PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Pullman, a part of Chicago, is named after the man who created the sleeping railroad cars. When Pullman porters struck for better pay, led by iconic socialist Eugene Debs, it was the first time that the federal government stepped in breaking a strike.

A garage in Palo Alto, California, is a state landmark. That’s the place that Bill Hewett and Walter Packer tinkered — the start of HP electronics.

All this I learned, not from a history book or this month’s freedom celebrations but from a new book, Biking Through the ‘Hoods: Exploring Fifty American Cities by Bicycle, available at Amazon.

The author, Paul Pinsky, of Washington, DC, gets into sociology as well, describing our very divided-by-color capital in the 60’s, 70’s even into the 80’s.

You don’t have to be a cyclist to enjoy learning about the Flatlands and the North Pacific; but if you’re a biker you’ll savor every site!

Reported By Dr. Marciene Mattleman, KYW Newsradio