There are so many facts about Pittsburgh, you could spend the rest of your days trying to learn them all. Pittsburgh is known for so many things. Steel. Rivers. Sports. Food. The people. Here are 35 facts about Pittsburgh that you probably didn’t learn in school. You learned them from living here. Or from reading this post. If you know of any we missed… comment below!
We’ve categorized these Pittsburgh facts according to things Pittsburgh did first (Pittsburgh Firsts), Pittsburgh historic facts (Pittsburgh History) , facts about sports in Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh Sports), facts about business or industry in Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh Industry), and some random facts about Pittsburgh.
So… let’s start with our first Pittsburgh fact category…
Pittsburgh Firsts
We all use emojis or emoticons in our emails in texts. Did you know that a Carnegie Mellon University professor and computer scientist, Scott Fahlman, was credited with the creation of the first emoji in 1982? Yes… that long ago!
The Carnegie Museum of Natural History is home to the worlds first Tyrannosaurus Rex (T-Rex) Skeleton.
The first modern movie theater was opened by Harry Davis and John P. Harris on Smithfield Street in Pittsburgh in 1905. It was called a Nickelodeon.
The first radio broadcast of a Major League Baseball game took place in Pittsburgh. August 21, 1921 saw the Pittsburgh Pirates defeat the Philadelphia Phillies.
In 1913, on the corner of Baum Boulevard and St. Clair Street in East Liberty, the very first gasoline station (full service, of course) was opened.
The world’s first modern museum of art, The Carnegie Museum of Art, opened it’s doors in Pittsburgh in 1895.
KDKA became the world’s first commercial radio station. It began with broadcasting the results of the Presidential election on November 2, 1920.
The world’s first retractable dome stadium for a major sports team and entertainment venue opened in 1961. The Civic Arena became known to Pittsburghers as the “Igloo”.
A first for television, in 1954 the first public television station in the country went on-air. It was WQED.
On June 30, 1909, Forbes Field became the country’s first concrete and steel constructed baseball stadium.
Pittsburgh History
Lewis & Clark, the famed explorers who opened up the west for Thomas Jefferson to purchase the Louisiana Territory, actually met in Pittsburgh first. They then headed west down the Ohio to St. Louis.
The Pittsburgh Agreement, signed in 1918, was the actual creation of Czechoslovakia when a delegation of Czechs and Slovaks gathered in Pittsburgh to sign the agreement.
During his tenure as a soldier for the British in the mid 1700s, George Washington made many trips to Western Pennsylvania, and even another trip back during the Whiskey Rebellion as President of the United States, leading his troops. He is the only President to ever lead troops into a potential conflict as the Commander-In-Chief.
At one time, there were as many as 17 inclines in the City of Pittsburgh. Today, 2 of them (The Monongahela Incline and the Duquesne Incline) are still in operation.
The Meadowcroft Rock Shelter, south of Pittsburgh, is thought to be the oldest site of human habitation in North America.
Pittsburgh’s name spelling has changed many times. The “h” on the end of Pittsburgh was actually left off, added, taken off again, and added back. I wrote a post about that. Here is where you can read more about how Pittsburgh got it’s name.
The largest memorial museum dedicated to those who served in all branches of the military is located in Pittsburgh. It’s Soldier’s and Sailors Memorial Hall, in Oakland.
Point State Park is the site of the oldest structure in Pittsburgh. The Fort Pitt Blockhouse was built in 1764.
Pittsburgh Sports
The Pittsburgh Steelers logo has stars, right? Not really. They are actually called “hypocycloids”. The logo is actually a derivative of the U.S. Steel Logo.
Forbes Field is the place where Babe Ruth hit the last 3 home runs of his fabulous career. He had been traded to the Boston Braves. One of the home runs he hit actually flew the entire way out of the ball park. The first home run at Forbes Field to do so.
World War II had a profound effect on professional football in Pittsburgh. During the 1943-44 season, the Steelers and Eagles combined teams and formed the “Steagles”. Their record? 5 wins, 4 losses and 1 tie. It was the FIRST winning season for the Eagles, and the SECOND for the Steelers. Go figure!
The first World Series, between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Boston Americans, was played. The winner… the Boson Americans – 5 games to 3.
Donora, PA – about 30 miles south-southeast of Pittsburgh, is the birth place of two baseball Hall of Fame members. Stan Musial and Ken Griffey Jr. They were actually both born on the same day… 49 years apart. November 21st.
Western Pennsylvania and the suburbs of Pittsburgh have produced quite a few NFL legends at quarterback. Joe Montana, Joe Namath, Dan Marino, Johnny Unitas and Jim Kelly.
Pittsburgh Industry
Besides steel, glass was one of the largest industries in Pittsburgh. During the 1920s, Pittsburgh produced almost 80% of all of the glass made in America.
Whisky was also a huge industry in Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania. Allegheny County distilled enough whiskey in the early 1800s to provide nearly a barrel of whiskey for every American citizen.
What do battleships from World War II, the Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge have in common? Steel from Pittsburgh was used in their construction.
Some Random Pittsburgh Facts
Pittsburgh’s nickname as the “City of Bridges” comes from the fact that there are 446 of them. We always like to say that we have more bridges than Venice, Italy… but really… who’s counting? We have lots of bridges. Everywhere.
Canton Avenue, in Pittsburgh’s Beechview neighborhood, is home to what is possibly the steepest street in the entire country. The incline of Canton Avenue is 37 degrees. That makes it slippy in the winter.
The Cathedral of Learning, on Pitt’s Campus, was once the tallest educational building in the world. At 535 feet tall, it now ranks as the second tallest university building in the world, behind the main building at Moscow State University.
St. Anthony’s Chapel in Troy Hill houses somewhere between 4000 and 5000 Catholic relics. This makes it the largest collection of Catholic relics anywhere in the world, second only to the Vatican.
The particular region of the mid-west Pittsburgh is located in is known as Appalachia. This region stretches for much of the length of the Appalachian Mountains. From Northeast Pennsylvania through the heart of Tennessee and parts of Northern Alabama and Georgia. Pittsburgh is the largest city in this region and is sometimes referred to as the “Paris of Appalachia”.
We all know Pittsburgh has hills. And stairs. There are over 700 sets of stairs in the city of Pittsburgh alone.
Jim Delligatti, a Pittsburgh area McDonald’s franchisee owned several local McDonald’s restaurants. The Big Mac, one of his creations, was first named the “Aristocrat” and the “Blue Ribbon Burger”. The name “Big Mac” actually came from Esther Glickstein Rose, who was a secretary at McDonald’s headquarters in Oakbrook, Illinois. The Big Mac made it’s debut at Delligatti’s Uniontown store in 1967 and cost 45 pennies!
Dr. Jonas Salk, a medical researcher and virologist at the University Of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, created the Polio vaccine at what is now UPMC in 1950.
