On This Day: "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald Elected to Congress

On this day ...in 1895, a colorful Irishman from Boston's North End, nicknamed "Honey Fitz" for his charming and loquacious ways, was elected to the U.S. Congress. Ten years later, John Francis Fitzgerald returned to Boston and ran for mayor. His victory rattled the Yan......More

On this day ...in 1895, a colorful Irishman from Boston's North End, nicknamed "Honey Fitz" for his charming and loquacious ways, was elected to the U.S. Congress. Ten years later, John Francis Fitzgerald returned to Boston and ran for mayor. His victory rattled the Yankee establishment. He worked on behalf of the poor, immigrants, and workers, but his administration was rife with graft, cronyism, and corruption. After withdrawing from the 1914 mayoral campaign, Fitzgerald turned his attention to business and family. His daughter Rose had married Joseph Kennedy, and "Honey Fitz" devoted himself to grooming their sons for political careers. Three of them would serve in the U.S. Senate. His namesake, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, would be the 35th President of the United States.Read more:READ MORE AT MASS MOMENTS

North End, Boston, MA, USA

Anniversary of Pearl Harbor Attack

The attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese was a surprise military strike against the United States naval base on the morning of December 7, 1941. The attack led to the United States' entry into World War II. Over the next seven hours there were coordinated Japanese att......More

The attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese was a surprise military strike against the United States naval base on the morning of December 7, 1941. The attack led to the United States' entry into World War II. Over the next seven hours there were coordinated Japanese attacks on the U.S.-held Philippines, Guam and Wake Island and on the British Empire in Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong.The attack came as a profound shock to the American people and led directly to the American entry into World War II in both the Pacific and European theaters. The following day, December 8, the United States declared war on Japan. Domestic support for non-interventionism, which had been fading since the Fall of France in 1940, disappeared. Clandestine support of the United Kingdom (e.g., the Neutrality Patrol) was replaced by active alliance. Subsequent operations by the U.S. prompted Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy to declare war on the U.S. on December 11, which was reciprocated by the U.S. the same day.The attack commenced at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian Time. The base was attacked by 353 Imperial Japanese fighter planes, bombers, and torpedo planes in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers. All eight U.S. Navy battleships were damaged, with four sunk. All but the USS Arizona (BB-39) were later raised, and six were returned to service and went on to fight in the war. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship, and one minelayer. 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed; 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded.President Franklin D. Roosevelt to proclaimed December 7, 1941, "a date which will live in infamy". Because the attack happened without a declaration of war and without explicit warning, the attack on Pearl Harbor was judged by the Tokyo Trials to be a war crime.Source: Wikipedia

La Befana Holiday

The Feast of the Epiphany, an important post-Christmas date on the Christian calendar, is celebrated on January 6 as a national holiday in Italy. The tradition of La Befana, who arrives on the Epiphany, plays a big part in Italian Christmas celebrations. The holiday als......More

The Feast of the Epiphany, an important post-Christmas date on the Christian calendar, is celebrated on January 6 as a national holiday in Italy. The tradition of La Befana, who arrives on the Epiphany, plays a big part in Italian Christmas celebrations. The holiday also marks the end of Christmas and New Year's festivities in Italy, after which children go back to school, adults go back to work, and the Christmas decorations come down.Strictly from a religious standpoint, the Feast of the Epiphany commemorates the twelfth day of Christmas, when the three Wise Men arrived at the manger bearing gifts for Baby Jesus. But for Italian children, it's the day when they finally get their holiday loot. La Befana in ItalyItaly's traditional holiday celebration includes the tale of a witch known as La Befana who arrives on her broomstick during the night of January 5th with toys and sweets for the good children and lumps of coal for the bad ones.According to the legend, the night before the Wise Men arrived at the Baby Jesus' manger they stopped at the shack of an old woman to ask directions. They invited her to come along but she replied that she was too busy. A shepherd asked her to join him but again she refused. Later that night, she saw a great light in the sky and decided to join the Wise Men and the shepherd bearing gifts that had belonged to her child who had died.

1919 Great Molasses Flood Disaster Aniversary

The Boston Molasses Disaster, also known as the Great Molasses Flood and the Great Boston Molasses Tragedy, occurred on January 15, 1919, in the North End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts in the United States. A large molasses storage tank burst, and a wave of mola......More

The Boston Molasses Disaster, also known as the Great Molasses Flood and the Great Boston Molasses Tragedy, occurred on January 15, 1919, in the North End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts in the United States. A large molasses storage tank burst, and a wave of molasses rushed through the streets at an estimated 35 mph (56 km/h), killing 21 and injuring 150. The event has entered local folklore, and residents claim that on hot summer days, the area still smells of molasses.CLICK FOR OUR COLLECTION OF PHOTOS ABOUT THE MOLASSES FLOOD

Commercial Street, near current Bocce Courts at Langone Park

Anniversary of Brinks Garage Robbery

Brinks Garage was robbed on January 17, 1950 by a gang that stole $2.78 million from the facility at 155 Prince Street. The location is now a parking garage with the address of 600 Commercial Street.

Brinks Garage, Corner of Prince and Commercial Streets

Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day is a popular tradition celebrated in the United States and Canada on February 2. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog emerging from its burrow on this day sees a shadow due to clear weather, it will retreat to its den and......More

Groundhog Day is a popular tradition celebrated in the United States and Canada on February 2. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog emerging from its burrow on this day sees a shadow due to clear weather, it will retreat to its den and winter will persist for six more weeks, and if it does not see its shadow because of cloudiness, spring will arrive early. While the tradition remains popular in modern times, studies have found no consistent correlation between a groundhog seeing its shadow or not and the subsequent arrival time of spring-like weather.The weather lore was brought from German-speaking areas where the badger is the forecasting animal. This appears to be an enhanced version of the lore that clear weather on Candlemas forebodes a prolonged winter.The Groundhog Day ceremony held at Punxsutawney in western Pennsylvania, centering around a semi-mythical groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil, has become the most attended. The 1993 film Groundhog Day helped boost recognition of the custom, and the celebration has spread even further afield. Source: Wikipedia

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is an annual holiday celebrated on February 14. Originating as a Western Christian feast day honoring one or more early saints named Valentinus, Valentine's Day is now recognized as a s......More

Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is an annual holiday celebrated on February 14. Originating as a Western Christian feast day honoring one or more early saints named Valentinus, Valentine's Day is now recognized as a significant cultural, religious, and commercial celebration of romance in many regions around the world, although it is not a public holiday. The day first became associated with romantic love within the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. In 18th-century England, it evolved into an occasion in which lovers expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines"). Valentine's Day symbols that are used today include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards.

Boston Massacre Anniversary

The Boston Massacre occurred on March 5, 1770. A squad of British soldiers, come to support a sentry who was being pressed by a heckling, snowballing crowd, let loose a volley of shots. Three persons were killed immediately and two died later of their wounds; among the ......More

The Boston Massacre occurred on March 5, 1770. A squad of British soldiers, come to support a sentry who was being pressed by a heckling, snowballing crowd, let loose a volley of shots. Three persons were killed immediately and two died later of their wounds; among the victims was Crispus Attucks, a man of black or Indian parentage. The British officer in charge, Capt. Thomas Preston, was arrested for manslaughter, along with eight of his men; all were later acquitted. The Boston Massacre is remembered as a key event in helping to galvanize the colonial public to the Patriot cause. More at History.com: http://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/boston-massacre

Old State House, Washington Street, Boston, MA, United States

St. Patrick's & Evacuation Day

St. Patrick's Day is a legal holiday in Boston (and all of Suffolk County) where it is also recognized with Evacuation Day. In recognition of Irish and Irish American culture, St. Patrick's Day celebrations include prominent displays of the color green, eating and drink......More

St. Patrick's Day is a legal holiday in Boston (and all of Suffolk County) where it is also recognized with Evacuation Day. In recognition of Irish and Irish American culture, St. Patrick's Day celebrations include prominent displays of the color green, eating and drinking, religious observances, and parades. Boston is America's Most Irish City. There is no better place to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. The parade takes place in South Boston on the Sunday closest to March 17th.Evacuation Day is celebrated in remembrance of the day that General George Washington and the Continental Army succeeded in causing British troops to end their occupation of Boston during the Revolutionary War on March 17, 1776. At the end of the Siege of Boston which began in April, 1775, General George Washington fortified Dorchester Heights by deploying 60 tons of heavy artillery and cannons captured from Fort Ticonderoga. On the morning of March 5th, 1776, the commander of the British troops, General William Howe, woke to find his soldiers and fleet in the line of fire. Rather than repeat the bloodshed of the Battle of Bunker Hill, Howe and his troops fled Boston on March 17, 1776, thereby marking the milestone in the American Revolution as Evacuation Day. Whether you celebrate St. Patrick's Day or Evacuation Day, Boston is the place to raise your glass (or two) to the Irish saint or to the American revolutionary patriots!See the Community Calendar for local events.

St. Joseph's Day

Saint Joseph's Day, 19 March, is the principal feast day of Saint Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and legal father of Jesus Christ. It is not a holy day of obligation in the United States. Popular customs among Christians of various liturgical traditions obs......More

Saint Joseph's Day, 19 March, is the principal feast day of Saint Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and legal father of Jesus Christ. It is not a holy day of obligation in the United States. Popular customs among Christians of various liturgical traditions observing Saint Joseph's Day are attending Mass or the Divine Service, wearing red-colored clothing, carrying dried fava beans that have been blessed, and assembling home altars dedicated to Saint Joseph.  Giving food to the needy is a Saint Joseph's Day custom.  In many communities, it is traditional to eat a Neapolitan pastry known as a zeppola (created in 1840 by Don Pasquale Pinatauro in Napoli) on Saint Joseph's Day. How To Celebrate St. Joseph's Day