Portal:Pennsylvania

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Pennsylvania (/ˌpɛnsɪlˈveɪniə/ ^ⓘ PEN-sil-VAY-nee-ə, lit. 'Penn's forest country'), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania Dutch: Pennsilfaani), is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Maryland to its south, West Virginia to its southwest, Ohio and the Ohio River to its west, Lake Erie and New York to its north, the Delaware River and New Jersey to its east, and the Canadian province of Ontario to its northwest via Lake Erie.

Pennsylvania was founded in 1681 through a royal land grant to William Penn, the son of the state's namesake. Before that, between 1638 and 1655, a southeast portion of the state was part of New Sweden, a Swedish colony. Established as a haven for religious and political tolerance, the colonial-era Province of Pennsylvania was known for its relatively peaceful relations with native tribes, innovative government system, and religious pluralism.

Pennsylvania played a vital and historic role in the American Revolution and the ultimately successful quest for independence from the British Empire, hosting the First and Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia that formed the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander in 1775, and unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence the following year. On December 12, 1787, Pennsylvania was the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. (Full article...)

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Portrait of Priestley, 1801

Joseph Priestley FRS (/ˈpriːstli/; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, Unitarian, natural philosopher, separatist theologian, grammarian, multi-subject educator and classical liberal political theorist. He published over 150 works, and conducted experiments in several areas of science.

Priestley is credited with his independent discovery of oxygen by the thermal decomposition of mercuric oxide, having isolated it in 1774. During his lifetime, Priestley's considerable scientific reputation rested on his invention of carbonated water, his writings on electricity, and his discovery of several "airs" (gases), the most famous being what Priestley dubbed "dephlogisticated air" (oxygen). Priestley's determination to defend phlogiston theory and to reject what would become the chemical revolution eventually left him isolated within the scientific community. (Full article...)

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The Pennsylvania Turnpike, sometimes shortened to Penna Turnpike or PA Turnpike, is a controlled-access toll road which is operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) in Pennsylvania. It runs for 360 miles (580 km) across the southern part of the state, connecting Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, and passes through four tunnels as it crosses the Appalachian Mountains. A component of the Interstate Highway System, it is part of Interstate 76 (I-76) between the Ohio state line and Valley Forge. I-70 runs concurrently with I-76 between New Stanton and Breezewood, Interstate 276 (I-276) between Valley Forge and Bristol Township, and I-95 from Bristol Township to the New Jersey state line.

The turnpike's western terminus is at the Ohio state line in Lawrence County, where it continues west as the Ohio Turnpike. The eastern terminus is the New Jersey state line at the Delaware River–Turnpike Toll Bridge, which crosses the Delaware River in Bucks County. It continues east as the Pearl Harbor Memorial Extension of the New Jersey Turnpike. The turnpike has an all-electronic tolling system; tolls may be paid using E-ZPass or toll by plate, which uses automatic license plate recognition. Cash tolls were collected with a ticket and barrier toll system before they were phased out between 2016 and 2020. The turnpike currently has 15 service plazas, providing food and fuel to travelers. (Full article...)

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Credit: Nicholas T.
Rainbows and departing storm clouds over Minsi Lake in Northampton County.

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... that the Pennsylvania Railroad steam locomotive 520 (pictured) had its boiler explode and pulled a "railfan special", before it was preserved in the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania?
... that Early Archaic peoples used the Houserville Site in Pennsylvania ten millennia ago?
... that Colleen LaRose, also known as "JihadJane", was living in suburban Pennsylvania when she was arrested for recruiting Islamic terrorists and plotting the murder of Swedish artist Lars Vilks?
... that a class action lawsuit was brought against a Pennsylvania school district for allegedly using webcams in school-issued laptop computers to spy on students at home?
... that John Pittenger, former Pennsylvania Secretary of Education, was the first legislator to regularly employ high school seniors as legislative pages in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives?

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Erie	Lehigh Valley	Pennsylvania Roads

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Henry Adams Thompson (March 23, 1837 – July 8, 1920) was an American prohibitionist and professor who was the vice-presidential nominee of the Prohibition Party in 1880.

Thompson was a native of Pennsylvania, but he spent much of his career in Ohio. He became a member of the United Brethren church and taught mathematics at several United Brethren colleges in the Midwest. Thompson served as president of Otterbein University from 1872 to 1886. Much of his time as college president was devoted to improving the financial standing of the school during the economic depression that followed the Panic of 1873. (Full article...)

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Griffey with the Seattle Mariners in 2009

George Kenneth Griffey Jr. (born November 21, 1969), nicknamed "Junior" and "the Kid", is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played 22 years in Major League Baseball (MLB). He spent most of his career with the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds, along with a short stint with the Chicago White Sox. The first overall pick in the 1987 draft and a 13-time All-Star, Griffey is one of the most prolific home run hitters in baseball history; his 630 home runs rank as the seventh-most in MLB history. Griffey was also an exceptional defender and won 10 Gold Glove Awards in center field. He is tied for the record of most consecutive games with a home run (eight, with Don Mattingly and Dale Long).

Griffey signed lucrative deals with companies of international prominence like Nike and Nintendo; his popularity reflected well upon MLB and is credited by some with helping restore its image after the 1994 labor dispute. Griffey is one of only 31 players in baseball history to have appeared in major league games in four different calendar decades. (Full article...)

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Pennsylvania news

State facts

State Facts

Nickname: The Keystone State
Capital: Harrisburg
Largest city: Philadelphia
Total area: 119,283 square kilometers (46,055 square miles)
Population (2000 census): 12,281,054
Date admitted to the Union: December 12, 1787 (2^nd)

State symbols

Bird: Ruffed grouse
Fish: Brook trout
Floral emblem: Mistletoe
Flower: Mountain laurel
Insect: Pennsylvania firefly
Mammal: White-tailed deer
Tree: Eastern Hemlock
Fossil: Trilobite
Soil: Hazleton
Song: Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania topics

General images

The following are images from various Pennsylvania-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1William Penn, a Quaker and son of a prominent admiral, founded the colonial Province of Pennsylvania in 1681. (from Pennsylvania)
Image 2The colonial possessions of Britain (in pink), France (in blue), and Spain (in orange) as of 1750. The French later lost their possessions in North America to Britain following its defeat in the French and Indian War, fought from 1754 to 1763 (from History of Pennsylvania)
Image 3South Philadelphia High School on Broad Street in South Philadelphia in February 2010 (from Pennsylvania)
Image 4Stephen Decatur, a 19th-century naval commander who served in the War of 1812 and other engagements (from History of Pennsylvania)
Image 5The Birth of Pennsylvania, a portrait of William Penn (standing with document in hand), who founded the Province of Pennsylvania in 1681 as a refuge for Quakers after receiving a royal deed to it from King Charles II (from History of Pennsylvania)
Image 6An Amish family riding in a traditional Amish buggy in Lancaster County. As of 2024, Pennsylvania has an Amish population of 92,660, the largest of any state in the nation. (from Pennsylvania)
Image 72024 U.S. presidential election results by county in Pennsylvania
Democratic
Republican
(from Pennsylvania)
Image 8A map of New Netherland (in magenta) and New Sweden (in blue) in the 17th century; New Sweden was later absorbed by New Netherland and then the British in the Second Anglo-Dutch War. (from History of Pennsylvania)
Image 9Autumn in North Branch Township in Wyoming County in October 2011 (from Pennsylvania)
Image 10A woodcut illustration of the crowd at the first Republican National Convention in 1856 at Musical Fund Hall at 808 Locust Street in Philadelphia (from History of Pennsylvania)
Image 11Pat's King of Steaks in South Philadelphia is widely credited with inventing the cheesesteak in 1933. (from Pennsylvania)
Image 12The Köppen climate types of Pennsylvania based on 1991–2020 climate normals (from Pennsylvania)
Image 13Citizens Bank Park in South Philadelphia, home of the Philadelphia Phillies, the oldest continuous same-name, same-city franchise in American professional sports (from Pennsylvania)
Image 14Ethnic origins of Pennsylvanians (from Pennsylvania)
Image 15The Battle of Gettysburg, fought July 1–3, 1863 in Gettysburg, was the Civil War's deadliest battle but also is widely considered the war's turning point in the Union's ultimate victory. The battle is depicted in this 1887 Thure de Thulstrup painting, Battle of Gettysburg. (from Pennsylvania)
Image 16The Stonycreek Township crash site of Flight 93, one of four planes hijacked in the September 11 attacks; the site is now a national memorial. Flight 93 passengers wrestled with al-Qaeda terrorist hijackers for control of the plane, preventing it from being flown into the White House or U.S. Capitol. (from Pennsylvania)
Image 17Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution were adopted in 1776 and 1787–88, respectively (from Pennsylvania)
Image 18Shelter House in Emmaus, constructed in 1734 by Pennsylvania German settlers, is the oldest continuously occupied building structure in the Lehigh Valley and one of the oldest in Pennsylvania (from Pennsylvania)
Image 19The Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg (from Pennsylvania)
Image 20Bethlehem Steel in Bethlehem was one of the world's leading steel manufacturers for most of the 19th and 20th century. In 1982, however, it discontinued most of its operations, declared bankruptcy in 2001, and was dissolved in 2003. (from Pennsylvania)
Image 21Map of Pennsylvania's 67 counties (from Pennsylvania)
Image 22Benjamin Franklin, a Founding Father of the United States and Pennsylvania delegate to the Second Continental Congress, which created the Continental Army in 1775 and unanimously adopted and issued the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 (from History of Pennsylvania)
Image 23NASCAR racing at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond (from Pennsylvania)
Image 24The Philadelphia Eagles are presented with the Vince Lombardi Trophy on February 4, 2018, after winning Super Bowl LII, in which they defeated the New England Patriots 41-33. (from Pennsylvania)
Image 25On November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln (center, facing camera) arrived in Gettysburg and delivered the Gettysburg Address, considered one of the best-known speeches in American history. (from Pennsylvania)
Image 26Rivers Casino, located in the Chateau section of Pittsburgh on the Ohio River, one of Pennsylvania's 16 casinos (from Pennsylvania)
Image 27Frederick Winslow Taylor of Philadelphia, a late 19th and early 20th century pioneer in scientific management (from History of Pennsylvania)
Image 28Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom's Steel Force and Thunderhawk roller coasters in Allentown; Steel Force is the eighth-longest steel roller coaster in the world with a first drop of 205 feet (62 m) and a top speed of 75 miles per hour (121 km/h). Founded in 1884, Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom is the fifth-oldest amusement park in the nation. (from Pennsylvania)
Image 29Pennsylvania population density map (from Pennsylvania)
Image 30The Statue of Benjamin Franklin on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in West Philadelphia, which pays tribute to Benjamin Franklin, a Founding Father who founded the university, now an Ivy League institution and one of the world's top universities, in 1740 (from Pennsylvania)
Image 31Lenape chief Lappawinsoe, depicted in a 1735 painting by Gustavus Hesselius (from History of Pennsylvania)
Image 32The Gettysburg campaign, which culminated in the Battle of Gettysburg, was a major turning point in the American Civil War and the war's bloodiest battle with an estimated 46,000 to 51,000 casualties (from History of Pennsylvania)
Image 33Pittsburgh Steelers' fans waving the Terrible Towel, a tradition that dates back to 1975 (from Pennsylvania)
Image 34Simon Cameron of Maytown was Secretary of War and head of Pennsylvania's Republican Party, whose party machine controlled Pennsylvania into the 20th century. (from History of Pennsylvania)
Image 35The Hershey Company in Hershey (from Pennsylvania)
Image 36
Pennsylvania's unemployment rate between 1976 and 2021
The U.S. unemployment rate during these years
(from Pennsylvania)
Image 37The locomotive Tioga in Philadelphia in 1848; Pennsylvania was an important railroad center throughout the 19th century. (from History of Pennsylvania)
Image 38Philadelphia International Airport, the busiest airport in the state and the 21st-busiest airport in the nation with over 13 million passengers in 2023 (from Pennsylvania)
Image 39Amtrak's Pennsylvanian on Horseshoe Curve in Logan Township (from Pennsylvania)
Image 40One of only two confirmed photos of Abraham Lincoln (sitting in center, facing camera, without his traditional top hat) at Gettysburg a few hours prior to giving the Gettysburg Address at Gettysburg National Cemetery on November 19, 1863. The address, which was only 271 words in length, ranks among the most famed speeches in American history. (from History of Pennsylvania)