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Charles Dickens Begins Second American Tour
Charles Dickens Begins Second American Tour
On this day in 1867, Charles Dickens began his second American reading tour at Boston's Tremont Temple. An enthusiastic audience, which included literary stars Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Ralph Waldo Emerson, seemed to have forgotten...
Massachusetts Executes Sacco and Vanzetti
Massachusetts Executes Sacco and Vanzetti
On this day in 1927, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were put to death in the state prison in Charlestown. A jury convicted them of murder and robbery in 1921, but a long struggle was...
First Legal Sea Foods Lost to Fire
First Legal Sea Foods Lost to Fire
On this day in 1980, fire destroyed the original Legal Sea Foods fish market and restaurant in Cambridge. The restaurant re-opened, but the business soon outgrew the neighborhood. Today there are 30 family-owned Legal Sea...
Brookfield Woman Put to Death
Brookfield Woman Put to Death
On this day in 1778, an intelligent and high-spirited beauty from Brookfield became the first woman to be executed in the new American republic. The 32-year-old's crime was indeed horrific: she had arranged for the...
Town Meeting Auctions Poor Woman to Lowest Bidder
Town Meeting Auctions Poor Woman to Lowest Bidder
On this day in 1786, Malden's selectmen put up for "vendue" Mary Degresha, who was unable to support herself. They auctioned her off to the lowest bidder, who agreed to accept payment of six dollars...
"Mill Girl" Writer Lucy Larcom Dies
"Mill Girl" Writer Lucy Larcom Dies
On this day in 1893, Lucy Larcom died. A popular poet during her lifetime, she would be forgotten today except for a work of prose that she wrote in 1889. Her autobiography, A New England...
Dewey Proposes Library Classification System
Dewey Proposes Library Classification System
On this day in 1873, Amherst College junior Melvil Dewey made a proposal to the faculty. He had been working in the college library and was frustrated by the lack of logic in the way...
"Good Will Hunting" Released
"Good Will Hunting" Released
On this day in 1997, Miramax released "Good Will Hunting," a movie about the collision of two Boston-area cultures: the heady, prestigious world of Cambridge academia and the proud but gritty working-class brotherhood of South...
Shoppers' World Launches Mall Era
Shoppers' World Launches Mall Era
On this day in 1951, Shoppers' World in Framingham opened for business. The first suburban shopping mall in the Northeast, and only the second in the country, the complex was a revolutionary design. Anchored by...
Dam Breaks, Causing Catastrophic Flood
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...