Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation

09/02/2026

The Great Allentown Fair begins today!
A Lehigh Valley tradition since 1852

First started by the Lehigh County Agricultural Society. To fulfill its mission, gentlemen representing every municipality in the County were appointed to lead the planning of an exposition. This celebration of the harvest would award the achievements of farmers and homemakers while entertaining the public.

Fair highlights throughout the years include:
• From its earliest days, horse racing was a popular event. In 1902, the fair's half-mile track was regarded as "one of the finest in the country."
• Between the years 1907 and 1914, airship races became a featured attraction
• The first auto race was held in 1915
• In 1951, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, his wife, and his son Arthur attended "Father and Son" day, a visit described by local historian Frank Whelan as "probably among the most significant moments in the fair's history."

09/01/2026

America's First Bank Robbery
Carpenter's Hall

Carpenters' Hall is a treasure in historic Philadelphia. It hosted the First Continental Congress in 1774 and was home to Franklin's Library Company, The American Philosophical Society, and the First and Second Banks of the United States.

It was also the site of America's first bank robbery. An enormous sum of $162,821 had been taken from vaults of the Bank of Pennsylvania at Carpenters' Hall during the night of Saturday, August 31 or the morning hours of Sunday, September 1, 1798.
Pat Lyon was enormously interested in newspaper accounts of the robbery. The last job he completed — a rush job — before fleeing the city to avoid the yellow fever, was to change fittings and locks on two iron vault doors for the Bank of Pennsylvania. In the end, the affair would take on the flavor of a farce. The bank would get its money back and innocent victim Pat Lyon would regain his good name, and eventually profit handsomely from his imprisonment.

Read Ron Avery's accounting followed by a recording of a lecture about Pat Lyon and The Bank of Pennsylvania by Carpenters’ Hall Docent- Dan Barto on Carpenters' Hall website. https://www.carpentershall.org/pages/america-s-first-bank-robbery

08/31/2026

Who is John Fritz?

Born in Chester County in 1822, John Fritz led a remarkable group of pioneers in iron and steel technology. Together they built the nation's iron and steel industry and laid the groundwork for modern professional engineering.

In 1860 he became General Superintendent and Chief Engineer of the Bethlehem Iron Works. When it became clear that no one could compete with Andrew Carnegie's brand-new Bessemer plant, Fritz took Bethlehem into an entirely new field. Forging huge slabs of armor plate for the nation's new steel navy brought Bethlehem and Fritz to the forefront. While rails sold for less than $40 a ton, battleship armor sold more than $400 a ton.

Today’s marker is shared by one of our readers.

08/30/2026

➡ On Aug. 30, 1682, William Penn embarked from Deal, England to the New World on a ship, the “Welcome.” Despite issues with smallpox, Penn and most of the passengers arrived at the mouth of the Delaware River on Oct. 27, 1682. After acknowledgement from the settlers, he sailed to Penn's Landing and disembarked in present day Chester, Delaware County, then known as Upland. The State preserves this 1940 photo of the Landing Place of William Penn, taken in Chester, Delaware County.

08/28/2026

The first sentence served by Al Capone in his criminal career was at Eastern State Penitentiary in Pennsylvania.

Shortly after St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in Chicago, Capone summoned mob leaders to Atlantic City to arrange a truce. Fearing retribution if he returned to Chicago, Capone arranged his own arrest in Philadelphia on a charge of carrying concealed deadly weapons. He quickly made himself at home in the prison. His cell contained a cabinet radio, several tasteful paintings, a beautiful carpet, a polished desk, and a comfortable bed. Capone served his time and was released in nine months for good behavior on March 17, 1930.

Cell Image: Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site

08/27/2026

The birth of the petroleum industry in Titusville.

08/26/2026

👟🏛️ WALK THROUGH HISTORY AT FORT PITT 🏛️👟

Where will your History for Heroes Virtual 5K take you?
Consider completing your miles at Fort Pitt, the gateway to the American frontier and a place where the story of America's independence extended far beyond the battlefields of the East Coast.

Standing at the forks of the Ohio River, Fort Pitt played a vital role during the American Revolution. It served as a strategic military outpost, supply center, and gathering place for soldiers, settlers, and Native peoples during a time when the future of the nation was far from certain.

As you walk along Pittsburgh's riverfront and historic landscapes, imagine the challenges faced by those who defended the western frontier and helped secure the promise of a new nation.
The History for Heroes Virtual 5K is an opportunity to honor the courage, sacrifice, and determination that shaped America while supporting the Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation and preserving the places where history happened.

🇺🇸 Celebrate America's 250th anniversary
👟 Walk, run, or hike at your own pace
🏛 Support Pennsylvania's historic treasures
⭐ Honor America's heroes—past and present
📜 Help preserve the stories that built our nation

From Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's history tells the story of America's journey to independence. Make Fort Pitt part of your journey through history.

Register today and make every mile matter!

The Pennsylvania Heroes for History 5k is on Wednesday July 1, 2026 to Wednesday October 14, 2026.

08/25/2026

Happy !
A PA Creation

The Banana Split was born in Pennsylvania in 1904 in Latrobe, PA. The first documented Banana Split was created by apprentice pharmacist David Strickler - sold at the former Tassell Pharmacy.

Bananas became widely available to Americans in the late 1800s. Strickler capitalized on this by cutting them lengthwise and serving with vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream and topped with pineapple, chocolate and strawberry sauces, whipped cream, chopped nuts, and a maraschino cherry. The banana split, as it came to be known, cost 10 cents—double the price of the pharmacy’s other sundaes. He is also credited with designing a boat-shaped glass dish for his treat. Served worldwide, the banana split has become a prevalent American dessert.

08/24/2026

Father of Jazz Guitar - Eddie Lang

Born Salvatore Massaro in South Philadelphia in 1902, he was a very good violinist but not as good as his close friend Joe Venuti so he switched to guitar. Drawing upon his own classical training and his interest in the blues, Eddie learned to finger pick brilliant single-note improvisations, and worked out the rich chord patterns that would soon make him one of the nation's most popular accompanists.

In a decade when American society and the nation's popular music industry were still segregated, Lang played with both white and black artists, including Louis Armstrong, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey and Bing Crosby. His playing sounded so authentically African American, that record companies hired him to accompany some of the great, black, blues artists of the day. He became the 'house' guitarist for the legendary blues record label, OKeh Records. Aware that record buyers gave more credibility to a blues player if they thought he was African-American, Lang worked under the alias of "Blind Willie Dunn".

08/21/2026

In July of 1969, producers of Sesame Street broadcast hour-long test-pilot episodes to 70 homes throughout .

While the format of the final series was mostly there, the test results from the children showed the producers one major thing that needed to happen: Sesame Street needed more Muppets.

This led to the creation of Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch who would debut with the show in November.