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First Steamboat Passes Through South Hadley Canal
First Steamboat Passes Through South Hadley Canal
On this day in 1826, the Barnet, the first steamboat to operate on the Connecticut River, passed through the South Hadley Canal on its way to Vermont. For centuries, despite waterfalls along the way, New...
Revolutionary War Commander Artemas Ward Dies
Revolutionary War Commander Artemas Ward Dies
On this day in 1800, the man who commanded the ragtag American force that chased the British Regulars back to Boston following the battles of Lexington and Concord died at home in Shrewsbury. Trusted and...
Boston Police Vote to Unionize, Precipitating Riots
Boston Police Vote to Unionize, Precipitating Riots
On this day in 1919, Boston policemen seeking better wages and working conditions voted to form a union. The Commissioner of Police forbade them to unionize. Tensions escalated until, three weeks later, 19 officers were...
H.L. Mencken Arrested in Boston
H.L. Mencken Arrested in Boston
On this day in 1926, reporter and literary critic H.L. Mencken was arrested on Boston Common for selling a magazine that had been banned by the New England Watch and Ward Society, the city's self-appointed...
Boston Lighthouse Lit for the First Time
Boston Lighthouse Lit for the First Time
On this day in 1716, Boston Light on Little Brewster Island was lit for the first time. The first lighthouse built in North America, the structure weathered 60 years of lightning strikes and hurricane-force winds...
Globe Publishes First "Confidential Chat"
Globe Publishes First "Confidential Chat"
On this day in 1884, The Boston Globe published the first "Housekeepers Column," known since 1922 as "Confidential Chat." Although many Globe reporters at first looked with disdain on a column in which readers —...
Mabel Todd First Describes Emily Dickinson
Mabel Todd First Describes Emily Dickinson
On this day in 1882, Mabel Loomis Todd first recorded her impressions of her mysterious Amherst neighbor. Emily Dickinson always wore white and had her hair arranged "as was the fashion fifteen years ago." "She...
Paul Revere Statue Unveiled
Paul Revere Statue Unveiled
On this day in 1940, a bronze statue of Paul Revere was unveiled in the shadow of the Old North Church. In the crowd of 8,000, stood the sculptor — 79-year-old Cyrus Dallin. He had...
Boston Minister Tried for Inciting a Riot
Boston Minister Tried for Inciting a Riot
On this day in 1855, the case against Boston minister Theodore Parker came to trial. Charged with inciting an abolitionist riot, he defended himself by describing the horrors of slavery. He told the dramatic story...
Jordan Marsh Announces New Store
Jordan Marsh Announces New Store
On this day in 1947, Jordan, Marsh and Company announced that it was going to build "the greatest department store in the world" in downtown Boston. Almost a hundred years earlier, in 1851, Eben Jordan...