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Legislature Designates Day of Remembrance for Armenian Genocide
Legislature Designates Day of Remembrance for Armenian Genocide
On this day in 1990, the 75th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the Massachusetts legislature officially designated the date as a Day of Remembrance for the million and a half Armenians killed in the first...
Dr. Harriot K. Hunt Visits the Shakers
Dr. Harriot K. Hunt Visits the Shakers
On this day in 1848, Dr. Harriot K. Hunt of Boston, one of the nation's first female physicians, made a visit to the Shaker community in Harvard. She found much to her liking. There were...
USS Constitution Launched in Boston
USS Constitution Launched in Boston
On this day in 1797, USS Constitution was launched in Boston. It took three attempts to set the immense ship, reinforced with heavy diagonal planking and copper sheathing, afloat. Shipyard officials warned townspeople to be...
Trainer Discovers Seabiscuit at Suffolk Downs
Trainer Discovers Seabiscuit at Suffolk Downs
On this day in 1936, Tom Smith, an experienced horse trainer, spied an unlikely looking three-year-old Thoroughbred on the track at East Boston's Suffolk Downs. The two exchanged knowing nods. One year later, Smith returned...
Harvard Shakers Record Spiritual Visit
Harvard Shakers Record Spiritual Visit
On this day in 1841, the Shakers in Harvard reported a spiritual visit by their long-dead founder Mother Ann, "Holy Angels," and "ancient Saints and departed spirits." Shaker communities across New England were receiving such...
Babysitter Wins Lottery Jackpot
Babysitter Wins Lottery Jackpot
On this day in 1999, Maria Grasso of Boston won what was then the largest payoff to a single individual in an American lottery — $197,000,000. An immigrant from Chile, Grasso had arrived in the...
Loyalist Despairs at British Defeat
Loyalist Despairs at British Defeat
On this day in 1781, Loyalist lawyer Ward Chipman of Boston wrote despairingly to his friend Jonathan Sewall who had gone into exile in London. Chipman confessed, "the mortification of seeing our Enemies . ....
State House Celebrates "Return of the Colors"
State House Celebrates "Return of the Colors"
On this day in 1865, Governor John Andrew officially received the battered regimental colors of Massachusetts units of the Union Army in a solemn State House ceremony called "The Return of the Flags." It had...
Indian Rights Activist Born in Amherst
Indian Rights Activist Born in Amherst
On this day in 1830, an Amherst College professor and his wife rejoiced at the safe delivery of their second child, Helen Maria Fiske. A lifelong friend of Emily Dickinson and a talented poet in...
Boston Wheelmen Sponsor Nation's First 100-Mile Bicycle Race
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...