Massachusetts Trivia & Tidbits - Page 12

Looking for Massachusetts trivia? Try our list Massachusetts little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

Sgt. William H. Carney, a soldier in the Massachusetts 54th Regiment during the Civil War, was commended for bravery at the battle for Fort Wagner in North Carolina. Eventually, he was awarded the Medal of Honor, becoming the first African-American to win that medal.

first appeared: 1/12/2003

The Hodgman Co., founded in Framingham in 1838 and noted both then and today as a leader in fishermen’s wading equipment, manufactured the world’s first pair of waders.

first appeared: 1/5/2003

The USS Constitution, launched Oct. 21, 1797, and today moored in the Charlestown Navy Yard near Boston, is the world’s oldest commissioned warship.

first appeared: 12/29/2002

Famous patriot and signer of the Declaration of Independence Samuel Adams (1722-1803) also served a term as governor from 1794 to 1797.

first appeared: 12/22/2002

Christmas hasn’t always been popular. Gov. William Bradford banned game playing on Christmas Day in Plymouth Colony in 1621, and the Massachusetts General Court ordered a fine for “observing any such day as Christmas” in 1651.

first appeared: 12/15/2002

Since 1875, Cape Cod has been hit or brushed (a storm passing within 60 miles) by 21 hurricanes or tropical storms, the last being a brush by tropical storm Floyd in 1999.

first appeared: 12/8/2002

The Higgins Armory Museum in Worcester claims the distinction of being the only museum in the Western Hemisphere entirely devoted to the display of armor.

first appeared: 12/1/2002

The first citywide subway system in the United States was built in Boston, where the earliest stretch opened in 1897.

first appeared: 11/24/2002

Construction of the dam for Quabbin Reservoir—one source of Boston’s water—began in 1936. Filling began in 1939, finishing in 1946 when water flowed over the spillway. At the time, it was the largest man-made reservoir in the world devoted solely to water supply.

first appeared: 11/17/2002

A 26-mile bike path, the Cape Cod Rail Trail runs over the rail bed of the Old Colony Railroad, which carried passengers and freight the entire length of the Cape through the mid-1960s when service was abandoned.

first appeared: 11/10/2002

Literary historians credit William Hill Brown (1765-1793) with writing the first American novel. His book The Power of Sympathy was published in Worcester in 1789.

first appeared: 11/3/2002

The first American printing press was set up in Cambridge by Stephen Daye in 1638.

first appeared: 10/27/2002

Bash Bish Falls in the southwest corner of Massachusetts in Mount Washington State Forest is regarded by many as the state’s most spectacular waterfall. The origin of the 80-foot falls’ name is unclear.

first appeared: 10/20/2002

Although the word “cottage” suggests a small domicile, it is the name the rich gave to the summer homes they had built in the Berkshires in the 19th century. Some of those sumptuous getaways are open to the public today.

first appeared: 10/13/2002

Situated in the Berkshires, the town of Interlaken (pop. 550) was named after the site’s resemblance to a town of the same name in Switzerland. Several inns in the area reflect a Swiss theme.

first appeared: 10/6/2002

Edith Wharton (1862-1937), who spent much of her creative life in Lenox (pop. 1,667), was the first woman to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, granted in 1921 for The Age of Innocence. She produced more than 40 books in her lifetime.

first appeared: 9/29/2002

The Old North Church (also known as “Christ Church in the City of Boston”) from whose steeple Robert Newman signaled with lanterns the approach of British soldiers, was built in 1723 and is Boston’s oldest church building. Its 191-foot steeple is the tallest in the city.

first appeared: 9/22/2002

The infamous “Blizzard of 1888” visited the Northeast on March 11-12. It hit Connecticut and Massachusetts particularly hard, dropping more than 40 inches of snow and leaving wind-blown drifts as high as 40 feet west of Boston.

first appeared: 9/15/2002

The state’s official heroine is Deborah Sampson (1760-1827), who enlisted in the Continental Army under the name of Robert Shurtleff. Until her sex was discovered and she was discharged in 1783, she’d fought in several skirmishes and was wounded twice.

first appeared: 9/8/2002

During the Mayflower’s 66-day crossing from Plymouth, England to Massachusetts, a child was born to Stephen and Elizabeth Hopkins. His parents named him Oceanus.

first appeared: 9/1/2002

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