Boston
Great Boston Molasses Flood
Fiery hot molasses floods the streets of Boston on January 15, 1919, killing 21 people and injuring scores of others. The molasses burst from a huge tank at the United States Industrial Alcohol Company building in the heart of the city. Listen to HISTORY This Week Podcast: The ...read more
How Stereotypes of the Irish Evolved From ‘Criminals’ to Cops
New York’s longest-serving police commissioner, Raymond Kelly, is an Irish-American. So is the department’s current commissioner, James O’Neill. Municipal police departments across the country celebrate the role of Irish-American cops with Emerald Societies—and there’s historic ...read more
The Tragic Story of America’s Deadliest Nightclub Fire
Movie stars. Artificial palm trees. Big band music. The night of November 28, 1942, promised all the glamour and glitz that made Boston’s most famous night spot, The Cocoanut Grove, legendary. That night, about a thousand revelers gathered to drink and dance the night away. Just ...read more
The Irish in Boston
About 33 million Americans can trace their roots to Ireland, the small island off the western coast of Europe, which has a population of just 4.6 million. The Irish, like many immigrant groups arriving in America, were fleeing hardships at home, only to endure further troubles ...read more
What is Patriots’ Day?
To most Massachusetts residents—and long distance running enthusiasts—the third Monday in April is “Marathon Monday.” The Boston Marathon has shared the limelight in the Bay State with another celebration for the last 120 years: Patriots’ Day. So what is Patriots’ Day, and what ...read more
The Great Molasses Flood of 1919
The source of what became known as the “Great Molasses Flood” was a 50-foot-tall steel holding tank located on Commercial Street in Boston’s North End. Its sugary-sweet contents were the property of United States Industrial Alcohol, which took regular shipments of molasses from ...read more
Three people killed, hundreds injured in Boston Marathon bombing
On April 15, 2013, two bombs go off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three spectators and wounding more than 260 other people in attendance. Four days later, after an intense manhunt that shut down the Boston area, police captured one of the bombing suspects, ...read more
8 Surprising Fenway Park Events
1. June 6, 1914: A Pachyderm Party Boston schoolchildren donated their pennies, nickels and dimes in 1914 to purchase three circus elephants for the city’s zoo, and Fenway Park was the venue for their coming-out party. A crowd small in stature, but not in size, turned out to ...read more
Notorious Boston mobster Whitey Bulger is arrested
On June 22, 2011, after 16 years on the run from law enforcement, James “Whitey” Bulger, a violent Boston mob boss wanted for 19 murders, is arrested in Santa Monica, California. The 81-year-old Bulger, one of the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted” fugitives, was arrested with his longtime ...read more
Ted Williams becomes last player to hit .400
On September 28, 1941, the last day of Major League Baseball's regular season, the Boston Red Sox’s Ted Williams gets six hits in eight at-bats during a doubleheader in Philadelphia, boosting his average to .406. He becomes the first player since 1930 to hit .400. "I guess I'll ...read more
First Boston Marathon held
On April 19, 1897, John J. McDermott of New York won the first Boston Marathon with a time of 2:55:10. The Boston Marathon was the brainchild of Boston Athletic Association member and inaugural U.S. Olympic team manager John Graham, who was inspired by the ...read more
Ted Williams hits home run in last major league at-bat
On September 28, 1960, at Boston’s Fenway Park, Red Sox star Ted Williams hits a home run in the last at-bat of his 21-year career. Ted Williams once said it was his goal in life to “walk down the street [and have] folks say ‘there goes the greatest hitter who ever lived.’” He ...read more
Red Sox win first championship since 1918
On October 27, 2004, the Boston Red Sox win the World Series for the first time since 1918, finally vanquishing the so-called “Curse of the Bambino” that had plagued them for 86 years. “This is for anyone who has ever rooted for the Red Sox,” Boston general manager Theo Epstein ...read more
The Boston police department goes on strike
The infamous Boston Police Strike of 1919 begins, causing an uproar around the nation and confirming the growing influence of unions on American life. As society changed in the 20th century, police were expected to act more professionally. Some of their previous practices were ...read more
Boston Strangler strikes again
Mary Sullivan is raped and strangled to death in her Boston apartment. The killer left a card reading “Happy New Year” leaning against her foot. Sullivan would turn out to be the last woman killed by the notorious Boston Strangler, Albert DeSalvo, who had terrorized the city ...read more
Boston doctor found guilty of killing wife
On June 29, 2001, Boston doctor Dirk Greineder, 60, is found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Mabel Greineder, 58, his wife of more than 30 years. Dirk Greineder was a distinguished allergist. His wife, known as May, worked for him as a nurse and was pursuing an ...read more