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Boston Mourns Martin Luther King, Jr.
Boston Mourns Martin Luther King, Jr.
On this day in 1968, Boston crackled with tension. African Americans, enraged by the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis, took to the streets. Community leaders urged calm, police showed restraint, and while...
Brownies Take a Winter Swim
Brownies Take a Winter Swim
On this day in 1904, the L Street Brownies held their first New Year's Day swim in Boston Harbor. Every year since then, a crowd of swimmers and an even larger crowd of onlookers has...
Doug Flutie Throws "Hail Mary" Pass
Doug Flutie Throws "Hail Mary" Pass
On this day in 1984, Doug Flutie threw a last-second "Hail Mary" touchdown pass to Gerard Phelan in the end zone, giving Boston College a 47-45 win over the University of Miami. Considered too short...
Benjamin Franklin Introduces "Silence Dogood"
Benjamin Franklin Introduces "Silence Dogood"
On this day in 1722, the Boston paper The Courant first published a letter from a widow with a keen wit and a gift for satire. Every few weeks, another letter from "Silence Dogood" appeared....
Lynn Shoeworkers Strike
Lynn Shoeworkers Strike
On this day in 1860, thousands of striking shoeworkers filled Lyceum Hall in Lynn. By choosing to begin their protest on Washington's birthday, the strikers were invoking the memory of their revolutionary forefathers. Lynn had...
Lewis Latimer Awarded First Patent
Lewis Latimer Awarded First Patent
On this day in 1874, inventor Lewis Latimer received his first patent. The son of a Virginia couple who had escaped from slavery, he was born and raised in Chelsea. After a stint in the...
Route 128 Opens Boston's High Tech Age
Route 128 Opens Boston's High Tech Age
On this day in 1951, the first segment of Route 128 was opened. By 1956, the expressway stretched 65 miles from Gloucester to Braintree. While officials were confident the road would relieve traffic in Boston...
Massachusetts Bay Colony Bans Catholic Priests
Massachusetts Bay Colony Bans Catholic Priests
On this day in 1647, Massachusetts Bay banned Jesuit priests from the colony on penalty of death. The English Puritans who settled the colony feared the Jesuits for several reasons. First, simply because they were...
Bostonians Respond to Irish Famine
Bostonians Respond to Irish Famine
On this day in 1847, Boston's leading citizens held a meeting at Fanueil Hall in response to news of the famine devastating Ireland. With the failure of the potato crop several years in a row,...
Anti-war Activists Sentenced to Prison
Anti-war Activists Sentenced to Prison
On this day in 1968, four men were sentenced to federal prison for counseling young men to refuse military service. Dubbed the Boston Five, the defendants included famed baby doctor Benjamin Spock and Yale Chaplain...