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George Washington
He sent a letter to a Virginian governor about building a fort. He was 21 and was a major in the Virginian Military Regiment. -
George Washington
Led two Virginia army companies to try to push out the French and American Indians. He wasnt successful and was forced to retreat. -
William Pitt the Elder
He was an aggressive prime minister in England who helped win in Europe and in the French and Indian War. -
Marquis Duquesne
He built Fort Duquesne at the Ohio River. 1758 is when the French destroyed it. -
John Forbes
He directed the march to Fort Duquesne and named the land at the confluence Pittsborough after William Pitt. He died four months after the British took the fort. -
Fort Pitt
It was completed in 1761. The fort was later in ruins from use of bricks being taken to build houses. -
John Scull
He founded Pittsburgh Gazette and brought a printing press over the mountains to establish the first newspaper west of the Alleghenies. -
Whiskey Rebellion
The tavern was the center of community life in Pittsburgh. It served as a theater, a concert hall, a town hall, a bathroom, and a church. During the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794, Lawyer Huah Henry Brackenridge talked rebels out of buring down the town. -
George Anschutz
George Anshutz built Pittsburgh's first iron furnace. -
Pittsburgh becomes a town
Pittsburgh was officially incorporated as a town. -
Joseph McClurg
Joseph McClurg develped the first foundry in Pittsburgh at this time. -
Pittsburgh becomes a borough
Pittsburgh is officially incorporated as a borough. -
Grants Hill
Grants Hill was named after James Grants. He was defeated by the French in 1858. The hill was a cherished vantage point, and was a good picnic spot. It was removed in the early 1900's. -
Pittsburgh Becomes a City
Pittsburgh became a city March 18, 1816. Ebenezer Denny was the first mayor of Pittsburgh, and was also a war soldier, merchant, and housebuilder. -
Neville B. Craig
Neville B. Craig was born in the blockhouse and was the editor and publisher of the Pittsburgh Gazette which was founded by John Scull in 1786. -
Thomas Mellon
Thomas Mellon was born in Ireland, and grew up on a farm. He attented Western University, and hung out a law shingle in 1839. He then married Sarah Jame Nefley in 1843 and later had 8 children. 10 Years later he opened T.Mellon and Sons Bank on Smithfield Street. This backed much of Pittsburghs Industrial growth. -
John Roebling
John Roebling was the creator of wine rope. It was used to design the world's first cable suspension bridge. -
John Chislette
He designed the city's oldest office building and built many buildings such as Burkes Building of 1836. -
Homestead Strike
The Homestead strike was the bloodiest strike in history. The History Clay Frick locked out workers. 300 guards were hired to protect the mill from the workers. -
1845 Fire
This fire wiped out 24 blocks in the heart of the city. It spread eastward beyond Grant Street into Pipetown before buring out on the side of Boyd's Hill. -
Great Fire of 1845
Quick flames take over one third of the city. Nearly 1,000 buildings and homes were destroyed and about 12,000 people were left homeless. Two lives were lost. -
Martin Delaney
Martin Delaney was the editor of the Mystery. This issue of the newspaper urged President James Polk to accept African American soldiers for the Mexican War. -
Jane Grey Swisshelm
Jane Grey Swisshelm was the editor of Pittsburgh Saturday Visitor. She was against slavery and because of her, Pennsylvania passed a law to allow married women to own property. -
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carngegie found $500, being a messenger at the time, and returned it. He was an official for the Pennsylvania railroad at the age of 16. -
Lafeyette Hall
The Lafeyette Hall was built in 1850 on Fourth Street, was razed in 1895, and was demolished in 1845. -
David N. White
David N. White was the founder of the Republican Party and the 1rst national convention held in Pittsburgh. -
Railroads Expanding
The Iron industry in Pittsburgh was booming at the time. There were major furnaces and mills in the city including Kloman Brothers, Jones, and Lauth & Company. -
The Rodman Gun
The Rodman Gun was one of many of the guns produced during the Civil War by the C. Knapp Foundry. It was named after Lt. Thomas J. Rodman, and was the largest gun in the world. -
George Westinghouse
At the age of 19, Geroge Westington obtained his first patent for a rotary steam engine. At age 22 he introduced the air brake, the first effective means for stopping heavy trains. He started to manufacture it in a plant at Twenty-ninth Street and Liberty Avenue. -
The Monongahela Incline
The Monongahela Incline was the city's first incline. -
The Duquense Incline
The Duquense Incline was built for $47,000. It attracted 500,000 passengers by 1880. On Sundays during the summer, 6,000 passengers are carried during the day and evening. -
Andrew Carnegie
He began to return his wealth to communities at this time through libraries and museums. -
The Smithfield Street Bridge
The Smithfield Street Bridge was designed by Gustav Lindenthal. It opened in 1883. The bridge was later "modernized" in 1915. The original paint scheme was reapplied and so were the six copper finials on the portal. -
Henry Hobson Richardson
He designed the Allegheny Co. Courthouse to replace John Chisslets courthouse. The design was obtained and copied. -
The "H" is dropped in Pittsburgh
The United States Boards of Geographic Names decided that the "h" was to be dropped in the names of all cities and towns ending in Burgh. -
Mellon Bank
Mellon Bank was founded by and named after Andrew Mellon in 1902. -
Luna Park Opens Up
Luna Park opened on May 25, 1905. It attracted crowds of up to 35,000 people nightly who came for the aerial acts, band concerts, and a-shoot-the-chutes ride into a pool of water. This park became less popular when a menagerie lion escaped and killed a woman in 1907, two years after it opened up. Two years later after the that, there was a fire, and the park was not rebuilt. -
Pittsburg(h) Mispelling
Pittsburgh lost its "h"in 1890 when the U.S. Boards on Geographic Names went with the majority spelling for towns ending in burg or burgh. But eventually, Pittsburgh had the historic spelling restored in 1911. -
Mellon Institute
The Mellon Institute of Industrial Research was founded by Andrew William and Richard Beatty Mellon in 1913. -
Frick Acres
Frick Acres was gifted by the Mellon family for a new campus in the 1920's -
Birth of KDKA
Dr. Frank Conrad started experimenting with wireless telephones in 1916. Then he created an amateur station, 8XK, in the garage behind his home in Wilkinsburg. After that, KDKA was born. -
First Scheduled Radio Broadcast
Will Rogers and Ziegfield Follies cast members teamed up for the first scheduled radio broadcast from KDKA's first downtown studio. 1,000 Pittsburghers tuned into KDKA, to hear returns of the Hard-Cox election -
Liberty Tubes
The Liberty Tubes was a 6 million dollar project built in 1924. -
Cathedral of Learning
The Cathedral of Learning was proposed to be built in 1924. It was part of the University of Pittsburgh Campus. -
Lindberg Visit
Many came to Pitt Stadium to join and welcome the "hero of the day" at the time. Mayor Charles Kline, police superintenfent Peter P. Walsh, Pittsburgh City Council president Daniel Winters also joined along. -
Liberty Bridge opens
Four years after the Liberty Tubes project was completed, the 27th of March, county commissioner Joseph G. Armstrong's two grandsons undid the ribbon to open the "companion" Liberty Bridge. An hour and a half later the streets and roads were lined up with thousands of residents. -
Mellon Institute Building
The Mellon Institute Building consisted of 62 columns that weighed 60 tons each. $10 million went towards the new building located at Fifth and Bellefield Avenues. It was designed by Janssen and Cocken and was inspired by the Parthenon. -
St. Patrick Church
The old St. Patrick Church, parish of Rev. James R. Cox lied right next to a depression village that sprang up in the early 1930s between Penn and Liberty Avenues and extending from Seventeenth Street nearly to Eleventh Street. A jobless army of 15,000 men marched to Washington in January of this time under Rev. James R. Cox's command to appeal to President Herbert Hoover for relief. Afterwards Father Cox declared himself "Jobless Party" candidate for president. -
New era of brewed convivality
12:01am, Pittsburghers began drinking in a "new era of brewed conviviality" Legalized 3.2 beer was gulped down one after another in great quantities. -
Henrietta Leaver
From McKeesport, Henrietta Leaver won the Miss America crown in 1935. After that she later posed in a bathing suit for Pittsburgh sculptor Frank Vittor. The statue he made of her was nude and Henrietta protested about it. He still refused to add the swimsuit, people decided that it was a "true and beautiful work of art". -
David L. Lawrence
Mayor David L. Lawrence was often on a round-the-clock schedule during his first year in office. Around the time of the 27-day power shutdown, Post-Gazette photographer Morris Berman photographed Mayor David L. Lawrence after catching him taking a nap at his desk exhausted. -
Suburbs
During this time, more and more people were starting to move out of cities, into larger houses and larger lots. Penn hills is an example of a suburban neighborhood in Pittsburgh. -
Blizzard in Pittsburgh
During this time, 30 inches of snow fell overnight. There were about 5,000 cars stranded. Nation Guardsmen came in to patrol streets. -
Gateway Center
During 1952-1954, the Gateway Center's old buildings were being demolished and new ones were rising. -
William Steinberg
He escaped Nazi Germany and worked for NBC orchestra. He became the conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and turned it into a world leader. -
Greater Pittsburgh Airport
The Greater Pittsburgh Airport opened up May 31, 1952. Families bought children to watch planes. -
World Series
During the World Series against the New York Yankees, Bill Mazeroski hit a winning home run. -
Rachel Carson
She was a scientist and wrote a book called "Silent Spring" that alerted the world about the dangers of pestisides. -
Hil District Riots
During this time, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was unfortunateley assisnated, national guards were called out and in the end there was $620,000 in property damage. -
East Liberty Pedestrian Mall
Streets were closed and narrowed and fountains were put in. In Feburary of 1964 the streets were reopened and parking was restored. -
Tropical Storm Agnes
After 4 days of heavy rain, the water built up to 35.82ft at confluence. It was more than 10ft above flood stage which was the higest its been since 1942 and left $45 million in damage. -
Roberto Clemente
He was the 11th player to get 3,000 hits. He was unfortunatley killed in a plane crash at the age of 38. -
Daily Number
The Daily Number was the states new lottery game at the time. Tons of people were lined up often to play. -
Pirate Willie Stargell retires
Pirate Willie Stargell was the Pirates' leading home run hitter of the 1970s. He was the first baseman to play his entire 20 year career with the Pirates. He was also a seven-time all star and hit 475 home runs. He drove in more than 1500 runs. He retired during this time, October of 1982, and unfortunatley died April of 2001. -
Dr. Thomas Starzl heart transplants
Dr.Thomas Starzl worked as a researcher, a surgeon, and a teacher. At this time, he prepared a donor liver during transplant surgery. The University of Pittsburgh named one of it's biomedical science towers in his honor in 2006. -
Mayor Caliguiri dies
In honor of Mayor Caliguiri, a bronze statue was placed on the steps of the City-County Building. He was a visionary leader and a competent administrator who earned a part in the Pittsburgh City Council. He also inspired the 1980s during Renaissance II. He even attempted to attract high-tech industries. He was mayor for 11 years before his death in 1988. -
Dorothy Blast Furnace goes out of commission
Dorothy Six which was one of the world's biggest and most modern blast furnaces came to a crash August 1, 1988. -
Homestead Works closes
Once holding 10,000 employees, Homestead Works was destroyed and turned to rubble in 1989. -
Andy Warhol Museum opens
The Andy Warhol Museum opened on the North Side, honoring Andy Warhol as one of America's most influential artists. This museum now holds a collection of his work as exhibits, openly showcasing his art. -
Heinz History Center opens
The Senator John Heinz History Center opened and instantly became a historic attraction. The finial was designed by Pfaffmann and Associates. It pays tribute in part to the city's engineering acheivment.
