Portal:Baltimore
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Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-largest metropolitan area in the country at 2.84 million residents. The city is also part of the Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area, which had a population of 9.97 million in 2020. Baltimore was designated as an independent city by the Constitution of Maryland in 1851. Though not located under the jurisdiction of any county in the state, it forms part of the central Maryland region together with the surrounding county that shares its name.
The land that is present-day Baltimore was used as hunting ground by Paleo-Indians. In the early 1600s, the Susquehannock began to hunt there. People from the Province of Maryland established the Port of Baltimore in 1706 to support the tobacco trade with Europe and established the Town of Baltimore in 1729. During the American Revolutionary War, the Second Continental Congress briefly moved its deliberations to the Henry Fite House from December 1776 to February 1777 prior to the capture of Philadelphia to British troops, which permitted Baltimore to serve briefly as the nation's capital before it returned to Philadelphia. The Battle of Baltimore was pivotal during the War of 1812, culminating in the British bombardment of Fort McHenry, during which Francis Scott Key wrote a poem that became "The Star-Spangled Banner" and was designated as the national anthem in 1931. During the Pratt Street Riot of 1861, the city was the site of some of the earliest violence associated with the American Civil War. (Full article...)
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On November 2, 1999, the city of Baltimore, Maryland, elected a new mayor, the 47th in the city's history. Primary elections were held to determine the nominees for the Democratic Party and Republican Party on September 14. Incumbent mayor Kurt Schmoke, a Democrat, opted not to run for reelection. Martin O'Malley, a member of the Baltimore City Council, won the election to succeed Schmoke.
Because Baltimore's electorate is overwhelmingly Democratic, it was widely believed that the city's next mayor would effectively be chosen in the Democratic primary election. Baltimore's large African American population initially made it seem likely that Schmoke would be succeeded by another African American. Former Congressman Kweisi Mfume was the preferred candidate of local politicians, but he opted not to run. Though Carl Stokes and Lawrence Bell, members of the city council, declared for the race, local leaders were underwhelmed with the quality of declared candidates. (Full article...)
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Panorama at night of the Inner Harbor
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Elizabeth Lownes Rust (née, Lownes; 1835 – October 3, 1899) was a 19th-century American philanthropist, humanitarian, and Christian missionary. She conceived the idea of the Woman's Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and as its corresponding secretary for nearly twenty years, she helped to shape its policies. Rust is remembered as a woman of vision. Rust died in 1899. (Full article...)
Did you know...
- ... that the writer of "Crabs for Christmas" joked that it contributed to Baltimore's population decline?
- ... that one of the items on display at the Baltimore Museum and Gallery of Fine Arts was George Washington's shaving brush?
- ... that Charles J. M. Gwinn was the first state's attorney of Baltimore elected under the Maryland Constitution of 1851, which he had helped to draft?
- ... that Baltimore County Police Department leader Carroll E. Stansbury assigned officers to combat chicken theft?
- ... that Darryl De Sousa created a Baltimore Police Department unit to give lie detector tests to other units?
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