PIRATES CITY

Pittsburgh is a city in western Pennsylvania, United States. Pittsburgh, nicknamed The Steel City, has traditionally been considered the center of the American steel industry. Pittsburgh has the following professional sports franchises; Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball, Pittsburgh Steelers, National Football League, Pittsburgh Penguins, National Hockey League. France was first at settling the forks of the Ohio after capturing a small English garrison founded by William Trent. The Virginia colony sent Major George Washingon with a scout named Christopher Gast to scout the area to see if it was worth developing it. Trent was sent with a small regiment of colonial soldiers and was easily forced into surrender by a much larger French force from north. The English During the French and Indian War (1754-1763), the British colonies captured Fort Duquesne, which sat at the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, at the part of downtown Pittsburgh now known as "The Point". The British built a larger fort on the same site and named it Fort Pitt in honor of the British statesman William Pitt the Elder. Fort Pitt was garrisoned in case of French attack during the French and Indian War, but by the time the improvements were made the war was over. Pittsburgh is an overwhelmingly Democratic city, owing to its large union and Catholic population. The mayor and all members of city council belong to that party. The Democratic mayoral primary election generate more excitement than the general election. The Democrats have run the city since 1933, when David Lawrence led the party to power. The mayor serves a four year term and will face election next in 2005. City council members are chosen by plurality elections in each of nine districts. Pittsburgh has exhibited amazing adaptability in the wake of the steel industry's collapse. The primary industries have shifted from steel manufacture and heavy industry to high technology, biomedics, banking, and service based fields. Pittsburgh has a very low cost of living compared to other cities in the Northeastern U.S., but a considerably higher cost of living than many large Southern cities. Major corporations that are based in Pittsburgh are; Bayer Corporation, H.J. Heinz, Laurel Networks, PNC Bank, Mellon Financial Corporation, Lycos Ventures, Rockwell International, US Airways, PPG Industries, National Steel, U.S. Steel, WESCO International, GNC and Allegheny Technologies. Pittsburgh is rich in culture and art due to the donation of large sum of money to local educational and cultural institution from wealthy businessmen like, Andrew Carnegie, the Heinz family and Henry Clay Frick. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is world-class. It owns and performs at Heinz Hall, which also plays host to a number of other events throughout the year. The Benedum Center and Heinz Hall provide venues for numerous musicals, lectures, speeches, and other performances. Pittsburgh is also home to one of only two professional brass bands in the world, the River City Brass Band. There is a large museum dedicated to the works of Pittsburgh native Andy Warhol. The collection of the Carnegie Museum of Art is home to works by such luminaries as Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, and many others, along with galleries of sculpture, modern art, the Heinz Architectural Center, a large film and video collection, and various travelling exhibits. Pittsburgh Filmmakers teaches media arts and runs three "art house" movie theaters. The Pittsburgh Playhouse at Point Park University has four resident companies of professional actors. The Carnegie Museum of Natural History has extensive dinosaur collections on display, including the complete first Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton ever discovered, and an Egyptian wing.