http://www.massmoments.org/ A daily almanac of Massachusetts history 1440 Copyright 2006 Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities TheOtherRoom.com CFML RSS Generator Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:00:00 EST en-us Visitors of Mass Moments--a daily almanac of Massachusetts history--can learn more about the Moments presented on the radio, see images and illustrations, read a primary source document, and get suggestions of links to follow and places to visit. Additionally, they can view a timeline to see when a given Moment occurred, and where applicable, a map to see where it happened. Visitors are invited to comment or ask questions about a Moment on our message board, thus providing an on-line community where Bay State history enthusiasts can meet and discuss our past. They can sign up to receive Mass Moments daily in their email, and if they post a question to the message board, they can be notified when someone has responded. Past Moments (those posted since January 1, 2005) are searchable, by key words, subject, time period, and region. A daily almanac of Massachusetts history. Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities Massachusetts almanac, radio program, eMoment, eMoments, Massachusetts history, Bay State, Western Mass, MA, Eastern Mass, Boston, Mass Moments, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, daily history, this day in history, today's history, today in history no http://www.massmoments.org/rss/images/mass_moments_75.jpg http://www.massmoments.org/ info@massmoments.org Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities http://www.massmoments.org/index.cfm?mid=194 On this day in 1738, John Singleton Copley was born in Boston to recent Irish immigrants. From these humble beginnings, he became the foremost artist in colonial America. His natural talent, attention to detail, and determination made up for his lack of formal artistic training. A key ingredient in his success was his ability to paint his subjects in poses and settings borrowed from the English aristocracy they so admired. Although he and his family lived in an elegant mansion on Beacon Hill, Copley was "mortified" that his countrymen considered an artist "little better than a carpenter or shoemaker." When the coming Revolution caused most of his wealthy clients to leave Boston, he left, too. He never returned to his native land. ]]> 03 Jul 2009 04:00:00 EST http://www.massmoments.org/index.cfm?mid=194 On this day in 1738, John Singleton Copley was born in Boston to recent Irish immigrants. From these humble beginnings, he became the foremost artist in colonial America. His natural talent, attention to detail, and determination made up for his lack of formal artistic training. A key ingredient in his success was his ability to paint his subjects in poses and settings borrowed from the English aristocracy they so admired. Although he and his family lived in an elegant mansion on Beacon Hill, Copley was "mortified" that his countrymen considered an artist "little better than a carpenter or shoemaker." When the coming Revolution caused most of his wealthy clients to leave Boston, he left, too. He never returned to his native land. no 0:01:00 Painter John Singleton Copley Born: July 3, 1738 http://www.massmoments.org/index.cfm?mid=193 On this day in 1778, an intelligent and high-spirited beauty from Brookfield became the first woman to be executed in the new American republic. The 32-year-old's crime was indeed horrific: she had arranged for the cold-blooded murder of her husband by three soldiers who fell under her spell. But Bathsheba Spooner was also a victim. She was trapped by social mores that allowed no escape from an abusive husband. Condemned for her Loyalist sympathies, she was rushed to judgment by a community fearful of civil disorder. On the scaffold she declared that "she justly died; that she hoped to see her Christian friends she left behind her, in Heaven, but that none of them might go there in the ignominious manner that she did." ]]> 02 Jul 2009 04:00:00 EST http://www.massmoments.org/index.cfm?mid=193 On this day in 1778, an intelligent and high-spirited beauty from Brookfield became the first woman to be executed in the new American republic. The 32-year-old's crime was indeed horrific: she had arranged for the cold-blooded murder of her husband by three soldiers who fell under her spell. But Bathsheba Spooner was also a victim. She was trapped by social mores that allowed no escape from an abusive husband. Condemned for her Loyalist sympathies, she was rushed to judgment by a community fearful of civil disorder. On the scaffold she declared that "she justly died; that she hoped to see her Christian friends she left behind her, in Heaven, but that none of them might go there in the ignominious manner that she did." no 0:01:00 Brookfield Woman Put to Death: July 2, 1778 http://www.massmoments.org/index.cfm?mid=192 On this day in 1854, the battle ended over who owned the patent for the first sewing machine. A federal commission ruled that the patent held by Elias Howe of Cambridge was valid and ordered all other sewing machine makers to pay him royalties. The tide had turned in the long "sewing machine war," and in the fortunes of Elias Howe. As the sales of sewing machines exploded, he went from poverty to wealth. Ironically, however, it is Isaac Singer, one of the men on the losing side of the case, who is most closely associated with the invention of the sewing machine. It was Singer, working in a Boston shop, who made improvements to Howe's design that resulted in a commercially viable machine. In the summer of 1846 Elias Howe packed up a model of his new invention and traveled from Cambridge to Washington, D.C. On September 10th, he was granted a patent for the first two-thread lock-stitch sewing machine. ]]> 01 Jul 2009 04:00:00 EST http://www.massmoments.org/index.cfm?mid=192 On this day in 1854, the battle ended over who owned the patent for the first sewing machine. A federal commission ruled that the patent held by Elias Howe of Cambridge was valid and ordered all other sewing machine makers to pay him royalties. The tide had turned in the long "sewing machine war," and in the fortunes of Elias Howe. As the sales of sewing machines exploded, he went from poverty to wealth. Ironically, however, it is Isaac Singer, one of the men on the losing side of the case, who is most closely associated with the invention of the sewing machine. It was Singer, working in a Boston shop, who made improvements to Howe's design that resulted in a commercially viable machine. In the summer of 1846 Elias Howe packed up a model of his new invention and traveled from Cambridge to Washington, D.C. On September 10th, he was granted a patent for the first two-thread lock-stitch sewing machine. no 0:01:00 Patent Office Rules in Favor of Elias Howe: July 1, 1854 http://www.massmoments.org/index.cfm?mid=190 On this day in 1840 the first issue of the Transcendentalist magazine "The Dial" was published in Boston. The moving force behind this "journal in a new spirit" was Ralph Waldo Emerson, the man who stood at the center of Transcendentalism. The subject of the quarterly publication -- the first genuinely original journal published in the United States -- was, Emerson wrote, the "state of life and growth [that] is now . . . arriving." The men and women who contributed to "The Dial" were among the best minds of the nineteenth century. The magazine never made money or had more than a few hundred subscribers. It survived for less than four years, but Emerson and his fellow Transcendentalists had unprecedented influence on American culture. ]]> 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 EST http://www.massmoments.org/index.cfm?mid=190 On this day in 1840 the first issue of the Transcendentalist magazine "The Dial" was published in Boston. The moving force behind this "journal in a new spirit" was Ralph Waldo Emerson, the man who stood at the center of Transcendentalism. The subject of the quarterly publication -- the first genuinely original journal published in the United States -- was, Emerson wrote, the "state of life and growth [that] is now . . . arriving." The men and women who contributed to "The Dial" were among the best minds of the nineteenth century. The magazine never made money or had more than a few hundred subscribers. It survived for less than four years, but Emerson and his fellow Transcendentalists had unprecedented influence on American culture. no 0:01:00 Transcendentalists Publish The Dial: June 30, 1830 http://www.massmoments.org/index.cfm?mid=189 On this day in 1936, Tom Smith, an experienced horse trainer, spied an unlikely looking three-year-old Thoroughbred on the track at East Boston's Suffolk Downs. The two exchanged knowing nods. One year later, Smith returned to Suffolk Downs as the horse's trainer; this time, the awkward looking Seabiscuit electrified the crowd and won the Massachusetts Handicap. At the time, Suffolk Downs was not even as old as Seabiscuit. Massachusetts had only legalized betting on horse races in 1935, as the state looked for ways to raise revenue in the midst of the Great Depression. The track opened a mere two months after the gambling law was passed. Seventy years later, Suffolk Downs remains the only major Thoroughbred racetrack in Massachusetts. ]]> 29 Jun 2009 04:00:00 EST http://www.massmoments.org/index.cfm?mid=189 On this day in 1936, Tom Smith, an experienced horse trainer, spied an unlikely looking three-year-old Thoroughbred on the track at East Boston's Suffolk Downs. The two exchanged knowing nods. One year later, Smith returned to Suffolk Downs as the horse's trainer; this time, the awkward looking Seabiscuit electrified the crowd and won the Massachusetts Handicap. At the time, Suffolk Downs was not even as old as Seabiscuit. Massachusetts had only legalized betting on horse races in 1935, as the state looked for ways to raise revenue in the midst of the Great Depression. The track opened a mere two months after the gambling law was passed. Seventy years later, Suffolk Downs remains the only major Thoroughbred racetrack in Massachusetts. no 0:01:00 Trainer Discovers Seabiscuit at Suffolk Downs: June 29, 1936 http://www.massmoments.org/index.cfm?mid=188 On this day in 1830, David Walker, a prominent and outspoken black man, was found dead in his Boston home. The year before he had written David Walker's Appeal To the Coloured Citizens of the World, among the most powerful anti-slavery works ever written. Walker denounced the American institution of slavery as the most oppressive in world history and called on people of African descent to resist slavery and racism by any means. The book terrified southern slave owners, who immediately labeled it seditious. A price was placed on Walker's head: $10,000 if he were brought in alive, $1,000 if dead. Walker's writing would influence virtually every black leader who followed, including W.E.B. DuBois, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X. ]]> 28 Jun 2009 04:00:00 EST http://www.massmoments.org/index.cfm?mid=188 On this day in 1830, David Walker, a prominent and outspoken black man, was found dead in his Boston home. The year before he had written David Walker's Appeal To the Coloured Citizens of the World, among the most powerful anti-slavery works ever written. Walker denounced the American institution of slavery as the most oppressive in world history and called on people of African descent to resist slavery and racism by any means. The book terrified southern slave owners, who immediately labeled it seditious. A price was placed on Walker's head: $10,000 if he were brought in alive, $1,000 if dead. Walker's writing would influence virtually every black leader who followed, including W.E.B. DuBois, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X. no 0:01:00 David Walker Found Dead: June 28, 1830 http://www.massmoments.org/index.cfm?mid=187 On this day in 1925, workmen finished moving an historic Beacon Hill residence back from the brink of destruction. Cambridge Street was slated to be turned from a crooked cobblestone street into a wide thoroughfare, and the Harrison Gray Otis House was in the way. Fortunately, it belonged to the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities. Founded 15 years earlier, the Society had already saved five historic properties from the wrecking ball. Now its own home was threatened. In an old New England tradition, the house was jacked up and moved. It has continued ever since to serve as the headquarters of what is now called Historic New England, the oldest and largest regional historic preservation organization in the nation. ]]> 27 Jun 2009 04:00:00 EST http://www.massmoments.org/index.cfm?mid=187 On this day in 1925, workmen finished moving an historic Beacon Hill residence back from the brink of destruction. Cambridge Street was slated to be turned from a crooked cobblestone street into a wide thoroughfare, and the Harrison Gray Otis House was in the way. Fortunately, it belonged to the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities. Founded 15 years earlier, the Society had already saved five historic properties from the wrecking ball. Now its own home was threatened. In an old New England tradition, the house was jacked up and moved. It has continued ever since to serve as the headquarters of what is now called Historic New England, the oldest and largest regional historic preservation organization in the nation. no 0:01:00 Otis House Moved: June 27, 1925