Don't Miss

New England Historical Society New England History

In Winooski, Vermont, The Company Store Gets Robbed

In 1878, the Burlington Woolen Company decided that it could increase its profits with a company sto...
What They Say About Snow in New England

New Englanders spend countless hours thinking about snow – analyzing it, predicting it, commenting o...
Jonathan Carnes Corners the Pepper Market in 1795

In January 1794, Elias Hasket Derby was eagerly awaiting the return of his ship the Grand Sachem in ...
George Seldes and His Anything-But Mainstream Media

George Seldes, a crusading reporter, always told the truth, always was disliked and didn’t care one ...
John Godfrey Moore and How Acadia National Park Got its Name

John Godfrey Moore loved Maine and money – not necessarily in that order. But it’s fitting that Acad...
Benjamin Edes, Father of the Boston Tea Party and Keeper of Its Secrets

Benjamin Edes instigated and paid for the Boston Tea Party– and, to his death, guarded the secret li...
The Clipper Ship That Built the Sailors Snug Harbor

The weatherbeaten old tars who found refuge in the Sailors Snug Harbor in Quincy, Mass., owed some o...
Flashback Photos: John Calvin Stevens, Designer of Maine

John Calvin Stevens left an indelible mark on Maine by designing more than a thousand buildings in t...

Religion and Social Movements

A Month After Selma, Martin Luther King Marches on Boston

8 days ago 1 Comment

The word ‘freedom’ was very much in the air when 22-year-old Martin Luther King, Jr., settled into his ...
Read More »
Capt. Austin Bearse Befriends Fugitive Slaves

15 days ago 1 Comment
Seven Strange Facts About Colonial Funerals

16 days ago 1 Comment

Arts and Leisure

John Bernard, 18th Century Comedian, Dodges Pirates

2 days ago 0

John Bernard's career in the theater was waning in Britain when an offer came from America in 1797. ...
Read More »
Philip Stansbury Visits Vermont and Finds the French and Indian War Never Ended

3 days ago 0
The Other Boston Tea Party, The Hippest Club in Town

7 days ago 2 Comments

Business and Labor

Three Historic Characters – Bumblebee Titcomb, Fooney Gerrish and Rhymer Toppan

Three Historic Characters – Bumblebee Titcomb, Fooney Gerrish and Rhymer Toppan

5 hours ago

Ginery Twichell Raced Steam Engines on Horseback … and Won

Ginery Twichell Raced Steam Engines on Horseback … and Won

4 days ago

Sleepy John Sears and the Revolutionary White Gold of Cape Cod

Sleepy John Sears and the Revolutionary White Gold of Cape Cod

5 days ago

S. Z. Poli, the Italian Immigrant Who Horrified the Yankees

S. Z. Poli, the Italian Immigrant Who Horrified the Yankees

27 days ago

The Whaling Disaster of 1871

The Whaling Disaster of 1871

December 27, 2014

Sarah Kemble Knight Encounters a Surly Old Shee Creature in New York

Sarah Kemble Knight Encounters a Surly Old Shee Creature in New York

December 21, 2014

Flashback Photo: Sam Slater and the Wildly Successful Startup of 1790

Flashback Photo: Sam Slater and the Wildly Successful Startup of 1790

December 20, 2014

Elsie the Cow – The Massachusetts Starlet Who Brought a Cartoon to Life

Elsie the Cow – The Massachusetts Starlet Who Brought a Cartoon to Life

December 17, 2014

Politics and Military

Facebook Status

New England Historical Society

January 27, 2015 at 10:41 am

The Blizzard of 2015 may be bad, but it can't compare to the Great Snow of 1717.
http://ow.ly/I1mIO

Facebook Picture

Comment

New England Historical Society

January 27, 2015 at 7:52 am

Olde Newburyport of the 1700s had its share of characters, Sarah Anna Emery recalled, who gave the place life, including the stories of ‘Bumblebee’ Titcomb the carpenter, Fooney Gerrish the wigmaker and ‘Rhymer’ Toppan – and how they got their curious nicknames. For more: http://bit.ly/1ENhSBr

Facebook Picture

Comment

New England Historical Society

January 26, 2015 at 8:23 am

In 1793, jubilant Bostonians erected a liberty pole.

But why 1793, well after the Revolution? And didn't Boston have a Liberty Tree? Find out more: http://bit.ly/15AJBsj

Facebook Picture

Comment

New England Historical Society

January 25, 2015 at 5:59 pm

On this day in 1961, President John F. Kennedy held the first live televised presidential press conference. 65 million people watched. He had been president for less than a week.

Kennedy knew he was good on TV. What he didn't realize until about 30 minutes into that first press conference, was that his humor went over well. Really, really well. Read more:
http://bit.ly/1lb0H6F

Facebook Picture

Comment

New England Historical Society

January 25, 2015 at 10:45 am

For most, the sea voyage to America in the 1700s was a dangerous and fairly unpleasant experience. Only John Bernard would find the humor in a pirate attack. http://bit.ly/1utnafc

Facebook Picture

Comment

New England Historical Society

January 24, 2015 at 7:30 pm

King Charles Solomon was a Russian-Jewish gangster who ruled Boston's underworld -- and nightclub scene -- during Prohibition. That is, until he was murdered in the men's room of the Cotton Club. Check out photos before and after the crime that rocked Boston. http://bit.ly/1z5JL91

Facebook Picture

Comment

New England Historical Society

January 24, 2015 at 9:22 am

In 1821, Philiip Stansbury visited the remote town of Swanton Falls, Vermont and he discovered the French and Indian Wars were still going on. For more: http://bit.ly/18aPKgV

Facebook Picture

Comment

New England Historical Society

January 23, 2015 at 9:45 pm

Ginery Twichell rode into legend on horseback in 1846 when he brought the news of the British elections from Boston to New York four hours faster than his rival who traveled by train and steamboat. And that wasn't the half of it. http://bit.ly/1L5mRlc

Facebook Picture

Comment

New England Historical Society

January 22, 2015 at 8:43 pm

Sleepy John Sears was a wily sea captain whose Cape Cod neighbors laughed at his efforts to make white gold from the sea during the American Revolution. When he succeeded, they came up with another name for him. http://bit.ly/1L4ccHv

Facebook Picture

Comment

New England Historical Society

January 21, 2015 at 10:42 pm

Fanny Apthorp thought she knew what she was getting into when she had an affair with her sister's husband, a Revolutionary patriot and powerful lawyer. But she could have had no idea what would happen after she had his baby and committed suicide. http://bit.ly/1EtOQX8

Facebook Picture

Comment

New England Historical Society

January 21, 2015 at 8:11 am

In January, 1865, the Civil War was headed into its fourth year and Asa Mather wrote his sister. His regiment, stationed in Virginia, was ordered to get word to the enemy that the Union had captured the south's last, viable shipping port. Here's how they told them: http://bit.ly/158UYaA

Facebook Picture

Comment

New England Historical Society

January 20, 2015 at 8:21 am

On Jan. 24, 2007, a large group of music people gathered around a small historic marker just placed on a 7-Eleven, which stood on the ground floor of a condominium building. It had once been The Boston Tea Party, the epicenter of Boston's Sixties counterculture. Read about the wild times and famous bands that played there: http://bit.ly/1umQnOC

Facebook Picture

Comment

New England Historical Society

January 19, 2015 at 6:09 pm

When the mills in Burlington, Vermont opened a company store in 1878, it seemed like the end of the line for the small merchants in town. Until the mill agent decided his nephew should run the new venture. For more: http://bit.ly/15nunb7

Facebook Picture

Comment

New England Historical Society

January 19, 2015 at 7:42 am

One month after the Selma marches, Martin Luther King returned to the city he considered his second home. It was 14 years after he first came to the city as a graduate student at BU. "Little did I imagine that such a day was possible when I walked through this same Boston Common as a student," he said. Find out why: http://bit.ly/1wlhrI1

Facebook Picture

Comment

New England Historical Society

January 18, 2015 at 9:01 am

A cold January was an especially dangerous time for deadly fires in towns like Boston and Salem during the early 1800s. The Rev. William Bentley tried to warn the people of Salem against dangerous practices that caused fires. But did they listen? http://bit.ly/1zpzKCY

Facebook Picture

Comment

New England Historical Society

January 17, 2015 at 9:25 am

Anna Green Winslow’s aunt is pregnant, and the youngest diarist in Colonial Boston eats groaning cake. Find out more: http://bit.ly/1B1WPtB

Facebook Picture

Comment

New England Historical Society

January 15, 2015 at 8:48 pm

On Jan. 15, 1919, a storage tank filled with molasses exploded, sending a river of molasses through Boston and killing 21 people. Nearly a century later, a new study found the cause of the disaster. Read more:
http://bit.ly/1fzX5sp

Facebook Picture

Comment

New England Historical Society

January 14, 2015 at 7:43 pm

Lilla Cabot Perry was 36 years old when she began to paint in 1884. Soon she was a close friend and colleague of one of the century's greatest Impressionist painters. This is her self-portrait. See more of her paintings here: http://bit.ly/1xqUZxv

Facebook Picture

Comment

New England Historical Society

January 13, 2015 at 8:13 am

In April of 1775, Prudence Cummings Wright was the 35-year-old mother of five children, though her six-year-old-daughter Mary and seven-month-old son Liberty had recently died. That didn't stop her from organizing a women's militia to look out for British spies. Find out if she did: http://bit.ly/1u2uKxc

Facebook Picture

Comment

New England Historical Society

January 12, 2015 at 8:30 am

In 1830, Cape Cod Sea Captain Austin Bearse refused to sail south of the Mason-Dixon Line again as long as slavery lasted. It was his first step toward a career of befriending fugitive slaves. http://bit.ly/1IE4OP7

Facebook Picture

Comment

New England Historical Society

January 11, 2015 at 11:07 pm

The winter of 1856-57 was one of the severest winters in New England history, with 32 snowstorms, record low temperatures and violent winds. Ten days in January were the coldest stretch of weather in New England ever -- and Henry David Thoreau wrote all about it in his journal. Read what he had to say: http://bit.ly/1w9gC4U

Facebook Picture

Comment

More History Highlights

Three Historic Characters – Bumblebee Titcomb, Fooney Gerrish and Rhymer Toppan

Three Historic Characters – Bumblebee Titcomb, Fooney Gerrish and Rhymer Toppan

5 hours ago

John Bernard, 18th Century Comedian, Dodges Pirates

John Bernard, 18th Century Comedian, Dodges Pirates

2 days ago

Philip Stansbury Visits Vermont and Finds the French and Indian War Never Ended

Philip Stansbury Visits Vermont and Finds the French and Indian War Never Ended

3 days ago

Ginery Twichell Raced Steam Engines on Horseback … and Won

Ginery Twichell Raced Steam Engines on Horseback … and Won

4 days ago

Sleepy John Sears and the Revolutionary White Gold of Cape Cod

Sleepy John Sears and the Revolutionary White Gold of Cape Cod

5 days ago

The 1788 Scandal of Fanny Apthorp Never Dies

The 1788 Scandal of Fanny Apthorp Never Dies

6 days ago

In January, 1865 Vermont’s Asa Mather Sees the Civil War Ending – None Too Soon

In January, 1865 Vermont’s Asa Mather Sees the Civil War Ending – None Too Soon

6 days ago

The Other Boston Tea Party, The Hippest Club in Town

The Other Boston Tea Party, The Hippest Club in Town

7 days ago

A Month After Selma, Martin Luther King Marches on Boston

A Month After Selma, Martin Luther King Marches on Boston

8 days ago

The Rev. William Bentley, on the Alert for Salem Fires in January

The Rev. William Bentley, on the Alert for Salem Fires in January

9 days ago

Anna Green Winslow Reports Aunt Sukey is Pregnant and the Groaning Cake is Made

Anna Green Winslow Reports Aunt Sukey is Pregnant and the Groaning Cake is Made

10 days ago

Prudence Cummings Wright, Patriot Militia Commander, Captures 2 Spies

Prudence Cummings Wright, Patriot Militia Commander, Captures 2 Spies

14 days ago

Scroll To Top