Pennsylvania Trivia & Tidbits

Looking for Pennsylvania trivia? Try our list Pennsylvania little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

In 1879, William H. Luden launched his candy-making operation in the Reading (pop. 81,207) kitchen of his widowed mother. One of his first products was moshie, a hard candy made of molasses and brown sugar. Eventually he produced menthol cough drops.

first appeared: 11/1/2009

Bonzo, the chimpanzee who co-starred with Ronald Reagan in the 1951 movie Bedtime For Bonzo, is buried in the Hearthside Rest Pet Cemetery in Erie County. Bonzo went on to make Bonzo Goes to College in 1952 and spent his later years with a traveling circus before his death in 1969.

first appeared: 10/18/2009

The American Medical Association was founded in 1847 in Philadelphia for the purpose of scientific advancement, establishing medical education standards, developing a program of medical ethics and improving public health.

first appeared: 10/4/2009

Hulking in front of a Westmoreland Tire store in Greensburg (pop. 15,889) is a giant statue of a Pittsburgh Steeler. Over time the statue has been painted to depict different Steeler players.

first appeared: 9/20/2009

Pittsburgh's first weekly newspaper, the Pittsburgh Gazette, was published in July of 1786. One of the newspaper's first public services was to print the newly adopted U.S. Constitution in 1787.

first appeared: 9/6/2009

Located in Elysburg (pop. 2,067), Knoebels Amusement Park & Resort has been owned and operated by the Knoebels family since 1926, when a concrete swimming pool and carousel were opened to the public. Unlike many amusement parks, Knoebels has no main entrance and no admission or parking fees. Rides are on a pay-as-you-go basis.

first appeared: 8/23/2009

The Bank of North America in Philadelphia was granted its charter by the federal government in 1781 and by Pennsylvania in 1782.

first appeared: 8/9/2009

The first recorded birth in the area that would become Pittsburgh occurred at Old Fort Duquesne in 1755, according to the fort's register. The infant boy, born to a trader and his wife, died six days later.

first appeared: 7/26/2009

—Dr. Richard Depp and Dr. Ezzat Abouleish performed one of the first acupuncture-assisted childbirths on Oct. 9, 1973, on an East Liberty mother at Magee-Women's Hospital in Pittsburgh.

first appeared: 7/12/2009

—Plexiglas was introduced in the 1930s by the Philadelphia-based Rohm and Haas Co. With the advent of World War II, it became an essential military product, replacing glass in aircraft.

first appeared: 6/28/2009

—Philadelphia's Insectarium, housed in three floors of a former firehouse, is a collection of bugs and arthropods that features such creepy-crawlies as centipedes, stink bugs and tarantulas. The museum's most popular attraction is the Plexiglas-enclosed Model Roach Kitchen, where visitors can view the creatures emerging from cabinets and molding.

first appeared: 6/14/2009

—One of Philadelphia's most visited historic sites is the home of Betsy Ross, known as the person who sewed the first American flag, in 1776. In 1773, she moved into the house, where she operated an upholstery business.

first appeared: 5/31/2009

—At one of Philadelphia's busiest trauma centers, at-risk youth are taken through the "Cradle to Grave" prevention program, developed by Scott Charles, Temple University Hospital trauma outreach coordinator. The program re-enacts the final days of a 16-year-old multiple gunshot victim to bring home the real-life impact of getting shot.

first appeared: 5/17/2009

—Pool player Joe Balsis, of Minersville (pop. 4,552), captured the Billiard Room Proprietor's Association tournament in 1965, the World All-Around championship in 1966, and two U.S. Open titles in 1968 and 1974. He won the Jansco brothers' Stardust Open all-around title in 1968 and 1969.

first appeared: 5/3/2009

–Among those claiming to have invented the ice cream soda was Robert Green of Philadelphia, who devised the concoction at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia in 1874. Instead of serving up the usual syrup, cream and soda water, Green decided to add ice cream to the mix, creating an instant hit.

first appeared: 4/19/2009

—Dr. Albert Barnes, who with Herman Hille invented the antiseptic Argyrol in 1902, was a noted art collector. In 1922, he established the Barnes Foundation in Lower Merion Township (pop. 59,850), where his collection is exhibited and educational courses are offered.

first appeared: 4/5/2009

—In 1957, the "world's first electric watch" was introduced in Lancaster (pop. 56,348) by the Hamilton Watch Co. Research began in 1946, but it took more than a decade to develop a reliable battery-operated watch that never needed winding.

first appeared: 3/22/2009

—The Kewpie Doll, invented by Rose Cecil O’Neil of Wilkes-Barre (pop. 43,123), first appeared as a cartoon in a 1909 issue of the Ladies Home Journal and was patented as a doll a few years later.

first appeared: 3/8/2009

—John Mills, the father of the members of the popular Mills Brothers singing group, was born in the late 1800s in Bellefonte (pop. 6,395) and died there in 1967. His sons were Donald, John Jr., Harry and Herbert.

first appeared: 2/22/2009

—Lackawanna County, formed on Aug. 13, 1878, is the last county created in the state.

first appeared: 2/8/2009

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