Trending Moments
First Train Reaches Provincetown
First Train Reaches Provincetown
On this day in 1873, the first train arrived at the tip of Cape Cod. The streets were bedecked with flags and streamers as 13 bright yellow coach cars, filled to capacity, pulled into Provincetown....
Sculptor Edmonia Lewis Displays Work in Boston
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...
Boston Doctors Use First Iron Lung
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,...
Hurricane Devastates New England
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...
Architect H.H. Richardson Born
Architect H.H. Richardson Born
On this day in 1838, Henry Hobson Richardson, one of the true geniuses of American architecture, was born. A native of Louisiana, he received his architectural training in Paris. But the ties he formed during...
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...
Washington Commissions First Naval Officer
Washington Commissions First Naval Officer
On this day in 1775, General George Washington commissioned Nicholson Broughton captain "in the Army of the United Colonies of North America." Broughton had a novel assignment: The Marblehead man was to be master of...
Native American Writer Born
Native American Writer Born
On this day in 1798, a member of the Pequot tribe named William Apess was born in Colrain, a village in western Massachusetts. Although his childhood was marked by poverty and abuse, he learned to...
Massachusetts Approves State Constitution
Massachusetts Approves State Constitution
On this day in 1780, the Massachusetts constitution was declared ratified. The previous fall, the world's first constitutional convention had met in Cambridge. A committee was chosen to write a constitution for the new state;...
Ground Broken for Symphony Hall
Ground Broken for Symphony Hall
On this day in 1899, ground was broken for Boston's Symphony Hall. From the day it was completed a year and a half later, the building would be considered one of finest concert halls in...