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The Stockholm Rams the Andrea Doria
The Stockholm Rams the Andrea Doria
On this day in 1956, two ocean liners collided in thick fog, approximately 50 miles south of Nantucket. The Stockholm had just left New York City bound for Sweden. The Andrea Doria was due to...
Great Fire Devastates Boston
Great Fire Devastates Boston
On this day in 1872, a monstrous fire nearly destroyed Boston's business district, ravaging the city from the Common to the waterfront. Beginning in a dry goods store, the blaze burned for 15 hours with...
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...
Explorer Gosnold Names "Cape Cod"
Explorer Gosnold Names "Cape Cod"
On this day in 1602, the English explorer Bartholomew Gosnold dropped anchor off the Massachusetts coast. While he and four others went ashore, the rest of the crew pulled in so many cod that they...
First Merriam-Webster Dictionary Published in Springfield
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....
Harvard Students Occupy University Hall
Harvard Students Occupy University Hall
On this day in 1969, Harvard students took over University Hall, one of the college's oldest buildings. Opposed to the escalating war in Vietnam, the protesters demanded Harvard end its Reserve Officers' Training Corps, or...
Underwater Explorer Proves Wreck is Whydah
Underwater Explorer Proves Wreck is Whydah
On this day in 1985, treasure hunter Barry Clifford finally had proof that the wreck he was salvaging off Cape Cod was indeed the pirate ship Whydah. Lost in a violent storm off Wellfleet in...
Bostonians Lay Cornerstone for Bunker Hill Monument
Bostonians Lay Cornerstone for Bunker Hill Monument
On this day in 1825, at the laying of the cornerstone of the Bunker Hill Monument, Daniel Webster addressed a crowd of 100,000, including 190 veterans who had survived the first major battle of the...
Balloonist Takes First Aerial Photograph
Balloonist Takes First Aerial Photograph
On this day in 1860, Boston newspapers carried an advertisement for an extraordinary event: photographer James Wallace Black would photograph Boston from a hot-air balloon hovering over the city. Black accomplished this well-publicized feat five...
Borden Announces Plan to Sell Prince Pasta Plant
Borden Announces Plan to Sell Prince Pasta Plant
On this day in 1997, the Borden company announced a tentative deal to save the Prince pasta factory in Lowell. When Borden closed the failing plant, Senator Ted Kennedy remarked that it was "a sad...