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Salem Brothers Incorporate Game Company

December 12, 1901
December 12, 1901

Salem Brothers Incorporate Game Company

On this day in 1901, George, Charles, and Edward Parker incorporated a game company: Parker Brothers. Started by George in 1883 with a single, self-invented game named Banking, Parker Brothers quickly capitalized on the nation's...

Duxbury Dedicates Standish Monument

October 7, 1872
October 7, 1872

Duxbury Dedicates Standish Monument

On this day in 1872, a crowd of 10,000 climbed to the top of Captain's Hill in Duxbury to watch the cornerstone being laid for the Myles Standish Monument. Military leader of the Plymouth Colony,...

Dracut Pilot Dies on American Airlines Flight #11

September 11, 2001
September 11, 2001

Dracut Pilot Dies on American Airlines Flight #11

On this day in 2001, American Airlines pilot John Ogonowski made the familiar drive from his farm in Dracut to Logan airport. He was sorry he would miss a special event scheduled for later that...

Massachusetts Approves State Constitution

June 16, 1780
June 16, 1780

Massachusetts Approves State Constitution

On this day in 1780, the Massachusetts constitution was declared ratified. The previous fall, the world's first constitutional convention had met in Cambridge. A committee was chosen to write a constitution for the new state;...

Ceremony Honors Early Indian Students

May 3, 1997
May 3, 1997

Ceremony Honors Early Indian Students

On this day in 1997, over 300 people gathered in Harvard Yard to commemorate a long forgotten part of the college's history. A plaque was unveiled that read, "Near this spot, from 1655 to 1698,...

Washington Commissions First Naval Officer

September 2, 1775
September 2, 1775

Washington Commissions First Naval Officer

On this day in 1775, General George Washington commissioned Nicholson Broughton captain "in the Army of the United Colonies of North America." Broughton had a novel assignment: The Marblehead man was to be master of...

Transcendentalists Publish The Dial

June 30, 1840
June 30, 1840

Transcendentalists Publish The Dial

On this day in 1840 the first issue of the Transcendentalist magazine "The Dial" was published in Boston. The moving force behind this "journal in a new spirit" was Ralph Waldo Emerson, the man who...

Workers Complete Hoosac Tunnel

November 27, 1874
November 27, 1874

Workers Complete Hoosac Tunnel

On this day in 1874, workers in the small western Massachusetts town of Florida finished the Hoosac Tunnel, bringing to completion one of the world's most ambitious engineering projects. The Hoosac Mountain Range had long...

James Otis, Jr., Enrages Colonial Governor

June 21, 1768
June 21, 1768

James Otis, Jr., Enrages Colonial Governor

On this day in 1768, James Otis, Jr. gave a characteristically fiery speech to his fellow legislators in Boston. He referred to the British House of Commons as a gathering of "button-makers, horse jockey gamesters,...

Painter John Singleton Copley Born

July 3, 1738
July 3, 1738

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...

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