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Fun facts about Pittsburgh and Southwestern Pennsylvania

Things to do / Travel Guide

  • Besides Venice, Pittsburgh has more bridges than any other city in the world -720 within the city limits!
  • Since 1990, more than 35 major motion pictures have been filmed in Pittsburgh including “Silence of the Lambs,” “Groundhog Day,” “Academy Award-winning films “Lorenzo's Oil,” and “Hoffa.”
  • Mr. James Delligatti, a Pittsburgh-area McDonald's franchise owner, invented the famous McDonald's “Big Mac”.
  • The first Internet emoticon (the smiley) was created by Scott Fahlman, a computer scientist at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University.
  • The first polio vaccine was developed on March 26, 1953 by Dr. Jonas E. Salk, a professor and researcher at the University of Pittsburgh.
  • Fred Rogers, a.k.a. Mister Rogers from the well-known children's program Mister Roger's Neighborhood was a Pittsburgher. Mister Roger's Neighborhood was filmed at WQED, the first public television station in the United States, right in the middle of Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood.
  • The famous Heinz products, including Heinz Ketchup, are yet another example of Pittsburgh genius. But few people know this: In the 1880s Henry Heinz bought the products and equipment of a competing company and “sank the competition” by throwing it all into the Allegheny River!
  • Andy Warhol, one of the most highly regarded pop artists of the 20th century, was born in Pittsburgh, PA.
  • In 1905 Pittsburgh became the home of the Nickelodeon, the first motion picture house in the United States.