The city's record
A working calendar of the city's record, kept the way Bostonians tell it: the Revolution that started here, the first subway in America, the fires and floods that rewrote the rulebook. We do not invent history; days without a dated entry fall back to an evergreen note.
Harvard founded
Harvard College was founded across the river in Cambridge, anchoring the region's identity as a center of learning.
Harvard founded
Harvard College was founded across the river in Cambridge, anchoring the region's identity as a center of learning.
Dated moments
The Liberator launches
January 1 · 1831William Lloyd Garrison published the first issue of The Liberator in Boston, a landmark of the American abolitionist movement.
AbolitionThe Great Molasses Flood
January 15 · 1919A storage tank burst in the North End, sending a wave of molasses through the streets and reshaping how the city regulated industrial safety.
City
Massachusetts ratifies the Constitution
February 6 · 1788Massachusetts became the sixth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution, attaching a influential call for a Bill of Rights.
Government
The Boston Massacre
March 5 · 1770British soldiers fired on a crowd on King Street, killing five colonists including Crispus Attucks, galvanizing revolutionary sentiment.
RevolutionThe Destruction of Tea at Boston Harbor (1846)Wikimedia CommonsLithograph by N. Currier, 1846, public domain Evacuation Day
March 17 · 1776British forces evacuated Boston after Washington fortified Dorchester Heights overnight, a turning point in the siege of Boston.
Revolution
The lanterns and the ride
April 18 · 1775Signal lanterns hung in the Old North Church steeple warned of the British advance by sea as Paul Revere and William Dawes rode to alert the countryside.
RevolutionThe Destruction of Tea at Boston Harbor (1846)Wikimedia CommonsLithograph by N. Currier, 1846, public domain Lexington and Concord
April 19 · 1775The first battles of the Revolutionary War opened just outside Boston, the start of the fight for independence.
RevolutionFenway Park opens
April 20 · 1912The Red Sox played their first game at Fenway Park, now the oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball and a civic landmark.
SportsBoston Latin School founded
April 23 · 1635Boston Latin School was established, the first public school in what would become the United States.
Culture
The Battle of Bunker Hill
June 17 · 1775Fought largely on Breed's Hill in Charlestown, the costly British victory proved the colonial militia could stand against the regular army.
RevolutionThe Destruction of Tea at Boston Harbor (1846)Wikimedia CommonsLithograph by N. Currier, 1846, public domain
The Declaration read aloud
July 18 · 1776The Declaration of Independence was first read publicly in Boston from the balcony of the Old State House.
Revolution
America's first subway
September 1 · 1897The Tremont Street subway opened, the first subway in the United States and the seed of today's MBTA.
Infrastructure
The first public surgery under ether
October 16 · 1846Surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital's Ether Dome gave the first public demonstration of anesthesia, changing medicine worldwide.
ScienceOld Ironsides launched
October 21 · 1797The USS Constitution was launched from Boston's North End; it remains the oldest commissioned warship afloat.
CityThe Destruction of Tea at Boston Harbor (1846)Wikimedia CommonsLithograph by N. Currier, 1846, public domain
The Great Boston Fire
November 9 · 1872A fire destroyed much of the downtown commercial district, prompting major reforms in the city's building and water systems.
City
The Boston Tea Party
December 16 · 1773Colonists boarded ships in Boston Harbor and dumped 342 chests of tea, a defining act of resistance and the namesake of this desk.
RevolutionThe Destruction of Tea at Boston Harbor (1846)Wikimedia CommonsLithograph by N. Currier, 1846, public domain