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Henry David Thoreau Spends Night in Jail
Henry David Thoreau Spends Night in Jail
On this day in 1846, Henry David Thoreau left his cabin at Walden Pond for a brief walk into town and ended up in the Concord jail for refusing to pay his poll tax. A...
Bread and Roses Strike Begins
Bread and Roses Strike Begins
On this day in 1912, the labor protest later known as the "Bread and Roses" strike began in Lawrence. A new state law had reduced the maximum workweek from 56 to 54 hours. Factory owners...
Perkins School for the Blind Incorporated
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...
Blizzard Paralyzes Massachusetts
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...
Rebels Attack Springfield Arsenal
Rebels Attack Springfield Arsenal
On this day in 1787, 2,000 farmers from western Massachusetts attacked the new federal arsenal at Springfield. The government soldiers returned fire, killing three of the farmers. This was the beginning of the end of...
Angelina Grimke Addresses Legislature
Angelina Grimke Addresses Legislature
On this day in 1838 a woman addressed a legislative body for the first time in American history. An overflow crowd gathered at the State House in Boston as Angelina Grimké, daughter of a South...
54th Massachusetts Regiment Marches Through Boston
54th Massachusetts Regiment Marches Through Boston
On this day in 1863, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first black regiment from the North, paraded in full dress uniform on Boston Common. Crowds cheered as 1,007 black soldiers and 37 white officers...
Great Molasses Flood
Great Molasses Flood
On this day in 1919, people in Boston's North End were startled by a loud rumbling noise. They watched in horror as a five-story tank broke apart, unleashing a wave of molasses 15 feet high...
Holyoke Man Invents Volleyball
Holyoke Man Invents Volleyball
On this day in 1895, a new game was first played at the YMCA in Holyoke. Many of the men who came to the Y were excited about another new game, basketball, but the Holyoke...
Lizzie Borden's Father and Stepmother Murdered
Lizzie Borden's Father and Stepmother Murdered
On this day in 1892, a prosperous banker and his wife were hacked to death with a hatchet in their Fall River home. Suspicion immediately focused on the man's unmarried 32-year-old daughter, Lizzie Borden. Basing...