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Police Find First Victim of "Boston Strangler"

June 14, 1962
June 14, 1962

Police Find First Victim of "Boston Strangler"

On this day in 1962, police discovered the body of the first victim of the "Boston Strangler." For the next two years, Boston would be paralyzed by fear as the strangling deaths of 13 women...

Brookfield Woman Put to Death

July 2, 1778
July 2, 1778

Brookfield Woman Put to Death

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...

Ponzi Scheme Begins to Unravel

July 24, 1920
July 24, 1920

Ponzi Scheme Begins to Unravel

On this day in 1920, the Boston Post ran a story that ultimately exposed one of the biggest financial swindles in history. In a series of articles that won the paper its first Pulitzer Prize,...

Lizzie Borden's Father and Stepmother Murdered

August 4, 1892
August 4, 1892

Lizzie Borden's Father and Stepmother Murdered

On this day in 1892, a prosperous banker and his wife were hacked to death with a hatchet in their Fall River home. Suspicion immediately focused on the man's unmarried 32-year-old daughter, Lizzie Borden. Basing...

Charlestown Convent Lies in Ruins

August 12, 1834
August 12, 1834

Charlestown Convent Lies in Ruins

On this day in 1834, the Ursuline Convent in Charlestown lay in ruins. The night before, a Protestant mob sacked it and burned it to the ground. The nuns who lived in the elegant building...

Boston Police Vote to Unionize, Precipitating Riots

August 15, 1919
August 15, 1919

Boston Police Vote to Unionize, Precipitating Riots

On this day in 1919, Boston policemen seeking better wages and working conditions voted to form a union. The Commissioner of Police forbade them to unionize. Tensions escalated until, three weeks later, 19 officers were...

Massachusetts Executes Sacco and Vanzetti

August 23, 1927
August 23, 1927

Massachusetts Executes Sacco and Vanzetti

On this day in 1927, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were put to death in the state prison in Charlestown. A jury convicted them of murder and robbery in 1921, but a long struggle was...

Ku Klux Klan Rallies in Worcester

October 19, 1924
October 19, 1924

Ku Klux Klan Rallies in Worcester

On this day in 1924, the largest gathering of the Ku Klux Klan ever held in New England took place at the Agricultural Fairgrounds in Worcester. Klansmen in sheets and hoods, new Knights awaiting a...

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