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First Esperanto Society Formed

February 16, 1905
February 16, 1905

First Esperanto Society Formed

On this day in 1905, the first Esperanto Society in the United States was established in Boston. Invented by a Polish doctor in the 1880s, Esperanto was an entirely new language created to promote international...

Poet Anne Sexton Publishes First Book

April 22, 1960
April 22, 1960

Poet Anne Sexton Publishes First Book

On this day in 1960, Massachusetts poet Anne Sexton had her first collection of poems published, To Bedlam and Part Way Back. Just before the manuscript was to go to press, she made major changes...

Red Sox Win World Series

October 27, 2004
October 27, 2004

Red Sox Win World Series

On this day in 2004, the Boston Red Sox ended an 86-year drought and buried the "Curse of the Bambino." They won the World Series! Their sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals was almost —...

Elizabeth Porter Phelps Born

November 24, 1747
November 24, 1747

Elizabeth Porter Phelps Born

On this day in 1747, Elizabeth Porter was born in the Connecticut River Valley village of Hadley. Five years later, her father built the first house outside the town center. He called it "Forty Acres."...

"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...

Newburyport Fire Leads to Execution for Arson

May 18, 1820
May 18, 1820

Newburyport Fire Leads to Execution for Arson

On this day in 1820, a barn filled with hay burned to the ground in Newburyport. Just three days later, cries of "fire" alarmed the town again. Terrified residents were convinced they had an arsonist...

Boston Receives First Transcontinental TV Broadcast

September 4, 1951
September 4, 1951

Boston Receives First Transcontinental TV Broadcast

On this day in 1951, anyone in Boston with access to a television set could be part of history — a program was transmitted live from coast-to-coast for the first time ever. President Harry Truman's...

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...

Hemingway Room Dedicated at JFK Library

July 18, 1980
July 18, 1980

Hemingway Room Dedicated at JFK Library

On this day in 1980, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Ernest Hemingway's son Patrick dedicated the Hemingway Room at the recently opened John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston. The Nobel-prize winning author and the...

UMass Researchers Clone Calves

January 20, 1998
January 20, 1998

UMass Researchers Clone Calves

On this day in 1998, two researchers affiliated with the University of Massachusetts drew worldwide attention when they went public with a birth announcement. The new arrivals, named Charlie and George, were genetically-identical Holstein calves....

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