Trending Moments
Site for Cambridge Selected
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...
Ponzi Scheme Begins to Unravel
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,...
Firemen and Irish Clash in Boston Riot
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...
Boston Public Library Receives $1 Million Donation
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,...
Horatio Alger Born
Horatio Alger Born
On this day in 1832, Horatio Alger was born in Revere. The author of the rags-to-riches stories that captured the imagination of generations of American boys, Alger was always more interested in literature than in...
Smithsonian Puts Julia Child's Kitchen on Display
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...
Alice Freeman and George Palmer Marry
Alice Freeman and George Palmer Marry
On this day in 1887, Alice Freeman, charismatic president of Wellesley College, wed Harvard professor George Palmer, to the consternation of many Boston intellectuals. In her six years as president, Freeman had transformed the fledgling...
State Acts to Protect Mt. Greylock
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,...
First CCC Enrollees Arrive at Ft. Devens
First CCC Enrollees Arrive at Ft. Devens
On this day in 1933, the first enrollees of the Massachusetts Civilian Conservation Corps arrived at Fort Devens in Ayer. They were soldiers in a peacetime army that, in the words of the men who...
Maria Mitchell Discovers Comet
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...