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Birth Control Pioneer Born

March 24, 1890
March 24, 1890

Birth Control Pioneer Born

On this day in 1890, birth control pioneer John Rock was born in the small Massachusetts town of Marlborough. He was a deeply religious Catholic even as a child. After college and medical school at...

Globe Publishes First "Confidential Chat"

May 11, 1884
May 11, 1884

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 —...

Jordan Marsh Announces New Store

March 27, 1947
March 27, 1947

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...

Boston Minister Tried for Inciting a Riot

April 3, 1855
April 3, 1855

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...

Berkshire-Hathaway Announces Mill Closing

May 7, 1958
May 7, 1958

Berkshire-Hathaway Announces Mill Closing

On this day in 1958, the North Adams Transcript reported that the owners of the Berkshire-Hathaway Company had passed a death sentence on their factory in Adams. The company announced that it was shutting down...

Sculptor Edmonia Lewis Displays Work in Boston

November 11, 1864
November 11, 1864

Sculptor Edmonia Lewis Displays Work in Boston

On this day in 1864, sculptor Edmonia Lewis exhibited two of her early pieces at the Colored Soldiers' Fair in Boston. The daughter of a Native American woman and a black man, Lewis was the...

Vietnam Veterans Arrested on Lexington Green

May 30, 1971
May 30, 1971

Vietnam Veterans Arrested on Lexington Green

On this day in 1971, over 450 anti-war protesters occupied the historic Lexington Green and refused to leave. The Vietnam Veterans Against the War had organized a three-day march from Concord to Boston — Paul...

Hurricane Devastates New England

September 21, 1938
September 21, 1938

Hurricane Devastates New England

On this day in 1938, a hurricane of astonishing force ravaged New England. Having gone to bed the night before to radio forecasts of scattered rain and fresh southerly winds, New Englanders woke on the...

Boston Jews Petition for First Cemetery

April 29, 1844
April 29, 1844

Boston Jews Petition for First Cemetery

On this day in 1844, members of Boston's first Jewish congregation petitioned city officials to set aside a corner of an East Boston cemetery for their use. When the city refused, the 40 congregants of...

Boston Doctors Use First Iron Lung

October 12, 1928
October 12, 1928

Boston Doctors Use First Iron Lung

On this day in 1928, Children's Hospital in Boston was the scene of the first use of an "iron lung." Developed by a young Harvard doctor, it was little more than a galvanized iron box,...

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