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Worcester Puts Fosters' Home Up For Auction

February 20, 1872
February 20, 1872

Worcester Puts Fosters' Home Up For Auction

On this day in 1872, Worcester city officials put up for auction the home of Stephen and Abby Kelley Foster. The veteran abolitionists were once again sacrificing their personal well-being to protest an injustice. Ninety-nine...

Deborah Sampson Performs in Boston

March 26, 1802
March 26, 1802

Deborah Sampson Performs in Boston

On this day in 1802, a performance of "The American Heroine" took place in a fashionable Boston theater. The audience watched spellbound as a middle-aged farmwife, dressed in the uniform of a Continental soldier, loaded...

Sumner Attacked in U.S. Senate

May 22, 1856
May 22, 1856

Sumner Attacked in U.S. Senate

On this day in 1856, Preston Brooks, a congressman from South Carolina, viciously attacked Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner on the floor of the United States Senate. Three days earlier, in a passionate anti-slavery speech, Sumner...

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...

Edward Everett Gives Gettysburg Address

November 19, 1863
November 19, 1863

Edward Everett Gives Gettysburg Address

On this day in 1863, Edward Everett spoke at the dedication of Gettysburg's National Cemetery, giving what is remembered today as the other Gettysburg Address. The Boston orator was the obvious choice for the occasion....

Professor's Murder Trial Begins

March 19, 1850
March 19, 1850

Professor's Murder Trial Begins

On this day in 1850, a sensational murder trial began in Boston. Both the victim and the accused belonged to the city's social elite. The case had been closely followed ever since the dismembered body...

"Snow Hurricane" Hits Massachusetts

October 10, 1804
October 10, 1804

"Snow Hurricane" Hits Massachusetts

On this day in 1804, a "snow hurricane" struck Massachusetts. The storm began with winds so powerful that whole forests were leveled. Houses, barns, chimneys, and church steeples came crashing down. Even when the wind...

Evangelist Billy Sunday Draws 70,000 to Boston Revival

November 12, 1916
November 12, 1916

Evangelist Billy Sunday Draws 70,000 to Boston Revival

On this day in 1916, 55,000 people came to hear Billy Sunday preach in Boston. An overflow crowd of 15,000 had to be turned away from the temporary tabernacle that had been erected on Huntington...

William Dawes Dies

February 25, 1799
February 25, 1799

William Dawes Dies

On this day in 1799, William Dawes died. The first man to be dispatched on the night of April 18, 1775, Dawes carried the same message as Paul Revere, but while Revere rowed across the...

Indians in Mashpee Demand Self-Government

May 21, 1833
May 21, 1833

Indians in Mashpee Demand Self-Government

On this day in 1833, the Mashpee of Cape Cod signed what amounted to an Indian Declaration of Independence. They reminded officials in Boston that "all men are born free and Equal, as says the...

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