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Boston Wheelmen Sponsor Nation's First 100-Mile Bicycle Race

September 6, 1882
September 6, 1882

Boston Wheelmen Sponsor Nation's First 100-Mile Bicycle Race

On this day in 1882, seven men took over 12 hours to cover the distance from Worcester to Boston in the nation's first 100-mile bicycle race. Boston was becoming the bicycle capital of America. Pedestrians...

Boston Celebrates 250th Birthday

September 17, 1880
September 17, 1880

Boston Celebrates 250th Birthday

On this day in 1880 Boston celebrated its 250th birthday. For three and a half hours during the day, a column of 14,500 people marched four and a half miles though the city. The festivities...

Foster Furcolo, State's First Italian American Governor, Born

July 29, 1911
July 29, 1911

Foster Furcolo, State's First Italian American Governor, Born

On this day in 1911, Foster Furcolo was born in New Haven. Raised in Connecticut and educated at Yale, Furcolo moved to Springfield after World War II. In 1948 he won a seat in the...

First Artificial Snow Falls on Mt. Greylock

November 13, 1946
November 13, 1946

First Artificial Snow Falls on Mt. Greylock

On this day in 1946, an airplane flew over Mount Greylock in western Massachusetts and seeded the clouds with super-cooled ice crystals. The first-ever artificially-produced snow melted before it hit the slopes below, but the...

Fall River Church Locks Out Priest

December 16, 1884
December 16, 1884

Fall River Church Locks Out Priest

On this day in 1884, a Fall River newspaper reported that French Canadian Roman Catholic parishioners had locked their newly-appointed priest out of their church. When the priest finally gained entry to the building, he...

Boston Holds First "Rat Day"

February 13, 1917
February 13, 1917

Boston Holds First "Rat Day"

On this day in 1917, the Boston Women's Municipal League held the first — and as it happened, only — Rat Day. Increasing numbers of rats infested neighborhoods ranging from the overcrowded North End to...

Oak Bluffs Writer Dorothy West Dies

August 16, 1998
August 16, 1998

Oak Bluffs Writer Dorothy West Dies

On this day in 1998, Dorothy West died on Martha's Vineyard. The Boston-born writer was the last living member of the Harlem Renaissance, a movement of African American artists, writers, and musicians that energized American...

Boston Celebrates Opening of Aqueduct

October 25, 1848
October 25, 1848

Boston Celebrates Opening of Aqueduct

On this day in 1848, 300,000 people from all over New England gathered on Boston Common. They came to celebrate the completion of the city's first municipal water system. With the construction of an aqueduct...

Revenue Cutter Service School Established in New Bedford

July 31, 1876
July 31, 1876

Revenue Cutter Service School Established in New Bedford

On this day in 1876, Congress established at New Bedford the first School of Instruction to train officers for the Revenue Service. The Service traced its history back to 1790 when Congress decided it needed...

"Storm Warriors" Rescue 29 Sailors off Hull

November 25, 1888
November 25, 1888

"Storm Warriors" Rescue 29 Sailors off Hull

On this day in 1888, one of the most ferocious storms of the nineteenth century battered the New England coast. In the seas off Hull, "Storm Warriors," as the men of the United States Life-Saving...

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