History
How 3,000 Desecrated Black Graves Were Found, and Saved, in South Philly
What if 3,000 Italian or Irish or Jewish or Polish men, women and children from one of the most pivotal periods of American history were […]
Philadelphia’s 5 Most Disastrous Independence Days
Happy birthday, America! Tomorrow — or, really, yesterday — you will turn 237 years old. Honestly, you don’t look a day over 192. Independence Day, […]
Philadelphia Was America’s “Sin City” in the 18th Century
At least, that’s what a new piece at Huffington Post suggests: After the Revolutionary War Philadelphia experienced a sexual golden age, replete with casual sex […]
Sam Katz Takes on Frank Rizzo (Again)
The next installment of your 12-part history of Philly airs on 6 ABC this month [7:30 p.m., June 20]. Why focus on 1965 to 1978—a.k.a. […]
BuzzFeed Discovers Beloved Philly Dog Who Was “Sentenced” to Jail
And when I say “discover,” I mean it in the same way that I might say Christoper Columbus discovered America. BuzzFeed, meet Pep. Pep, you’re […]
It’s All About the Benjamin: Philly Featured Prominently on New $100 Bill
The upshot of the new $100 bill, besides the fact that it should be harder to counterfeit: Good old Philadelphia is center stage. Look closer […]
It’s Time For An Isaac Asimov Memorial In Philadelphia
Boing Boing’s Cory Doctorow reports: Science fiction author Michael Swanwick sez, “In my adopted hometown of Philadelphia there’s a move afoot to put up a […]
Chestnut Hill History Is Unleashed
The Chestnut Hill Historical Society has put more than 11,000 of its photos online. As with PhillyHistory.org, they’re in a database that can be can […]
America Is Soft on Terrorism
The cowardly murderous attack on innocent and defenseless men, women and children at the Boston Marathon on April 15th was terrorism. Accordingly, if preliminary reports […]
Letter From MLK To Philly Officer Now For Sale
AP reports that a letter from Martin Luther King Jr. to Philadelphia Police Sgt. James Adair is on the auction block. In the letter, King […]
Don’t Be a Dick, Dick Yuengling
There was a time back in the ’90s that a portion of my nightly prayers were dedicated to asking God to make Dick Yuengling adopt […]
John Kerry’s Easy Confirmation Signals Waning of the Baby Boomers
When I first heard that President Obama was considering nominating John Kerry to replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, I figured, oh great, we […]
That Other Liberty Bell No One Cares About Locked Away in Closet Today
In 1976, the Queen of England brought over a replica of our old pal Liberty Bell, to commemorate the Bicentennial. How sweet and thoughtful–our new […]
Philadelphia Wax Museum: Sleek or Just Plain Ugly?
Earlier this month, I told you about the as-yet-to-be-built Philadelphia Wax Museum, whose founder, Robert Avery, wants to showcase Philadelphia luminaries like Tina Fey, Michael […]
Al Gore to Spice Things Up at the Constitution Center
Just when you thought the National Constitution Center was getting too edgy with their Prohibition exhibit, they’ve decided to scale things down to PBS-volume again. […]