Cincinnati was founded in 1788 by John Cleves Symmes and Colonel Robert Patterson.
Surveyor John Filson (also the author of The Adventures of Colonel Daniel Boone) named it "Losantiville" 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."
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 a member.
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.
In 1802, Cincinnati was chartered as a village and David Ziegler (1748-1811), a native of Heidelberg, Germany, who fought in the Revolutionary War became the first Mayor.
Cincinnati was incorporated as a city in 1819.
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.
On April 1, 1853, Cincinnati's Fire Department became a paid department, the first full-time paid department in the United States, and the first in the world to use steam fire engines.
Cincinnati nicknames:
The Queen City
Cincy
The Nati
The Queen of the West
The Blue Chip City
The City of Seven Hills
Porkopolis
The Five Bridges:
* The Newport Southbank Bridge (or the Purple People Bridge as some people call it) which goes from Cincinnati to Newport Kentucky.
* The John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge, opened in 1866, links Cincinnati and Covington, Kentucky. This bridge was the prototype for the Brooklyn Bridge, also designed by Roebling.
* The Daniel Carter Beard Bridge connecting Cincinnati to Newport and Cold Spring KY, was finished in 1976.
* The Brent Spence Bridge connecting Cincinnati to Covington and serving as part of one of the largest trucking routes in the United States, I-75/I-71.
* The Clay Wade Bailey Bridge (U.S. Routes 25/42/127, the Dixie Highway) connecting Cincinnati to Covington.
The Seven Hills:
Mount Adams
Walnut Hills
Mount Auburn
Vine Street Hill
Fairmont (now rendered Fairmount)
Mount Harrison (now known as Price Hill)
College Hill
Famous People from Cincinnati:
Benjamin Harrison - 23rd President
William Howard Taft - 27th President
James Gamble - co-founder of Proctor & Gamble
Ted Turner - founder of Turner Broadcasting System
Henry Heimlich - co-developer of the Heimlich Maneuver
George Clooney - actor
Rosemary Clooney - actress and singer
Doris Day - actress and singer
Carmen Electra - actress and singer
Charles Guggenheim - film director
Annie Oakley - actress and sharpshooter
Sarah Jessica Parker - actress
Roy Rogers - actor
Steven Spielberg - film director
Jerry Springer - former mayor and current talk show host
Marty Balin - lead singer for Jefferson Airplane
Bootsy Collins - bass player for Parlaiment Funkadelic
Peter Frampton - musician
Nick Lachey - musician
98deg - pop band
Blessid Union of Souls - rock band
The Isley Brothers - R&B/Soul band
The Pinstripes - ska band
Harriet Beecher Stowe - author and abolitionist
Jim Borgman - cartoonist
Ken Griffey Jr - MLB
Barry Larkin - MLB
Pete Rose - MLB
Roger Staubach - NFL
Amanda Borden - gymnast (gold medal)
Ezzard Charles - heavy-weight boxer
William DeHart Hubbard – first African-American to win an individual Olympic gold medal
Heather Mitts - Women's National Team (soccer)
