True Tales from Philadelphia History From the Mummer's Parade to the invention of Monopoly, It Happened in Philadelphia gives readers a unique look at intriguing people and episodes from the City of Brotherly Love. Meet Walter Diemer, the inventor who accidentally created bubble gum. Discover what happened when two elephants attempted to swim the Delaware River. And find out how a modern-day Robin Hood spent $1 million in a week-learning an expensive lesson in the process!

PrefaceChapter 1: Go Fly a Kite-1752Chapter 2: The Transit of Venus-1769Chapter 3: A Housewife Spy Completes Her Mission-1777Chapter 4: Meschianza-1778Chapter 5: The Doans are Done-1787Chapter 6: First in Liberty; First in Robbery-1798Chapter 7: The Riots of 1844-1844Chapter 8: The Sad Fate of the Swimming Elephants-1847Chapter 9: A Man Invents His Killer-1867Chapter 10: The Autopsy of Chang and Eng-1874Chapter 11: The Great Exposition-1876Chapter 12: A Runaway Kid-1892Chapter 13: Mummer's Parade-1901Chapter 14: A Sticky Situation-1928Chapter 15: The 1929 Athletics-1929Chapter 16: Monopoly, A Game of Big Money-1936Chapter 17: ENIAC, The First Electronic Digital Computer-1947Chapter 18: A Miracle-1949Chapter 19: American Bandstand-1957Chapter 20: Wilt's 100-1962Chapter 21: The Snowball Santa Incident-1968Chapter 22: An Elusive Killer-1976Chapter 23: Million Dollar Mania-1981Famous PhiladelphiansSourcesAbout the Author