On this day in 1899, ground was broken for Boston's Symphony Hall. From the day it was completed a year and a half later, the building would be considered one of finest concert halls in the world. The hall was designed by the famous New York firm of McKim, Mead, and White as a new home for the 20-year-old Boston Symphony Orchestra. The architects hired a Harvard physicist to advise them on the shape of the walls, the arrangement of the seats, the stage angles, and the building materials that would produce the best acoustics. In more than a century of use, Symphony Hall has hosted classical musicians, jazz masters, folk singers, and youth concerts, in addition to the regular seasons of the BSO and the Boston Pops.