The This Day in History database contains over a thousand entries of historical facts focusing in Boston and Massachusetts as well as greater New England.
A mixture of old style and new style dates appear in this database. England should have fixed their calendar before colonizing New Worlds, but they didn't, and because of their oversight there are some discrepencies with dates before 1752 when the Calendar Act of 1750 went into effect. The act moved the start of the new year from March 25 and converted to the Gregorian calendar by skipping 11 days in September.
For the most part, we've standardized on a January 1 new year which effects dates from January to March until 1752. However, the day may reflect the the Julian or Gregorian calendar which are off by 10 days in the 1600s and 11 days in the 1700s. Sources don't generally document which system is used, and often the year is adjusted or annotated (1706/7) but not the day. We've even caught dates that were adjusted more than once resulting in nonsense that gets replicated all over the Internet.
There is also tradition. Boston celebrates its Charter Day on September 7 but City Hall must be using an old calendar because it would be September 17 on our calendar. However, Plymouth celebrates Forefather's Day on December 21 while the Pilgrim's calendar would have read December 11 in 1620. Confused yet?
We've begun annotating the dates (see the marks on the left margin) where we have better information as to the reference calendar, but will use judgement as to which day, old or new, makes better sense to display.
Most of the historical entries were researched and compiled by Margaret Bratschi and Tom Coppeto and contributions are always welcome. The following sources were used in this research.
Book References
- Bacon's Dictionary of Boston with an Historical Introduction by George E. Ellis. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1886.
- Boston Fire Historical Society. Boston's Fire Trail. Charleston: The History Press, 2007.
- Hamblin, P.R. United States Criminal History; Being A True Account of the Most Horrid Murders, Piracies, High-Way Robberies, &c. Together With The Lives, Trials, Confessions and Executions of the Criminals. Fayetteville: Mason & De Puy, 1836.
- McCullough, David. John Adams. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001.
- Philbrick, Nathaniel. Mayflower. New York: Penguin Group, 2006.
- Puls, Mark. Samuel Adams: Father of the American Revolution. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.
- A Record of the Streets, Alleys, Places, Etc., in the City of Boston. Boston: City of Boston Printing Department, 1910.
- Schorow, Stephanie. The Crime of the Century: How the Brink's Robbers Stole Missions and the Hearts of Boston. Beverly: Commonwealth Editions, 2008.
- Snow, Caleb H. A History of Boston, The Metropolis of Massachusetts, From Its Origin To The Present Period; with Some Account of the Environs. 2nd ed. Boston: Abel Bowen, 1828.
- Williamson, William Durkee. The History of the State of Maine: From Its First Discovery, A.D. 1602, To The Separation, A.D. 1820, Inclusive. Hallowell: Glazier, Masters & Co., 1832.
- Winsor, Justin. The Memorial History of Boston; Including Suffolk County, Massachusetts, 1630-1880. Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1881.
- Vrabel, Jim. When in Boston: A Time Line & Almanac. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2004.
Web Sites References
- Bell, J.L. Boston 1775. March, 2008. <http://boston1775.blogspot.com/>.
- Celebrate Boston. April 5, 2008. <http://www.celebrateboston.com/>.
- Linder, Doug. Famous American Trials: Salem Witchcraft
Trials 1692. University of Missouri-Kansas City School of
Law. April 5, 2008.
<http://www.law.umkc.edu/
faculty/ projects/ ftrials/ salem/ salem.htm>. - Mass Moments. Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities. March, 2008. <http://www.massmoments.org/>.
- The Official Site of The Boston Red Sox. April 4, 2008. <http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/>.
- This Week in Massachusetts History. The Massachusetts Historical Society. March, 2008. <http://www.masshist.org/twimh/>.
- Wikipedia. The Wikimedia Foundation. March, 2008. <http://en.wikipedia.org/>.
