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Throwback Thursday

City Life

Throwback Thursday: When a President Was Born in Massachusetts

Ninety years ago today, in the second floor of an unassuming home on Adams Street in Milton, George H.W. Bush was born. His birthday gives us occasion […]

City Life

Throwback Thursday: When JFK and MLK Received Degrees from Boston University

As historical figures go, John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. have a lot in common. They became national leaders during the 1960s, possessed […]

City Life

Throwback Thursday: When the Red Sox First Retired Numbers

You might have expected the first pre-game ceremony to officially retire two Red Sox numbers to be a big affair. It was May 29, 1984, and […]

Throwback Thursday: When Ted Williams At Last Enlisted

On May 22, 1942, Ted Williams ended months of what had become an all-consuming story in the sports world: he announced that he had enlisted […]

City Life

Throwback Thursday: The Dam that Destroyed Four Villages

One-hundred-forty years ago this week, on May 16, 1874, residents of the Mill River Valley in Western Massachusetts heard an enormous boom. The dam that held […]

City Life

Throwback Thursday: The First Mayor of Boston Takes Office

In the city of Boston, the office of Mayor looms large with the characters who have occupied it. There’s Tom Menino of course, who dominated […]

City Life

Throwback Thursday: Happy 30th, Sam Adams

It was 30 years ago, in 1984, that Jim Koch brewed his first batch of an old family beer recipe. At the time, he worked […]

City Life

Throwback Thursday: When Women First Ran the Marathon

On Monday, nearly half of the 35,000 runners participating in the Boston Marathon will be women. There will be 396 women named Jennifer alone. There […]

City Life

Throwback Thursday: When MIT Was Founded

We remember the year 1861 in American history largely because it marked the start of the Civil War. But up here in Massachusetts, the era […]

City Life

Throwback Thursday: When George Washington Received the First Harvard Law Degree

Any local student of history will remember that George Washington, head of the newly formed Continental Army, once drove the British out of Boston. Fewer […]

City Life

Throwback Thursday: The First Phone Calls from New York to Boston

Boston and New York are interconnected enough that there’s a good chance you’ll talk by phone (or text, SnapChat, Gchat, or however the kids are […]

City Life

Throwback Thursday: The Time Massachusetts Bought Maine

On March 13, 1677,  the imperial dreams of Massachusetts came to fruition. For on that day, our colony  bought Maine for £1,250 sterling. This was maine-ly […]

City Life

Throwback Thursday: The SAT’s In-State Origins

In the 1930s, Harvard President James Bryant Conant went looking for way to predict the college performance of Harvard applicants. He settled on a newly […]

City Life

Throwback Thursday: When Babe Ruth Returned to Boston

At 5:40 p.m. on February 28, 1935, Babe Ruth stepped off the train at Back Bay Station to play baseball in Boston once again, this […]

City Life

Throwback Thursday: When New England’s Women Helped Win Hockey Gold

As Olympic sports go, women’s ice hockey should have special resonance here in Boston. The U.S. will face off against Canada for Gold tonight, and […]