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Brownies Take a Winter Swim

January 1, 1904
January 1, 1904

Brownies Take a Winter Swim

On this day in 1904, the L Street Brownies held their first New Year's Day swim in Boston Harbor. Every year since then, a crowd of swimmers and an even larger crowd of onlookers has...

Marconi Transmits Radio Message

January 18, 1903
January 18, 1903

Marconi Transmits Radio Message

On this day in 1903, Guglielmo Marconi, the Italian inventor of wireless telegraphy, arrived on Cape Cod hoping to make history. The night was cold but perfectly clear, and the first trans-Atlantic radio transmission, a...

Henry Knox Brings Cannon to Boston

January 24, 1776
January 24, 1776

Henry Knox Brings Cannon to Boston

On this day in 1776, Colonel Henry Knox reached the headquarters of the Continental Army in Cambridge. The young Boston bookseller had pulled off a daring plan. He had led a small group of men...

Blizzard Paralyzes Massachusetts

February 7, 1978
February 7, 1978

Blizzard Paralyzes Massachusetts

On this day in 1978, the storm of the century paralyzed the entire state of Massachusetts. The Blizzard of '78 dropped between two and four feet of snow on the Bay State over the course...

Newbury Offers Wolf Bounty

March 9, 1704
March 9, 1704

Newbury Offers Wolf Bounty

On this day in 1704, the town of Newbury voted to pay a bounty to men who had killed two wolves on Plum Island. Wolves were a threat to the cattle, sheep, and pigs grazing...

Blizzard Shuts Down Massachusetts

March 11, 1888
March 11, 1888

Blizzard Shuts Down Massachusetts

On this day in 1888, ordinary life in Massachusetts came to a standstill. One of the most destructive blizzards ever to strike the East Coast raged for 36 hours. Called "the White Hurricane," the storm...

Flood Devastates Springfield

March 21, 1936
March 21, 1936

Flood Devastates Springfield

On this day in 1936, the worst flood in the state's recorded history inundated the city of Springfield. An unusually cold and snowy winter, followed by a spell of warm and rainy weather, turned the...

Dam Breaks, Causing Catastrophic Flood

May 16, 1874
May 16, 1874

Dam Breaks, Causing Catastrophic Flood

On this day in 1874, on the Mill River in western Massachusetts, an earthenwork dam gave way. A wall of water between 20- and 40-feet high and 300-feet wide rushed downstream. The flood destroyed almost...

Tornado Devastates Worcester

June 9, 1953
June 9, 1953

Tornado Devastates Worcester

On this day in 1953, Worcester County was devastated by the strongest tornado ever to hit New England. With winds close to 300 mph, the twister traveled 46 miles across the county, reaching its peak...

The Stockholm Rams the Andrea Doria

July 25, 1956
July 25, 1956

The Stockholm Rams the Andrea Doria

On this day in 1956, two ocean liners collided in thick fog, approximately 50 miles south of Nantucket. The Stockholm had just left New York City bound for Sweden. The Andrea Doria was due to...

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