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nMt. Holyoke Cable Car Burned

February 17, 1965
February 17, 1965

nMt. Holyoke Cable Car Burned

On this day in 1965, Massachusetts officials burned what was left of the wooden tramway that had carried thousands of people to the summit of Mt. Holyoke. Abandoned for decades, the deteriorating tramway was a...

Jordan Marsh Announces New Store

March 27, 1947
March 27, 1947

Jordan Marsh Announces New Store

On this day in 1947, Jordan, Marsh and Company announced that it was going to build "the greatest department store in the world" in downtown Boston. Almost a hundred years earlier, in 1851, Eben Jordan...

First Whale Watch Departs

April 15, 1975
April 15, 1975

First Whale Watch Departs

On this day in 1975 charter boat captain Al Avellar left Provincetown Harbor with a boatload of school children. They were going to look, not fish. This was the first whale-watching trip on the eastern...

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...

Critic Declares Springsteen Future of Rock and Roll

May 9, 1974
May 9, 1974

Critic Declares Springsteen Future of Rock and Roll

On this day in 1974, 25-year-old Bruce Springsteen played at the Harvard Square Theater in Cambridge. Although popular with the college crowd in the Northeast, Springsteen was not yet a star. That night, he and...

Final Episode of "Cheers" Airs

May 20, 1993
May 20, 1993

Final Episode of "Cheers" Airs

On this day in 1993, the sitcom "Cheers" aired its 275th and final episode. One of the most popular shows in television history, "Cheers" was set in a bar modeled on the Bull and Finch...

The "Big E" Incorporated

May 27, 1914
May 27, 1914

The "Big E" Incorporated

On this day in 1914, a group of western Massachusetts businessmen created a new organization, the Eastern States Agricultural and Industrial Exposition. Its purpose was to promote New England agriculture, which was in serious decline,...

Ground Broken for Symphony Hall

June 12, 1899
June 12, 1899

Ground Broken for Symphony Hall

On this day in 1899, ground was broken for Boston's Symphony Hall. From the day it was completed a year and a half later, the building would be considered one of finest concert halls in...

Ted Shawn Theater Opens at Jacob's Pillow

July 9, 1942
July 9, 1942

Ted Shawn Theater Opens at Jacob's Pillow

On this day in 1942, the first theater in the nation dedicated exclusively to dance opened at Jacob's Pillow in Becket, a small town in the Berkshire Hills. The building was named for Ted Shawn,...

Revere Beach Opens

July 12, 1896
July 12, 1896

Revere Beach Opens

On this day in 1896, 45,000 people gathered in Revere to celebrate the opening of the first public beach in the nation. In 1895 the newly-created Metropolitan Parks Commission had taken ownership of the longest...

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