William Penn, an English Quaker, founded the city in 1682 to serve as capital of the Pennsylvania Colony

It is the town for the Founding Fathers of the United States, who signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776 at the Second Continental Congress, and the Constitution at the Philadelphia Convention of 1787.

Philadelphia is the birthplace of the United States Marine Corps,and the first library (1731),the hospital (1751),medical school (1765),the stock exchange (1790),and business school (1881).[28] Philadelphia contains 67 National Historic Landmarks and the World Heritage Site of Independence Hall.