Science and Nature
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18.7K13The Great Throat Distemper of 1735
In 1735, a young child in Kingston, N.H., came down with a cold and all of New England would get sick. The...
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59.9K9Six Mysterious Stone Structures of New England
Everyone knows that stone walls cover the New England landscape like honeycombs. But far fewer people know about the region’s hundreds of...
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11.4K1The Jumping Frenchmen of Maine
In 1880, Dr. George Miller Beard boarded a train for Moosehead Lake in Maine to see for himself the strange lumberjacks known...
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10.9K6Luther Burbank and the Birth of the Russet Burbank
If you’ve ever enjoyed a McDonald’s French fry, you have Luther Burbank to thank. In the 1800s, potato growers were desperately seeking...
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10.9K2The 1822 Maine Grasshopper Plague
In Maine, a dry summer meant an increase in locusts. In 1822, the conditions set the stage perfectly for the Maine grasshopper...
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5.8K3Williamina Fleming, From Scottish Maid to Harvard Astronomer
Williamina Fleming worked as a maid for an astronomer who got frustrated with his staff at Harvard. One day he supposedly exclaimed,...
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16.1K10Champ, the Lake Champlain Lake Monster
Champ, North America’s answer to the Loch Ness monster, has long been a legend around Lake Champlain. He (or she) has spawned...
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20.9K3Edward Hammond Clarke and the Chance for Girls
Education was a hot topic in the 1870s: How much one needed and who should get it. Edward Hammond Clarke sought to...
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12.4K3Six Historic Apple Orchards
Trying to pick six historic apple orchards in New England may be a fool’s errand. As Maine apple expert John Bunker explains,...
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13.2K7The Great 1727 Earthquake and the Wrath of God
Northern New Englanders ran for cover in late October as the 1727 earthquake, more powerful than any they had experienced, shook the...
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