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Dracut Pilot Dies on American Airlines Flight #11

September 11, 2001
September 11, 2001

Dracut Pilot Dies on American Airlines Flight #11

On this day in 2001, American Airlines pilot John Ogonowski made the familiar drive from his farm in Dracut to Logan airport. He was sorry he would miss a special event scheduled for later that...

Ames Brothers Celebrate "Golden Spike"

May 10, 1869
May 10, 1869

Ames Brothers Celebrate "Golden Spike"

On this day in 1869, officials of the Union Pacific Railroad drove the symbolic "Golden Spike" to mark the completion of the first transcontinental railroad. Telegraph wires attached to the spike and sledgehammer carried the...

Thousands Walk Across Zakim-Bunker Hill Bridge

May 12, 2002
May 12, 2002

Thousands Walk Across Zakim-Bunker Hill Bridge

On this day in 2002, more than 200,000 people celebrated Mother's Day by walking across the Leonard P. Zakim-Bunker Hill Bridge, months before it was open to cars. Built as part of the country's most...

Salem Brothers Incorporate Game Company

December 12, 1901
December 12, 1901

Salem Brothers Incorporate Game Company

On this day in 1901, George, Charles, and Edward Parker incorporated a game company: Parker Brothers. Started by George in 1883 with a single, self-invented game named Banking, Parker Brothers quickly capitalized on the nation's...

Massachusetts Approves State Constitution

June 16, 1780
June 16, 1780

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;...

Captain Absalom Boston Dies on Nantucket

June 6, 1855
June 6, 1855

Captain Absalom Boston Dies on Nantucket

On this day in 1855, Captain Absalom Boston of Nantucket died. In an era when many African Americans worked as seamen, Absalom Boston stood out. In 1822 he captained an all-black crew on the whaleship...

James Otis, Jr., Enrages Colonial Governor

June 21, 1768
June 21, 1768

James Otis, Jr., Enrages Colonial Governor

On this day in 1768, James Otis, Jr. gave a characteristically fiery speech to his fellow legislators in Boston. He referred to the British House of Commons as a gathering of "button-makers, horse jockey gamesters,...

Transcendentalists Publish The Dial

June 30, 1840
June 30, 1840

Transcendentalists Publish The Dial

On this day in 1840 the first issue of the Transcendentalist magazine "The Dial" was published in Boston. The moving force behind this "journal in a new spirit" was Ralph Waldo Emerson, the man who...

Duxbury Dedicates Standish Monument

October 7, 1872
October 7, 1872

Duxbury Dedicates Standish Monument

On this day in 1872, a crowd of 10,000 climbed to the top of Captain's Hill in Duxbury to watch the cornerstone being laid for the Myles Standish Monument. Military leader of the Plymouth Colony,...

Workers Complete Hoosac Tunnel

November 27, 1874
November 27, 1874

Workers Complete Hoosac Tunnel

On this day in 1874, workers in the small western Massachusetts town of Florida finished the Hoosac Tunnel, bringing to completion one of the world's most ambitious engineering projects. The Hoosac Mountain Range had long...

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