A City Unlike Any Other
The Maundy Morning Newsletter - This Week in History October 24- 30.
Happy Monday! Okay History has lasted longer than the Prime Minister of Great Britain, showing you that adjectives can be tricky.
I remain grateful for continuing to support Okay History.
On Friday, we dove into the 25th-ranked state, Pennsylvania. Today we focus on its largest city, Philadelphia, which also served as an important place in US History.
William Penn, a writer who miraculously made a lot of money, founded Philadelphia on October 27, 1682. Do you ever wonder how a city becomes founded? Like, can I start a city and call it Dakeville and just make it so? Or do I need to file paperwork with someone? There must be a lot of paperwork. I’m still working on the paperwork for my Irish passport for the past three years. Dakeville may have to wait.
Penn was a member of the Quaker religion, which is considered extremist because they don’t like war of any kind and allow anyone to speak during their meetings. Crazy stuff. Penn was a huge fan of democracy, religious freedom, and cheesesteaks. He seems like a good dude who wanted a safe place for people to practice whatever they want and not have someone flip out and throw them in jail. Dakeville, once I have filled out the paperwork, will have the same environment.
William desired to make Philadelphia more of a British town, rural in nature, away from the ports and where business is usually conducted. He laid out street grids hoping to segregate everything. When people moved in, they disregarded his desire and mashed everything together.
No doubt, if anyone moved to Dakeville, it would turn into something I wasn’t expecting.
Over the years, Philadelphia grew like crazy because everyone loves cheesesteaks, and became the home of the American Revolution. We signed the Declaration of Independence, ratified the Constitution, broke a large bell called Liberty, restored it, and hosted not one but two Continental Congresses in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia also built our first hospital, library, and zoo, among other things. Amazing. I didn’t know this.
Why didn’t I rank this state higher? Perhaps it’s because Pittsburgh balances it out by doing none of these things.
Okay, let's highlight what else happened this week. Here's what I got:
John Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature on October 25, 1962. The committee honored the writer for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining sympathetic humor and keen social perception. Hmm. Sounds like OKH.
Hilary Clinton was born on October 26, 1947. Did you know her middle name is Diane? That is probably the only thing we don’t know about this woman. I can’t believe she’s 75 and younger than the last two presidents.
The Federalist Papers were published on October 27, 1787. The 85 essays were written by James Madison and some annoying guy named Hamilton. They were used to promote the ratification of the US Constitution because trampling on the Article of Confederation became too easy.
The timing of this lesson coincided with last night’s playoff baseball game when Philadelphia’s team, the Phillies, won the National League Pennant. They are now headed to the World Series.
The Phillies accomplished this because there is no God. Well, I mean, there is a God; He just allows terrible things to happen, like child cancer, my bad posture, and a team with the most unoriginal name, the Phillies, to head to the World Series.
We can be there to support each other. Like we would if we all lived in Dakeville, watching the Dakes stink at baseball.
This week I’m in Reno, Nevada, a place I have written about a couple of times. I’ll be there at a work conference, learning more about noncash assets when it comes to philanthropy. Don’t be jealous.
I will try and send out another state’s rankings this Friday.
Until then, have a week that’s okay.
Okay,
Chris