Portal:Philadelphia/Selected article archive/2006
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[edit] 2006
- December
Northeast Philadelphia is a section of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to the 2000 Census, the Northeast has a sizable percentage of the city's 1.5 million people — a population of between 300,000 and 450,000, depending on how the area is defined. Beginning in the 1980's, many of the Northeast's middle class children graduated college and settled in suburbs, especially nearby Bucks County. With this emigration of older populations, a new influx of Latinos have settled along the southern edges of the Northeast, while African Americans and Asian immigrants have purchased homes in this once almost exclusively white area of the city. The neighborhoods that make up Northeast Philadelphia include Fox Chase, Lawncrest, Rhawnhurst, Tacony, Frankford, Mayfair, Bustleton, Torresdale, Parkwood, Somerton, Burholme, Ryers, Holmesburg, and Crestmont Farms. It is sometimes said to include the neighborhoods of Bridesburg, Port Richmond, and Fishtown, as well.
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- November
Boathouse Row is an historic site located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, consisting of a row of boathouses housing racing sculls, on the east bank of the Schuylkill River. Each of the ten boathouses has its own history, and all have addresses on Kelly Drive (named after famous Philadelphia oarsman John B. Kelly, Jr.). The boathouses are part of a group known as the Schuylkill Navy, which encompasses several other boathouses along the river. Boathouse Row is a National Historic Landmark and was entered onto the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.
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- October
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American railroad that was founded in 1846 and merged in 1968 into Penn Central Transportation. Commonly referred to as the Pennsy, the company was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The company's symbol was a keystone (Pennsylvania's symbol) with the letters PRR intertwined inside it. When colored, it was bright red with silver-grey edges and lettering. The PRR was the largest railroad by traffic and revenue in the US throughout its 20th century existence and for a long while was the largest publicly traded corporation in the world. The corporation still holds the record for the longest continual dividend history: it doled out annual payments to shareholders for more than 100 years in a row.
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- September
Mikveh Israel Cemetery is the oldest Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and possibly in the nation. The site, less than 0.2 acre in size, is a registered historic place in Philadelphia and a national historic site administered by Independence National Historical Park. It is located in the center city section of Philadelphia, on Spruce Street, near 8th Street, about two blocks west and four blocks south of Independence Hall.
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- August
Pennsylvania Hospital, located in Philadelphia, is the first hospital in the United States. On May 11, 1751 the Pennsylvania legislature granted a charter to Benjamin Franklin and Dr. Thomas Bond to establish a hospital to care for the sick-poor and mentally ill of Philadelphia. Shortly afterwards, in 1752, the first (temporary) building was opened on High (now Market) Street. Elizabeth Gardner (a Quaker widow) was appointed Matron.
In 1755 the cornerstone was laid for the East Wing of what would become the hospital's permanent location at 8th and Pine. Patients were first admitted to the permanent hospital in 1756. The site continued to grow through the years with the addition of more wings (such as the West Wing of the building which was built in 1796) and buildings, extra land and further expansion. The hospital merged with the University of Pennsylvania Health System in 1997.
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- July
Connie Mack Stadium, known for the first two-thirds of its existence as Shibe Park, was a Major League Baseball park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was on the block bounded by Lehigh Avenue, 20th Street, Somerset Street and 21st Street. It was thus just five blocks west, corner-to-corner, from the Baker Bowl, home of the Philadelphia Phillies that had opened in 1887. The stadium hosted two Major League Baseball All-Star Games, the first in 1943, marking the first time the game had been played at night, and in 1952, with that game holding the distinction of being the only All-Star contest shortened by rain (in this case, to five innings).
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- June
Independence Hall, officially known as the Pennsylvania State House, is a historic building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Built between 1732 and 1753, it was designed in the Georgian style of architecture by Edmund Wooley and Andrew Hamilton. It was commissioned by the Pennsylvania colonial legislature and is located on Chestnut Street between 5th and 6th Streets.
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- May
Thirtysomething was a TV show that inspired such shows as Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place and The Gilmore Girls.
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- April
The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official world's fair in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. It was officially the International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures and Products of the Soil and Mine.
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- March
Elfreth's Alley is a residential alley located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is the oldest continuously inhabited residential street in the country and a National Historic Landmark.
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