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New Bedford Strikers Cast Vote

October 6, 1928
October 6, 1928

New Bedford Strikers Cast Vote

On this day in 1928, after a bitter six-month strike, the members of New Bedford's Textile Council voted to accept a compromise offer. Faced with overproduction and falling profits, the mill owners had imposed a...

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...

Margaret Marshall Appointed to Supreme Judicial Court

October 14, 1999
October 14, 1999

Margaret Marshall Appointed to Supreme Judicial Court

On this day in 1999, Margaret Marshall became the first woman appointed Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. The oldest court in the Western Hemisphere, the SJC was established in 1693 in the...

Quabbin Reservoir Filled to the Brim

June 22, 1946
June 22, 1946

Quabbin Reservoir Filled to the Brim

On this day in 1946, water flowed over the spillway and officials declared Quabbin Reservoir full. Construction took more than 20 years and required the obliteration of four towns in the Swift River Valley. More...

Worcester Puts Fosters' Home Up For Auction

February 20, 1872
February 20, 1872

Worcester Puts Fosters' Home Up For Auction

On this day in 1872, Worcester city officials put up for auction the home of Stephen and Abby Kelley Foster. The veteran abolitionists were once again sacrificing their personal well-being to protest an injustice. Ninety-nine...

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...

Deborah Sampson Performs in Boston

March 26, 1802
March 26, 1802

Deborah Sampson Performs in Boston

On this day in 1802, a performance of "The American Heroine" took place in a fashionable Boston theater. The audience watched spellbound as a middle-aged farmwife, dressed in the uniform of a Continental soldier, loaded...

Activist Florence Luscomb Born

February 6, 1887
February 6, 1887

Activist Florence Luscomb Born

On this day in 1887, lifelong political activist Florence Luscomb was born in Lowell. As a child, she heard the legendary Susan B. Anthony speak. In her 20s, she traveled the state campaigning for woman...

Doug Flutie Throws "Hail Mary" Pass

November 23, 1984
November 23, 1984

Doug Flutie Throws "Hail Mary" Pass

On this day in 1984, Doug Flutie threw a last-second "Hail Mary" touchdown pass to Gerard Phelan in the end zone, giving Boston College a 47-45 win over the University of Miami. Considered too short...

Route 128 Opens Boston's High Tech Age

August 24, 1951
August 24, 1951

Route 128 Opens Boston's High Tech Age

On this day in 1951, the first segment of Route 128 was opened. By 1956, the expressway stretched 65 miles from Gloucester to Braintree. While officials were confident the road would relieve traffic in Boston...

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