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Annie Oakley Purchases Smith & Wesson Gun

April 25, 1888
April 25, 1888

Annie Oakley Purchases Smith & Wesson Gun

On this day in 1888, Annie Oakley, the star female sharpshooter in Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show, purchased a Model 3 handgun made by the Springfield firm of Smith & Wesson. Horace Smith and...

Celtics Coach Red Auerbach Retires

April 28, 1966
April 28, 1966

Celtics Coach Red Auerbach Retires

On this day in 1966, Red Auerbach retired as head coach of the Boston Celtics after leading the team to 11 championships in 16 years. The Brooklyn native was a genius at acquiring talented players...

Boston Jews Petition for First Cemetery

April 29, 1844
April 29, 1844

Boston Jews Petition for First Cemetery

On this day in 1844, members of Boston's first Jewish congregation petitioned city officials to set aside a corner of an East Boston cemetery for their use. When the city refused, the 40 congregants of...

Springfield Armory Closes

April 30, 1968
April 30, 1968

Springfield Armory Closes

On this day in 1968, there was great sadness in Springfield as the city's historic armory closed its doors after nearly two centuries as the leading producer of small arms for the American military. First...

Sarah Remond Ejected from Boston Theater

May 4, 1853
May 4, 1853

Sarah Remond Ejected from Boston Theater

On this day in 1853, Sarah Parker Remond and two other African Americans entered a Boston theater intending to enjoy a Mozart opera. When the manager discovered they were people of color, he directed them...

Winthrop Buys Passage for Ironworkers

May 5, 1643
May 5, 1643

Winthrop Buys Passage for Ironworkers

On this day in 1643, John Winthrop, Jr. paid 50 pounds for the passage of skilled ironworkers from England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Initially, the men worked at the iron works that Winthrop and...

Dewey Proposes Library Classification System

May 8, 1873
May 8, 1873

Dewey Proposes Library Classification System

On this day in 1873, Amherst College junior Melvil Dewey made a proposal to the faculty. He had been working in the college library and was frustrated by the lack of logic in the way...

Critic Declares Springsteen Future of Rock and Roll

May 9, 1974
May 9, 1974

Critic Declares Springsteen Future of Rock and Roll

On this day in 1974, 25-year-old Bruce Springsteen played at the Harvard Square Theater in Cambridge. Although popular with the college crowd in the Northeast, Springsteen was not yet a star. That night, he and...

Ames Brothers Celebrate "Golden Spike"

May 10, 1869
May 10, 1869

Ames Brothers Celebrate "Golden Spike"

On this day in 1869, officials of the Union Pacific Railroad drove the symbolic "Golden Spike" to mark the completion of the first transcontinental railroad. Telegraph wires attached to the spike and sledgehammer carried the...

Globe Publishes First "Confidential Chat"

May 11, 1884
May 11, 1884

Globe Publishes First "Confidential Chat"

On this day in 1884, The Boston Globe published the first "Housekeepers Column," known since 1922 as "Confidential Chat." Although many Globe reporters at first looked with disdain on a column in which readers —...

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