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Activist Florence Luscomb Born

February 6, 1887
February 6, 1887

Activist Florence Luscomb Born

On this day in 1887, lifelong political activist Florence Luscomb was born in Lowell. As a child, she heard the legendary Susan B. Anthony speak. In her 20s, she traveled the state campaigning for woman...

Activists Erect Tent City in Boston

April 27, 1968
April 27, 1968

Activists Erect Tent City in Boston

On this day in 1968, hundreds of demonstrators occupied a parking lot in Boston's South End. Houses on the site had recently been demolished, and their occupants displaced. To protest this kind of "urban renewal,"...

Five Die in Boston Massacre

March 5, 1770
March 5, 1770

Five Die in Boston Massacre

On this day in 1770, Crispus Attucks, a black man from Framingham, and four other civilians were shot by British soldiers. Attucks worked on whaling ships and, between voyages, as a semi-skilled laborer around the...

Boston Celebrates First Evacuation Day

March 17, 1901
March 17, 1901

Boston Celebrates First Evacuation Day

On this day in 1901, the City of Boston officially celebrated Evacuation Day for the first time. In early March of 1776, Continental troops managed to move heavy cannon to the top of Dorchester Heights....

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...

Margaret Marshall Appointed to Supreme Judicial Court

October 14, 1999
October 14, 1999

Margaret Marshall Appointed to Supreme Judicial Court

On this day in 1999, Margaret Marshall became the first woman appointed Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. The oldest court in the Western Hemisphere, the SJC was established in 1693 in the...

Alcott Family Arrives at Fruitlands

June 1, 1843
June 1, 1843

Alcott Family Arrives at Fruitlands

On this day in 1843, a group of three adults and five children made its way from Concord to the town of Harvard. Their destination was an old and dilapidated farmhouse in a beautiful but...

German U-Boat Attacks Cape Cod

July 21, 1918
July 21, 1918

German U-Boat Attacks Cape Cod

On this day in 1918, people in the Cape Cod town of Orleans were astonished to see a German U-boat surface offshore and begin firing on an unarmed tugboat and the four barges it was...

News of Peace Treaty Reaches Boston

February 12, 1815
February 12, 1815

News of Peace Treaty Reaches Boston

On this day in 1815, news reached Boston that the War of 1812 was over. The U.S. had at first been a neutral party in a conflict between Britain and France. But when the British...

Blizzard Shuts Down Massachusetts

March 11, 1888
March 11, 1888

Blizzard Shuts Down Massachusetts

On this day in 1888, ordinary life in Massachusetts came to a standstill. One of the most destructive blizzards ever to strike the East Coast raged for 36 hours. Called "the White Hurricane," the storm...

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