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Legislature Designates Day of Remembrance for Armenian Genocide

April 24, 1990
April 24, 1990

Legislature Designates Day of Remembrance for Armenian Genocide

On this day in 1990, the 75th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the Massachusetts legislature officially designated the date as a Day of Remembrance for the million and a half Armenians killed in the first...

Quincy Shipyard Launches First Nuclear Powered Cruiser

July 14, 1959
July 14, 1959

Quincy Shipyard Launches First Nuclear Powered Cruiser

On this day in 1959, the nation's first nuclear-powered cruiser was launched from Fore River Shipyard in Quincy. With its deep and sheltered harbor, Quincy was an ideal site for shipbuilding. Men had been building...

Writer Edith Wharton Builds in Lenox

June 7, 1902
June 7, 1902

Writer Edith Wharton Builds in Lenox

On this day in 1902, the writer Edith Wharton wrote to a friend about a visit to the site of her new home, The Mount, under construction in Lenox: "Lenox has had its usual tonic...

Oak Bluffs Writer Dorothy West Dies

August 16, 1998
August 16, 1998

Oak Bluffs Writer Dorothy West Dies

On this day in 1998, Dorothy West died on Martha's Vineyard. The Boston-born writer was the last living member of the Harlem Renaissance, a movement of African American artists, writers, and musicians that energized American...

Harvard Shakers Record Spiritual Visit

December 30, 1841
December 30, 1841

Harvard Shakers Record Spiritual Visit

On this day in 1841, the Shakers in Harvard reported a spiritual visit by their long-dead founder Mother Ann, "Holy Angels," and "ancient Saints and departed spirits." Shaker communities across New England were receiving such...

Dr. Susan Dimock Begins Medical Residency

August 20, 1872
August 20, 1872

Dr. Susan Dimock Begins Medical Residency

On this day in 1872, Dr. Susan Dimock became the resident physician at the New England Hospital for Women and Children in Boston. Only a month earlier, she had returned from medical school in Europe,...

Berkshire Town Sends Giant Cheese Ball to Washington

July 20, 1801
July 20, 1801

Berkshire Town Sends Giant Cheese Ball to Washington

On this day in 1801, the Berkshire County town of Cheshire made a 1235-pound ball of cheese and shipped it to Washington, D.C. as a gift for the newly-elected President, Thomas Jefferson, who was a...

First Artificial Snow Falls on Mt. Greylock

November 13, 1946
November 13, 1946

First Artificial Snow Falls on Mt. Greylock

On this day in 1946, an airplane flew over Mount Greylock in western Massachusetts and seeded the clouds with super-cooled ice crystals. The first-ever artificially-produced snow melted before it hit the slopes below, but the...

Loyalist Despairs at British Defeat

December 9, 1781
December 9, 1781

Loyalist Despairs at British Defeat

On this day in 1781, Loyalist lawyer Ward Chipman of Boston wrote despairingly to his friend Jonathan Sewall who had gone into exile in London. Chipman confessed, "the mortification of seeing our Enemies . ....

Dr. Harriot K. Hunt Visits the Shakers

July 7, 1848
July 7, 1848

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...

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