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Gloucester Fish Companies Merge

March 31, 1906
March 31, 1906

Gloucester Fish Companies Merge

On this day in 1906, Slade Gorton and Company of Gloucester stunned the fishing industry by announcing that it would merge with three other local fishing companies. With a fleet of 55 vessels, mostly sleek...

Boston Dentist Demonstrates Ether

October 16, 1846
October 16, 1846

Boston Dentist Demonstrates Ether

On this day in 1846, a crowd gathered in the operating theater at Massachusetts General Hospital. A Boston printer with a tumor on his jaw lay on the table. Curious and skeptical physicians and...

Brookline Amateur Wins U.S. Open

September 19, 1913
September 19, 1913

Brookline Amateur Wins U.S. Open

On this day in 1913, at The Country Club in Brookline, 20-year-old Francis Ouimet became the first amateur to win the U.S. Open Golf Tournament. Growing up in an immigrant family across the street from...

Boston Public Library Receives $1 Million Donation

September 5, 1947
September 5, 1947

Boston Public Library Receives $1 Million Donation

On this day in 1947, self-made millionaire John Deferrari donated over $1,000,000 to the Boston Public Library to express his gratitude to the institution he credited with his success. The son of poor Italian immigrants,...

Firemen and Irish Clash in Boston Riot

June 11, 1837
June 11, 1837

Firemen and Irish Clash in Boston Riot

On this day in 1837, an Irish funeral procession and a company of Yankee volunteer firefighters came face-to-face in the streets of Boston. Over the next few hours, the two groups and their supporters fought...

Ponzi Scheme Begins to Unravel

July 24, 1920
July 24, 1920

Ponzi Scheme Begins to Unravel

On this day in 1920, the Boston Post ran a story that ultimately exposed one of the biggest financial swindles in history. In a series of articles that won the paper its first Pulitzer Prize,...

State Acts to Protect Mt. Greylock

June 20, 1898
June 20, 1898

State Acts to Protect Mt. Greylock

On this day in 1898, the legislature established the first state park in Massachusetts on Mount Greylock. The tallest peak in the state, at almost 3500 feet, Greylock is like an island, different in geology,...

Maria Mitchell Discovers Comet

October 1, 1847
October 1, 1847

Maria Mitchell Discovers Comet

On this day in 1847, 29-year-old Maria Mitchell stood on the roof of her parent's Nantucket home, focusing her telescope on what she believed to be a faraway star. Suddenly she realized that the blurry...

Smithsonian Puts Julia Child's Kitchen on Display

August 19, 2002
August 19, 2002

Smithsonian Puts Julia Child's Kitchen on Display

On this day in 2002, a new exhibit opened in Washington, DC. The kitchen in Julia Child's Cambridge home of 32 years had been disassembled and moved to the Smithsonian. Designed by her husband Paul...

Site for Cambridge Selected

December 28, 1630
December 28, 1630

Site for Cambridge Selected

On this day in 1630, the Massachusetts Bay Colony proprietors chose a site along the northern bank of the Charles River for their capital. They named it Newtowne, and laid out an orderly grid of...

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