late winter snow storm roared out of the Southeast and into the Northeast overnight, idling hundreds of flights and making the morning rush treacherous as motorists contended with nearly a foot of snow in spots. Some 950 flights were canceled at the three main New York area airports, an almost 300 canceled in Philadelphia.
(AP, 3/2/09)(SFC, 3/3/09, p.A5)
2009 Mar 12, Leonore Annenberg (b.1918), the widow of billionaire publisher Walter Annenberg (d.2002), died in southern California. She had continued directing the philanthropy of the Annenberg Foundation based in Radnor, a suburb of Philadelphia, Pa.
(SFC, 3/13/09, p.B8)
2009 Mar 14, In Coatesville, Pennsylvania, the 20th arson fire this year was set, one day after Roger Leon Barlow (19) was held for trial in connection with fires set between Jan 2 and Feb 3.
(SSFC, 3/15/09, p.A10)
2009 Mar 16, Vincent Fumo (65), former Pennsylvania state senator, was convicted of 137 counts of corruption for schemes that defrauded the state senate of more than $3.5 million.
(WSJ, 3/17/09, p.A6)
2009 Apr 4, In Pittsburgh, Pa., Richard Poplawski (23) shot and killed 3 police officers, who were responding to a domestic violence disturbance. Poplawski received gunshot wounds in his legs and was charged with 3 counts of murder. The shooting began following an argument between Poplawski and his mother over a dog urinating in their house. On June 28, 2011, a jury sentenced Poplawski to death.
(SSFC, 4/5/09, p.A12)(SFC, 4/6/09, p.A5)(SFC, 6/28/11, p.A6)
2009 Apr 28, Veteran Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania switched parties with a suddenness that seemed to stun the Senate, a moderate's defection that pushed Democrats to within a vote of the 60 needed to overcome filibusters and enact President Barack Obama's top legislative priorities.
(AP, 4/29/09)
2009 May 7, Seven Pittsburgh-area ACORN workers were charged with falsifying voter registration forms, with six accused of doing so to meet the group's alleged quota system before last year's general election.
(AP, 5/7/09)
2009 May 23, It was reported that millions of bats in at least 7 US states (Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia) have died from white-nose syndrome, a fungal diseases. In 2011 the fungus Geomyces destructans was identified as the cause. The fungus responsible was later identified as Pseudogymnoascus destructans.
(Econ, 5/23/09, p.36)(SFC, 10/28/11, p.A18)(SSFC, 7/7/19, p.C10)
2009 Jun 10, In Pennsylvania a car fleeing a robbery scene jumped a curb in Philadelphia, smashed into a crowd and killed three young children. One robber had fled on the motorcycle and the other in a car. Both were arrested. Latoya Smith (22), the mother and aunt of two of the children, died the next days from her injuries.
(AP, 6/11/09)(AP, 6/12/09)
2009 Jul 14, In Pennsylvania former lawmaker Vincent Fumo was sentenced to less than 5 years in prison for misappropriating millions from the state and two nonprofits.
(SFC, 7/15/09, p.A6)
2009 Aug 4, In Bridgeville, Pennsylvania, George Sodini (48) sprayed bullets into a fitness class filled with women, killing three and then himself. He kept a Web page in which he wrote about years of rejection by women and an earlier plan for violence at the gym.
(AP, 8/5/09)
2009 Aug 6, Ethiopia’s Federal High Court issued the guilty verdicts against 13 men, including a US-based professor, convicted in absentia for plotting to overthrow the government. Berhanu Nega, Ethiopian-born professor with US nationality and teacher of economics at Philadelphia's Bucknell Univ., was accused of masterminding a plan to topple PM Meles Zenawi..
(Reuters, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 14, Real estate lender Colonial BancGroup Inc. was shut down by federal officials in the biggest US bank failure this year. The FDIC, which was appointed receiver of the Montgomery, Ala.-based Colonial and its about $25 billion in assets, said the failed bank's 346 branches in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Nevada and Texas will reopen at the normal times starting on Aug 15 as offices of Winston-Salem, N.C.-based BB&T. Regulators also closed four other banks: Community Bank of Arizona, based in Phoenix; Union Bank, based in Gilbert, Ariz.; Community Bank of Nevada, based in Las Vegas; and Dwelling House Savings and Loan Association, located in Pittsburgh. The closures boosted to 77 the number of federally insured banks that have failed in 2009.
(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug, Pennsylvania Central Bucks East High School English teacher Natalie Munroe started a blog for friends and family in suburban Philadelphia. Munroe blogged about 85 times and only about 15 to 20 of the posts involved her being a teacher. In 2011 she was suspended for the profanity-laced blog in which she called her students "disengaged, lazy whiners," and daring to ask: “Why are today's students unmotivated, and what's wrong with calling them out?"
(AP, 2/16/11)
2009 Sep 16, In Pennsylvania Andrew Mogilyansky, a wealthy Russian-American car exporter from suburban Philadelphia, was sentenced to 8 years in prison for procuring girls from a Russian orphanage to have sex with them.
(SFC, 9/17/09, p.A7)
2009 Sep 21, The Philadelphia Daily News reported that police officer Thomas Strain was put on desk duty this month because of braids, even though the paper reported dozens of black officers wear cornrows. The white officer, who came to work with cornrows, was ordered by a black superior to get a haircut because the braids violated department standards.
(AP, 9/21/09)
2009 Sep 24, In Pennsylvania US Pres. Obama hosted a 2-day meeting of the G20 as it opened in Pittsburgh.
(SFC, 9/26/09, p.A4)
2009 Sep 25, In Pennsylvania police arrested 83 people during protests at the meeting of the G20 Pittsburgh. A “People’s March" attracted nearly 5.000 people. The G20 ended a 2-day meeting and reached a series of agreements aimed at navigating the world out of recession. The alliance announced that it will replace the G7 as the main forum for int’l. economic cooperation. The G7 will now concentrate mainly on security issues.
(http://articles.latimes.com/2009/sep/26/business/fi-protest26)(Econ, 10/3/09, p.88)(Econ, 10/10/09, p.51)
2009 Sep, George Zimmermann, a Pennsylvania landowner, filed suit against Atlas Energy Inc. for polluting his soil and water in an attempt to link a natural gas drilling technique with environmental contamination. Atlas was exploiting the Marcellus Shale, a vast gas reserve that underlies about two-thirds of Pennsylvania and parts of West Virginia, Ohio and New York State. Experts estimated that it contains enough natural gas to meet total US demand for at least a decade. Baseline tests on Zimmermann's water a year before drilling began were "perfect," he said. In June, water tests found arsenic at 2,600 times acceptable levels, benzene at 44 times above limits and naphthalene five times the federal standard.
(Reuters, 11/9/09)
2009 Oct 15, Colleen R. LaRose (46), a self-described "Jihad Jane," was arrested in Philadelphia. LaRose was later accused, in an indictment filed March 9, 2010, of actively recruiting fighters, as well as agreeing to murder Swedish artist Lars Vilks, marry a terrorism suspect so he could move to Europe and martyr herself if necessary.
(AP, 3/10/10)
2009 Nov 3, In Philadelphia, Pa., transit workers went on strike after rejecting a proposed contract that included an 11.5% wage increase over 5 years.
(SFC, 11/4/09, p.A6)
2009 Nov 4, The New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-3 in Game 6, finally seizing the World Series crown, the team's first since winning three straight from 1998-2000, making it championship No. 27.
(AP, 11/5/09)
2009 Nov 9, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said the Philadelphia transit strike has ended and that system would be up and running for the morning commute.
(SFC, 11/9/09, p.A8)
2009 Dec 6, In Pennsylvania parolee Ronald Robinson (32) fatally shot a man in Penn Hills over a $500 drug debt and then shot and killed police officer Michael Crawshaw (32).
(SFC, 12/8/09, p.A12)
2009 Dec 10, Pennsylvania police charged Alfonso Frank Frazetta (52) with theft, burglary and trespass after he was caught loading artwork into his trailer and SUV. He had used a backhoe to break into a museum owned by his father, fantasy artist Frank Frazetta (b.1928) loading artwork.
(SFC, 12/11/09, p.A11)
2010 Jan 13, R&B singer Teddy Pendergrass (b.1950) died of colon cancer in suburban Philadelphia. He was one of the most electric and successful figures in music until a 1982 car crash left him in a wheelchair.
(AP, 1/14/10)
2010 Jan 25, In Pennsylvania Andrea Curry-Demus (40) was found to be mentally ill but guilty of 2nd degree murder and kidnapping for luring a pregnant teenager to her apartment, cutting out the baby and killing the mother. The infant, now 18 months old, was living with relatives.
(SFC, 1/26/10, p.A4)
2010 Feb 5, In Pennsylvania about 18,000 people turned out before dawn for the 18th Wing Bowl, an eating competition dubbed the world's biggest, and an annual celebration of Philadelphia's raucous sports-crazed culture.
(Reuters, 2/5/10)
2010 Feb 8, John Murtha (b.1932), Pennsylvania’s Democratic representative, died in Arlington, Va., following complications from gall bladder surgery. He had won a special House election in 1974 to become the first Vietnam veteran to serve in Congress.
(SFC, 2/9/10, p.A6)
2010 Feb 12, In Pennsylvania Max Ray Vision, formerly Max Ray Butler, of San Francisco was sentenced to 13 years in prison and ordered to pay $27.5 million to the banks and credit card companies that he victimized. In 2009 Butler (36) had identified himself in court as “Max Vision," the name he gave himself in the 1990s when he became a superstar in the computer security community.
(SFC, 2/13/10, p.D1)(www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/06/butler_court/)
2010 Mar 13, A storm battered parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut with gusts of up to 70 mph.
(AP, 3/14/10)
2010 Jun 25, In Richmond, Va., Quanis Phillips, a co-defendant with Philadelphia Eagles’ QB Michael Vick in a 2007 federal dogfighting charge, died in a shooting. Vick had pleaded guilty to the 2007 charges. Police said Vick has not been ruled out as suspect or person of interest in the shooting which occurred shortly after a birthday party for Vick had ended at a club. An investigation was ongoing.
(AP, 7/01/10)
2010 Jun 26, Pennsylvania police found the bodies of three men and a woman, each stabbed multiple times, in the brick twin house in Northampton. Steven Zernhelt (53), a married father of three, was stabbed to death as he responded to screams next door. Police discovered the bodies after responding to a car crash about a half-mile from the house. The driver, Eric Ballard (36), was covered in blood and police knew it wasn't all from the crash. Ballard was charged the next day with the stabbing murder of his former girlfriend and 3 others.
(AP, 6/27/10)(SFC, 6/28/10, p.A4)
2010 Jul 6, The East Coast roasted under an unrelenting sun as record-setting temperatures soared past 100 from Virginia to Massachusetts, utility companies cranked up power to the limit to cool the sweating masses and railroad tracks were so hot commuter trains had to slow down. The temperature reached 100 in Philadelphia toppling a record set in 1999.
(AP, 7/6/10)(SFC, 7/7/10, p.A5)
2010 Jul 7, In Philadelphia, Pa., a 250-foot barge collided on the Delaware River with a stalled amphibious sightseeing boat. 2 visitors from Hungary were killed. In 2011 tug pilot Matt Devlin agreed to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter following evidence that he was talking on a cell phone during the accident.
(AP, 7/9/10)(SFC, 7/15/11, p.A7)
2010 Jul 19, Despite being rebuffed twice by the US Supreme Court, five states (Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota and Pennsylvania) filed suit with a lower court demanding tougher federal and municipal action to prevent Asian carp from overrunning the Great Lakes and decimating their fishing industry.
(AP, 7/19/10)
2010 Sep 9, In Pennsylvania Kraft worker Yvonne Hiller of northeast Philadelphia shot and killed two co-workers after she was suspended from a Kraft Foods plant.
(AP, 9/10/10)
2010 Oct 10, Solomon Burke (b.1940), the larger-than-life "King of Rock and Soul," died at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. The Philadelphia-born singer was revered as one of music's greatest vocalists but never reached the level of fame of those he influenced. He joined Atlantic in 1960 and went on to record a string of hits in a decade with the label. He wrote "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" in 1964 and it was later featured in the Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi movie "The Blues Brothers."
(AP, 10/10/10)
2010 Oct 23, The SF Giants won a trip to the World Series. In Pennsylvania Juan Uribe hit a tiebreaking homer off Ryan Madson with two outs in the eighth inning and the Giants held off the Phillies 3-2 in Game 6 of the NL championship series. This finished off the Phillies' bid to become the first NL team in 66 years to win three straight pennants.
(AP, 10/24/10)(SSFC, 10/24/10, p.1)
2010 Nov 2, Iowa (Terry Branstad), Kansas (Sam Brownback), Maine (Paul LePage), Michigan (Rick Snyder), New Mexico (Susana Martinez), Ohio (John Kasich), Oklahoma (Mary Fallin), Pennsylvania (Tom Corbett), Tennessee (Bill Haslam), Wisconsin (Scott Walker), Wyoming (Matt Mead) all replaced the Democratic governors with Republicans. Snyder (R) defeated Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) by bragging about his managerial skills.
(Econ, 11/6/10, p.45)
2010 Nov 13, In Erie, Pa., an apparent suicide-murder by a father (29) left the mother and 2 daughters dead.
(SSFC, 11/14/10, p.A14)
2011 Jan 18, Philadelphia Gas Works employee, Mark Keeley (19), was killed in a gas main explosion. 6 people were sent to the hospital with 3 in critical condition.
(SFC, 1/20/11, p.A6)
2011 Jan 19, In New Castle, Pa., Ljuba Novosel shot and killed her son (12) and elderly mother (81) before turning the gun on herself.
(http://tinyurl.com/4h8hja5)(SFC, 1/24/11, p.A4)
2011 Feb 6, In Dallas, Texas, Wisconsin’s Green Bay packers won Super Bowl XLV 31-25 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
(AFP, 2/7/11)
2011 Feb 8, Claudia Aderotimi (20), a London woman, died at a Philadelphia hospital at 1:32 a.m., some 12 hours after a botched buttocks enhancement at a Hampton Inn near the Philadelphia Int’l Airport. Authorities sought to question Padge Victoria Windslowe, a self-described Goth hip hop singer known as "Black Madam" from Ardmore, Pa., in the death. On June 11, 2015, Windslowe was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison.
(Reuters, 2/12/11)(SFC, 6/12/15, p.A7)
2011 Feb 10, The Hershey Trust Co. fired board member Robert Reese, a former top Hershey Co. executive. Reese had filed documents in Pennsylvania saying the Hershey Trust has allowed excessive compensation for board members, violations of federal banking regulations and free limousine rides and rounds of golf.
(SFC, 2/11/11, p.A6)(http://freedomofspeech.kicks-ass.org/?q=node/5034)
2011 Feb 10, In Allentown, Pennsylvania, a natural gas explosion rocked a downtown neighborhood overnight, leveling two houses and spawning fires that burned for hours through an entire row of neighboring homes. One person was killed, and at least five others were unaccounted for.
(AP, 2/10/11)
2011 Feb 24, A US federal jury convicted Mohammad Reza Vaghari (43), of Broomall Pa., of sending the products to Iran by way of the United Arab Emirates.
(AP, 2/25/11)
2011 Feb, In Pennsylvania Kermit Gosnell, his wife and eight workers were charged in the operation of a clinic in West Philadelphia where illegal late term abortions were performed and where babies born alive and viable were killed. In 2014 the last of two workers in the case were sentenced to 5 to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty and testifying against Gosnell.
(SFC, 6/27/14, p.A6)
2011 Mar 8, The Archdiocese of Philadelphia said it has suspended 21 priests from active ministry in connection with a grand jury’s Feb 10 accusations that they sexually abused or otherwise acted inappropriately with minors.
(SFC, 3/9/11, p.A5)
2011 Mar 8, In central Pennsylvania a farmhouse fire killed 7 of 8 children of Theodore and Janelle Clouse. A propane heater was suspected as the cause.
(SFC, 3/10/11, p.A8)
2011 Mar 22, In central Pennsylvania 5 people were killed in an apartment fire in Altoona.
(SFC, 3/23/11, p.A4)
2011 Apr 27, The city of Altoona, Pa., enacted a 60-day name change to "POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold," after the latest film by sarcastic documentarian Morgan Spurlock, in order to make some money and to help Spurlock make a point about the proliferation of advertising in American life.
(AP, 4/27/11)
2011 May 5, A federal judge in Pennsylvania sentenced conman Donald Young (39) to nearly two decades in prison for a $23 million pyramid scheme.
(SFC, 5/6/11, p.A8)
2011 May 23, Reputed Philadelphia mob boss Joseph Ligambi and 12 others were indicted with charges of racketeering and gambling.
(SFC, 5/24/11, p.A4)
2011 May, Joseph Cohen, Dan Getelman and Jim Grandpre quit the Univ. of Pennsylvania to launch Coursekit, soon rebranded as Lore, a social learning network for the classroom.
(Economist, 8/25/12, p.52)
2011 Jun 1, Pennsylvania and the city of Philadelphia embarked on a 25-year, $2 billion effort to reduce storm water pollution through eco-friendly measures.
(SFC, 6/2/11, p.A6)
2011 Jun 2, In Maryland Sukanya Roy (14) of South Abington Township, Pa., won the 84th Scripps national Spelling Bee.
(SFC, 6/3/11, p.A7)
2011 Jun 6, Former Pennsylvania congressman Rick Santorum, a social conservative, announced that he is a candidate for the Republican nomination for president.
(LAT, 6/6/11)
2011 Jun 18, In Warrington, Pa., Christopher Moyer killed his wife, Irina (39), and their son (7) and then committed suicide on a set of train tracks. Financial problems were suspected.
(SSFC, 6/19/11, p.A8)
2011 Jul 4, In Pennsylvania Mark Richard Geisenheyner (51) was killed by a SWAT team in Trainer for shooting 5 people, 2 of them fatally, a day earlier in a suburban Philadelphia home over an insurance fraud scheme.
(SFC, 7/5/11, p.A6)
2011 Jul 12, A federal indictment unsealed in St. Louis said The Wheels of Soul motorcycle club, with a "Mother Chapter" in Philadelphia, was responsible for killings, robberies, drug distribution and other crimes. The indictment accused 18 men in seven states of racketeering, with some of the men also accused of crimes that include murder, attempted murder, robbery and kidnapping.
(AP, 7/12/11)
2011 Aug 8, The US Justice department and 4 the attorney generals of California, Illinois, Florida, and Indiana accused Pittsburgh-based Education Management Corp. of paying recruiters to enroll students in an $11 billion fraud case.
(SFC, 8/8/11, p.A5)
2011 Aug 10, Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania reported the first clear success with a new approach for treating leukemia, turning the patients' own blood cells into assassins that hunt and destroy their cancer cells.
(AP, 8/10/11)
2011 Aug 15, In Philadelphia Corey White (22) was shot to death hours after a judge held two people for trial for conspiring to kill him in a murder-for-hire plot on Facebook.
(SFC, 8/17/11, p.A6)
2011 Aug 28, In Pennsylvania Leonard John Egland (37) of Fort Lee, Va., an Army officer suspected of killing four people in Pennsylvania and Virginia, was found dead in Bucks County. He had fired a semiautomatic rifle at SWAT team members who discovered his truck and found him before dawn in a trash bin. Officers earlier in the day had found the bodies of Egland's ex-wife, her boyfriend and his child. His former mother-in-law, Barbara Reuhl (66) of Buckingham, was believed to have been killed the previous night.
(AP, 8/28/11)
2011 Sep 8, Tropical Storm Lee dumped heavy rain in the Northeast. The Susquehanna River and its tributaries in New York and Pennsylvania swamped thousands of homes. At least 15 deaths were blamed on the storm and its aftermath: 7 in Pennsylvania, 3 in Virginia, one in Maryland and 4 others when it came ashore on the Gulf Coast a week earlier.
(SFC, 9/10/11, p.A6)
2011 Oct 12, The City Council in Harrisburg, Pa., filed for bankruptcy, despite opposition by the Mayor Linda Thompson and state Gov. Tom Corbett. Harrisburg faced $300 million in debt connected to a city-owned rubbish incinerator.
(SFC, 10/13/11, p.A8)(Econ, 12/3/11, p.89)
2011 Oct 15, In Philadelphia apartment landlord Turgut Gozleveli found 4 mentally disabled adults held inside a basement boiler room. Police arrested 3 people for kidnapping, false imprisonment and other charges. Linda Ann Weston (51), Eddie Wright (50) and Gregory Thomas (47) were implicated in a broad scheme to steal disability checks from vulnerable people.
(SFC, 10/18/11, p.A5)
2011 Oct 20, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett signed a state law giving him unprecedented power to force Harrisburg to pay off its staggering debt on a $300 million trash incinerator.
(SFC, 10/21/11, p.A7)
2011 Nov 5, Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky (67) was arrested for 40 sex crimes against boys dating from 1994 to 2005. All of the boys were under the care of the Second Mile Foundation, a charity that Sandusky founded in 1977.
(SFC, 11/9/11, p.A12)(http://tinyurl.com/864sytk)
2011 Nov 7, Joe Frazier (67), the boxer who first beat Muhammad Ali in March 1971, died in Philadelphia after a brief battle with liver cancer.
(AP, 11/7/11)(Econ, 11/19/11, p.106)
2011 Nov 10, Thousands of enraged Penn State students tore through the streets of State College, Pa., overnight to protest the firing of Joe Paterno after the longtime head football coach was removed from his position effective immediately. The turmoil followed the arrest of former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, charged with abusing at least eight boys over 15 years. Paterno and Univ. Pres. Graham Spanier, who was also fired, have come under intense pressure because they were also told of at least one incident, but did not alert police.
(http://tinyurl.com/7algouk)
2011 Nov 16, Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez (21), a man with an apparent obsession with President Barack Obama, was arrested in Pennsylvania after the Secret Service discovered two bullets struck the White House while the president was away.
(AP, 11/17/11)
2011 Dec 7, In Pennsylvania prosecutors abandoned their 30-year push for the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal, a former Black Panther convicted in 1982 of killing police Officer Daniel Faulkner. Abu-Jamal (58) will spend the rest of his life in prison.
(SFC, 12/8/11, p.A11)
2011 Dec 19, In, Webster, Pennsylvania, police shot and killed Eli Franklin Myers (58) during a standoff hours after he killed East Washington officer John David Dryer during a traffic stop.
(SFC, 12/20/11, p.A8)
2011 Skee-ball Inc. (SBI), the Pennsylvania maker of the skee-ball machine, sued the Brooklyn-based Brewskee-ball League for infringing on its century-old trademark.
(Econ, 7/19/14, p.29)
2011 In Pennsylvania Gene Carter (39) was sentenced up to 216 years in prison for running a major heroin ring while serving time in a halfway house. In 2015 an appeals court overturned the sentence calling it unreasonable and excessive.
(SFC, 9/5/15, p.A7)
2012 Jan 22, Joe Paterno (85), the longtime Penn State coach, died. He won more games than anyone in major college football but was fired amid a child sex abuse scandal that scarred his reputation for winning with integrity.
(AP, 1/22/12)
2012 Feb 6, In Pennsylvania Democrat state Rep. Bill DeWeese (61) was convicted of conspiracy, conflict of interest and theft in a investigation into the use of taxpayer resources for political purposes. 11 other Democrats and 9 Republicans have already been convicted or pleaded guilty in the investigation.
(SFC, 2/7/12, p.A9)
2012 Feb 14, Hackers claimed to have broken into Combined Systems Inc.'s website and stolen personal information belonging to clients and employees of the Jamestown, Pennsylvania-based firm, whose tear gas has been used against Egyptian demonstrators. They accused the company of being run by war profiteers who sell "mad chemical weapons to militaries and cop shops around the world."
(AP, 2/14/12)
2012 Mar 8, In Pennsylvania John Shick (30) opened fire at a psychiatric clinic at the Univ. of Pittsburgh killing Michael Schaab (25) and wounding 6 others before killing himself.
(SFC, 3/9/12, p.A6)(SFC, 3/10/12, p.A5)
2012 Mar 29, In Pennsylvania the bodies of Charles (81) and Adrienne Snelling (81) were found in their home in Trexlertown. Charles killed his wife and himself. He had written in the NY Times last December about his love for his Alzheimer’s-stricken wife.
(SFC, 3/31/12, p.A5)
2012 Mar 30, The US government agreed with Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New York and Pennsylvania to cut red tape and speed up consideration for wind farms in the Great Lakes.
(SFC, 3/31/12, p.A5)
2012 Apr 9, In Pennsylvania 2 firefighters were killed while battling a massive blaze in an abandoned warehouse in Philadelphia.
(SFC, 4/10/12, p.A7)
2012 Apr 10, Rick Santorum suspended his campaign during a press conference in Pennsylvania, his home state.
(SFC, 4/11/12, p.A1)
2012 Jun 19, In Pennsylvania Patricia Smith (58), the former controller of the Baierl Automotives auto dealership, was sentenced to 78 months in prison and pay restitution of $10,349,569.14 for embezzling from her former boss in a stunning case of a trusted employee looting the business then squandering the cash on luxuries.
(http://tinyurl.com/74sosfk)
2012 Jun 22, In Pennsylvania Jerry Sandusky (68), former defensive coach at Penn State, was convicted of sexually assaulting 10 boys over 15 years.
(SFC, 6/23/12, p.A4)
2012 Jul 18, The city of Scranton, Pa., restored the salaries of its 400 civil servants. Earlier this month Mayor Chris Doherty had slashed all municipal employees’ salaries to the federal minimum wage because the city did not have funds to pay their wages.
(Econ, 7/21/12, p.26)
2012 Jul 23, The US NCAA imposed penalties on Penn State and its football program related to the cover-up of pedophile charges against former defensive coach Jerry Sandusky. The penalties included $60 million and the abdicating of all wins since 1998.
(SFC, 7/25/12, p.A10)
2012 Jul 27, In Pennsylvania Kevin Cleeves (35) confronted his estranged wife about custody arrangements for their daughter and shot the woman to death and killed her boyfriend and his mother in Quincy Township. He then fled with his daughter (4) before the two were found the next day about 250 miles away in Ohio.
(AP, 7/28/12)
2012 Aug 18, Philadelphia police Officer Moses Walker (40) was shot to death, while out of uniform, by a suspected street robber near his station.
(SSFC, 8/19/12, p.A12)
2012 Sep 23, It was reported that Germany has launched a war crimes investigation against Johann Breyer, (b.1925) a Philadelphia man it accuses of serving as an SS guard at the Auschwitz death camp.
(AP, 9/23/12)
2012 Oct 2, Pennsylvania's divisive voter identification requirement became the latest of its kind to get pushback from the courts ahead of Election Day, delivering a hard-fought victory to Democrats who said it was a ploy to defeat President Barack Obama and other opponents who said it would prevent the elderly and minorities from voting.
(AP, 10/2/12)
2012 Oct 11, A batch of newly designed $100 bills, that aren't going into circulation until next year, was stolen from a plane that arrived at Philadelphia International Airport around 10:25 a.m. from Dallas. The Benjamins are easy to spot. The new bills have sophisticated elements to thwart counterfeiters, like a disappearing Liberty Bell in an orange inkwell and a bright blue security ribbon.
(AP, 10/12/12)
2012 Oct 14, Arlen Specter (b.1930), Pennsylvania's longest-serving US senator and prominent Republican moderate in Congress, died at his home in Philadelphia.
(AP, 10/15/12)(SFC, 10/15/12, p.A4)
2012 Nov 7, A wintry storm dropped snow and rain on the Northeast, bringing dangerous winds and knocking out power in a region where hundreds of thousands were still in the dark after Superstorm Sandy. A mix of rain and snow fell on parts of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, causing airport delays.
(Reuters, 11/7/12)
2012 Dec 21, In Pennsylvania Jeffrey Lee Michael of Geeseytown (44) fatally shot a woman decorating for a children's Christmas party at a tiny church hall and killed two men elsewhere in a rural township before he was shot dead in a gunfight with state troopers.
(AP, 12/22/12)(AP, 12/22/12)
2013 Jan 26, Pennsylvania police said Stephen Baker (62), a Franciscan brother, was found dead of a self-inflicted knife wound at the St. Bernardine monastery. Baker was named in recent settlements involving 11 men who alleged that he sexually abused them 3 decades ago in Ohio. More people soon came forward with abuse claims in Pennsylvania, where Baker had taught and coached.
(SSFC, 1/27/13, p.A6)(SFC, 2/25/13, p.A4)
2013 Jan 31, In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a federal indictment charged 9 judges with fixing traffic tickets for friends, relatives, business associates and political allies.
(SFC, 2/1/13, p.A7)
2013 Feb 21, Suspended Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin along with her aide and sister, Janine Orie, were convicted on campaign corruption charges. They could join a third sister — former state Sen. Jane Orie — in state prison.
(AP, 2/22/13)
2013 Feb 25, In Pennsylvania an inmate assaulted and killed a guard with a homemade weapon at the Canaan federal penitentiary.
(SFC, 2/27/13, p.A4)
2013 Mar 16, In Pennsylvania a tour bus carrying a women’s lacrosse team from Seton Hill Univ. crashed killing a pregnant coach and the driver.
(SSFC, 3/17/13, p.A9)
2013 Apr 20, In Pennsylvania Dr. Autumn Klein (41) died after falling ill at home. A coroner later found cyanide in her system. On July 25 her husband, Univ. of Penn. researcher Dr. Robert Ferrante, was arrested on charges that he had poisoned her. On Nov 7, 2014, Ferrante (66) was convicted of 1st degree murder. On Feb 4, 2015, Ferrante was sentenced to mandatory life in prison.
(SFC, 7/26/13, p.A7)(SFC, 11/8/14, p.A5)(SFC, 2/5/15, p.A5)
2013 May 6, The SEC issued a long report on the financial misdeeds of Harrisburg, Pa. The state capital has been bankrupt since 2011.
(Econ, 5/11/13, p.80)
2013 May 12, In Pennsylvania a late night house fire in Pottsville killed 4 children, their father and an aunt as the mother did laundry at a friend’s house across the street.
(SFC, 5/14/13, p.A5)
2013 May 13, Pennsylvania Dr. Kermit Gosnell (72) was convicted of first-degree murder in the deaths of 3 babies and involuntary manslaughter in the overdose death of an abortion patient. The next day Gosnell gave up his right to appeal in exchange for a life sentence.
(SFC, 5/14/13, p.A4)(SFC, 5/15/13, p.A6)
2013 May 18, In Pennsylvania Richard DeCoatsworth (27), a former Philadelphia police officer, was arraigned on charges including rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, trafficking of persons, false imprisonment and aggravated assault. His bail was set at $60 million. He had hailed as a hero after he was shot in the face during a traffic stop in September 2007 but still managed to chase after his attacker, who was later sentenced to 36 to 72 years in prison.
(AP, 5/19/13)
2013 May 22, In Pennsylvania Herbert (44) and Catherine Schaible (43), advocates of faith healing, were arrested following the death of their 9th child, 8 months old, in April. Herbert said “Medicine is against our religious beliefs." They had received a 10 year probation in Feb, 2011, following the death of their son, Kent.
(SFC, 5/25/13, p.A7)
2013 Jun 5, In Pennsylvania a four-story building being demolished collapsed on the edge of downtown Philadelphia. 6 people were killed and at least 14 others injured. On June 7 police said Sean Benschop (42), a heavy equipment operator with a lengthy rap sheet, was high on marijuana when the building collapsed. Benschop turned himself in on June 8. On Nov 25 contractor Griffin Campbell was charged with 6 counts of third-degree murder. In 2014 a judge upgraded charges against Benschop to 3rd degree murder. On Oct 9, 2015, Campbell was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. On Jan 8, 2016, Campbell was sentenced to 15-30 years in prison. Benschop was sentenced to 7.5-15 years in prison.
(AP, 6/5/13)(SFC, 6/6/13, p.A8)(AP, 6/8/13)(SSFC, 6/9/13, p.A12)(SFC, 11/26/13, p.A8)(SFC, 2/19/14, p.A5)(SFC, 10/20/15, p.A7)(SFC, 1/9/16, p.A5)
2013 Jul 15, In Philadelphia Michael Scripps (36), a descendent of the founder of the Detroit News, was sentenced to 9 years in priuson for stealing $3.6 million from his mother and disabled uncle.
(SFC, 7/16/13, p.A4)
2013 Jul 24, In Pennsylvania at least 5 same-sex couples obtained marriage licenses in Montgomery County. It was up to Republican Gov. Tom Corbett or other state officials to challenge the actions. A 1996 state law defined marriage as a civil contract in which a man and a woman take each other as husband and wife.
(SFC, 7/25/13, p.A11)
2013 Jul 28, William Scranton (b.1917), former US ambassador to the UN (1976-1977) and the 38th governor of Pennsylvania (1964-1967), died in southern, California.
(SFC, 8/2/13, p.D7)
2013 Aug 5, In Pennsylvania Rockne Newell (59) blasted shots through a wall of the state municiple building in Ross Township and then barged into a meeting room and continued firing. 3 people were killed before he was tackled by a local official and shot with his own gun. Newell was taken into police custody.
(SFC, 8/6/13, p.A6)
2013 Oct 19, In Pennsylvania an SUV crossed a center line and ran into two motocycles. 4 people on the motorcycles and one person in the SUV were killed in Franklin County.
(SFC, 10/21/13, p.A3)
2013 Nov 11, In Pennsylvania Troy LaFerrara was stabbed to death. His body was found the next day in an alley in Sunbury. He had responded to an online ad for companionship in exchange for money and was stabbed to death a day earlier. On Dec 6 Elytte Barbour (22) and wife Miranda (18) were arrested. The couple, married for three weeks, said they had wanted to kill someone together. On Sep 18, 2014, the Barbours were sentenced to life in prison.
(SSFC, 12/8/13, p.A12)(SFC, 9/19/14, p.A6)
2014 Jan 2, In Pennsylvania Monsignor William Lynn left prison after 18 months behind bars. He was the first US church official ever charged for hiding complaints that priests were molesting children.
(SFC, 1/3/14, p.A6)
2014 Jan 6, In Pennsylvania Colleen LaRose (50), aka “Jihad Jane," was sentenced to ten years in prison for plotting to kill a Swedish artist. She had pleaded guilty and helped in the indictment of two others.
(SFC, 1/7/14, p.A6)
2014 Jan 17, A Pennsylvania judge struck down a state requirement that voters show photo identification at the polls.
(SFC, 1/18/14, p.A6)
2014 Jan 17, In Pennsylvania a school shooting wounded two students at the Delaware Valley Charter High School. Raisheem Rochwell (17) was charged the next day as an adult.
(SSFC, 1/19/14, p.A8)
2014 Feb 6, In Pennsylvania a winter storm left some 849,000 people without power for a 2nd day. The 2nd winter storm this week in the mid-Atlantic had dumped more than a foot of snow in some places.
(SFC, 2/7/14, p.A8)
2014 Feb 16, In Pennsylvania the FBI said it was in contact with Sunbury police regarding Miranda Barbour (19) who says she wants to plead guilty to the killing Troy LaFerrara last November. She said she has also killed at least 22 people across the country over the last six years as part of her involvement in a satanic cult.
(SFC, 2/17/14, p.A6)
2014 Feb 19, In Pennsylvania Herbert and Catherine Schaible were sentenced to 3½ to seven years in prison in the death of a 2nd child who never saw a doctor despite being stricken with pneumonia.
(SFC, 2/20/14, p.A6)
2014 Apr 9, In Pennsylvania Alex Hribal (16) stabbed and slashed 21 fellow students and a security guard at the Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville.
(SFC, 4/10/14, p.A7)
2014 May 20, A US federal judge overturned Pennsylvania’s ban on same-sex marriage.
(SFC, 5/21/14, p.A8)
2014 May 31, Lewis Katz (72), a co-owner of the Philadelphia Inquirer, was among 7 people killed in the crash of his small plane in Bedford, Mass.
(AP, 6/1/14)(SFC, 6/3/14, p.A6)
2014 Jun 14, Pres. Obama intervened in a commuter rail strike in Philadelphia, granting Gov. Tom Corbett’s request to create an emergency board to mediate a contract dispute.
(SSFC, 6/15/14, p.A10)
2014 Jun 15, In Pennsylvania Jeff Hooten (47), the pilot of a hot air balloon, fell from the basket while trying to land near Philadelphia and died after becoming trapped under it.
(SFC, 6/17/14, p.A7)
2014 Jun 17, US authorities in Philadelphia arrested Johann Breyer (89) after a German warrant charged him with 158 counts of complicity in the killing of Jews while he was a guard at Auschwitz in 1944. Breyer died on July 22, hours before a ruling on his extradition to Germany.
(SFC, 6/19/14, p.A9)(SFC, 7/24/14, p.A8)
2014 Jul 5, In Philadelphia, Pa., an infant and three children (4) died as a fire engulfed at least 10 houses.
(SSFC, 7/6/14, p.A11)
2014 Jul 8, US East Coast states experienced severe storms and high winds. 4 people were killed in New York and one in Maryland. CNN reported nearly 500,000 homes and businesses without power, mostly in Pennsylvania and New York state.
(AP, 7/9/14)
2014 Jul 25, In Philadelphia two men forced a woman into the back seat of her vehicle and drove off. They later lost control and plowed into a group of people near a fruit stand killing 3 children. Both men fled the scene.
(SFC, 7/26/14, p.A7)
2014 Jul 30, US government agents arrested six Philadelphia narcotics officers on charges they robbed and in some cases kidnapped drug dealers, including dangling one over an 18th story balcony to force him to give up a computer password. The men were accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and items including a Rolex watch and a designer suit. In one instance, they are accused of seizing cocaine and reselling it on the street.
(Reuters, 7/30/14)
2014 Aug 27, In in Stratford, Pa., Raymond Wychowanec (63) shot and killed his hospitalized wife (62) and then tried to kill himself, prompting investigators to search their New Jersey home, where their son (35) was found fatally shot.
(AP, 8/27/14)
2014 Sep 12, In Pennsylvania a deadly ambush at a state police barracks in Blooming Grove left Cpl. Bryon Dickinson dead and trooper Alex Douglass critically wounded. Police soon identifed Eric Frein (31) as the prime suspect.
(SFC, 9/15/14, p.A6)(SFC, 9/18/14, p.A7)
2014 Oct 21, In Pennsylvania 84 former students who were sexually molested by Franciscan Brother Stephen Baker at a Catholic high school in Altoona settled their legal claims for $8 million. Baker worked at the school as an athletic trainer from 1992 to 2001.
(SFC, 10/22/14, p.A7)
2014 Oct 30, In Pennsylvania Eric Frein (31) was captured after a seven-week manhunt for killing a state trooper. US Marshals found Frein in an abandoned airplane hangar in Tannersville with his weapons inside.
(Reuters, 10/31/14)
2014 Oct 31, It was reported that a Pennsylvania coroner is auctioning off some 100 guns used in suicides and accidental deaths due to a state law requiring local governments to sell off unclaimed property.
(SFC, 10/31/14, p.A10)
2014 Nov 4, Tom Wolf was elected governor of Pennsylvania with 54.9% of the vote.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Wolf)
2014 Dec 9, Philadelphia firefighter Joyce Craig Lewis died after becoming trapped in the basement of a burning home. She was the first female member of the city’s fire department to die in the line of duty.
(SFC, 12/10/14, p.A8)
2014 Dec 15, In Pennsylvania Bradley William Stone (35), an Iraqi war veteran, shot dead 5 people at three locations outside Philadelphia and remained at large. Stone had recently been in court fighting his ex-wife over custody of their two children. Stone was found dead the next day in woods near his home.
(AFP, 12/15/14)(SFC, 12/16/14, p.A9)(SFC, 12/17/14, p.A10)
2014 Dec 22, Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) said it imposed a $999,900 fine on US oil and natural gas company Vantage Energy Inc, one of the largest given to a driller by DEP this year, for several environmental regulations violations.
(Reuters, 12/23/14)
2014 The US federal government confirmed the arrival of lanternflies, a planthopper native to southeast Asia, in southeastern Pennsylvania. By 2019 the insects threatened $18 billion worth of the state's agriculture and had expanded into Delaware, New Jersey and Virginia.
(SFC, 9/27/19, p.A10)
2015 Feb 4, In Pennsylvania Ryan Mangan (16) of Jeanette was found sitting in a chair with a single gunshot wound to his face. Police soon arrested Maxwell Morton (16) after the mother of a third boy called to say that her son had received a selfie that showed the victim shot in the face.
(SFC, 2/10/15, p.A4)
2015 Jan 7, In Pennsylvania a 2 people died in an 18-vehicle crash on I-80 after a snow squall left drivers with little visibility.
(SFC, 1/9/15, p.A6)
2015 Jan 20, Tom Wolf (b.1948) began serving as the 47th governor of Pennsylvania.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Wolf)
2015 Feb 20, Western Pennsylvania recorded record temperatures in New Castle (-18), in Butler (-15) and in Pittsburgh (-6).
(SFC, 2/21/15, p.A6)
2015 Mar 5, In Philadelphia, Pa., Officer Robert Wilson III (30) was gunned down during a robbery at a video game store where he had gone to buy a present for his 9-year-old son. The next day two brothers, Ramone Williams (24) and Carlton Hipps (29) were charged with murder, attempted murder, robbery and other offenses.
(AP, 3/6/15)(AP, 3/15/15)
2015 May 4, A report on drinking water in Bradford County, Pa., revealed traces of a compound commonly found in Marcellus Shale drilling fluids.
(SFC, 5/5/15, p.A6)
2015 Mar 24, In Pennsylvania Hummelstown police Officer Lisa J. Mearkle (36) was charged with criminal homicide after investigators concluded she shot an unarmed motorist in the back as he lay facedown after a traffic stop over an expired inspection sticker.
(AP, 3/24/15)(SFC, 3/25/15, p.A8)
2015 May 12, In Pennsylvania an Amtrak derailment late today killed 8 people. Brandon Bostian (32) was at the helm of the train when it derailed while traveling at 106 miles per hour, more than double the limit.
(AFP, 5/13/15)(SFC, 5/15/15, p.A7)
2015 May 21, In Pennsylvania Xi Xiaoxing (47), the chairman of Temple University's physics department, appeared in U.S. District Court on four counts of wire fraud. Federal prosecutors said he had sought prestigious appointments in China in exchange for providing data on electronics technology invented by a US firm and offered to make the country a leader in the field of superconductivity.
(AP, 5/22/15)
2015 Jun 3, In Pennsylvania two semi-trucks crashed with a charter bus killing Italian tourists Marco Fornasetti and Rino Guerra, along with NYC bus driver Alfredo Telemaco. In 2017 truck driver Franklin Wyatt (57) was arraigned on 34 charges, including three counts of involuntary manslaughter.
(http://tinyurl.com/y9ynag3y)(AP, 7/6/17)
2015 Jun 24, In the northeast US a fast moving storm hit Connecticut, New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania overnight leaving two people dead and nearly 400,000 customers without power.
(SFC, 6/25/15, p.A6)
2015 Jul 6, In Philadelphia a 2005 deposition testimony by former TV star Bill Cosby was unsealed. In it Cosby admitted that he had obtained quaaludes to give young women before sex. More than two dozen women have accused Cosby of sexual misconduct dating back more than four decades.
(SFC, 7/8/15, p.A8)
2015 Jul 9, In Pennsylvania Gary Machinshok (29) of Wilkes-Barre was sentenced to up to 27 years in prison for raping his wife's daughter (15) in an effort to conceive a baby the couple could raise. Machinshok testified against his wife, who was sentenced in April to 15 to 30 years in prison. She pleaded guilty in January to charges including rape, assault, endangering the welfare of a child and conspiracy.
(Reuters, 7/10/15)
2015 Jul 29, In Pennsylvania US Rep. Chaka Fattah (58) was indicted with four associates in a racketeering case stemming from the alleged misappropriation of hundreds of thousands of dollars after a failed 2007 run for mayor of Philadelphia.
(SFC, 7/30/15, p.A6)
2015 Jul, Surgeons at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia completed a double-hand transplant for Zion Harvey (8) of Maryland, who had lost his hands and feet to a serious infection.
(SFC, 7/30/15, p.A6)
2015 Aug 1, HitchBOT, the adorable hitch-hiking robot cobbled together from household odds-and-ends, prematurely ended its summer travels across America, after being destroyed by vandals and abandoned on the side of a road in Philadelphia. The little talking automaton had hitchhiked unscathed last summer across thousands of miles in Canada, and had traversed parts of Europe as well without so much as a scratch. Canadian creators Frauke Zeller and David Smith considered rebuilding it.
(AFP, 8/3/15)(SFC, 8/3/15, p.A4)(SFC, 8/4/15, p.A3)
2015 Aug 6, Pennsylvania’s Attorney Gen’l. Kathleen Kane was charged with leaking secret grand jury information and lying about her actions under oath.
(SFC, 8/7/15, p.A5)
2015 Aug 13, A Pennsylvania judge, citing new DNA evidence, vacated the murder conviction of Lewis Fogle (63), who has been in prison for 34 years in the shooting death of a girl (15).
(SFC, 8/14/15, p.A6)
2015 Sep 26, Pope Francis traveled to Philadelphia to promote the issue of religious freedom on the penultimate day of his first visit to the United States.
(Reuters, 9/26/15)
2015 Sep 27, In Philadelphia, Pa., Pope Francis met with victims of child sexual abuse on the final day of his US visit and promised to hold accountable those responsible for the scandal in the church.
(AP, 9/27/15)
2015 Oct 13, In Pennsylvania Army veteran James Vernon (75) fended off a knife attack by Dustin Brown (19), a mentally ill man, at the Morton Public Library in Pittsburgh. Vernon suffered two slashed arteries and a damaged tendon in a finger. In 2017 he was one of 18 people honored with a Carnegie medal for heroism.
(SFC, 9/20/17 p.A6)
2015 Nov 17, Pennsylvania-based Education Management Corp. agreed to pay $96 million to settle claims it illegally paid recruiters based on the number of students they enrolled. Five states had participated in four lawsuits.
(SFC, 11/18/15, p.A12)
2015 Dec 7, Lawyers hired by the Turkish government filed a civil suit against cleric Fethullah Gulen, a political enemy of President Tayyip Erdogan, in a US court alleging human rights abuses. Gulen has lived in Pennsylvania since 1999.
(Reuters, 12/9/15)
2015 Dec 16, Total Trib Media said it is closing the Valley Independent in Monessen and the Daily News in McKeesport, western Pennsylvania on Dec 31, putting 87 employees out of work.
(SFC, 12/17/15, p.A12)
2016 Jan 7, In Philadelphia policeman Jesse Hartnett (33) was shot three times in his left arm as he sat in his patrol car late today. Edward Archer (30), claiming allegiance to the Islamic State extremist group, opened fire multiple times at point-blank range with a stolen police gun before he was arrested.
(AFP, 1/8/16)
2016 Jan 12, In Pennsylvania philanthropist H.F. Lenfest, owner of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News and Philly.com, said he has turned over the Philadelphia Media Network to the newly formed nonprofit Institute for Journalism in New Media in an effort to develop a new business model. He also donated $20 million to endow the enterprise.
(SFC, 1/13/16, p.C6)
2016 Feb 13, A dangerous cold snap bringing life-threatening cold was settling in across the northeastern United States. A snow squall triggered a pileup of dozens of vehicles on a Pennsylvania highway that left several people dead.
(Reuters, 2/13/16)
2016 Mar 9, In Pennsylvania an ambush-style shooting at a backyard barbecue in the Pittsburgh suburb of Wilkinsburg killed 5 people and an 8-month old fetus. Two gunmen working as a team remained on the run.
(AFP, 3/10/16)(SFC, 3/10/16, p.A7)
2016 Mar 12, In Pennsylvania police officers in Chester engaged in a shootout that left one suspect dead after trying to stop a vehicle.
(SFC, 3/14/16, p.A5)
2016 Mar 15, A 2nd Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice, Michael Eakins, quit the bench over a widening scandal over raunchy and otherwise offensive emails that he and others exchanged with friends and lawyers.
(SFC, 3/16/16, p.A6)
2016 Mar 15, In Pennsylvania three leaders of a Franciscan religious order were charged with allowing a friar who was a known sexual predator to take on jobs that enabled him to molest more than 100 children.
(SFC, 3/16/16, p.A6)
2016 Mar 20, In Pennsylvania retired state trooper Clarence Briggs killed turnpike toll collector Danny Crouse and security guard Ronald Heist in a holdup attempt in Fort Littleton. Biggs was shot dead by state troopers while trying to escape. Briggs had filed for banktuptcy in 2015 with debts of $315,000.
(SFC, 3/21/16, p.A6)(SFC, 3/22/16, p.A5)
2016 Apr 3, Amtrak Train 89 struck a piece of heavy equipment on the tracks outside Philadelphia, causing the train's lead engine to derail and killing two Amtrak workers.
(CSM, 4/4/16)
2016 Apr 17, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf signed a bill legalizing a comprehensive medical marijuana program, making his state the 24th to do so.
(SFC, 4/18/16, p.A7)
2016 Apr 17, In Pennsylvania a suspect surrendered to police following a short standoff at a Philadelphia home where 3 people were found killed by shotgun blasts to the head.
(SFC, 4/18/16, p.A7)
2016 May 6, Federal authorities in Pittsburgh said two men have been charged by authorities in Belarus with receiving $1.35 million stolen in a phishing scheme from the bank account of a Pennsylvania oil and gas drilling company. Aleskey Yaroshevich (34) and Egor Pavlenko (41) reportedly received a $1.35 million transfer made in September 2012. Both men were in custody in Minsk.
(AP, 5/6/16)
2016 May 25, In Pennsylvania the Swiss-made Solar Impulse 2 landed in Allentown 17 hours after taking off from Dayton in the latest leg of its journey around the world.
(SFC, 5/26/16, p.A6)
2016 Jun 12, In San Jose, Ca., the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup after Game 6 of the NHL hockey finals against the San Jose Sharks, seven years to the day after last holding the Cup.
(AP, 6/12/16)
2016 Jun 16, Philadelphia became the first major US city to approve a soda tax. The City Council gave final approval to a 1.5 cent-per-ounce tax on sugary and diet beverages with collections to begin next Jan 1.
(SFC, 6/17/16, p.A15)
2016 Jul 8, In Pennsylvania Grace Packer (14), the adopted daughter of Sara Packer, was raped and smothered to death in a “rape-murder fantasy" shared by the mother and her boyfriend Jacob Sullivan. The couple dismembered the body in October and it was found by two hunters in Luzerne County on Oct 31. On Jan 6 Sullivan began confessing to the murder.
(SFC, 1/9/17, p.A12)
2016 Jul 24, Democratic national leader Debbie Wasserman, D.-Fla., announced that she will step down at the end of the convention week following leaked internal party e-mails.
(SFC, 7/25/16, p.A4)
2016 Jul 25, In Philadelphia, Penn., the Democratic National Convention got off to a rocky start Monday, with a major internal row over leaked emails playing havoc with nominee Hillary Clinton's bid to present a united front against Donald Trump.
(AFP, 7/25/16)
2016 Jul 26, In Pennsylvania Humberto Martinez (32), a man with a lengthy criminal history, died following a scuffle with police officers. A year later his family sued Pittsburg and its police department for wrongful death.
(SFC, 7/27/17, p.D2)
2016 Jul 27, In Philadelphia President Barack Obama implored Americans to help Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump, warning the 2016 race was not just about politics, but the nature of US democracy.
(AFP, 7/28/16)
2016 Jul 28, At the Democratic convention in Philadelphia, Pa., Hillary Clinton became the first woman to accept a major party’s nomination for president.
(SFC, 7/29/16, p.A1)
2016 Aug 15, Pennsylvania’s Attorney Gen’l. Kathleen Kane was convicted on nine charges including perjury and conspiracy for illegally leaking documents from a grand jury proceeding. She resigned the next day.
(Econ, 8/20/16, p.25)
2016 Sep 25, American golfer Arnold Palmer (87) died in Pittsburgh. Palmer first played the British Open in 1960, finishing runner-up in an appearance that invigorated a tournament which Americans had been ignoring for years. Palmer won the British Open, golf's oldest major, in 1961 and 1962.
(AP, 9/26/16)(Econ, 10/8/16, p.82)
2016 Nov 8, In the US presidential election Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin all swung for Donald Trump with margins of one percent or less. Wisconsin’s voter ID law impacted an unknown number of eligible voters as Trump defeated Clinton by roughly 22,000 votes.
(Econ, 11/19/16, p.25)(SFC, 5/9/17, p.A4)
2016 Nov 9, From New York to Los Angeles thousands of people in around 10 cities rallied late today against president-elect Donald Trump. Protesters burned a giant orange-haired head of Trump in effigy, lit fires in the streets and blocked traffic as rage over the billionaire's election victory spilled onto the streets of Oakland, Ca., Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Portland and Washington DC.
(AFP, 11/10/16)
2016 Nov 16, Journalist and author Peter Binzen (1922) died in Pennsylvania. His books included “Whitetown, USA" (1970).
(SFC, 11/24/16, p.D2)
2016 Nov 24, It was reported that the former Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein has raised the necessary $1.1 million to request a vote recount in Wisconsin. Donald Trump also won by a slim margin in Pennsylvania, where a recount filing fee costs $500,000, due on November 28. The filing fee in Michigan, where Trump has a razor-thin lead in unofficial results so far, is $600,000 due by November 30.
(AFP, 11/24/16)
2016 Nov 24, In Pennsylvania Demetrius Coleman (22) of Pittsburgh fled police and crashed into a car that burst into flames killing two adults and a child.
(SFC, 11/26/16, p.A3)
2016 Dec 30, Pennsylvania state Trooper Landon Weaver (23) was shot and killed while responding to a domestic complaint in Huntingdon County. Jason Robison (32) was arrested the next day at a mobile home in the area.
(SSFC, 1/1/17, p.A7)
2017 Jan 31, US federal energy regulators approved construction of Energy Transfer Partners LP's Rover natural gas pipeline from Pennsylvania to Ontario.
(Reuters, 2/3/17)
2017 Jan 31, In Pennsylvania Daniel Dimitri (50) was killed in Philadelphia by a speeding police officer. Adam Soto was soon fired and in 2019 he was ordered to serve three to twelve months in county jail for killing Dimitri while drag racing with another officer.
(SSFC, 1/13/19, p.A8)
2017 Feb 2, In Pennsylvania the Punxsutawney Phil groundhog saw his shadow and predicted six more weeks of winter.
(SFC, 2/3/17, p.A6)
2017 Feb 4, Penn State student Timothy Piazza (19) died two days after falling several times with toxic levels of alcohol following a Feb 2 Beta Theta Pi fraternity pledge ceremony. Friends failed to summon immediate help. 18 fraternity members faced criminal charges. On Sep 1, 2017, a judge threw out involuntary manslaughter charges and felony assault counts and ordered 12 fraternity members to stand trial on lesser counts. Piazza had been given at least 18 drinks in less than 90 minutes. In 2019 three former Penn. State fraternity members were issued minimum jail sentences of one to three months.
(SFC, 5/6/17, p.A6)(SFC, 9/2/17, p.A9)(SFC, 11/14/17, p.A7)(SFC, 4/4/19, p.A6)
2017 Feb 26, In Philadelphia a visitor to the Jewish Mount Carmel Cemetery discovered more than 100 headstones vandalized. This came less than a week after a Jewish cemetery in suburban St. Louis reported more than 150 headstones vandalized.
(SFC, 2/27/17, p.A4)
2017 Mar 13, Two former Penn State administrators pleaded guilty to mishandling child-sex allegations against Jerry Sandusky, more than five years after the scandal rocked the university and led to the downfall of football coach Joe Paterno.
(SFC, 3/14/17, p.A7)
2017 Mar 14, Winter Storm Stella dumped snow and sleet across the northeastern United States, forcing airlines to ground flights and schools to cancel classes. Airlines canceled about 5,700 flights across the United States. Airports in New York, Boston, Baltimore, Washington and Philadelphia were hit the hardest.
(AP, 3/14/17)(AFP, 3/14/17)
2017 Mar 24, Former Penn State Pres. Graham Spanier (68) was convicted of hushing up complaints in 2001 of child sex abuse by assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.
(SFC, 3/25/17, p.A5)
2017 Mar, A Pennsylvania judge ruled that Allentown-based, long-term care insurer Penn Treaty American Corp. was insolvent. This left health insurers across the country on the hook for the company’s losses. Analysts estimated the company’s long-term liabilities near $4 billion, but assets at only about $700 million.
(SFC, 8/14/17, p.D1)
2017 Apr 14, Henry Hillman (b.1918), Pittsburgh-based billionaire, died. He had steered his family’s coal and coke fortune into real estate, venture capital and private equity. In 1972 his $4 million investment provided half the startup money for the Menlo Park, Ca., Kleiner Perkins venture capital firm.
(SSFC, 4/16/17, p.C10)
2017 Apr 17, In Pennsylvania Cuban national Yoandy Perez Llanes pleaded guilty to his role in an international conspiracy to file 900 phony federal tax returns seeking $2.2 million in refunds by using employee information stolen from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Sentencing was set for August 18.
(AP, 4/17/17)
2017 Apr 18, Ohio murder suspect Steve Stephens (37) shot himself in the head following a police chase in Pennsylvania.
(SFC, 4/19/17, p.A8)
2017 Apr 19, In Pennsylvania the new Museum of the American Revolution opened in Philadelphia.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_the_American_Revolution)(Econ, 4/29/17, p.69)
2017 Jun 6, In Pennsylvania Lee Donald Kaplan (52) was convicted of sexually assaulting six girls in the same family and fathering two children by one of them. Authorities alleged that the girls’ parents had “gifted" their oldest daughter to Kaplan because he helped the family out of financial ruin. On July 19 a judge sentenced Daniel Stoltzfus (44) and his wife Savilla (43) up to seven years in prison each for gifting their oldest daughter to Kaplan.
(SFC, 6/7/17, p.A6)(SFC, 7/27/17, p.A6)
2017 Jun 15, James McCord Jr., former CIA agent and head of the burglers in the 1972 Watergate scandal, died at his home in Pennsylvania.
(SSFC, 4/21/19, p.C9)
2017 Jun 17, A Pennsylvania judge declared a mistrial as jurors deadlocked on charges that Bill Cosby had drugged and molested a woman more than a decade ago. Prosecutors said they would seek a 2nd trial.
(SSFC, 6/18/17, p.A8)
2017 Jun 20, GE Transportation said it has signed a $575 million deal with Egypt's national railway system to provide 100 locomotives. Most of the company's international locomotives are built in Erie, Pennsylvania.
(AP, 6/20/17)
2017 Jun 29, In Pennsylvania Seth Williams (50), the District Attorney of Philadelphia, pleaded guilty to a corruption charge and resigned from office. He had been charged with 29 counts of bribery, extortion and fraud.
(SFC, 6/30/17, p.A6)
2017 Jun 28, In Pennsylvania Bianca Roberson (18), a recent high school graduate, was shot in the head during a road rage confrontation in West Goshen Township. David Desper (28), who fled the scene, turned himself in on July 2 and was charged with first and third degree murder.
(SFC, 7/3/17, p.A4)
2017 Jul 7, In Pennsylvania three young men went missing in suburban Philadelphia. A 4th had gone missing two days earlier. Links between the men were being investigated.
(SFC, 7/11/17, p.A6)
2017 Jul 13, In Pennsylvania drug dealer Cosmo DiNardo (20) confessed to killing four men separately after selling them marijuana and then burning their bodies on his family’s farm. A cousin of DiNardo was also charged the next day, but said DiNardo had shot all the victims.
(SFC, 7/14/17, p.A6)(SFC, 7/15/17, p.A5)
2017 Jul 25, In Pennsylvania the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the conviction of Joseph Maurizio (71), accused of sexually abusing orphans during missionary trips to Honduras, and denied his request for a new trial. The suspended priest has maintained his innocence. Maurizio was incarcerated at a low-security federal prison in Ohio with a projected release date of April 2029.
(AP, 7/26/17)
2017 Aug 2, In Pennsylvania 32 CSX freight cars derailed in Hyndman and caused a propane fire that burned itself out by August 4. Smaller sulfur fires continued to burn.
(SFC, 8/5/17, p.A6)
2017 Aug 31, In Pennsylvania Temple Univ. student Jenna Burleigh (22) was last seen on surveillance tape leaving a bar in Philadelphia with Joshua Hupperterz (29). Her body was found Sep 2 on property belonging to the man’s grandmother. On Sep 3 Hupperterz was charged with murder.
(SFC, 9/5/17, p.A4)
2017 Sep 19, Oil and gas pipeline company Energy Transfer Partners LP said it has received approval from US energy regulators to resume drilling along its $4.2 billion Rover pipeline project. The Rover project from Pennsylvania to Ontario is the biggest gas pipeline under construction in the United States.
(Reuters, 9/19/17)
2017 Oct 4, Republican congressman Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania announced that he will not run for a 9th term, amid tawdry revelations of an extramarital affair in which the antiabortion lawmaker urged his mistress Shannon Edwards to get an abortion when he thought she was pregnant.
(SFC, 10/5/17, p.A5)
2017 Oct 23, In Pennsylvania a law took effect that allows casino-style gambling on mobile phones and websites. It also put video gaming terminals in big truck stops.
(CSM, 11/3/17)
2017 Nov 3, Philadelphia officials announced that they will move the statue of former Mayor and Police Commissioner Frank Rizzo from its location in the shadow of City Hall. Rizzo served as mayor form 1973-1980 and his critics argue that he led a corrupt police department that alienated minorities.
(SFC, 11/4/17, p.A5)
2017 Nov 13, In Pennsylvania Yinyan Wang (25), a Chinese citizen, was arrested on visa and passport fraud charges. She had reportedly taken the GRE graduate school entry exam for other people.
(AP, 11/15/17)
2017 Nov 17, In Pennsylvania rookie police Officer Brian Shaw (25) died after being shot following a traffic stop that led him to chase someone on foot in New Kensington. On Nov. 21 suspect Rahmael Sal Holt (29) was arrested in Pittsburgh following a 4-day manhunt.
(SSFC, 11/19/17, p.A8)(SFC, 11/20/17, p.A5)(SFC, 11/22/17, p.A6)
2017 Dec 15, A federal judge in Philadelphia ordered the Trump administration not to enforce new rules that could significantly reduce women’s access to free birth control.
(SFC, 12/16/17, p.A6)
2018 Jan 8, In Pennsylvania the Pi Delta Psi national fraternity was banned from the state for ten years and ordered to pay a fine of more than $110,000 as it was sentenced for its role in the 2013 death of Baruch College freshman Chun Deng (19). Four former fraternity members were also sentenced from time served up to 24 months.
(SFC, 1/9/18, p.A10)
2018 Jan 20, A New York Times online story reported that US Rep. Patrick Meehan of Pennsylvania used taxpayer money to settle a complaint that stemmed from his hostility toward a former aide who rejected his romantic overtures.
(SFC, 1/22/18, p.A4)
2018 Jan 22, The Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down the boundaries of the state’s 18 congressional districts, saying they violate the state constitution. Democratic voters had argued that the districts were gerrymandered to benefit Republicans.
(SFC, 1/23/18, p.A6)
2018 Jan 28, In Pennsylvania four people were shot and killed at a carwash in Saltlick Township. Suspect Tim Smith, driven by apparent jealousy, was on life support with a possibly self-inflicted gunshot wound after the shooting.
(SFC, 1/29/18, p.A5)
2018 Feb 4, Philadelphia Eagles fans celebrated their first NFL title since 1960 as the Eagles defeating the favored New England Patriots 41-33 in Super Bowl LII. Quarterback Nick Foles led a late-game comeback to cap a season that began as a backup and ended as Super Bowl 52 MVP.
(AP, 2/5/18)
2018 Feb 15, Pennsylvania’s Attorney General said seven guards have been charged with sexually abusing inmates at the Lackawanna County Prison in Scranton.
(SFC, 2/17/18, p.A4)
2018 Feb 19, Pennsylvania’s high court issued a new congressional district map for the state’s 2018 elections. Republicans had held seats in bizzarely contorted districts.
(SFC, 2/20/18, p.A5)
2018 Mar 7, The second winter storm within a week crept into New York and surrounding states. New York’s three major airlines reported a total of 1,431 canceled flights, about 40 percent of their normally scheduled flights. The governors of New Jersey and Pennsylvania declared states of emergency.
(Reuters, 3/7/18)
2018 Mar 18, In Bermuda Mark Dombroski (19), a US student at Philadelphia's St. Joseph Univ., went missing early today in Hamilton. His body was found the next day. An autopsy later concluded that Dombroski had died from an apparent fall with no signs of foul play.
(SFC, 3/20/18, p.A2)(SFC, 3/23/18, p.A2)
2018 Mar 23, In Pennsylvania Jonathan Foster (35) and his wife Grace (34), members of the Faith Tabernacle Congregation, were convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the 2016 death of their daughter (2). Prosecutors said they declined to seek medical care for the child on religious grounds.
(SSFC, 3/25/18, p.A10)
2018 Mar 26, Pennsylvania environmental regulators issued another notice of violation to Energy Transfer Partners LP's Sunoco Mariner East 2 natural gas liquids pipeline for releasing drilling fluids into a wetland.
(Reuters, 3/27/18)
2018 Mar 27, In Pennsylvania Taiwanese exchange student An Tso Sun (18) was arrested for threatening to shoot up the Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast High School, which he attended in Upper Darby.
(AP, 3/30/18)
2018 Apr 17, A Southwest Airlines Co. jet landed in Philadelphia after an engine blew up in mid air, killing a passenger in the first deadly US commercial airline accident in nine years. The engine explosion occurred about 20 minutes after the Dallas-bound Southwest Flight 1380 with 149 on board took off from New York's LaGuardia Airport.
(Reuters, 4/18/18)(SFC, 4/17/18, p.A7)
2018 Apr 27, Philadelphia mob boss Joseph Merlino pleaded guilty to an illegal gambling charge as part of a deal allowing him to avoid a retrial in in a NYC racketeering case.
(SFC, 4/28/18, p.A5)
2018 May 15, A violent spring storm left at least five people dead in the northeastern United States. The next morning more than 370,000 residents were without power in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, down from more than 600,000.
(AP, 5/16/18)
2018 Jun 6, A US federal judge ruled that the Trump administration cannot cut off grants to Philadelphia over the way the city deals with immigrants in the country illegally.
(SFC, 6/7/18, p.A7)
2018 Jun 19, In Pennsylvania police Officer Michael Rosfeld (30) shot and killed Antwon Rose Jr. (17) in East Pittsburgh after stopping an unlicensed taxi that was said to match a vehicle wanted in a shooting in a nearby town. Zaijuan Hester, a passenger in the same car, later pleaded guilty for shooting a man in the abdomen. Protests soon followed after the unarmed black teenager was reportedly shot three times in the back. On June 27 Officer Rosfeld was charged with criminal homicide. On August 1 Rose's family filed a wrongful death suit against Rosfeld. On March 22, 2019, a jury acquitted former Officer Rosfeld.
(SFC, 6/27/18, p.A5)(SFC, 6/28/18, p.A6)(SFC, 8/3/18, p.A6)(SFC, 3/20/19, p.A10)(SFC, 3/23/19, p.A5)
2018 Jul 18, Pennsylvania's highest court upheld Philadelphia's tax on soda and other sweetened drinks.
(SFC, 7/18/18, p.A4)
2018 Jul 25, Rescuers pulled people from inundated cars on flooded streets near Baltimore as heavy rain soaked the US mid-Atlantic coast for a fifth day. Authorities closed highways and roads in parts of Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia because of flooding.
(AP, 7/25/18)
2018 Aug 14, Pennsylvania officials released a grand jury report that identified more than 300 "predator priests" who molested children in six dioceses since the 1940s.
(SFC, 8/15/18, p.A6)(SFC, 8/16/18, p.A4)
2018 Sep 10, Pennsylvania's state prisons resumed normal visits 12 days after officials imposed restrictions while they addressed a spate of illnesses linked to synthetic drugs.
(SFC, 9/11/18, p.A5)
2018 Sep 18, Philadelphia announced an agreement to overhaul its civil forfeiture laws limiting what law enforcement officers can seize and what proceeds from the confiscated property can fund.
(SFC, 9/19/18, p.A4)
2018 Sep 26, Comedian Bill Cosby (81) began serving his three to ten year sentence for sexual assault at he SCI Phoenix state prison in Collegeville, Pa.
(SFC, 9/27/18, p.A6)
2018 Sep 29, In Pennsylvania a car exploded in Allentown leaving three men dead. Police called it a criminal incident. Jacob Schmoyer (26) was killed along with his son (2) and friend David Hillman (66). Police later said Schmoyer had sent letters indicating he used an explosive to kill himself, his son and friend.
(SFC, 10/1/18, p.A4)(SFC, 10/5/18, p.A6)
2018 Oct 15, In Pennsylvania a charter bus crashed into trees near Scranton killing one person and injuring at least three others.
(SFC, 10/16/18, p.A6)
2018 Oct 17, In Pennsylvania Rev. David Lee Poulson (65) of Oil City admitted that he sexually abused children and pleaded guilty to corruption of minors and child endangerment.
(SFC, 10/18/18, p.A9)
2018 Oct 24, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced thirteen winners of its Safety and Justice Challenge grants to cities and counties for implementing criminal justice reforms to reduce jail populations. Philadelphia's award of $4 million was the largest and followed a $3.5 million grant during the first awards in 2016.
(SFC, 10/25/18, p.A8)
2018 Oct 27, In Pittsburgh, Pa., Robert Bowers (46) killed eight men and three women inside the Tree of Life Synagogue during worship services before a tactical police team shot and wounded him. Bowers told officers afterward that Jews were committing genocide and that he wanted them all to die.
(AP, 10/28/18)
2018 Nov 19, In Pennsylvania two men and two women were found fatally shot in a basement of a house being renovated in Philadelphia.
(SFC, 11/20/18, p.A5)
2019 Jan 24, In Pennsylvania Jordan Witmen opened fire at a hotel bar in State College killing two people and wounding a woman. He then broke into a home and fatally shot another man before killing himself.
(SFC, 1/26/19, p.A6)
2019 Jan 21, Harris Wofford (92), former Pennsylvania senator (1991-1995), died in Washington DC.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harris_Wofford)(SSFC, 1/27/19, p.C9)
2019 Feb 21, Moshe Journo (53), an Israeli man who allegedly had been on the run for 15 years after being accused of raping a teenage girl in Pennsylvania, was extradited back to the United States.
(AP, 2/22/19)
2019 Mar 18, Former Pennsylvania pediatrician Johnnie Barto was sentenced to at least 79 years in prison for the sexual assault of 31 children, most of them patients.
(SFC, 3/19/19, p.A8)
2019 Mar 20, Philadelphia health officials said 74 people have contracted mumps at Temple Univ. This included 15 confirmed and 59 probable cases.
(SFC, 3/21/19, p.A6)
2019 Mar 26, An attorney said the Pennsylvania Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie has agreed to pay $2 million to a man who was sexually abused as a child by a priest who made him say confession after the assaults. Defrocked priest David Poulson was sentenced this year to 2½ to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to the sexual assault of one boy and attempted sexual assault of another.
(AP, 3/26/19)
2019 Apr 9, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto signed legislation restricting military-style assault weapons and banning most uses of armor-piercing ammunition and high-capacity magazines, defying the state's prohibition on municipal gun regulation.
(SFC, 4/10/19, p.A5)
2019 May 19, In Bethlehem, Pa., Martin Tower, the former world headquarters of Bethlehem Steel, was imploded to make way for a $200 million development project.
(SFC, 5/20/19, p.A6)
2019 May 30, Leon Redbone (b.1949), Cyprus-born American guitar playing singer, died in Pennsylvania. His albums included “On the Track" (1975), “Double Time" (1977) and “Up a Lazy River" (1992).
(SSFC, 6/2/19, p.C1)
2019 Jun 16, In Pennsylvania a shooting at a graduation party in Philadelphia left Isiaka Meite (24) dead and five other people wounded, including three teenagers. The shooter remained at large.
(SFC, 6/18/19, p.A5)
2019 Jun 18, US authorities seized about 33,000 pounds of cocaine, valued at more than $1 billion, at the packer Marine Terminal in Philadelphia. Federal authorites soon raised the amount of cocaine seized to 35,000 pounds.
(SFC, 6/19/19, p.A5)(SSFC, 6/23/19, p.A10)
2019 Jul 2, In Pennsylvania Bill Courtright, the former Democratic mayor of Scranton, pleaded guilty to charges that he shook down businesses for bribes and campaign contributions throughout his term and a half in office. He had resigned from office a day earlier.
(SFC, 7/3/19, p.A4)
2019 Jul 18, Philadelphia police Commissioner Richard Ross suspended 17 officers for 30 days and is moving to fire 13 of them over social media posts he called "sickening".
(ABC News, 7/19/19)
2019 Jul 18, The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board said that two casinos passed this week's tests to begin operating online gambling portals 24 hours a day for patrons statewide who are at least 21 years old.
(AP, 7/18/19)
2019 Jul 28, In Pennsylvania one man was killed and five others were wounded in a shooting during a rap video production in Philadelphia.
(AP, 7/29/19)
2019 Jul 31, In Pennsylvania Kathleen Kane, a former state attorney general who was convicted of leaking grand jury material, walking free after serving eight months behind bars. Kane resigned after being convicted in 2016 of perjury, obstruction and other counts for leaking grand jury material to a Philadelphia newspaper and lying about it.
(AP, 7/31/19)
2019 Jul 31, In Pennsylvania John Miller (44) was released from prison after spending more than two decades behind bars for a murder he didn't commit. The key witness against him confessed multiple times to be the real shooter and even sent a letter to Miller's mother apologizing for lying.
(AP, 8/1/19)
2019 Aug 1, The Philadelphia Police Department said seven officers whose Facebook posts were flagged in an investigation into offensive and sometimes threatening social media activity have resigned.
(AP, 8/1/19)
2019 Aug 1, Philadelphia's longest-serving sheriff, John Green (68), was sentenced to five years in prison for using bribes from a businessman to help buy two homes and then awarding him millions in city contracts.
(AP, 8/1/19)
2019 Aug 1, Florida’s Surgeon General declared a public health emergency, allowing health officials to test and treat people suspected of carrying the Hepatitis A virus. 56 new cases of Hepatitis A were reported statewide in the week since the last reporting period. Philadelphia also declared an emergency.
(http://tinyurl.com/y4tdgtcz)(SSFC, 8/4/19, p.A8)
2019 Aug 5, In a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Pittsburgh-based US Steel said it expects to let go fewer than 200 workers following its decision to halt production at a Michigan facility. In mid-June the company said it would idle two blast furnaces at its Great lakes and Gary Works plants, citing lower steel prices and softening demand.
(Reuters, 8/19/19)
2019 Aug 11, In Pennsylvania five children died and other people were rescued from an early-morning fire at a home that operated as a daycare center in Erie.
(Reuters, 8/12/19)
2019 Aug 15, In Pennsylvania an hours-long standoff where gunman Maurice Hill (36) shot at police, wounding six of them, as he was barricaded inside a Philadelphia home, ended early today with his arrest and no fatalities.
(AP, 8/15/19)
2019 Aug 20, Philadelphia's police Commissioner Richard Ross Jr. resigned amid allegations that members of his department engaged in sexual harassment and racial and gender discrimination against two women serving in the ranks.
(AP, 8/20/19)
2019 Sep 3, In Pennsylvania the body of Nalani Johnson, who was to turn 2 this month, was found in Pine Ridge Park in Blairsville, about 37 miles (60 km) east of Penn Hills, where authorities allege the girl was kidnapped the evening of August 31. Sharena Islam Nancy (25), who authorities say had been romantically involved with the child's father, remained in custody in Allegheny County on charges of kidnapping of a minor, custodial interference and concealment of the whereabouts of a child, all felonies.
(AP, 9/4/19)
2019 Sep 16, In Pennsylvania Dulce Maria Alavez (5) of New Jersey vanished from Bridgeton City Park about 30 miles south of Philadelphia. Authorities believe a man lured the little girl into a van and drove off.
(APCBS News, 9/21/19)
2019 Sep 22, Pittsburgh police said three people died and four were hospitalized in what was believed to be a drug overdose at a single residence. Authorities were concerned about a potentially deadly batch of tainted drugs in the community.
(SFC, 9/23/19, p.A6)
2019 Oct 30, In Pennsylvania a mother, stepfather and two brothers, including a 6-year-old, were found shot to death. Maurice Louis (29), a mentally unstable son, soon confessed to killing them in their west Philadelphia home.
(AP, 10/31/19)
2019 Nov 1, A clash of storm fronts that began on Halloween created havoc that caused flooding, knocked over trees, downed power lines and damaged homes from the Deep South throughout the Northeast. More than 100,000 homes and businesses were without electricity in the Philadelphia suburbs. More than 200,000 customers were without power in New York state. In Maine, more than 120,000 customers were without power. In Vermont more than 20,000 customers were without power and in New Hampshire it was about 16,000.
(AP, 11/1/19)
2019 Nov 26, Pennsylvania overhauled its child sexual abuse laws. Gov. Tom Wolf signed legislation that give future victims of child sex abuse more time to file lawsuits and ends time limits for police to file criminal charges.
(SFC, 11/27/19, p.A5)
2019 Dec 10, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that Ravitej Reddy, the owner of Personalized Genetics LLC in Pittsburgh and Med Health Services Management in Monroeville, is scheduled to plead guilty to federal charges that he conspired with out-of-state marketing companies to pay kickbacks for lucrative lab tests at his two testing facilities.
(AP, 12/10/19)
2019 Dec 21, Joseph Segel (88), the founder of home shopping television channel QVC, died in Pennsylvania. Segel founded QVC, which stands for Quality Value Convenience, in 1986 as an alternate to the Home Shopping Network (HSN).
(Reuters, 12/22/19)
2019 Dec 27, It was reported that Pennsylvania's Roman Catholic dioceses have paid nearly $84 million to 564 victims of sexual abuse. The tally was expected to grow as backlog claims are processed.
(SFC, 12/27/19, p.A7)
2019 Dec 30, Danielle Outlaw was announced as the first female black police commissioner in Philadelphia.
(The Independent, 12/31/19)
2020 Jan 5, At least five people were killed and dozens were injured in a crash early today involving multiple vehicles on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
(AP, 1/5/20)
2020 Jan 18, In Pennsylvania Delbert Orr Africa, a member of the Move 9 group who has been imprisoned for 42 years for a crime he says he did not commit, was released from prison. He is the eighth of the nine Move members – five men and four women – to be released or to have died while in prison. The nine were arrested and sentenced to 30 years to life following a dramatic police siege of their communal home in Philadelphia which culminated with a shootout on 8 August 1978.
(The Guardian, 1/18/20)
2020 Jan 22, The Environmental Working Group (EWG) reported that the contamination of US drinking water with man-made "forever chemicals" is far worse than previously estimated with some of the highest levels found in Miami, Philadelphia and New Orleans. The chemicals, resistant to breaking down in the environment, are known as perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.
(AP, 1/22/20)
2020 Jan 30, In Pennsylvania a boy (4) apparently shot himself with a gun found in the home of his father Edward Williams (28). Williams told police that robbers had invaded the house. He was soon charged with involuntary manslaughter.
(SSFC, 2/1/20, p.A8)
2020 Feb 1, It was reported that Philip Elvin Riehl's suspected $60 million scheme "targeted members of the Mennonite and Amish communities in Pennsylvania and elsewhere and is one of the largest Pennsylvania-based alleged Ponzi schemes in history".
(USA Today, 2/1/20)
2020 Feb 2, Punxsutawney Phil, Pennsylvania's most famous groundhog, declared: “Spring will be early, it's a certainty".
(AP, 2/2/20)
2020 Feb 11, The US Attorney's Office in Philadelphia said five men have been arrested and charged with trying to trade in Iranian oil in violation of US trade sanctions.
(AP, 2/11/20)
2020 Mar 2, In Pennsylvania the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia filed for Bankruptcy seeking protection from debt brought by construction efforts.
(SFC, 3/3/20, p.A4)
2020 Mar 13, In Pennsylvania Philadelphia police Cpl. James O'Connor (46) was shot and killed early today as he served a homicide warrant at a home. Several people were arrested including the subject of the warrant, Hassan Elliott, a fugitive wanted in a robbery and slaying last year not far from the scene.
(AP, 3/13/20)
2020 Mar 25, Pennsylvania lawmakers voted to delay the state's primary election to June 2 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
(SFC, 3/26/20, p.A5)
2020 Mar 30, In Pennsylvania Roderick Bliss IV (38), upset over losing his job due to the coronavirus pandemic, shot his girlfriend and then killed himself in an attempted murder-suicide in Wilson Borough.
(NBC News, 4/1/20)
2020 Apr 2, Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine said initial tests in mice of a potential COVID-19 vaccine delivered via a fingertip-sized patch have shown it can induce an immune response against the new coronavirus at levels that might prevent infection.
(Reuters, 4/2/20)
2020 Apr 12, In Pennsylvania Jucontee Thomas Woewiyu, a former lietenant for Liberian warlord Charles Taylor, died in Philadelphia of COVID-19 complications.
(SFC, 4/15/20, p.A3)
2020 Apr 18, Pennsylvania reported 80 new coronavirus deaths, the most on a single day, taking statewide fatalities to 836. The health department had 1,628 new cases, bringing the state’s total to 31,069.
(Bloomberg, 4/18/20)
2020 Apr 18, Paul O'Neill (84), the blunt-spoken former head of Alcoa Corp who was fired after two rocky years as US President George W. Bush's Treasury secretary, died at his home in Pittsburgh.
(Reuters, 4/18/20)
2020 Apr 27, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced he would lift some restrictions on outdoor recreation. Not just because the virus was starting to be contained, but also because people simply needed it.
(AP, 4/28/20)
2020 May 26, Former biotech executive Robert Repella (61), a resident of Ambler, Pa., pleaded guilty to a federal charge and admitted paying $50,000 to Georgetown University's former tennis coach to get his daughter admitted to the prestigious school.
(NBC News, 5/26/20)
2020 Jun 2, In Philadelphia Joe Biden blistered President Donald Trump a day after police drove back peaceful protesters near the White House so Trump could pose with a Bible before a damaged church.
(AP, 6/2/20)
2020 Jun 3, Philadelphia took down a statue of former mayor Frank Rizzo, who aggresively policed black and gay people in the 1960s and 1970s. Mayor Jim Kenney said the statue, unveiled in 1999, represented bigotry, hatred and oppression for too many people for too long.
(SFC, 6/4/20, p.A3)
2020 Jun 3, Authorities said explosions have hit 50 cash machines in and near Philadelphia since the weekend in a coordinated effort to steal them or take the money inside. Authorities also said Talib Crump (25) has been taken into custody during an undercover buy. His vehicle was found to have enough dynamite to blow up at least four more ATMs. One man (24) died a day earlier hours after he tried to break into an ATM.
(AP, 6/3/20)
2020 Jun 5, Walter Ogrod (55), a man who spent 28 years behind bars, was released from prison after a Pennsylvania judge vacated his 1996 conviction in the murder of a 4-year-old girl.
(NBC News, 6/6/20)
2020 Jun 8, In Pennsylvania the dismembered body of Dominique “Rem’mie" Fells, a transgender woman, was found in Philadelphia's Schuylkill River. On June 16 police identified Akhenaton Jones (38) as a suspect in the murder.
(nbcnbc, 6/18/20)
2020 Jun 21, In Pennsylvania Amish woman Linda Stoltzfoos (18) was last seen walking home from church in the Bird-in-Hand area of Lancaster County. On July 10 police arrested Justo Smoker (34) on felony kidnapping and misdemeanor false imprisonment charges. Stoltzfoos remained missing.
(NBC News, 7/12/20)
2020 Jul 20, In Pennsylvania Nathan Joseph Quidetto (20), angry over a botched drug deal, fired several shots into a residence in Derry where he mistakenly thought someone involved in the deal lived, killing Tracy Marie Squib (52), who was asleep in her bed. Quidetto was arrested on July 22.
(AP, 7/24/20)
2020 Aug 12, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that understaffing and inadequate supervision of staff and patients plagued campuses of the nonprofit Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health organization, where at least 41 intellectually disabled children have reported sexual assaults over the past quarter-century.
(AP, 8/13/20)
2020 Aug 21, Six states led by Pennsylvania sued the US Postal Service and the new postmaster general, saying service changes in recent weeks have harmed the ability of states to conduct free and fair elections.
(Reuters, 8/21/20)
2020 Sep 3, Speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania, Pres. Donald Trump mocked Joe Biden for wearing a mask and once again encouraged his supporters to try to vote twice if they vote by mail.
(NY Times, 9/4/20)
2020 Sep 9, Tom Ridge, a former Republican governor of Pennsylvania, called on that state’s Legislature to make a small change to how mail-in ballots are counted that could make a huge difference in how quickly election results are reported in November.
(Yahoo News, 9/9/20)
2020 Sep 13, In Pennsylvania protests in Lancaster degenerated into rioting that damaged the city's police headquarters and produced an arson fire that blocked a downtown intersection. Ricardo Munoz (27) was shot by police earlier in the day after a reported domestic dispute. 13 people were soon arrested and accused of committing crimes during the demonstrations.
(AP, 9/15/20)
2020 Sep 17, The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that ballots had to be rejected if not enclosed in the proper security envelope.
(https://tinyurl.com/y52v3sjg)(SFC, 9/25/20, p.A8)
2020 Sep 24, The US Attorney's Office in the Middle District of Pennsylvania said that nine ballots had been found in a dumpster next to the elections building with seven cast for Trump and the other two resealed inside their envelopes. A day later Luzerne County Manager said a temporary independent contractor, who was assigned to sort mail at the elections bureau "incorrectly discarded into the office trash UMOVA ballots," which is an acronym for ballots from military and overseas voters.
(ABC News, 9/25/20)
2020 Sep 25, Christian Dunbar, the treasurer of Philadelphia, was fired after federal prosecutors charged him with embezzling money from customers at a bank where he previously worked and entering into a sham marriage to win US citizenship.
(AP, 9/25/20)
2020 Sep 28, In Pennsylvania officers found Mia Green (29), a Philadelphia resident and Black transgender woman, shot in the neck in the passenger’s seat of a car driven by Abdullah lbn El-Amin Jaamia (28) when he was stopped for running a stop sign. The next day Jaamia was charged with murder and related offenses.
(NBC, 9/30/20)
2020 Oct 1, The Pennsylvania House of Representatives canceled its floor session on the news that a second Republican member had tested positive.
(AP, 10/3/20)
2020 Oct 10, A federal judge in Pennsylvania emphatically rejected the Trump campaign’s attempt to limit the availability of drop boxes, saying that Republicans had failed to make the case that their use could lead to fraud.
(AP, 10/11/20)
2020 Oct 19, The US Supreme Court in a 4-4 vote allowed Pennsylvania to count mailed-in ballots received up to three days after the Nov. 3 election, rejecting a Republican plea in the presidential battleground state.
(AP, 10/19/20)
2020 Oct 23, Pennsylvania's Supreme Court ruled that mail-in ballots cannot be refused because a voter's signature does not appear to match the one on file, a decision that could help Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.
(AP, 10/23/20)
2020 Oct 23, Two Bartonsville, Pennsylvania, men and a company that ran hotels in Stroudsburg and Bartonsville were convicted of sex and drug trafficking offenses by a jury in federal court in Scranton in a case the US Attorney’s Office said is precedent setting.
(USA Today, 10/29/20)
2020 Oct 26, The Philadelphia police fatally shot Walter Wallace Jr., a 27-year-old Black man, who they said was armed with a knife, touching off protests and violent clashes hours later. More than a dozen people were arrested and more than 30 officers injured in the protests.
(NY Times, 10/27/20)(AP, 10/27/20)
2020 Oct 28, The US Supreme Court allowed election officials in two battleground states, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, to accept absentee ballots for several days after Election Day.
(NY Times, 10/29/20)
2020 Oct 28, Philadelphia enforced a 9 p.m. curfew amid protests after the fatal police shooting of Walter Wallace Jr., a 27-year-old Black man. In the days since the shooting, people have set fire to cars, and the police have arrested dozens of people.
(NY Times, 10/29/20)
2020 Oct 29, More looting was reported across Philadelphia overnight despite a citywide curfew in the wake of the deadly police shooting of Walter Wallace Jr. More than half the stores in a northeast Philadelphia strip mall were vandalized.
(CBS News, 10/29/20)
2020 Oct 30, The Pennsylvania National Guard arrived in Philadelphia to help quell the unrest following the Oct 26. death of Walter Wallace Jr.
(SFC, 10/31/20, p.A4)
2020 Nov 2, US mall operators CBL and Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust filed for bankruptcy. They said their malls will remain open as they go through the bankruptcy process. CBL, which operates 107 malls, said more than 30 of its tenants have filed for bankruptcy protection this year and are shutting stores. PREIT, based in Philadelphia, has more than 20 properties.
(AP, 11/2/20)
2020 Nov 4, City officials in Philadelphia released officer body camera footage and 911 calls in the police shooting of Walter Wallace Jr. The 27-year-old's shooting last week led to demonstrations and unrest in the city. City officials said the Philadelphia Police Department will take a number of steps to train officers to respond better to situations involving mental health crises after the death of Walter Wallace Jr.
(Insider, 11/4/20)(CBS News, 11/5/20)
2020 Nov 5, The US Postal Service (USPS) said about 1,700 ballots had been identified in Pennsylvania at processing facilities during two sweeps today and were being delivered to election officials.
(Reuters, 11/5/20)
2020 Nov 6, Joe Biden overtook Donald Trump in the number of ballots counted in Pennsylvania, which Trump must win to have a shot at reelection. Biden now holds a nearly 6,000-vote advantage. Votes in the state were still being counted.
(AP, 11/6/20)
2020 Nov 7, Joe Biden (77) crossed 270 Electoral College votes with a win in Pennsylvania. Biden defeated President Donald Trump to become the 46th president of the United States, positioning himself to lead a nation gripped by historic pandemic and a confluence of economic and social turmoil. It was unclear whether Trump would publicly concede.
(AP, 11/7/20)
2020 Nov 7, Pres. Donald Trump persisted in misrepresenting developments at ballot-counting centers, falsely tweeting that campaign observers in Pennsylvania were blocked from seeing what was going on as Biden overtook him in the vote count, which continues. Twitter flagged a series of Trump's tweets as dubious.
(AP, 11/7/20)
2020 Nov 12, Pennsylvania's Commonwealth Court barred county election officials from counting provisional ballots that were cast on Election Day by voters whose absentee or mail-in ballots were received on time.
(Reuters, 11/12/20)
2020 Nov 12, An FBI fugitive task force arrested Leonard Rayne Moses without incident at his home in Grand Blanc, Michigan. Moses was 16 when he was convicted in the 1968 killing of Mary Amplo during civil unrest in Pittsburgh following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Authorities said Moses and his friends fire-bombed Amplo’s house. Badly burned, Amplo (72) died a few months later. Moses had escaped from custody while attending his grandmother’s 1971 funeral in Pittsburgh.
(AP, 11/14/20)
2020 Nov 21, US District Court Judge Matthew Brann threw out yet another lawsuit filed by the Trump campaign seeking to block the certification of the presidential election results in Pennsylvania.
(AP, 11/21/20)
2020 Nov 22, Trump campaign lawyers filed an appeal of a federal judge's decision to throw out Trump's effort to block the certification of Pennsylvania's election results.
(The Week, 11/23/20)
2020 Nov 24, Democrat Joe Biden was certified as winner of the presidential election in Pennsylvania, culminating three weeks of vote counting and a string of failed legal challenges by President Donald Trump.
(AP, 11/24/20)
2020 Nov 25, Pennsylvania will not allow bars and restaurants to sell alcohol after 5 p.m. today, in an effort to dissuade gatherings on what is usually one of the busiest bar nights of the year.
(NY Times, 11/25/20)
2020 Nov 27, The Trump campaign suffered another legal defeat when the Third Circuit Court of Appeals denied an attempt to challenge a lower court loss. The original lawsuit, based on unfounded claims of voter fraud, sought to stop or reverse the certification of Pennsylvania's vote.
(The Week, 11/28/20)
2020 Dec 8, The US Supreme Court rejected a last-ditch request from Pennsylvania Republicans to overturn the state’s election results.
(NY Times, 12/8/20)
2020 Dec 25, A soggy, wet and dark Christmas morning greeted more than 250,000 US power customers in New York, Pennsylvania and the Northeast who had their electricity knocked out by clobbering winds and drenching, icy rain.
(Reuters, 12/25/20)
2020 Dec 31, In Pennsylvania about 50 people, all in black, vandalized the historic US Customs House in Philadelphia. Seven people soon faced felony charges after at least two federal buildings were attacked.
(AP, 1/2/21)
2020 Dec 31, Former Pennsylvania Gov. Dick Thornburgh (88) died in Pittsburgh. He had made integrity and efficiency the hallmarks of his public service as a governor, US attorney general and under-secretary-general of the UN.
(AP, 12/31/20)
2021 Jan 4, Advaccine Biopharmaceuticals Suzhou Co Ltd said it will manufacture and sell Pennsylvania-based Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc's COVID-19 vaccine candidate in China. Inovio's vaccine candidate, INO-4800, is being tested in two trials, a mid-stage study in China in partnership with Advaccine and a mid-to-late stage trial in the United States.
(Reuters, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 24, The NY Times reported that Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania arranged for Donald Trump earlier this month to meet Jeffrey Bossert Clark, a Justice Department official who Trump considered naming to replace Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen.
(Reuters, 1/24/21)
2021 Feb 2, Pennsylvania's famous groundhog emerged from his tree stump to predict another six weeks of winter, just as the northeastern US got blanketed with its second day of snow.
(Reuters, 2/2/21)
2021 Feb 22, The US Supreme Court brought a formal end to eight lingering disputes pursued by former President Donald Trump and his allies related to the Nov. 3 presidential election including a Republican challenge to the extension of Pennsylvania's deadline to receive mail-in ballots. Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch dissented from the decision not to hear the Pennsylvania case.
(Reuters, 2/22/21)
2021 Mar 5, The US government said it had released all families detained at the 96-bed Berks County family detention center in Leesport, Pennsylvania. The detention center will instead be used by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hold adults.
(AP, 3/5/21)
2021 Mar 24, The US Senate voted 52-48 to confirm former Pennsylvania Health Sec. Rachel Levine as the top assistant secretary for health, making her the highest ranking openly transgender person to serve in the US government.
(AP, 3/24/21)
2021 Mar 24, A federal indictment said that Christopher D. Casamento (42), the University of Pittsburgh’s former director of emergency management, stole more than 13,600 face masks meant for school employees and students and sold them online in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
(AP, 3/24/21)
2021 Apr 6, Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania together reported 44% of the nation's new COVID-19 infections, or nearly 197,500 new cases, in the latest available seven-day period.
(AP, 4/6/21)
2021 May 7, Chad Salsman, a Pennsylvania district attorney who had cast the sex case against him as a pack of “vicious lies." pleaded guilty to pressuring clients for sex when he was a defense attorney and then coercing them to keep quiet about it.
(AP, 5/7/21)
2021 May 13, Philadelphia's top health official was compelled to resign after the city's mayor learned partial human remains from the 1985 bombing of the headquarters of a Black organization had been cremated and disposed of without notifying family members.
(AP, 5/13/21)
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