Embassy of the United States of America U.S. CITIES

Boston, Massachusetts: America’s City of Firsts

BOSTON

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nown for its key role in city’s rich past is complemented harbor grew its wealth and its pop- the American Revolution by a thriving present as a global ulation, making Boston the larg- Kand its excellent educa- leader in innovation. est town in British North America tional institutions, Boston is the until the mid-18th century. capital of Massachusetts and the Then and Now Boston was the birthplace of the political, commercial and finan- Before European colonization, the American Revolution. Tensions cial center of New England. With a area around Boston was inhabited between colonists and British population of 4.6 million, Greater by the Massachusett, an Algon- forces led to the 1770 Boston Boston is the 10th-largest U.S. quian tribe for which Massachu- Massacre, the 1773 Boston Tea metropolitan area. setts is named. Party and the 1774 Intolerable Explore historic neighborhoods English religious dissidents began (Coercive) Acts, which stripped that were home to early American arriving in the Massachusetts and Massachusetts of self-governance patriots and welcomed genera- Cape Cod Bay areas in 1620, when and placed the city under mili- tions of immigrants. Wander the Pilgrims founded Plymouth. tary law. Instead of setting a cau- Boston’s red-bricked “Freedom In 1630, John Winthrop led a tionary example to other Colonies, Trail” and its “Emerald Necklace” group known as the Puritans to British actions against Boston trig- of green park spaces, including the area’s Shawmut peninsula gered outrage, resistance and soli- the famous Boston Common. The and founded the city of Boston. Its darity. When British forces tried Boston, Massachusetts

to seize Colonial military supplies outside the city in 1775, they were stopped by Colonial militia and the Revolutionary War began. Key dates include: • 1632 — Boston becomes the capi- tal of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The musical group French Horn Rebellion performs on the Doritos #BoldStage at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin. ©AP Images • 1635 — America’s first public school, the Boston Latin School, Boston’s Fenway Park, the oldest U.S. • 1706 —American scientist, inven- professional sports venue © Shutterstock.com opens. tor, diplomat, humorist and states- • 1704 — The Boston News-Letter, man Benjamin Franklin is born in America’s first regularly issued Boston. neighborhood is home to Harvard newspaper, begins publication. University, America’s oldest insti- • 1775 — The newly formed Ameri- tution of higher learning and one can Colonial army challenges Brit- of the world’s most prestigious uni- ish forces in Boston at Bunker Hill. The People versities, but there are 66 other col- As New England’s main port, Boston • 1848 — The Boston Public Library leges and universities in the Boston attracted a steady stream of immigrants from around the world. becomes the world’s first publicly area, including the Massachusetts supported free municipal library. Institute of Technology (MIT) and According to the 2010 census, the racial Boston College. composition of Boston is 53.9 percent • 1876 — Alexander Graham Bell white, 24.4 percent African American, demonstrates the first telephone. Boston’s fashionable neighborhoods 17.5 percent Hispanic or Latino, and 8.9 like Beacon Hill’s federal row houses • 1897 — The Boston subway opens percent Asian. According to a 2012 esti- and gaslit cobblestone streets con- as the first underground metro sys- mate, the city’s population is 636,479. trast sharply with the modern shop- tem in North America. ping district of Newbury Street and The Land • 1897 — Racers participate in the the Charlestown waterfront, home Boston is the only state capital in the first Boston Marathon, the world’s contiguous United States with an ocean to the USS Constitution. Boston is coastline. Founded on a peninsula oldest annual marathon. famous for seafood dishes such as formed by the Charles River and Mas- • 1917 — John F. Kennedy, who clam chowder and lobster rolls. Ye sachusetts Bay that creates a natural would be elected president in 1960, Olde Union Oyster House, opened harbor, Boston has tripled its original in 1826, is one of America’s oldest footprint during 300 years of leveling is born in the Boston neighborhood restaurants, and the Bull and Finch hills to fill in marshes and tidal flats. of Brookline. Pub was the model for the 1980s • 1955 — Civil rights leader Martin The Climate television show Cheers. Luther King Jr. earns his doctorate New England has cold winters, but Bos- Movies like Good Will Hunting and ton’s coastal location makes its climate in theology from Boston University. Robert Parker’s popular Spenser more moderate than inland areas. Its • 2013 — The Boston Marathon is coldest month is January, when the aver- mystery series also have brought marred by bombings that kill three age temperature is 29 degrees Fahren- Boston’s people, culture and neigh- people and injure 264. heit (-2 degrees Celsius) and its hottest is borhoods into popular culture. July, which averages 73 degrees Fahren- Sports fans will enjoy Fenway Park, heit (23 degrees Celsius). Bostonians see “The Athens of America” home of the Boston Red Sox. snow from December through March. Coastal storms, known as “nor’easters,” Education is central to Boston’s his- Opened in 1912, it’s the oldest U.S. produce much of the precipitation. tory and significance. Its Cambridge professional sports venue.

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE August 2013 BUREAU OF INTERNATIONAL INFORMATION PROGRAMS