In 1923, a bomb ripped through a Northwest Philadelphia home.

This event, improbably, has ties to Benito Mussolini and the most famous Pennsylvanian on earth.

How?

I'll explain in the thread below... The bomb-damaged home belonged to a man named Charles Carmine Antonio Baldi.

Born in the Campania region of Italy in 1862, C.C.A. Baldi's story was a classic immigrant-success tale.

Baldi arrived to Philadelphia in 1877, where he started out as a fruit peddler.

In 1956, Philly officials proposed building 21 public housing projects in mostly white neighborhoods.

After 25 years of fierce — sometimes violent —resistance…only one project was ever built.

We begin with a headline from today’s Daily News in 1982:

“Whitman Move-In”

🧵... That headline refers to Whitman Park, a 120-unit housing project tucked into a white, working class South Philly neighborhood.

The first families moved into Whitman Park in 1982.

Why was this newsworthy? Well…because of the long struggle that preceded it.

The first time the Beatles visited Philadelphia they were secretly smuggled into the city…with the help of Frank Rizzo.

Or so the story goes…

Our “Headline of Yore” this week comes from today’s Camden Courier Post in 1964:

“Beatles Hypnotism Fills Shore Hall”

🧵... If you have a passing knowledge of pop music history, you know the Beatles landed in America in 1964.

Their February appearance on the Ed Sullivan show gets most of the attention, but their first American tour was actually in August/September of that year.

This week’s “Headline of Yore” takes us to a critical juncture in a historic strike, one that brought much of Philadelphia to a halt.

From today’s Inquirer in 1910, we have the headline:

"State Police Are Summoned to Aid City Authorities"

Let’s thread… There have been a LOT of transit strikes in Philly history. You’ve likely lived through some.

But the one that began in 1910 was a different beast.

This is the story of the groundbreaking scientist who believed in ghosts, came to Philly to prove his point, and got roasted.

Our “Headline of Yore” is from today’s Evening Public Ledger in 1920

“Psychic Experts Rough on Lodge”

Thread time! First, let’s meet the scientist: Sir Oliver Lodge.

Surely you’ve heard about the time a Pennsylvania state official claimed that a bunch of college students took LSD and went blind?

You haven’t?

Well then sit back and read this week’s “Headline of Yore.”

From today’s Inquirer in 1968:

“Shafer Demands LSD Data.”

Thread…

Our story begins with a man named Dr. Norman M. Yoder.

He was Pennsylvania’s State Commissioner for the Blind. And for years, it seems, he was a model public servant.

I found no record of discord or erratic behavior. Just a guy doing his job.

104 years ago, Philadelphia was ground zero in the battle to define free speech in America.

And for this week’s “Headline of Yore” thread we’re exploring that topic with a headline from today’s Inquirer in 1917:

“Police Arrest 49 Socialists”

Let’s thread… This headline is about a rather astonishing incident where a South Philly police officer drew a gun on a room of socialists at 7th and Dickinson, ultimately arresting all of them.

50 years ago today, a fairly remarkable thing happened in the world of #phled.

Richardson Dilworth -- former mayor and current school board president -- proposed breaking up the suburban school districts and merging them with Philadelphia.

Yes, this happened....(thread) The School District of Philadelphia was in dire financial straits in 1971.

Dilworth said the only path to solvency was to create 12 mega districts. Each would include a portion of Philadelphia and portion of the suburbs and educate 50,000 students at maximum.

I'm looking right now at a spreadsheet of which parents chose virtual education in Philly and which chose in-person...and I'll say this:

Your assumptions are probably wrong. #PHLed (mini-thread) Quick reminder: Back in November the district said it would invite students in grades K-2 to attend school in-person...if they wanted.

That never happened. But the district did ask parents to choose between in-person and online learning...