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Revenue Cutter Service School Established in New Bedford

July 31, 1876
July 31, 1876

Revenue Cutter Service School Established in New Bedford

On this day in 1876, Congress established at New Bedford the first School of Instruction to train officers for the Revenue Service. The Service traced its history back to 1790 when Congress decided it needed...

Charlestown Convent Lies in Ruins

August 12, 1834
August 12, 1834

Charlestown Convent Lies in Ruins

On this day in 1834, the Ursuline Convent in Charlestown lay in ruins. The night before, a Protestant mob sacked it and burned it to the ground. The nuns who lived in the elegant building...

Dr. Susan Dimock Begins Medical Residency

August 20, 1872
August 20, 1872

Dr. Susan Dimock Begins Medical Residency

On this day in 1872, Dr. Susan Dimock became the resident physician at the New England Hospital for Women and Children in Boston. Only a month earlier, she had returned from medical school in Europe,...

Brandeis University Receives Phi Beta Kappa Charter

August 30, 1961
August 30, 1961

Brandeis University Receives Phi Beta Kappa Charter

On this day in 1961, Brandeis University received good news. Less than a decade after accepting its first students, the school had been given approval to start a chapter of the prestigious national honor society,...

Boston Public Library Receives $1 Million Donation

September 5, 1947
September 5, 1947

Boston Public Library Receives $1 Million Donation

On this day in 1947, self-made millionaire John Deferrari donated over $1,000,000 to the Boston Public Library to express his gratitude to the institution he credited with his success. The son of poor Italian immigrants,...

Amherst's Troops Camp on Boston Common

September 18, 1758
September 18, 1758

Amherst's Troops Camp on Boston Common

On this day in 1758, 4,500 British troops under the command of Jeffrey Amherst camped on Boston Common before setting off to fight the French. Newly promoted to Major-General, Amherst had recently engineered an important...

First Merriam-Webster Dictionary Published in Springfield

September 24, 1847
September 24, 1847

First Merriam-Webster Dictionary Published in Springfield

On this day in 1847, Charles and George Merriam of Springfield published the first edition of The American Dictionary of the English Language. Four years earlier, the brothers had decided to take a major risk....

Maria Mitchell Discovers Comet

October 1, 1847
October 1, 1847

Maria Mitchell Discovers Comet

On this day in 1847, 29-year-old Maria Mitchell stood on the roof of her parent's Nantucket home, focusing her telescope on what she believed to be a faraway star. Suddenly she realized that the blurry...

First Students Arrive at Mt. Holyoke Seminary

November 8, 1837
November 8, 1837

First Students Arrive at Mt. Holyoke Seminary

On this day in 1837, 80 students arrived at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in the Connecticut Valley village of South Hadley. Many had traveled for days to reach what would become the first of the...

George Peabody Thanks Danvers

November 30, 1853
November 30, 1853

George Peabody Thanks Danvers

On this day in 1853, George Peabody thanked the citizens of South Danvers for naming the high school in his honor and immediately set up a $200 account "to be expended as rewards of merit...

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