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Advatages of the confluence of the Three Rivers
Washingtn 21 year old major in the Virgina milita wrote a letter about the advantages of the Monongahela, Allegheny, and Ohio rivers. He thoght that the rivers would be easy access to the north and west.He wrote this letter to Robert Dinwiddie a Virgina governor. -
British Victory
William Pitt the Elder, became prime minister in 1757. Right before he came into power Englans was trying to attempt a win in the New world. When William Pitt became the prime minister his leadership resulted in victiry in both Europe ans in the French and Indian War. William Pitt was agressive agressive and brilliant. -
Fort Dusquense Destroyed
The Marquis Dequesene made British colonist go in to action when the plan to erect military forts from St. Lawerence to the Mississippi. The supply line getting low and he had to stop at the Fort Dusquense, a fort at the forks of the Ohio. The French destroyed Fort Duquense. -
General John Forbes
British General John Forbes dies almost four months after he directed the last six weeks of hte march to Fort Dusquesne. The British did take over the forks on November 25, 1758. Forbes was the one who named the land where the three rivers meet (confluence) Pittsborough in honor of William Pitt -
Fort Pitt
Fort Pitt was completed in the winter of 1761. The fort was the last and largest fort bulit by British and the French. Fort Pitt was at the forks of the ohio and the Britsh and French fought for control -
Slavery
Pennsylvannia was the first state to get rid of slavery.Two papers "The Mystery" and "The Pittsburgh Saturday Visiter" were aguring for abloition. -
The Old Drury
The Old Drury also known as The Pittsburgh. Many touring theatrical companies staged plays there. -
Borough to City
Major Ebenezer Denny was elected firt mayor, Revolutionary War soldier, merchant, and one time partner with of Gerenal James O'Hara in house building. Denny was selected mayor by common councils. Denny's 1781 diary is an oft-cited account of the British surrender at Yorktown, Virgina. -
Stephen Collins Foster
Stephen Collins Foster was the first American song writer. He was born in Lawerenceville. Foster wrote 189 songs in his short life. Many of his songs were inspired by African Americans. He also worked on the Cincinnati wharf as a clerk for his brothers stemboat commpany. -
John Roebling
John Roebling, German born,developed the first wire rope on his farm in Saxonburg. With his rope design he made the world's first suspension bridge across the Monongahela River. That bridge replaced the one that was destroyed in the Great Fire. He was established as the America's most prominent bridge engineer after he made his second bridge in 1859. He than designed the Brooklyn Bridge. -
Courthhouse on Grants Hill
The architect was John Chrisslet in 1852 he built the county's new courthouse. This courthouse also survived the fire. John Chrislett was a native of Bath, England. He was also Pittsburgh's first professional architect. He not only designed the courthouse but he designed Burke's Building of 1836, one of the oldest office buildings, He designed Romantic landscape of Allegheny Cemetery. -
Great Fire
The fire started from a washerwoman's. It consumed 24 blocks, nearly 1000 buildings burned, and 12,000 people left homeless.Only two lives were lost in this fire. Soon after the fire merchants and residents rebuilt. The bulding became stronger and hamsomer structures built with iron and brick. -
Matin Delaney
Martin Delany was the editor of one of the several antislavery papers "The Mystery". He also was African American soilder for the Mexican War, a major with the 104th Regiment at Charleston, South Carolina. and was the first African American field officer ti serve in the Civil War. -
Jane Grey Swisshelm
Jane Grey Swisshelm was the publisher of the "Pittsburgh Saturday Visiter". Jane was the first Pittsburgh women to dent the man''s world. Jane was against slavery and for women's rights. Her efforts got Pennsylvania to pass a lea allowing married women to own property. -
Andrew Carnegie official of PA Railroad
Carnegie age 16, was a messenger for O'Reilly Telegraph Company. He found a $500 dollar draft and returned it. A few years later he became a offical of the Pennsylvania Railroad. -
First Published History
Neville B. Craig, published the first history of the city. Craig was born in 1787in the blockhouse. He was the son of Issac Craig and Ameila Neville. Craig was an infulential writer and the editor of the Pittsburgh Gaztte. The Pittsburgh Gazette was founded by John Scull in 1786, he brought a printing press over the mountain to establishe the first newpaper of the west Alleghaniies. Nevielle B. Craig was the first city's publisher. -
P.A. Railroad
On december 10th, 1852 a crowd gathered around East Liberty that welcomed the first train from the east. That train scaled mountain via incline. In 1854 a tunnel was built. -
Saint Paul Catherdral
Saint Paul Cathedral was consecrated in 1855. This Church was said to be one of the finest in the United States. Mary Cassatt, Allegheny City native, painted a mural in Italy of the cathedral. It was thought to be destroyed in the fire in 1877. -
Defeated French
James Grant British major defeated by the French in 1858 took place on now called Grant's Hill.It is a cherised vantage point,promenade, the Forth of July picnic spot, but it slowly started to go away. Now building on top if it. -
Crude Oil
The Crude Oil began in Titusville area in 1859 when Col. Edwin L. Drake brought the first well that was transported down the Allegheny River by flatboat. In 1869 on the Duquense way wharf, oil traders met the boats and transacted business.This began the Pittsburgh Petroleum Exchange. In 1885 the volume of bussiness averaging 4 million barrels per day. -
Major General James Scott Negly
Maj. Gen. James Scott Negly was a veteran of the Mexican War and than commander of the state militia. He won the heroic service at Murfreesboro. He was relieved at Chickamauga by Gen. William S. Rosencrans. He resigned and returned to Pittsburgh and served in Congress four times. He than retired to New York City and became presidant of the Mexican Trust Company bank. -
Henry Clay Frick
Henry Clay at age 14 was making 3.50 a week as an errand boy for a store in Mt. Pleasant. 5 years later he was buyig coal lands to make coke. 1873 coke dropped to 90 cents. Late 1880's Henry Clay Frick also knowm as the "Coke King" had 10,000 ovens and 11,000 employees in the connellsville area.In 1893 it was an exhibit in the Chicago world's fair. -
The Pittsburgh Sanitary Fair
The Pittsburgh Sanitary Fair was organized by Felix R. Brunot to send medical aid to the front lines. The Sanitary fair was held at the Alleghany Commons. The fair raised $322,217 dollars from 40 booths and musicians who came and offered to play. -
Chatham College
First know as Pittsburgh Female College in 1868. The name was then changed in 1890 to Pennsylvania College for Women. In 1995 changed again to Chatman College to honor William Pit who was the first earl of Chatman in 2007. In 2007 It became Chatman University. This college gave young women and oppurtunity for higher education that other Western University did not because the were all male. -
George Westinghouse
George Westinghouse at age 19 obtained the first patent for the rotsry dtrsm engine. At age 22 he intoduced the air brake. The airbrake was the first effective means of stopping heavy trains. He manufactured them in a plant on Tweenty-ninth Street and Liberty Avenue. George was also known for many other inventions like alternating current, natural gas supply, safty signal, electric locomotive, and many more. -
The Rodman Gun
The Rodman Gun was the worlds largest gun produced in the Civil War by C. Knapp Foundry. The Pittsburgh factories supplied the Union with warships,amor plate,shot, shells, saddles, harnesses, wagons, gun carriages, caissons, clothing, and a variety of other materials. -
Mount Washingtom's Duquesne Incline
Built in 1877 for $47,000. By 1880 it attracted 500,000 passengers. During the summer Sunday's it attracted 6,000 passengers during the day. This was the city's first incline. Their were 17 that once connected Pittsburgh's hills and valley's. -
Smithfeild Street Bridge
The Smithfeild Street Bridge was designed by Gustav Lindenthal.It opened as a success to the Roebling's span in 1883. The Roebling's span seperated carriages and wagon traffic from the horse drawn carriges. In 1915 it was modernized and they took away the mansard roofs and portals.In the mid-1990's it was rehabilitaized to the orginal paint scheme and copper finials on the portals. -
Alleghany Courthouse and Jail
The architect was Henry Hobson Richardson. It is America's most amired and imitated architectural works. Replaced John Crislett's courthouse that was destroyed by the fire in 1882. In 1888 it was completed. -
Homestead Strike
The Homestead strike was one of the bloodiest strikes in American labor History.This was caused by Hanery Clay Frick by beginning the lockout. Frick hired 300 Pinkertons (guards) to protect Fort Frick. Noone knew who fired the first shot but it went on for hours. 14 people died in this strike, 11 steelworker's and 3 Pinkertons. -
Big Wheel from Pittsburgh
The Ferris Wheel was enginerred by George W. G. Ferris. This ferris wheel stood 250 feet tall (about 25 stories) with 36 glass enclosed coaches. It was the fairs biggest attraction. In 19 weeks 1,453,611 people paid $726,805 to ride this ferris wheel. -
Carnegie International
Carnegie founded the Carnegie International in 1896. It brought the art world to Pittsburgh. It is the oldest exhibition of international contemporary art in North America and second oldest in the world. -
Formation of US Steel
On January 9, 1901, 89 executives of Carnegie companies sat down for dinner in the Schenley Hall ballroom. This was the eve of the United States Steel Corporation.Charles Schwab attended who wanted peace and growth through consolidation fearing that Carnegie-Rockefeller would have had a disastrous result. And Banker J. Pierpoint Morgan who bought out Carnegie and eight other steel firms attened that night. -
Luna Park
Luna park opened May 25th, 1905 in the Aspinwall estate. It attracted about 35,000 people. There were aerial acts, band concerts, and a shoot- the-chutes ride into a pool of water. In 1907 after the lion escaped and killed a women the parks population went down. Two years later a fire happened in Luna Park and it has not since been rebuilt. -
Homestead Grays
Son of the one of founders of Pittsburgh Courier, Cumberland W. Posey, started the Homestead Grays. They were a group of Homestead steelworkers. They were one of the greatest baseball clubs and gate attractions. The Homestead Grays won 8 of 9 National Negro League titles. -
Pittsburg to Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh was originally named with the "h". In 1890 the U.S Board on Geographic Names took the "h' off Pittsburgh. They came to that conculsion based on consistency. Many towns ended in burg instead of burgh. However in 1911 the speliing of Pittsburgh with the "h" was brought back. -
Gulf Oil
The Gulf Oil Corporation eas founded in 1901 and was apart of may motoring phases,In 1913 Gulf Oil was the first drive in gas station. The pumps were located ont he curb. Then the vechcles would be parked on the city streets to be pumped. -
Cathedral of Learning
The Cathedral of Learning is in the center of the Universtity of Pittsburgh campu. It is a neo-Gothic skyscraper that was designed by Charles Klauder.It was a gift from the Mellons. -
KDKA Radio
In 1926 Dr. Frank Conrad experimented with the wireless telephone which then led to an amatetur radio station then led to KDKA. Will Rogers and Ziegfield Folliies were the cast members for thr first scheduled radio broadcast in the world. This took place in the downtown studio located in the Pittsburgh Post officesat Wood Street and Liberty Ave. 1,000 Pittsburghers tuned in to hear the Harding-Cox election. -
Mellon Institute
In 1913 Andrew William and Richard Beatty Mellon established the Mellon Institute for Industrail Research. They supplied 10 millions dollars for a new building. The building at Fifth and Bellefield Avenues. The building is designed byJanssen and Cocken. It was inspired by the Parthenon. The first 62 columns, each weighed 62 tons were transported in 1932. -
The Great St.Patricks Day Flood
The water rose about 20 feet. Peoples transporation through the city was rowboats and canoes. There are still waterstains today on some of the buildings. Durning the time period 1854-1936 the rivers rose to flood levels 112 times. -
Westinghouse
Westinghouse was an expiremental project to help solve the structure of matter. The year after the world's first industrail atom-smasher appeared in Forest Hill.It than lead to the dicovery of photofission, the first use of gamma rays to split uraniam atoms by Dr. William E. Shoupp. -
Terrance Village
Presidant Franklin D. Roosevelt came to Pittsburgh to decate the Terrance Village. The Terrance Village was at that time the nation's second largest public housing project. Mayor Cornelius D. Scully, a pioneer advocate of low rent housing, and Sen. Joseph Guffey. They drove through streets that were lined with crowds cheering, -
Neville Island
On Memorial day in 1944 hundreds of vessels slid in to the Ohio River. 25,000 people lined up to watch this.The Ohio River was the key shipbuilding center for World War II. During this time the Alleghany County residents bought 5 million dollars worth in extra war bonds. -
Mayor David L. Lawerance
Mayor Davis L. Lawerance was elected office in 1946. During his first year there were many strikes going on. Some of the strike were utilities, hotels, trollies, and many more. Mayor Lawerance had to work many random hours to get every thing settled. He was even caught sleeping at his desk at one point. -
Sketch of Fort Pitt
A sketch was drawn by Charles M. Shotz. The sketch showed its brick and earthen ramparts, and outlaying redoubts, It is oldest building in Pittsburgh, the blockhouse of 1764 -
Blizzard
On Thanksgiving day the heaviest snow fall in local history happened in Pittsburgh. The snow fall was 30.5 inches. There were 5,000 cars stranded and some blocked the trolley paths. The snow was so bad that the National Guardsmen had to come to patrol the streets. -
The Greater Pittsburg Airport
The Gtreater Pittsburgh Airport opened on May 31, 1952. Many people came to see the arrivals and take-offs of planes from the observation deck. Alexander Calder created the terrazzo compass in the lobby of teh International Style terminal in 1958. The compass now hangs in the new Pittsburgh Airport's Airside Terminal. -
Bill Mazeroski
Bill Mazeroski was a playe for the Pirates.In 1960 World Series he had the winning homerun against Ralph Terry player of the New York Yankees. That play won the game for the Pirates. He was also voted in April 2008 the bottom-of-the-ninth homer the best moment in Pittsburgh sports history. 57,125 fans voted for that moment. -
Rachel Carson
Rachal Carson was born in 1907, she was a writer, scientist, and ecologist. In 1929 she gaduated form Pennsylvania College for women, 3 years later she got her masters in zoology from Johns Hopkins University. In 1936 she began her 15 year career as a scientist and editor for the federal goverment.1940's and 50's she made biography books of the ocean. in 1962 she wrote the book "Silent Spring" that alerted the world about the dangers of pesticide misuse. Rachal died in 1964. -
Sr. Jane Scully
Sr. Jane scully was president of Carlow College from 1967 to 1982. In 1975 she was also the forst woman elected to the board of directors for Gulf Oil Corporation.The college now a university changed from Mount Mercey to Carloe to honor the Irish country the Sister of Mercy that emigrated in 1843. -
Hill District Riots
After the death of Dr. Matin Luther King the Hill Districted started a riot. The after math left 1 women dead and 505 fires. There was $620,000 in property damage; theft, tradelosses, police and National Guards. There was also 926 arrests that day -
Walt Harper
Walt Harper was a Jazz painist.He grew up in in a musical family in Schenley Heights. In June 1969 he opened his Attic nightclub in Market Square. In 1976 the attic closed, he than ran Haper's Jazz Club in One Oxford Centrein the 1980's. -
Tropical Storm Agnes
The tropical storm hit in June 1972. After four day of heavy rain the rivers were 35.83 feet high. That is more than 10 feet above flood level. That was the highest it has ever been since 1942. This storm caused 445 million in damage. The dams and reservoirs saved the City from any more damage. -
Dr. Thomas Starzl
Dr. Thomas Starzl a pioneer work as a researcher, surgeon, and teacher. He perpared a donor liver during surgery in May 1985.He was one of the top people for Pittsburgh's medical research and the highest quality health care. -
Mayor Richard Caliguiri
Mayor Richard Caliguiri a visionary leader of the parks and was on the Pittsburgh City Council. In the 1980's he inspired the Renaissance II. He tried to attract high-tech industries to the city. He was mayyor from 1977 till he did in 1988 of amyloidosis. He now has a statue of himself on the City County Steps Building. -
Sophie Masloff
Sophie Masloff was the Pittsburgh City Council President. After Caliguiri's death she was elected the first female mayor. She had to deal with the shrinking city. She was the one also to suggest thst Pittsbugh build an old-fashioned ballpark. iN 1990 she conducted the Pittsburgh Symphony at Point Park. -
Three Rivers Stadium
Three Rivers Stadium cam edown on February 11, 2011. Both the Heniz Field and PNC Park replaced the stadium. It was the most intimate traditional ballpark in the Major League. -
Suzie McConnell- Serio
Suzuie was a basketball player and a coach. She won Olympic medals in 1988 and 1992. After the game her team Cleveland Rockers played against the Washington Mystics in August 2000 she annouced her retirment. She than coached Oakland catholic Highschool for 13 years before coachinng tint he WMBA. April 2007 she was the women's head coach for Duquesne University. -
Steelers Win Superbowl
The played in the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fl. against the Arizona Cardnials. The score was 27-23. Pittsburgh was losing until the last 2:30 mintues. This was the 8th superbowl the Steelers played in and the 6th win. Holmes was the MVP for the game after catching 9 passes for 131 yards and 1 touchdown. -
Stanley Cup Win
The Stanley Cup 2009 was Pittsburgh Penguins against the Detroit Red Wings. The final secore was 2-1 Penguins. They played 24 games against 16 teams. This was the first Stanley cup victory for the Penguins since the season of 1991-1992. The coach for the 2009 Cup was Dan Bylsma and the player who had 25 saves was Fluery. -
G20 Summit
The G20 Summit was a two day event September 24-25 in 2009.It was held in downtown Pittsburgh at the Davis L. Lawrence Convention Center. This was the 3 meeting held. Barack Obama volunteered to host the summit. Orginally it was supposed to be in New York. The G20 summit is a dicussion of financial markets and world economy. Also many prtestors came out that week to prtest. The city only had 900 police men but they needed 4,000. They had officers travel from differnt places to be in the city -
North Shore Connector
The North Shore Connecter has been planned since 1990. It connects Pittsburgh's light rail from Gateway Center to the Northside Station and Alleghany Station to the North Shore. The cost of this project was 523.4 million dollars. Also it has a "Free Fare Zone" which means people ride for free. -
Rubber Duck
The Rubber Duckie made its appearence in Pittsburgh on September 7, 2013.The duck was 40 feet tall and was docked down at the Point.The sculpture of the duck is a Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman. It left Pittsburgh on October 21, 2013.
