Cincinnati, Ohio

:The article refers to the city in Ohio. For information on the city in Iowa, see Cincinnati, Iowa.

History

Cincinnati was founded in 1788 by John Cleves Symmes. Surveyor John Filson (also the author the tale of Daniel Boone) named it "Losantiville"http://www.filsonhistorical.org from four terms, each of different language, meaning "The city opposite the mouth of the Licking River." "Ville" is French for "city," "anti" is Greek for "opposite," "os" is Latin for "mouth," and "L" was all that was included of "Licking River."

Related Topics:
1788 - John Filson - Daniel Boone

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In 1790, Arthur St. Clair, the governor of the Northwest Territory, changed the name of the settlement to "Cincinnati" in honor of the Society of the Cincinnati, of which he was president. The society honored General George Washington, who was considered a latter day Cincinnatus—the Roman general who saved his city, then retired from power to his farm. To this day, Cincinnati in particular, and Ohio in general, are home to a disproportionately large number of descendants of Revolutionary War soldiers who were granted lands in the state.

Related Topics:
1790 - Arthur St. Clair - Northwest Territory - Society of the Cincinnati - George Washington - Cincinnatus - Roman - Revolutionary War

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In 1802, Cincinnati was chartered as a village, and in 1819, it was incorporated as a city. The introduction of steam navigation on the Ohio River in 1811 and the completion of the Miami and Erie Canal helped the city grow to 115,000 citizens by 1850. The nickname "Porkopolis" was coined around 1835, when Cincinnati was the country's chief hog packing center, and herds of pigs traveled the streets. Called the "Queen of the West" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (although this nickname was first used by a local newspaper in 1819), Cincinnati was an important stop on the Underground Railroad, which helped slaves escape from the South.

Related Topics:
1802 - Village - 1819 - City - 1811 - 1850 - 1835 - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - Underground Railroad

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Cincinnati is also known as the "City of Seven Hills," which is probably a romantic reference to Rome and Cincinnatus, though there is no agreement on the specific hills http://www.cincinnati.com/local/atoz/upsanddowns.htmlto which the name refers (however, see discussion section).

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As a pioneer-era city, it compared with Pittsburgh and Nashville. As a "Riverboat" and canal-era city, it compared with Louisville, St. Louis and New Orleans. As an immigrant, industrial city it compared with Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Chicago, and Detroit.

Related Topics:
Pittsburgh - Nashville - Riverboat - Canal - Louisville - St. Louis - New Orleans - Brooklyn - Philadelphia - Cleveland - Chicago - Detroit

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Because of its river setting and extensive park system, many commentators have remarked on Cincinnati's beauty, including Winston Churchill, who called it "the most beautiful of America's inland cities." The city's picturesque skyline was used as a backdrop for the fictional city of Monticello on the soap opera The Edge of Night, one of the many soap operas sponsored by Cincinnati soap maker Procter & Gamble.

Related Topics:
Soap opera - The Edge of Night - Procter & Gamble

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On December 3, 1979, Cincinnati's Riverfront Coliseum (now called the U.S. Bank Arena) was the site of one of the worst rock concert tragedies in United States history. Eleven fans were killed and several dozen others injured in the rush for seating at the opening of a sold-out concert by The Who. The concert was using "festival seating" (also known as "general seating" or "stadium seating"), where the best seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis. When the crowds waiting outside heard the band performing a soundcheck, they thought the concert was beginning and tried to rush into the still-closed doors, trampling those at the front of the crowd. The tragedy was blamed on poor crowd control, mainly the failure of arena management to open enough doors to deal with the crowd outside. As a result, concert venues across North America switched to assigned seating or changed their rules about festival seating. Cincinnati immediately outlawed festival seating at concerts, although it overturned the ban on August 4, 2004, since the ban was making it difficult for Cincinnati to book concerts. (Many music acts prefer festival seating because it allows the most enthusiastic fans to get near the stage and generate excitement for the rest of the crowd. In 2002, the city had made a one-time exception to the ban, allowing festival seating for a Bruce Springsteen concert.) Cincinnati was the only city in the U.S. to outlaw festival seating altogether.

Related Topics:
December 3 - 1979 - Riverfront Coliseum - U.S. Bank Arena - The Who - Festival seating - General seating - Stadium seating - First-come, first-served - August 4 - 2004 - 2002 - Bruce Springsteen

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