Search Results


Fannie Farmer Cookbook Published

January 7, 1896
January 7, 1896

Fannie Farmer Cookbook Published

On this day in 1896, the first edition of the Boston Cooking-School Cookbook was published. Later known as the Fannie Farmer Cookbook, the book was the work of Fannie Farmer, born in Boston and raised...

Lowell Women Sign On to Teach in the West

January 26, 1864
January 26, 1864

Lowell Women Sign On to Teach in the West

On this day in 1864, a visitor from Seattle held a meeting in Lowell. Asa Mercer explained to his largely female audience that there was a great scarcity of teachers in the Washington Territory. Jobs...

Robert Frost Dies

January 29, 1963
January 29, 1963

Robert Frost Dies

On this day in 1963, Robert Frost died, the most popular and renowned American poet of the twentieth century. But his success was a long time in coming. It was as a student at Lawrence...

First African American Graduate of Harvard Born

January 30, 1844
January 30, 1844

First African American Graduate of Harvard Born

On this day in 1844, Richard Greener, the first African American graduate of Harvard, was born. Born in Philadelphia, his mother moved the family to the Boston area in search of educational opportunities for her children....

Father of Psychology Born

February 1, 1844
February 1, 1844

Father of Psychology Born

On this day in 1844 G. Stanley Hall was born in Ashfield. This farm boy from western Massachusetts would become the father of psychology in America. His career was marked by many firsts. In 1878...

First Esperanto Society Formed

February 16, 1905
February 16, 1905

First Esperanto Society Formed

On this day in 1905, the first Esperanto Society in the United States was established in Boston. Invented by a Polish doctor in the 1880s, Esperanto was an entirely new language created to promote international...

Perkins School for the Blind Incorporated

March 2, 1829
March 2, 1829

Perkins School for the Blind Incorporated

On this day in 1829, the New England Asylum for the Blind was incorporated in Boston. The institution opened with six students, but within six years, it had ten times that number. For the first time, blind...

Sophia Smith Endows New Women's College

March 8, 1870
March 8, 1870

Sophia Smith Endows New Women's College

On this day in 1870, a shy but determined woman from Hatfield willed that her fortune be used to establish a women's college in Northampton. The first woman in America to endow a college for...

Charlotte Forten Enters Salem Normal School

March 13, 1855
March 13, 1855

Charlotte Forten Enters Salem Normal School

On this day in 1855, Charlotte Forten passed the entrance examination for the Salem Normal School, one of four colleges recently established in Massachusetts to train teachers. She was the school's first black student. Eighteen...

Professor's Murder Trial Begins

March 19, 1850
March 19, 1850

Professor's Murder Trial Begins

On this day in 1850, a sensational murder trial began in Boston. Both the victim and the accused belonged to the city's social elite. The case had been closely followed ever since the dismembered body...

Mass Moments is a project of Mass Humanities, whose mission is to support programs that use history, literature, philosophy, and the other humanities disciplines to enhance and improve civic life throughout the Commonwealth.

Please consider helping us towards our goals with a donation today.

Interested in sponsoring Mass Moments?

Please add 8 and 9.