Speaking of the American Revolution, Philadelphia has thee most underrated historical site in the nation. Most people visiting the historical sites visit the Historical District in Old City. However, the only surviving Revolutionary battlefield site within Philadelphia is located off the beaten path next to Philadelphia International Airport. During The Siege, Fort Mifflin holds British naval supply ships at bay in the Delaware River for six weeks, while General Washington (1732-1799) marches his army into Valley Forge to be properly trained. If it is not for Fort Mifflin, the British could have conquered the Continental Army, and we would be British subjects. Despite being the largest bombardment during the Revolution, you will not find Fort Mifflin in any school history textbooks, leaving it virtually unknown to the general public.

Our sports teams always have the underdog title spot across the board. The 76ers, the Flyers, the Phillies, and the Eagles all win championships, brandishing our reputation as the underdog. During the 2017 season, the Eagles' defensive end, Chris Long (1985- ) and right tackle, Lane Johnson (1990- ), cement our reputation as underdogs into the history books when they decide to wear German Shepherd masks to celebrate their playoff win on January 13, 2018. Creating a city-wide phenomenon, they wear their masks all the way to their Super Bowl victory.

Other cities may have underdog stories, but we are bred with the underdog mentality. It is in our blood. You do not necessarily have to be born here to be a Philadelphian. The most notable example is Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), who is a runaway from Boston when he lands on the docks of Philadelphia and builds his reputation as a printer, scientist, author, postmaster, civic leader, and Founding Father.

This was not lost on a young boy who moves to Philadelphia with his mother. Living through the formative years of his teenage life in the Holme Circle section of Northeast Philadelphia, he experiences the neighborhoods that this city is so famous for; he rides the subway and admires sports figures like boxing legend Rocky Marciano (1923-1969). The underdog mentality stays with this young man his entire life. He moves to New York to begin his acting career before moving to Los Angeles. Not getting the roles he wants and struggling to prove himself as an actor, he is frustrated on the night of March 24, 1975. He is watching a boxing match. Although he loses the fight, underdog Chuck Wepner (1939-) knocks heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali (1942-2016) down in the 15th round. That is the moment when this young actor has the epiphany that if no one is going to give him the shot he needs to become the actor he knows he is, he will create it himself.

Sylvester Stallone (1946-) writes the original screenplay for Rocky in three days. Film studios love the story and begin trying to buy it off of him so they can cast a big-name actor to play the title role. Despite being flat broke, Stallone turns down several offers going as high as
$360, 000. He doesn't want a big-name actor in that role. Although his response has been simplified to the phrase "I play Rocky", what he actually tells executives is "No way. You don’t understand, I wrote this for me. It’s my story. It’s mine.”. He goes on to star in the role that has now become the fictional symbol of the Philadelphia underdog, Rocky Balboa.

The character may be fictional, but the impact that he makes not only on the city in which he is born, but on people all over the world, is very real. Mike Kunda (1968- ) has dedicated his life to being the ultimate award-winning Sylvester Stallone impersonator. He began emulating his characters at the age of 11, wrote the book Cue The Rocky Music about his inspirational story, and became the subject of the documentary The Pretender.