Boston wanted to argue that its Revolutionary history could stand toe-to-toe with Philadelphia’s. That was a risky bet.

So The Inquirer’s Dugan Arnett, previously of the Boston Globe, went north to investigate. What followed was less a travel story and more a historical audit.

The Battle of Bunker Hill wasn’t actually fought on Bunker Hill. Plymouth Rock probably wasn’t where the Pilgrims first stepped ashore. Paul Revere never completed the ride he’s famous for. Even Ben Franklin’s grave turned out to be a replica. That’s a tough box score.

None of this is to say Boston isn’t one of America’s great historic cities. It is. The Freedom Trail is worth walking, and the city has every right to celebrate its place in the nation’s founding.

But if you’re going to challenge Philadelphia to a history contest, your greatest hits probably shouldn’t come with so many asterisks.

Meanwhile, Philadelphia is just over here with the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and enough actual founding history that Nicolas Cage based an entire movie around stealing it.

Philadelphia didn’t have to make a case for itself; Boston made it.

If there were ever a week for Philadelphia to catch a break from the weather, this was it.

Instead, the city saw three straight days at or near 100 degrees just as America’s 250th birthday celebration reaches its crescendo. The semiquincentennial parade has been canceled due to extreme heat. Other outdoor events are being canceled or delayed as well. Officials are urging people to rethink their plans, stay hydrated, and check on neighbors. Even SEPTA is slowing trains because of the heat.

Philadelphia has spent years preparing for this once-in-a-generation celebration. The city can’t control the weather, but the weather doesn’t particularly care about 250 years of planning.

Hopefully, the forecast proves just pessimistic enough to keep everyone safe without putting too much of a damper on the festivities. Because nobody wants to spend America’s birthday wondering whether it’s too hot to light the grill.

Soccer fans spent part of this week roasting Boston after noticing the city had already shut down its World Cup Fan Festival, despite still having two knockout matches left to host.

To be fair, Boston only ever planned to keep the festival open through the group stage. Meanwhile, we’re still going.

As the tournament moves into the knockout rounds, Philadelphia still has a Fan Festival, another World Cup match, and America’s 250th birthday celebration all packed into the same week.

So for one more week, Philadelphia still feels like the center of the soccer world.

Philadelphia didn’t need to reinvent its Fourth of July celebration.

For more than three decades, Welcome America handled the festivities with a mix of public funding, private sponsorships, and corporate partners. This year, the city took over the marquee concert, gave it a new name, hired a new producer, and increased the cost to taxpayers to about $15.5 million. Maybe it will be spectacular.

Christina Aguilera, Jill Scott, The Roots, Meek Mill, Will Smith, and a fireworks show over the Parkway sounds like a pretty great night.

But when government spends several times more to replace a system that was already working, it’s fair to ask what taxpayers are getting in return.

Philadelphia deserves a memorable 250th birthday celebration, but it also deserves an explanation for why it became so much more expensive.

You can spend years planning a wedding, but you can’t plan for 300 Croatian soccer fans.

A Philadelphia couple stepped outside City Hall for the classic wedding photos last week and instead found themselves in the middle of a sea of red-and-white checkered print, singing and dancing. The celebration quickly became one of the most joyful viral moments of the World Cup.

The funny part is that the newlyweds weren’t the ones who got crashed. They were the ones who accidentally wandered into Croatia’s party.

The fans serenaded the couple, posed for photos, declared them honorary Croatians, and are now trying to raise money to send them to Croatia for a future trip, Billy Penn reported.

It’s hard to imagine a better advertisement for Philadelphia hosting the World Cup.