Five Fun Facts about Washington:
• The leader of the Whiskey Rebellion, David Bradford, resided in Washington in the late 1700s.
• In 1781, Washington County became the first county in the country to be named in honor of President George Washington.
•Washington is home to America’s first crematory, founded by Julius Lemoyne, whose house on Wheeling Street, a block over from campus, stands as a historic national landmark.
• When the Pittsburgh Steelers played in Super Bowl XL, the city council of Washington voted to symbolically rename the city to “Steelers, PA” on January 27, 2006, to hold through February 5, 2006. This was done entirely to spite the opposing team, the Washington-based Seattle Seahawks. Some buildings still have not taken down their “Welcome to Steelers, PA” signs.
• Not only does Washington County have the largest collective sheep herd in the state, it also produces the most “sheep-related products.” What those products are, no one seems quite sure.
Famous People from Washington:
David Bradford (leader of the Whiskey Rebellion), George Parros (Anaheim Ducks shooter known as “the ‘Stache”), Edward Goodrich Acheson (inventor of carborundum, aka silicon carbide), Stephen Foster (composer of Oh! Susanna and Camptown Races), Gene Kelly (Pittsburgh native of Singin’ in the Rain fame), Andrew Mellon (Pittsburgh native, financier and founder of Mellon Bank)
Local Slang:
It is not, in fact, a shower. It’s a “shar.”
Rubber bands are virtually unheard of, but “gumbands” abound.
If using “et cetera” rubs you the wrong way, “n’at” will work just fine.
As if there could possibly be confusion, Pittsburghers will almost always ask for an “ink pen.”
Every rose may have its thorn elsewhere in the world, but in southwest Pennsylvania they have “jaggers.”
Despite what the highway signs say, you’re going to “Pixburgh.”
Nothing goes better with a bowl of soup than a “sammich.”
The clothes you put into the washing machine: the “worsh.” What the machine does: it “worshes.”
The South may have “y’all,” but proper Pittsburghers know better—they use “yinz” or “youns.”