The Philadelphia Portal

The Philadelphia skyline from the South Street Bridge, January 2020

Philadelphia, colloquially referred to as Philly, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the sixth-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 1,603,797 in the 2020 census. The city is the urban core of the larger Delaware Valley, also known as the Philadelphia metropolitan area, the nation's eighth-largest metropolitan area and seventh-largest combined statistical area with 6.245 million residents and 7.366 million residents, respectively.

As of 2022, the Philadelphia metropolitan area had a gross metropolitan product of US$518.5 billion and is home to five Fortune 500 corporate headquarters. Metropolitan Philadelphia ranks as one of the Big Five U.S. venture capital hubs, facilitated by its geographic proximity to both the entrepreneurial and financial ecosystems of New York City and to the federal regulatory environment of Washington, D.C. Greater Philadelphia is also a biotechnology hub. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange, owned by Nasdaq since 2008, is the nation's oldest stock exchange and a global leader in options trading. 30th Street Station, the city's primary rail station, is the third-busiest Amtrak hub in the nation, and the city's multimodal transportation and logistics infrastructure also includes Philadelphia International Airport, a major transatlantic gateway and transcontinental hub; the rapidly-growing PhilaPort seaport; and Interstate 95, the spine of the north–south highway system along the U.S. East Coast. (Full article...)

Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States, by [Howard Chandler Christy.
Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States, by [Howard Chandler Christy.

The Philadelphia Convention took place from May 25 to September 17, 1787, to address problems in the United States of America following independence from Great Britain. At what came to be known as the Annapolis Convention, the few state delegates in attendance endorsed a motion that called for all states to meet in Philadelphia in May, 1787 to discuss ways to improve the Articles of Confederation in a "Grand Convention." Although it was purportedly intended only to revise the Articles of Confederation, the intention of many of the Convention's proponents, chief among them James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, were from the outset to create a new government rather than "fix" the existing one. The delegates elected George Washington to preside over the convention. The result of the Convention was the United States Constitution. The Convention is one of the central events in the history of the United States.

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Fort Mifflin was commissioned in 1771 and is situated on Mud Island, along the Delaware River at the southern tip of Philadelphia, just east of the airport. During the American Revolutionary War, the British Army bombarded and captured the fort as part of their conquest of Philadelphia in autumn 1777. The United States Army began to rebuild the fort in 1794 and continued to garrison and build on the site through the 19th century. The fort housed Confederate prisoners during the American Civil War. The army decommissioned Fort Mifflin in 1962; however, a portion of the fort's grounds are still used by the United States Army Corps of Engineers making it the fort with the longest continuous military use in the country. Historic preservationists have restored the fort, and it has been designated a National Historic Landmark.

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Brian P. Tierney.
Brian P. Tierney.

Brian Tierney is an American public relations executive and publisher of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Born in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania, Tierney created Tierney Communications, one of the largest and most successful public relations and advertising firms in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the local media Tierney became known for personally contacting reporters and their editors with accusations of bias and unprofessionalism whenever a negative story about his clients appeared. In 1997, on behalf of his client the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Tierney lobbed unprofessionalism accusations against Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Ralph Cipriano. The case led to Cipriano accusing The Inquirer of censoring his story and suing the paper for libel. Five years after True North Communications acquired Tierney Communications in 1998, Tierney left and founded another public relations firm, which was a sold a few months later. Tierney in 2006 assembled a group of investors to form Philadelphia Media Holdings LLC, a group started with the purpose of buying The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News. Chief executive of Philadelphia Media Holdings, Tierney also became the publisher of the struggling Philadelphia Inquirer shortly after Philadelphia Media Holdings bought the paper. After overcoming doubts about Tierney's neutrality in running the paper he had criticized in the past, Philadelphia Media Holdings has had to deal with the newspaper's falling circulation and advertising revenue; it has filed bankruptcy. Outside of business, Tierney has been active in politics and a supporter of Republican causes.

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"On September 5, 1774, forty-five of the weightiest colonial men formed the First Continental Congress at Philadelphia."*

Gore Vidal

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