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John Howe Spies on Concord, or Not

April 11, 1775
April 11, 1775

John Howe Spies on Concord, or Not

On this day in 1775, John Howe arrived in Concord to spy for British General Gage. He quickly gained the trust of the town's leading patriots. They took him to a storehouse, showed him the...

Abbie Hoffman Dies

April 12, 1989
April 12, 1989

Abbie Hoffman Dies

On this day in 1989, Worcester native Abbie Hoffman died from a drug overdose. A hero of the 1960s counter culture, Hoffman once told a reporter, "I never left Worcester." He was 30 when he...

First CCC Enrollees Arrive at Ft. Devens

April 13, 1933
April 13, 1933

First CCC Enrollees Arrive at Ft. Devens

On this day in 1933, the first enrollees of the Massachusetts Civilian Conservation Corps arrived at Fort Devens in Ayer. They were soldiers in a peacetime army that, in the words of the men who...

Tip O’Neill Announces Run for Congress

April 16, 1952
April 16, 1952

Tip O’Neill Announces Run for Congress

On this day in 1952, Thomas P. ("Tip") O'Neill of Cambridge announced that he would run for the Congressional seat being vacated by John F. Kennedy as Kennedy began a campaign for the Senate. O'Neill...

Battle Begins on Lexington Common

April 19, 1775
April 19, 1775

Battle Begins on Lexington Common

On this day in 1775, the first shots were fired in the cause of American independence. In Ralph Waldo Emerson's famous poem, "the shot heard 'round the world" came from the musket of a Concord...

Marblehead Carved Out of Salem

May 6, 1635
May 6, 1635

Marblehead Carved Out of Salem

On this day in 1635, the General Court of Massachusetts Bay established the town of Marblehead on land that belonged to Salem. The move was meant to punish Salem for allowing Roger Williams to express...

Indians in Mashpee Demand Self-Government

May 21, 1833
May 21, 1833

Indians in Mashpee Demand Self-Government

On this day in 1833, the Mashpee of Cape Cod signed what amounted to an Indian Declaration of Independence. They reminded officials in Boston that "all men are born free and Equal, as says the...

Sumner Attacked in U.S. Senate

May 22, 1856
May 22, 1856

Sumner Attacked in U.S. Senate

On this day in 1856, Preston Brooks, a congressman from South Carolina, viciously attacked Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner on the floor of the United States Senate. Three days earlier, in a passionate anti-slavery speech, Sumner...

Vietnam Veterans Arrested on Lexington Green

May 30, 1971
May 30, 1971

Vietnam Veterans Arrested on Lexington Green

On this day in 1971, over 450 anti-war protesters occupied the historic Lexington Green and refused to leave. The Vietnam Veterans Against the War had organized a three-day march from Concord to Boston — Paul...

Massachusetts Approves State Constitution

June 16, 1780
June 16, 1780

Massachusetts Approves State Constitution

On this day in 1780, the Massachusetts constitution was declared ratified. The previous fall, the world's first constitutional convention had met in Cambridge. A committee was chosen to write a constitution for the new state;...

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