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Blizzard Shuts Down Massachusetts
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...
David Walker Found Dead
David Walker Found Dead
On this day in 1830, David Walker, a prominent and outspoken black man, was found dead in his Boston home. The year before he had written David Walker's Appeal To the Coloured Citizens of the...
Dunkin’ Donuts Founder Dies
Dunkin’ Donuts Founder Dies
On this day in 2002, Dorchester native William Rosenberg, who made a morning stop for coffee and donuts a national habit, died at the age of 86. In a classic rags-to-riches story, the Dunkin' Donuts...
Charlestown Convent Lies in Ruins
Charlestown Convent Lies in Ruins
On this day in 1834, the Ursuline Convent in Charlestown lay in ruins. The night before, a Protestant mob sacked it and burned it to the ground. The nuns who lived in the elegant building...
Dr. Boylston Experiments with Smallpox Inoculation
Dr. Boylston Experiments with Smallpox Inoculation
On this day in 1721, Boston doctor Zabdiel Boylston took a gamble with his young son's life and inoculated him against smallpox. Puritan minister Cotton Mather had learned from one of his slaves that in...
Abenaki Warriors Attack Groton
Abenaki Warriors Attack Groton
On this day in 1694, Abenaki warriors raided the frontier town of Groton, on the western edge of Middlesex County. Striking at daybreak, they killed 20 people and took 12 captives, most of them children....
Balloonist Takes First Aerial Photograph
Balloonist Takes First Aerial Photograph
On this day in 1860, Boston newspapers carried an advertisement for an extraordinary event: photographer James Wallace Black would photograph Boston from a hot-air balloon hovering over the city. Black accomplished this well-publicized feat five...
Lucy Terry Prince Composes Poem
Lucy Terry Prince Composes Poem
On this day in 1746, Lucy Terry Prince was among the residents of Deerfield present during an Abenaki raid on the village. Lucy, an enslaved woman, described the horrific event in "The Bars Fight," the earliest...
Silvio Conte Dies
Silvio Conte Dies
On this day in 1991, Representative Silvio Conte died at age 70. A Republican in a largely Democratic state, more liberal than most members of his party, the Pittsfield native never lost an election in...
Woman's Rights Pioneer Lucy Stone Born
Woman's Rights Pioneer Lucy Stone Born
On this day in 1818, woman's rights pioneer Lucy Stone was born on a farm in West Brookfield. Her mother greeted the news that her sixth child was a girl by exclaiming, "Oh Dear! I...