29 Fun Facts About Philadelphia

Author: Jason Coles

Updated On:

Updated On:

The beautiful and iconic city of Philadelphia is the home and birthplace of many incredible things such as Liberty Bell, Rocky, Bubble Gum, Cheesesteaks, and an abundance of interesting facts about Philadelphia that you probably haven’t heard of!

Located in the heart of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia county, and on the east coast of America, you can find this multicultural city, full of fun, life, and ambition. The city is known well for its rich history, which can be seen in full display when you visit the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall (which was where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were signed), and other profoundly influential American Revolutionary sites.

There is a multitude of things to do, places to visit, things to eat, and fun to be had in this ambitious city from a tourist perspective. Alternatively, the business and economic climate in Philadelphia has never been stronger, which is why we have decided to list the best and most interesting Philadelphia facts and history. With many successful businesses in operation, from large to small, a top education system, brilliant infrastructure, and proximity to large consumer markets, it is no shock to see more and more people from all walks of life deciding to call the state of Philly their new home.

If you want to skip straight to the Philadelphia Economic Facts, click on the link to take you there, or scroll down the page.

Interesting facts about Philadelphia

Fun Facts About Philadelphia

1. The Philadelphia region welcomes around 46 million visitors per year, that’s an awful lot of people!

2. Philadelphia is special for a number of different reasons, but what makes the city so unique compared to others is that it hosted America’s first birthday.





3. The Philadelphia Packet and Daily Advertiser was established in 1784 and was the country’s first-ever daily newspaper.

4. Here are some more “firsts” that Philadelphia is responsible for:

  • Home to America’s first zoo
  • Home to the first hospital in America
  • Home to the first Medical School

5. One out of every 6 doctors in the United States received their medical training in Philadelphia, which proves the reputation and stability of the medical sector within the city.

6. Many perceive England to have the oldest Theater in the world, or, at least English-speaking Theater. However, this isn’t true, the Walnut Street Theater, located in Philadelphia is actually the oldest continually running English-speaking theater in the world. The Theater was owned by Edwin Booth, brother of  John Wilkes Booth.

7. Weighing in at an enormous 27 tons was the first-ever general-purpose computer, which, you guessed it, was invented in Philadelphia in 1946.

8. Rather amusingly Philadelphia was host to the “Wing Bowl” – a slightly less strenuous competition than the Super Bowl, the “Wing Bowl” takes place during the Super Bowl celebrations and consists of a wing eating contest beginning at 5:30 am and is broadcasted from the Wells Fargo Center and houses over 20,000 spectators. Unfortunately, this monumental event no longer takes place, with the final one being hosted in 2018.

9. Art is extremely prevalent within the city, with Philly boasting over 2000 outdoor murals, which subsequently led to the city being labeled “Mural Capital of the U.S.”. There are also more Impressionist paintings than any other city in the world other than Paris.

10. The Philadelphia Mint was created to help establish national identity by creating coins. The Mint took three years to produce the first million coins. Nowadays, the Philadelphia Mint produces millions of coins each day.

11. The first-ever business to establish itself in Philly was a beer brewery called the Philadelphia Brewing Company, which is still in operation today!

12. During the iconic signing of the Constitution, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were out of the city on business when the document was officially signed.

13. The Philadelphia Phillies are the city’s top baseball team. However, ironically enough, the famous name people know and love was almost changed by the owner, Robert Carpenter, who failed in an attempt to rename the team the “Blue Jays”.

14. Philadelphia is incredibly multicultural, being home to the second-largest population of Irish and Italians out of any other city in the U.S., only second to New York City for the most Irish and Italians.

15. Philadelphia’s ice hockey team, the Flyers are named this for one simple reason, because Ed Snider’s beloved wife thought the name sounded good!

16. And as for Philadelphia’s football team, the Eagles – this name was adopted because of the Eagle that appeared on posters during the National Recovery Act.

17. Before the Philadelphia Eagles were established as the main football team to represent the city, Philadelphia’s main team was the Frankfort Yellowjackets.




Economic Interesting Facts About Philadelphia

There is a lot to consider when looking at the business and economic interesting facts about Philadelphia as the city has many positive business and economic attributes.

Over the past several decades Philadelphia’s popularity has skyrocketed, with more and more people deciding to call the city their new home, and place of business.

With fantastic infrastructure, a brilliant education system, a booming economy, a strong consumer market, and many support systems, Philadelphia certainly possesses an impressive and expansive economic environment.

Here is a List of Economic Interesting Facts About Philadelphia

  • The Philadelphia metro area boasts a GDP of over $401 billion.
  • The income tax rate in Philadelphia is 3.07%.
  • The average household income in Philadelphia is around $68,000.
  • Here are some of the leading economic contributors within the city; higher education, manufacturing, oil refining, food processing, health care, and biotechnology.
  • The average house price in Philadelphia is $208,546, however, this number is seasonally adjusted. The latest prices can be found on Zillow’s website.
  • The Philadelphia sales tax rate is 8%.
  • Philadelphia has a corporate income tax rate of 9.99%.
  • There are an impressive 14 Fortune 500 companies operating in Philadelphia.

All of these economic Philadelphia facts provide many valid reasons why thousands of people decide to move to the city to either start a new business or franchise or for work opportunities. It is difficult to argue with any of them!

Fun Facts About Philadelphia

Here are the final interesting facts about Philadelphia

18. During the celebrations of the U.S. Bicentennial, the city decided to plant a “moon tree”. The moon tree was grown from a seed taken on the Apollo 14 mission.

19. There are many interesting museums and observatories within the city, with no Philadelphia museum being more unique than Philly’s Mütter Museum, which has an incredible collection of medical oddities, such as slides of Einstein’s brain, slices of a human face, a book created using human skin, and highlights of weird history about Philadelphia and the rest of the world. You may not want to visit if you are squeamish!

20. The first-ever musical auditorium is still in use to this day, located in the Philadelphia city center! The Academy of Music continues to operate in the city, providing music and art.

21. Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, aka the first African American church was established within Philly during 1787 and still runs successfully to this day.

22. Would it be a list consisting of the best facts about Philadelphia without an honorable mention of the most iconic sandwich to come out of the city? That’s right, it’s fair to say that there are many things unique to Philadelphia, but maybe non more so than the delicious Philly Cheesesteak was created back in 1930 by Pat Olivieri, a hot dog vendor and namesake to Pat’s King of Steaks. One day, during a lunch break, Pat threw some beef on his grill to make a sandwich, shortly after this a passing cab driver asked for a sandwich too, and soon enough, the following grew. Ironically, cheese wasn’t an original ingredient for this sandwich, it was a number of years later that a manager at one of Pat’s restaurants added it in and the rest is history.

PatsPhillycheesteak

Source: https://www.patskingofsteaks.com/menu

23. Ben Franklin left the cities of Philadelphia and Boston $2,000 in his will in 1790, but there was a catch, they could not draw the full balance for 200 years. In 1990, the cities received $6.5 million!

24. Philadelphia was the home to the first Thanksgiving Day Parade, with the original parade taking place in 1920.

25. William Penn is rightfully known as the founder of both Philadelphia and Pennsylvania state. However, it was the Dutch and Swedish who were the first settlers to inhabit the area in 1623 and 1638 respectively.

Here are three fun facts about Philadelphia

26. Most significant places in the United States have been gifted nicknames used to best associate that specific place. Philadelphia is no different, although the city has adopted many over the years:

  • Philly
  • The City of Brotherly Love
  • The Birthplace of America
  • The City that Loves you Back
  • The City of Neighborhoods
  • The Quaker City
  • The Cradle of Liberty

27. The highest point of Philadelphia is on Chestnut Hill, at 445 feet above sea level.

28. The lowest point of Philadelphia is only 10 feet above sea level, located in the “Lower North” area.

Just in case you didn’t know…

29. People who come from the city of Philadelphia are considered to be “Philadelphians”.

Thank you for checking out our 29+ interesting facts about Philadelphia! If you have some facts and fun information regarding Philadelphia’s past and present that we have not covered, please make sure to comment below and we will add them to the page.



Interesting US State Facts

Pennsylvania

Photo of author

Jason Coles

Jason Coles is the Founder of Foreign USA and its Chief Content Writer and Editor. Recognized as a prolific business plan writer by many prominent immigration attorneys in the U.S. who refer his services to their clients regularly, Jason has written over 1,340 business plans across the past 17+ years for start-up companies and franchises looking to expand their footprint in the United States. Jason is considered a seasoned expert in his field. He creates detailed business plans for his clients that include five-year financial projections, market and industry analysis reports, demographic studies, organizational charts, job descriptions, employee hiring plans, and more.