Portal:Pennsylvania

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The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a state located in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States of America.

Pennsylvania has been known as the Keystone State since 1802, based in part upon its central location among the original Thirteen Colonies forming the United States. It was also a keystone state economically, having both the industry common to the North, making such wares as Conestoga wagons and rifles, and the agriculture common to the South, producing feed, fiber, food, and tobacco.

Another one of Pennsylvania's nicknames is the Quaker State; in colonial times, it was known officially as the Quaker Province, in recognition of Quaker William Penn's First Frame of Government constitution for Pennsylvania that guaranteed liberty of conscience. Pennsylvania translates to "Penn's woods" and was named after the father of William Penn, the founder of the colony. Quakers faced when they opposed religious ritual, taking oaths, violence, war and military service, and what they viewed as ostentatious frippery.

Pennsylvania has 51 miles (82 km) of coastline along Lake Erie and 57 miles (92 km) of shoreline along the Delaware Estuary. Philadelphia is Pennsylvania's largest city and is home to a major seaport and shipyards on the Delaware River.

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The Mason–Dixon Line (or "Mason and Dixon's Line") is a demarcation line between four U.S. states, forming part of the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia (then part of Virginia). It was surveyed between 1763 and 1767 by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in the resolution of a border dispute between British colonies in Colonial America. The Mason-Dixon Line is often symbolically viewed as a cultural boundary between the Northern United States and the Southern United States (Dixie).

Maryland and Pennsylvania both claimed the land between the 39th and 40th parallels according to the charters granted to each colony. The 'Three Lower Counties' (Delaware) along Delaware Bay moved into the Penn sphere of settlement, and later became the Delaware Colony, a satellite of Pennsylvania.

In 1732 the proprietary governor of Maryland, Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, signed an agreement with William Penn's sons which drew a line somewhere in between, and also renounced the Calvert claim to Delaware. But later Lord Baltimore claimed that the document he signed did not contain the terms he had agreed to, and refused to put the agreement into effect. Beginning in the mid-1730s, violence erupted between settlers claiming various loyalties to Maryland and Pennsylvania. The border conflict between Pennsylvania and Maryland would be known as Cresap's War. (Read more...)

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Lancaster, is a city in the South Central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and is the county seat of Lancaster County. With a population of 55,351, it is the 8th largest city in Pennsylvania, behind Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, Reading, Scranton, and Bethlehem. The metropolitan area population stands at 494,486 making it the 102nd largest metropolitan area in the US.

Locally, Lancaster is pronounced as LANK-ih-stir, rather than the more common pronunciation LAN-cas-ter.

Named after the English city of Lancaster by native John Wright. Its symbol, the red rose, is from the House of Lancaster. Lancaster was part of the 1681 Penn's Woods Charter of William Penn. Lancaster was layed out by James Hamilton in 1734. During the American Revolution, Lancaster was the capital of the colonies on September 27, 1777, when the Continental Congress fled Philadelphia, which had been captured by the British. After meeting one day, they moved still farther away, to York. Lancaster was capital of Pennsylvania from 1799 to 1812, after which the capital was moved to the Harrisburg. (Read more...)

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St. Paul Cathedral in downtown Pittsburgh. edit · view

Did you know...

...that Wilt Chamberlain was born August 21, 1936 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania?
...that the Comcast Center (pictured) is the tallest building in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania?
...that when the nation's capital moved to Philadelphia, the Philadelphia County Building (Congress Hall) served as the capitol from 1790 to 1800?
...that the Battle of Gettysburg, fought in, and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania is frequently cited as the Turning point of the American Civil War?

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Arnold Daniel Palmer (born September 10, 1929) is an American golfer who is generally regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of men's professional golf. He has won numerous events on both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour, dating back to 1955. Nicknamed "The King," he is arguably golf's most popular star and its most important trailblazer because he was the first star of the sport's television age, which began in the 1950s. Palmer won the PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998, and in 1974 was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Palmer was born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. He learned golf from his father Deacon Palmer, who was head professional and greens keeper at Latrobe Country Club, allowing young Arnold to accompany his father as he maintained the course. At age seven, Palmer broke 70 at Bent Creek Country Club. As a youngster, Palmer was only allowed on the Latrobe course (it was just nine holes then) in early morning or late afternoon, when the members weren't playing. He attended Wake Forest University, on a golf scholarship. He left upon the tragic death of close friend Bud Worsham, and enlisted in the Coast Guard, where he served for three years and had some time to continue to hone his golf skills. (Read more...)

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