In 1895, William Morgan Invents Mintonette
Mintonette, the game eventually called volleyball, was the brainchild of a man who happened to be friends with the man who invented basketball. James Naismith and William Morgan were teammates… The...
View ArticleWhat the Abenaki People Called the Full Moon
Sometime around 1645, William Pynchon wrote down the names given to each full moon by Abenaki Indians he knew. Pynchon, an English colonist, founded Springfield, Mass. He lived near and… The post What...
View ArticleLightfoot and Thunderbolt – The Last New England Highwaymen
In July of 1816, Michael Martin encountered an odd clergyman at a tavern in his native Ireland. The cleric dazzled him with his wealth: fine clothes, rich jewelry and an… The post Lightfoot and...
View ArticleThe West Indies Send Sugar, Slaves and Red Sox Stars to New England
For four centuries, the West Indies have made an outsized impact on New England. In 2018, West Indian stars and a West Indian manager brought the Boston Red Sox to… The post The West Indies Send Sugar,...
View ArticleWilliam Pynchon Leaves Connecticut in 1637 and Takes Springfield With Him
Springfield, Mass., and the rest of Western Massachusetts, might well belong to Connecticut today if William Pynchon had not decided to leave Connecticut and join with Massachusetts in an acrimonious…...
View ArticleAbraham Lincoln in New England – Five Fast Facts
Before he moved into the White House, Abraham Lincoln came to New England twice. Newspapers reported extensively on Abraham Lincoln in New England both in September 1848 and in February… The post...
View Article8 Surprising Facts About Martin Luther King Jr. in New England
Martin Luther King Jr. spent plenty of time in New England, and not just giving speeches about civil rights. He worked in Connecticut over the summers as a teenager, and… The post 8 Surprising Facts...
View ArticleThe Great Moon Hoax of 1835
Benjamin Day pioneered fake news in 1835 with his great moon hoax and other fantastic tales. They made his newspaper, the Sun, into a money-making powerhouse and lifted the art… The post The Great Moon...
View ArticleThe Historic Observatory, or Six New England Places to Gaze at the Stars
A historic observatory in New England could be a stone remnant on the Canadian border, a mountaintop clubhouse or a state-of-the-art, NASA-funded astronomy compound at Harvard University. Astronomy has...
View ArticleA Vermont School Rebuilds From the 1927 Flood — With Pennies
A little Vermont schoolhouse washed away in the 1927 flood became an inspiring symbol of the state’s resilience when schoolchildren around the country sent in their pennies to replace it.… The post A...
View ArticleBefore Dunkin’, New England Had the Waldorf Lunch System
Before New England gave the world Howard Johnson’s, Dunkin Donuts, McDonald’s and Subway, it invented the Waldorf Lunch. The Waldorf Lunch System emerged in 1904 as one of the earliest… The post Before...
View ArticleNew England’s Gun Valley, Child of the Springfield Armory
New England’s Gun Valley began with George Washington, who in 1777 scouted the site on an old Puritan muster ground in Springfield, Mass. Washington was looking for a place to… The post New England’s...
View ArticleSamuel Maverick Writes A Guide to the Wonders of New England – in 1660
Samuel Maverick, as his name suggests, didn’t like to go along with the crowd. The Puritan crowd, that is. He came to Boston sometime in the 1620s, before the Puritans… The post Samuel Maverick Writes...
View ArticleThe Connecticut Accent, Or Does Connecticut Even Have One?
Poor old Connecticut, invaded every day by thousands of Noo Yawkers and Bahstonians. Those people who don’t know what to do with their ‘r’s make it nearly impossible for the… The post The Connecticut...
View ArticleThe 1790 Census: New England by the Numbers
Just after the American Revolution, Gilmanton, N.H., ranked as the 30th biggest municipality in the United States. The Lakes Region town was bigger than Pittsburgh, Portland, Raleigh, Trenton,...
View ArticleWhen Massachusetts Was a Paradise for Tramps
So many tramps rode the rails into Massachusetts after the Civil War that in 1899 a group of charity administrators published a manual, The Best Methods of Dealing with Tramps… The post When...
View ArticleThe Pittsfield Streetcar Driver Who Nearly Killed Teddy Roosevelt
The United States came close to losing two presidents within a year after a Pittsfield streetcar driver nearly killed President Theodore Roosevelt. He succeeded in killing Roosevelt’s Secret Service...
View ArticleDiamond Jim Fisk, Murdered for the Love of a Beautiful Woman
Jim Fisk liked to live large – too large for his own good. He rose from humble beginnings in Vermont to the pinnacle of success on Wall Street as one… The post Diamond Jim Fisk, Murdered for the Love...
View ArticleAnnie Sullivan Escapes the Poorhouse
Annie Sullivan overcame her disability and crushing poverty to win worldwide fame as the teacher of the deaf-blind Helen Keller. But to some of the people who helped her along… The post Annie Sullivan...
View ArticleSix Historic One-Room Schoolhouses
Thousands of one-room schoolhouses once educated New England children, some well into the 20th century. Small, utilitarian buildings, they usually lacked plumbing and electricity. An outhouse stood out...
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