Bonnie Whittaker, aged 12, of Allentown, PA., for her question:

How did Pennsylvania  Get its name?

Charles II of England was a great charmer, He was called the Merry Monarch. But his gay and merry life often led him into debt. He owed a sizable sum of cash to admiral Penn. When the Admiral died, the Icing paid off his debt to the admiral’s son, William Penn. He paid not in money, but in land in the New World.

William Penn was a man of high ideals, He was a Quaker and interested in good government. He planned to form an ideal colony in his new land.  Now his territory in America was beautiful beyond words with rolling hills and thick green forests, He planned to call it New 'Wales.

But Charles, too, was interested in the land he had given away, He heard reports of its beauty and he still remembered Admiral Penn with great affection. In 1682 he overruled Penn’s idea to name the land New Wales. The Merry Monarch himself ordered that the new commonwealth be called Pennsylvania ‑ which means Penn’s hoods ‑ in honor of his old and trusted friend, the admiral.