Portal:Pennsylvania

King in around 1905

John Barton "Bart" King (October 19, 1873 – October 17, 1965) was an American cricketer, active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. King was part of the Philadelphia team that played from the end of the 19th century until the outbreak of World War I. This period of cricket in the United States was dominated by "gentlemen cricketers"—men of independent wealth who did not need to work. King, an amateur from a middle-class family, was able to devote time to cricket thanks to a job set up by his teammates.

A skilled batsman who proved his worth as a bowler, King set numerous records in the continent of North America during his career and led the first-class bowling averages in England in 1908. He successfully competed against the best cricketers from England and Australia. King was the dominant bowler on his team when it toured England in 1897, 1903, and 1908. He dismissed batsmen with his unique delivery, which he called the "angler", and helped develop the art of swing bowling in the sport. Sir Pelham Warner described Bart King as "one of the finest bowlers of all time", and Donald Bradman called him "America's greatest cricketing son." (Full article...)

Pennsylvania Route 563 (PA 563) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The route runs 21.15 mi (34.04 km) from PA 63 in Upper Salford Township northeast to PA 412 in Nockamixon Township. The road runs through mostly rural areas in the northern parts of Montgomery and Bucks counties. Along the way, the route passes through the northern part of Perkasie and forms a concurrency with PA 313 in East Rockhill Township. North of here, PA 563 runs through Nockamixon State Park, heading to the northwest of Lake Nockamixon.

PA 563 was first created in 1928 to connect Bergey to Harrow, following its current alignment to PA 313 before continuing straight along Ridge Road and continuing to PA 412. By 1940, construction of the road into a state highway was completed. In the early 1970s, PA 563 was moved to its current alignment north of PA 313 as a result of the creation of Lake Nockamixon, which severed the original alignment. (Full article...)

• ... that Isaac D. Barnard (pictured) fought at the Battle of Plattsburg in the War of 1812, and later became Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania?
• … that the decision of a Pennsylvania provincial court in 1764, The King v. Haas, is one of the first attempts to apply the writ of habeas corpus in the Thirteen Colonies?
• … that the 31-mile (50 km) West Rim Trail along the Grand Canyon was selected by Outside Magazine as the best hike in Pennsylvania?
• … that six latrines at Black Moshannon State Park in Pennsylvania are listed on the National Register of Historic Places?
• ... that the now-defunct Arbogast & Bastian abattoir in Allentown, Pennsylvania, could process most of the 850,000 hogs raised annually in Pennsylvania?

Specter c. 2007

Arlen Specter (February 12, 1930 – October 14, 2012) was an American lawyer, author and politician who served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1981 to 2011. Specter was a Democrat from 1951 to 1965, then a Republican from 1965 until 2009, when he switched back to the Democratic Party. First elected in 1980, he was the longest-serving senator from Pennsylvania, having represented the state for 30 years.

Specter was born in Wichita, Kansas, to immigrant Russian/Ukrainian Jewish parents. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and served with the United States Air Force during the Korean War. Specter later graduated from Yale Law School and opened a law firm with Marvin Katz, who would later become a federal judge. Specter served as assistant counsel for the Warren Commission investigating the assassination of John F. Kennedy and helped formulate the "single-bullet theory". In 1965, Specter was elected District Attorney of Philadelphia, a position that he held until 1973. (Full article...)

Sports in Pittsburgh have been played dating back to the American Civil War. Baseball, hockey, and the first professional American football game had been played in the city by 1892. Pittsburgh was first known as the "City of Champions" when the Pittsburgh Pirates, Pittsburgh Panthers football team, and Pittsburgh Steelers won multiple championships in the 1970s. Today, the city has three major professional sports franchises, the Pirates, Steelers, and Penguins; while the University of Pittsburgh Panthers compete in a Division I Power Five conference, the highest level of collegiate athletics in the United States, in both football and basketball. Local universities Duquesne and Robert Morris also field Division I teams in men's and women's basketball and Division I FCS teams in football. Robert Morris also fields Division I men's and women's ice hockey teams.

Pittsburgh's major teams have seen great success, with the MLB's Pirates winning 5 World Series titles, the NHL's Penguins winning 5 Stanley Cups, and the NFL's Steelers winning a tied league record 6 Super Bowls. The Pittsburgh Panthers have also been successful in the NCAA with 9 national championships in football and 2 in basketball. (Full article...)

• November 2: On the campaign trail in the USA, October 2020
• October 29: On the campaign trail in the USA, September 2020
• September 30: On the campaign trail in the USA, August 2020
• August 31: On the campaign trail in the USA, July 2020
• November 21: Slippery business: Materials scientists invent new coating for self-cleaning, water-efficient toilets