PENNSYLMANIA

EPISODE 16: THE LIVE AID CONCERT. At dual press conferences in London and New York City on Monday, June 10, 1985, it was announced that in just one month’s time there would be a 17-hour, two-stadium, benefit concert for famine relief in Ethiopia. The bicontinental event, to be called Live Aid, was organized by Irish musician Bob Geldof of the Boomtown Rats. It would feature a “global jukebox” of over 40 of the top stars in British and American music, from Mick Jagger, Elton John, Queen, David Bo

EPISODE 15: HESS'S OF ALLENTOWN. This is the story of the Pennsylvania department store that for several decades was more well known and more glamorous than the city in which it was located – Hess’s of Allentown. The brothers Hess founded their dry goods store in Center City Allentown in 1897. By 1929, it had grown to become a large department store at the same location. By this time, both Hess brothers had died, leaving Max Hess, Jr., their 18-year-old heir. Max, Jr, would turn out to be one of

EPISODE 14: REVOLUTION ON $33,000 A DAY, PART 3. This is the concluding episode in our three-part series on the financing and supply logistics of the American Revolution. It begins with financial and monetary crises having hit both the Continental Congress and the Pennsylvania Assembly. The Continental Congress has created the new role of Superintendent of Finance, and named Robert Morris to the position. Morris and his aides made several major reforms. They solved the army’s supply problems thr

EPISODE 13: THE JOHNSTOWN FLOOD. On May 31, 1889, after torrential rains worse than any in recorded history, the South Fork Dam on the western side of the Allegheny Mountains broke, and 20 million tons of water poured downstream. Towns in its wake were leveled: South Fork, Mineral Point, Woodvale, East Conemaugh and, most notably, Johnstown. Prior to the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center, it was the deadliest man-made disaster in U.S. history. 2,209 people were killed. Johnstown an

EPISODE 12: REVOLUTION ON $33,000 A DAY, PART 2. This is the second episode in our three-part series on the financing and supply logistics of the American Revolution. In the first episode, we asked, “Who paid for all this stuff, and how did it get to where it was needed?” We described how the Continental Congress funded the war at the start, which it did well enough to enable the military and diplomatic successes of 1777 and 1778. We introduced Philadelphia financier and merchant Robert Morris,

EPISODE 11: REVOLUTION ON $33,000 A DAY, PART 1. The financing and logistics of the American Revolution. In order to get a full picture of the American Revolution, one has to study more than the battles fought by the soldiers and the political ideals of the Founding Fathers. You have to ask, “Who paid for all this stuff and how did it get to where it was needed?” This episode covers the first three years of the War, from 1775 to 1778, when America was a scrappy start-up venture. It illuminates t