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Boston Masons Organize First Grand Lodge in America
Boston Masons Organize First Grand Lodge in America
On this day in 1733, 18 men gathered at the Bunch of Grapes Tavern on King Street in Boston and organized the first Masonic Lodge in North America. The fraternal society was based loosely on...
"Gerrymander" Born in Massachusetts
"Gerrymander" Born in Massachusetts
On this day in 1812, a political monster — the "Gerrymander" — was born in the Massachusetts State House. Governor Elbridge Gerry signed a bill that created oddly-shaped voting districts in several parts of the...
Boston Mourns Martin Luther King, Jr.
Boston Mourns Martin Luther King, Jr.
On this day in 1968, Boston crackled with tension. African Americans, enraged by the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis, took to the streets. Community leaders urged calm, police showed restraint, and while...
Father of Psychology Born
Father of Psychology Born
On this day in 1844 G. Stanley Hall was born in Ashfield. This farm boy from western Massachusetts would become the father of psychology in America. His career was marked by many firsts. In 1878...
Fugitive Slave Anthony Burns Arrested
Fugitive Slave Anthony Burns Arrested
On this day in 1854, Anthony Burns, a fugitive slave from Virginia, was arrested in Boston. His capture enraged black and white abolitionists. Two days after the arrest, a number of them attacked the federal...
Clarence Birdseye Tests Frozen Food
Clarence Birdseye Tests Frozen Food
On this day in 1930, shoppers in Springfield became the first Americans to find frozen food in their grocery stores. A test marketing program was designed to see if people would buy frozen food. And...
Ku Klux Klan Rallies in Worcester
Ku Klux Klan Rallies in Worcester
On this day in 1924, the largest gathering of the Ku Klux Klan ever held in New England took place at the Agricultural Fairgrounds in Worcester. Klansmen in sheets and hoods, new Knights awaiting a...
Quabbin Reservoir Filled to the Brim
Quabbin Reservoir Filled to the Brim
On this day in 1946, water flowed over the spillway and officials declared Quabbin Reservoir full. Construction took more than 20 years and required the obliteration of four towns in the Swift River Valley. More...
James Reeb Dies in Alabama
James Reeb Dies in Alabama
On this day in 1965, a white minister from Boston lay near death in an Alabama hospital. As James Reeb's life slipped away, his story was in every morning paper and on every evening news...
Jonathan Edwards Ordained
Jonathan Edwards Ordained
On this day in 1727, Jonathan Edwards was ordained in Northampton. Two years later, he succeeded his grandfather as minister of what was then the largest and most influential church outside of Boston. He was...