Portal:Philadelphia

The Liberty Bell is an iconic symbol of American independence. Formerly placed in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House (now renamed Independence Hall), the bell today is located in the Liberty Bell Center in Independence National Historical Park. The bell was commissioned in 1752 by the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly from the London firm of Lester and Pack (known subsequently as the Whitechapel Bell Foundry), and was cast with the lettering "Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants Thereof," a Biblical reference from the Book of Leviticus (25:10). The bell first cracked when rung after its arrival in Philadelphia, and was twice recast by local workmen John Pass and John Stow, whose last names appear on the bell. In its early years the bell was used to summon lawmakers to legislative sessions and to alert citizens about public meetings and proclamations. Many bells—most likely including the Liberty Bell—were rung on July 8, 1776 in Philadelphia to announce the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence, four days after its signing. In the 1830s, the bell was adopted as a symbol by abolitionist societies, who were the first to call it the Liberty Bell. The bell acquired its distinctive large crack in the early 19th century. A widespread story claims it cracked while ringing after the death of Chief Justice John Marshall in 1835. Beginning in 1885, the City of Philadelphia sent it to various expositions and patriotic gatherings. The bell attracted huge crowds wherever it went, additional cracking occurred and pieces were chipped away by souvenir hunters. The last journey occurred in 1915, after which all requests were refused. The city allowed the National Park Service to take custody of the bell after World War II, with the city retaining ownership. In 1976, the bell was moved from its longtime home in Independence Hall to a glass pavilion across the street on Independence Mall, and then to the larger Liberty Bell Center in 2003. The bell has a circumference of 12 ft (3.7 m), a diameter of 3.82 ft (1.16 m), and a mass of 2,080 lb (940 kg).

Live Aid was a dual-venue benefit concert held on 13 July 1985, and an ongoing music-based fundraising initiative. The original event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for relief of the ongoing Ethiopian famine. Billed as the "global jukebox", the event was held simultaneously at Wembley Stadium in London (attended by 72,000 people) and John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia (attended by about 100,000 people). On the same day, concerts inspired by the initiative happened in other countries, such as the Soviet Union, Canada, Japan, Yugoslavia, Austria, Australia and West Germany. It was one of the largest-scale satellite link-ups and television broadcasts of all time; an estimated global audience of 1.9 billion, across 150 nations, watched the live broadcast.

Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. He is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction. He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career. He was born as Edgar Poe in Boston, Massachusetts; he was orphaned young when his mother died shortly after his father abandoned the family. Poe was taken in by John and Frances Allan, of Richmond, Virginia, but they never formally adopted him. He attended the University of Virginia for one semester but left due to lack of money. After enlisting in the Army and later failing as an officer's cadet at West Point, Poe parted ways with the Allans. Poe's publishing career began humbly, with an anonymous collection of poems, Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827), credited only to "a Bostonian". Poe switched his focus to prose and spent the next several years working for literary journals and periodicals, becoming known for his own style of literary criticism. His work forced him to move between several cities, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City. In January 1845, Poe published his poem "The Raven" to instant success. On October 7, 1849, at age 40, Poe died in Baltimore; the cause of his death is unknown and has been variously attributed to alcohol, brain congestion, cholera, drugs, heart disease, rabies, suicide, tuberculosis, and other agents. Poe and his works influenced literature in the United States and around the world, as well as in specialized fields, such as cosmology and cryptography.

• ... that Greyhound Electronics enlisted the help of the Scarfo crime family to sell its video poker machines?
• ... that Holy Trinity Church in Philadelphia, established in 1784, was the first national parish in the United States?
• ... that Glenwood Memorial Gardens in Broomall, Pennsylvania, was initially established in 1849 as Glenwood Cemetery in North Philadelphia and contained the graves of 702 Union soldiers?
• ... that John Morin Scott, the mayor of Philadelphia, responded to the 1842 Lombard Street riot by mostly arresting black victims?
• ... that Leverington Cemetery has the most orbs and apparitions in Philadelphia?
• ... that Fox bought a Philadelphia TV station started by a Fox?
• ... that the Octavius V. Catto Memorial, unveiled in 2017, contains the first statue on Philadelphia public property of a specific African American?
• ... that episodes of such game shows as Double Dare, Finders Keepers, and You Bet Your Life were filmed at the Philadelphia studios of a public TV station?

• May 6, 1844 - An anti-Catholic riot erupts in Kensington, the riots continue for three days.
• May 10, 1876 - the Centennial Exposition opens with a ceremony attended by U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant and Brazilian Emperor Dom Pedro and their wives.
• May 10, 1877 - Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art opens the museum which would eventually become the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
• May 12, 1985 - After a gun battle with members of MOVE, Philadelphia police drop a bomb on the MOVE compound starting a fire that destroys 61 houses and kills eleven MOVE members.
• May 16, 1957 - The Walt Whitman Bridge opens between Philadelphia and Camden, New Jersey.
• May 18, 1778 - The Mischianza, an elaborate fête given in honor of British General Sir William Howe is held.
• May 28, 1755 - Construction of Pennsylvania Hospital, the first hospital in the United States, begins.

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