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Yiddish Book Rescuer Wins Genius Grant

July 17, 1989
July 17, 1989

Yiddish Book Rescuer Wins Genius Grant

On this day in 1989, an Amherst man who had spent more than a decade scrounging in dumpsters, basements, and attics was awarded a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant." Aaron Lansky led an initially quixotic campaign...

Watertown-built Car Climbs Mt. Washington

August 31, 1899
August 31, 1899

Watertown-built Car Climbs Mt. Washington

On this day in 1899, Newton inventor F.O. Stanley took his wife Flora for a drive — into the record books. Leaving home in a steam-powered Locomobile, built in the Stanley brothers' Watertown shop, the...

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...

Islamic Society Breaks Ground in Roxbury

November 7, 2002
November 7, 2002

Islamic Society Breaks Ground in Roxbury

On this day in 2002, the Islamic Society of Boston held a ceremonial groundbreaking in Roxbury for New England's largest mosque and Islamic cultural center. The Society had grown from a handful of Cambridge-based students...

State House Celebrates "Return of the Colors"

December 22, 1865
December 22, 1865

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...

Boston Movie Mogul Releases First Movie

December 29, 1918
December 29, 1918

Boston Movie Mogul Releases First Movie

On this day in 1918, Louis B. Mayer traveled from his Boston office to New York City for the premiere of his first movie release, the silent film Virtuous Wives. A decade earlier, Mayer had...

Fitchburg Forms Ladies Soldier's Aid Society

September 16, 1861
September 16, 1861

Fitchburg Forms Ladies Soldier's Aid Society

On this day in 1861, more than 100 women in the central Massachusetts town of Fitchburg formed a Ladies Soldier's Aid Society. The organization's mission was to support Union men on the front and assist...

Abner Kneeland Prints Blasphemous Letter

December 20, 1833
December 20, 1833

Abner Kneeland Prints Blasphemous Letter

On this day in 1833, religious and social reformer Abner Kneeland printed a letter deemed so blasphemous by a Massachusetts court that it landed the former clergyman in jail. Kneeland capped 30 years of increasingly...

Hasty Pudding Club Forms at Harvard

September 8, 1795
September 8, 1795

Hasty Pudding Club Forms at Harvard

On this day in 1795, 21 Harvard students gathered in a dorm room and formed a secret social club to cultivate "friendship and patriotism." Members agreed to take turns providing a pot of hasty pudding...

Springfield Dedicates Memorial to Dr. Seuss

May 31, 2002
May 31, 2002

Springfield Dedicates Memorial to Dr. Seuss

On this day in 2002, Springfield celebrated the completion of a memorial to a hometown hero, Dr. Seuss. Located in the Library and Museum Quadrangle is a bronze sculpture garden peopled with characters from Dr....

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