Portal:Philadelphia/Did you know? candidates

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Suggestions

Did you know …

Philadelphia's Present and Past World Superlatives

Statue of William Penn atop City Hall

• • … that Philadelphia City Hall is the tallest masonry-supported building in the world?
    • … that, originally designed to be the world's tallest building, Philadelphia City Hall, by the time it was completed 30 years later, had already been surpassed by the Washington Monument and the Eiffel Tower?--BillFlis 17:54, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

Colonial era

…that the mouth of the Poquessing Creek on the Delaware River was first proposed as the site for William Penn's Philadelphia and that the surrounding area was known for a long time as "Old Philadelphia"?--BillFlis 20:42, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

…that Captain William Crispin, who was appointed Pennsylvania's first Provincial Commissioner, Surveyor General, and Chief Justice by William Penn, died at sea near Barbados on his way to Pennsylvania?--BillFlis 22:21, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

Revolutionary Era

… that General "Mad Anthony" Wayne supposedly got his nickname because he was struck in the skull by a musket ball during the Battle of Stony Point, which was treated by cranioplasty, a side effect of which was occasional seizures that would cause Wayne to fall on the ground spasmodically and foam at the mouth? --BillFlis 22:25, 30 November 2007 (UTC)

… that, before the Revolution, Oswald Eve's powder mill in Frankford was the only one in operation in the colonies? By January 1776, Eve had a contract with the Continental Congress to supply gunpowder at $8 per hundredweight. However, in March 1778, he was attainted of treason for trading with the British, and all his property, including the mill and 202 acres, were confiscated.--BillFlis (talk) 18:04, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Art & culture

… that snapper soup, a Philadelphia specialty made from the meat of snapping turtles, was the favorite food of President William Howard Taft, who brought a special chef into the White House for the specific purpose of preparing it?--BillFlis 22:16, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

… that Agnes Irwin, who in 1869 founded the Young Ladies' School of Philadelphia, later re-named the Agnes Irwin School, now a private pre-kindergarten-to-12th-grade school for girls in suburban Rosemont, Pennsylvania, was the first dean of Radcliffe College?--BillFlis 21:02, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

Sports

for football season

Iggles

… that former Philadelphia Eagles defensive back and coach Irv Cross went on to become an NFL analyst and commentator for CBS Sports from 1971, when he became the first African-American sports analyst on national television, to 1994, including anchoring The NFL Today from its inception in 1975 through 1989?--BillFlis 19:31, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

Others

… that Wally Triplett (b. 18 April 1926), a graduate of Cheltenham High School, was the first African-American to be drafted by and play for a National Football League team?--BillFlis 18:07, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Miscellaneous

Buildings

... that the 267-feet (81.4-m) tall, 21-story North American Building, when it was completed in 1900, was the tallest building in Philadelphia, a distinction it held only until surpassed by City Hall the following year?--BillFlis (talk) 17:56, 19 November 2010 (UTC)