Facts about Boston
The Neponset River forms the boundary between Boston's southern neighborhoods and the city of Quincy and the town of Milton.
The Longwood Medical Area is a region of Boston with a concentration of medical and research facilities.
Until the early 1900s, Boston remained one of the nation's largest manufacturing centers, and was notable for its garment production and leather goods industries.
Through land reclamation and municipal annexation, Boston has expanded beyond the peninsula where it started.
The Charles River separates Boston proper from Cambridge, Watertown, and the neighborhood of Charlestown.
Boston's early European settlers first called the area Trimountaine but later renamed the town after Boston, Lincolnshire, England, from which several prominent colonists had emigrated.
The Boston Athenaeum (one of the oldest independent libraries in the United States), Boston Children's Museum, Museum of Science, and the New England Aquarium are within the city.
Boston has one major public university, the University of Massachusetts, Boston, while Roxbury Community College and Bunker Hill Community College are the city's two community colleges.
In 1984, the Santa Fe Institute (SFI) was founded to research complex systems in the physical, biological, economic, and political sciences.
Much of the Back Bay and South End neighborhoods are built on reclaimed land—all the earth from two of Boston's three original hills was used as landfill material.
The Boston Celtics were founding members of the Basketball Association of America, one of the two leagues that merged to form the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Schools such as Harvard University, MIT, Boston University, Boston College, and Northeastern University attracted students to the area.
The Port of Boston is a major seaport along the United States' East Coast, and is also the oldest continuously operated industrial and fishing port in the Western Hemisphere.
According to a 2003 report by the Boston Redevelopment Authority, students enrolled in Boston's colleges and universities contribute $4.8 billion annually to the city's economy.
Along with the adjacent Boston Public Garden, it is part of a string of parks designed by Frederick Law Olmsted to encircle the city.
Other parks are scattered throughout the city, with the major parks and beaches located near Castle Island, in Charlestown and along the Dorchester, South Boston, and East Boston shorelines.
Nearly a third of Bostonians use public transit for their commute to work.
The highest point in Boston is Bellevue Hill at 330 feet (101 m) above sea level, while the lowest point is at sea level.
Toward the beginning of the twenty first century, Boston began experiencing gentrification and obtained one of the highest costs of living in the United States, though it remains high on livability rankings.
Many consider Boston to have a strong sense of cultural identity, perhaps as a result of its intellectual reputation; much of Boston's culture originates at its universities.
Of major U.S. cities with populations in excess of 250,000, only New York City, San Francisco, and Chicago have a greater population density than Boston.
In 2006 Boston and its metropolitan area ranked as the fourth largest cybercity in the United States with 191,700 high-tech jobs.
Boston was also the site of the first game of the first modern World Series, in 1903.
Greater Boston as a commuting region includes parts of Rhode Island and New Hampshire and includes 7.4 million people, making it the fifth-largest Combined Statistical Area in the country.
The school committee for the Boston Public Schools is appointed by the mayor.
Boston Common, located near the Financial District and Beacon Hill, is the oldest public park in the U.S.
The Boston Massacre of 1770 and several early battles occurred in or near the city, including the Battles of Lexington and Concord, Battle of Bunker Hill, and the Siege of Boston.
Boston Public Schools, the oldest public school system in the United States, enrolls 57,000 students.
Boston's colleges and universities are not only major employers but they also attract high-tech industries to the city and surrounding region.
Boston's coastal location on the North Atlantic, though it moderates temperatures, also makes the city very prone to Nor'easter weather systems that can produce much snow and rain.
The Boston television marketing area, which also includes Manchester, New Hampshire, is the seventh largest in the United States.
Boston also receives the highest amount of annual funding from the National Institutes of Health of all cities in the United States.
Catholics make up Boston's largest religious community, and since the early twentieth century the Irish have played a major role in Boston politics—prominent figures include the Kennedys, Tip O'Neill, and John F. Fitzgerald.
Boston was founded on September 17, 1630, by Puritan colonists from England, who were distinct from the Pilgrims who had founded Plymouth Colony ten years earlier.
The Mystic River separates Charlestown from Chelsea and Everett, while Chelsea Creek and Boston Harbor separate East Boston from Boston proper.
The team was founded in 1960 as the Boston Patriots, a charter member of the American Football League, and in 1970 the team joined the National Football League.
During the late eighteenth century Boston was the location of several major events surrounding the American Revolution, including the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, and the Battle of Bunker Hill.
Boston has the largest broadcasting market in New England, with the Boston radio market being the eleventh largest in the United States.
The city was the site of several firsts, including America's first public school, Boston Latin School in 1635.
Fast Northeast Corridor trains, which service New York City, Washington, D.C., and points in between, also stop at Route 128 Station in the southwestern suburbs of Boston.
The Boston Red Sox are a founding member of the American League of Major League Baseball and were the 2007 World Series champions.
The Boston Globe (owned by the New York Times Company) and the Boston Herald are Boston's two major daily newspapers.
Boston's major league teams—The Boston Red Sox, Boston Celtics, Boston Bruins, and New England Patriots—have won a greater percentage of championships per season played than the teams of any other four-sport city.
Boston is also home to several conservatories and art schools, including the Art Institute of Boston, Massachusetts College of Art, and the New England Conservatory of Music (the oldest independent conservatory in the United States).
Prevailing wind patterns that blow offshore affect Boston, minimizing the influence of the Atlantic Ocean.
On the other hand, streets in the Back Bay, East Boston, the South End, and South Boston do follow a grid system.
Boston has what may basically be described as something between a humid continental climate and a humid subtropical climate, which is common in New England.
Boston has a strong mayor system in which the mayor is vested with extensive executive powers.
Boston is considered the economic and cultural center of the region.
The Boston Redevelopment Authority and the Zoning Board of Appeals (a seven-person body appointed by the mayor) share responsibility for land-use planning.
The city has several ornate theaters, including the Cutler Majestic Theatre, Boston Opera House, Citi Performing Arts Center, and the Orpheum Theatre.
From the mid- to late nineteenth century, Boston flourished culturally; it became renowned for its literary culture and artistic patronage.
By the end of the nineteenth century, Boston's neighborhoods had become enclaves of ethnically distinct immigrants.
After the Revolution, Boston became one of the world's wealthiest international trading ports.
Boston responded by initiating various urban renewal projects under the direction of the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), which was established in 1957.
Downtown Boston's streets are not organized on a grid but grew in a meandering organic pattern beginning early in the seventeenth century.
In 2002, Forbes magazine ranked the Boston Public Schools as the best large city school system in the country, with a graduation rate of 82 percent.
Boston shares many cultural roots with greater New England, including an accent known as Boston English and a regional cuisine with a large emphasis on seafood, rum, salt, and dairy products.
Logan International Airport, located in the East Boston neighborhood, handles most of the scheduled passenger service for Boston.
After independence from Great Britain was attained, Boston became a major shipping port and manufacturing center.
To the east lies Boston Harbor and the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area.
Boston is also a printing and publishing center; Houghton Mifflin is headquartered within the city, along with Bedford-St. Martin's Press, Beacon Press, and Little, Brown and Company.
One of the most famous sporting events in the city is the Boston Marathon, the 26.2 mile (42.2 km) run from Hopkinton to Copley Square in the Back Bay.
Fast Northeast Corridor trains, which service New York City, Washington, D.C., and points in between, also stop at Route 128 Station in the southwestern suburbs of Boston.
Boston Tea Party, (December 16, 1773), incident in which 342 chests of tea belonging to the British East India Company were thrown from ships into Boston Harbor by American patriots disguised as Mohawk Indians.
To protest British Parliament's tax on tea. "No taxation without representation." The Boston Tea Party was a political protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 16, 1773. ... They boarded the ships and threw the chests of tea into Boston Harbor.
a raid on three British ships in Boston Harbor (December 16, 1773) in which Boston colonists, disguised as Indians, threw the contents of several hundred chests of tea into the harbor as a protest against British taxes on tea and against the monopoly granted the East India Company. Origin of Boston Tea Party.
In Boston Harbor, a group of Massachusetts colonists disguised as Mohawk Indians board three British tea ships and dump 342 chests of tea into the harbor. The midnight raid, popularly known as the “Boston Tea Party,” was in protest of the British Parliament's Tea Act of 1773, a bill designed to...
340 chests of British East India Company Tea, weighing over 92,000 pounds (roughly 46 tons), onboard the Beaver, Dartmouth, and Eleanor were smashed open by the Sons of Liberty armed with an assortment of axes and dumped into Boston Harbor the night of December 16, 1773.
The Boston Tea Party is also important because of both the British and American responses to the actions that followed the tea party. The British were furious with the actions of the colonists and needed to impose a “punishment”? for their rebellion. This came in the form of the Intolerable Acts.
The Boston Tea Party was the key-event for the Revolutionary War. With this act, the colonists started the violent part of the revolution. It was the first try of the colonists, to rebel with violence against their own government. ... Then they (the government) passed taxes on lead, paint, paper and tea.
On the night of December 16, 1773, Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty boarded three ships in the Boston harbor and threw 342 chests of tea overboard. This resulted in the passage of the punitive Coercive Acts in 1774 and pushed the two sides closer to war.
Their action of throwing the tea overboard into the Boston harbor was meant to show the British and the Parliament that they could no longer use the colonies to their advantage through unjust means. ... The Boston Tea Party affects our lives today because it played a key role in leading to American Independence.
Boston in the American Revolution. Boston, Massachusetts is known as “the birthplace of the American Revolution” because many historic events took place there during the revolution. ... Once the Revolutionary War started in April of 1775, Boston became an important military objective to both the British and the colonists.Jun 5, 2017
Cuisine in Boston is similar to the rest of New England cuisine, in that it has a large emphasis on seafood and dairy products. Its best-known dishes are New England clam chowder, fish and chips (usually with cod or scrod), baked beans, lobsters, steamed clams, and fried clams.
The history of Boston plays a central role in American history. In 1630, Puritan colonists from England founded Boston and helped it become the way it is today. ... Along with New York, Boston was the financial center of the United States in the 19th century, and was especially important in funding railroads nationwide.
From April 1775 to March 1776, in the opening stage of the American Revolutionary War (1775-83), colonial militiamen, who later became part of the Continental army, successfully laid siege to British-held Boston, Massachusetts.
Boston is one of the oldest cities in the United States, founded on the Shawmut Peninsula in 1630 by Puritan settlers from England. It was the scene of several key events of the American Revolution, such as the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, the Battle of Bunker Hill, and the Siege of Boston.
1630 AD: The Puritans Arrive. ... 1631 - 1680: Puritans Build Boston. ... 1681 - 1760: Massachusetts Bay Colony. ... 1761 - 1772: "No Taxation without Representation!" ... 1773 - 1774: Boston Tea Party. ... 1775 - 1799: The Siege of Boston. ... 1800 - 1849: Industry, Immigrants, Abolition. ... 1850 - 1899: Boston Grows and Flourishes.More items...
Boston Cream Pie. Head on over to Mike's Pastry to eat a sweet slice of Boston cream pie. ... Samuel Adams. The pub known as Cheers was the inspiration behind the hit TV show and is also one of Boston's biggest attractions. ... Clam Chowder. ... Fenway Franks. ... Boston Baked Beans. ... Lobster.