PHILLIES CITY

Philadelphia is the fifth-largest city in the United States and the largest city in Pennsylvania, occupying all of Philadelphia County. The population as of three years ago was 1,517,550. Philadelphia is one of the oldest cities in the United States. Sports franchises that call Philadelphia home are; Philadelphia Phillies, Major League Baseball, Philadelphia Eagles National Football League, Philadelphia 76ers, National Basketball Association, Philadelphia Flyers National Hockey League, Philadelphia Phantoms, American Hockey League, Philadelphia Wings, National Lacrosse League, Philadelphia Kixx, Major Indoor Soccer League, Philadelphia Soul, Arena Football League. Philadelphia was a planned city founded and developed by William Penn, a Quaker. Philadelphia was the capital of Penn's colony. During early immigration by Quakers and others when immigrants purchased land in the city, they also received farm land outside of the city. This was intended to allow the city's population to leave the city easily. Penn also required lots of alley ways and open spaces in to hopes of controlling fires and disease (which were then common problems in London). Philadelphia's economy is heavily based upon manufacturing, refining, and financial services. Philadelphia has its own stock exchange. The list of major companies in Philadelphia includes Aramark, GlaxoSmithKline, Sunoco, Comcast, and Pep Boys. The Federal government plays a large role in Philadelphia as well. The east-coast operations of the United States Mint are based near the historic district, and the Federal Reserve Bank's Philadelphia division is based there as well. The city's name means "city of brotherly love" in ancient Greek. William Penn, a Quaker, hoped that the city, as the capital of his new colony founded on principles of freedom and religious tolerance, would be a model of his philosophy. Philadelphia, an early Railroad center was the original home of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, the world's largest builder of steam locomotives (which relocated to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania). The Pennsylvania Railroad, once America's largest railroad by revenue and traffic volume and at one time the largest public corporation in the world, was headquartered on Broad Street, as was its merger successor, the Penn Central. Philadelphia still gets many immigrants, and has a large Italian American population along with Irish-Americans, Asian-Americans, and growing numbers of Hispanic residents and émigrés from Russia and Asian countries. In fact, the "Italian Market" section of South Philadelphia is home to a growing number of Vietnamese residents. Famous residents of Philadelphia; Ed Bacon, Kevin Bacon, Mohini Bhardwaj, Boyz II Men, Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Cosby, Julius Erving, Eve, Larry Fine, Benjamin Franklin, Richard Gere, Allen Iverson, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Will Smith, Chris Matthews and Paul Robeson.