Pennsylvania Firsts: The Famous, Infamous, and Quirky of the Keystone State

Bubble gum, Vaseline, zippers, Groundhog Day, Little League baseball, the state police force, the gas station...Today, people across the country--and the world--take these things for granted, but we have the inventiveness and skill of Pennsylvanians to thank for all of them.

Pennsylvania Firsts looks at numerous contraptions and activities that got their start in the state, explaining the background of each "first" and noting the impact that it has had elsewhere. From the amazing and amusing to the famous and fantastic, Pennsylvania Firsts shows you why Pennsylvania so richly deserves its reputation as the "keystone" of our nation!

PATRICK M. REYNOLDS is an artist and writer whose historical cartoons have appeared in the Washington Post, the Dallas Morning News, Newsday, and other newspapers across the country. He has published several volumes of cartoons and has written and illustrated numerous children's books.