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Chinese Workers Arrive in North Adams
Chinese Workers Arrive in North Adams
On this day in 1870, a train arrived in North Adams with 75 young men from China hired to replace striking shoe workers. Over 2,000 people watched as the men walked to the factory under...
Patent Office Rules in Favor of Elias Howe
Patent Office Rules in Favor of Elias Howe
On this day in 1854, the battle ended over who owned the patent for the first sewing machine. A federal commission ruled that the patent held by Elias Howe of Cambridge was valid and ordered...
Brookfield Woman Put to Death
Brookfield Woman Put to Death
On this day in 1778, an intelligent and high-spirited beauty from Brookfield became the first woman to be executed in the new American republic. The 32-year-old's crime was indeed horrific: she had arranged for the...
Painter John Singleton Copley Born
Painter John Singleton Copley Born
On this day in 1738, John Singleton Copley was born in Boston to recent Irish immigrants. From these humble beginnings, he became the foremost artist in colonial America. His natural talent, attention to detail, and...
John Adams Dies
John Adams Dies
On this day in 1826, 50 years after the Declaration of Independence was adopted in Philadelphia, John Adams died at home in Braintree. One of the great men of the Revolutionary generation and the second...
Strike Ends in Hopedale
Strike Ends in Hopedale
On this day in 1913, a 13-week strike at the Draper Corporation in Hopedale ended in failure, and the workers returned to their jobs. This was a time of labor unrest throughout the country, but...
Weepin' Willie Robinson Born
Weepin' Willie Robinson Born
On this day in 1926, "Boston's Elder Statesman of the Blues," Weepin' Willie Robinson, was born. Raised in the South, he launched his musical career in Trenton, New Jersey, before coming to Boston in the...
Dr. Harriot K. Hunt Visits the Shakers
Dr. Harriot K. Hunt Visits the Shakers
On this day in 1848, Dr. Harriot K. Hunt of Boston, one of the nation's first female physicians, made a visit to the Shaker community in Harvard. She found much to her liking. There were...
Rockport Women Smash Liquor Barrels
Rockport Women Smash Liquor Barrels
On this day in 1856, 200 women, some of them wielding hatchets and ranging in age from 37 to 75, rampaged through the town of Rockport destroying every container of alcohol they could find. One...
Ted Shawn Theater Opens at Jacob's Pillow
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,...