| Years | Image | Event | Description | Keywords |
| 1661 | | English Quaker William Leddra hanged in Boston. | In response English Quakers sought a mandamus from King Charles II. A Salem Quaker, Samuel Shattock, who was then in England, delivered it to Governor Endecott. | Quaker, Whittier |
| 1671 | | Katherine Naylor, the wife of a Boston merchant, sues for divorce. | Her story came to light in the early 1990s as a consequence of excavations associated with Boston's Big Dig. | |
| 1704 | | Deerfield Massacre | A winter raid resulted in the deaths or captivities of three-fifths of the town's inhabitants. The attacking force included men from Odanak and Schaghiticoke, where many New England refugees had gathered after King Philip's War. | Indians, French, frontier, captivity" Philip |
| 1706 | | Benjamin Franklin born in Boston | | |
| 1768 | | British troops arrive in Boston | | revolution |
| 1770 | | Boston Massacre | John Adams defends the British soldiers. | revolution |
| 1770 |  | Copley paints Paul Revere | Copley's painting and many examples of Revere's silver can be seen at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. | |
| 1770 |  | Paul Revere engraves the events in King Street. | | Boston Massacre, Attucks |
| 1773 | | Boston "Tea Party" | | revolution |
| 1773 | | Massachusetts slaves begin petitioning for freedom | | slavery, abolition |
| 1776 | | British evacuate Boston | | revolution |
| 1783 | | Boston establishes annual July 4 oration | After the revolution, Independence Day replaced Pope's Day and Boston Massacre orations in public memorials. | |
| 1806 | | Black Baptists build a meeting house on Beacon Hill in Boston | The "African Meeting House," now on Boston's Black Heritage Trail, is considered the oldest surviving Black church building in America. | abolition |
| 1829 | | David Walker, An Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World | Published in Boston by a southern black, Walker's "Appeal" helped to spark the abolitionist movement. | abolition, slavery |
| 1834 | | James Hawkes, A Retrospect of the Boston Tea-Party, with a Memoir of George R.T. hewes" | | revolution |
| Return to Top |
| 1835 | | George Robert Twelves Hewes feted in Providence and Boston | Joseph G. Cole painted his portrait, called "The Centenarian" | Independence Day, July 4, revolution |
| 1835 | | Seaman's Aid Society establishes a "Mariner's Home" in Boston | | maritime |
| 1855 | | William C. Nell, "Colored Patriots of the American Revolution" | Among other stories, Nell featured the role of Crispus Attucks in the "Boston Massacre. | Attucks, Boston Massacre |
| 1858 | | Black seamen parade in Boston and Providence to celebrate West Indian independence. | | maritime |
| 1858 | | Crispus Attucks Day celebrated at African Meeting House | | revolution, Boston Massacre |
| 1868 | | Deerfield first exhibits door from "Indian House" | | Deerfield massacre, museum |
| 1870 | | Boston Museum of Fine Arts founded | | |
| 1870 | | First transcontinental train leaves Boston on a 39-day journey across the United States | | economy |
| 1870 | | Most female wage workers are employed in factories or as household servants. | In Boston, 8 of 10 household servants are foreign born. In textile mills, most are immigrants or the children of immigrants. | women's work, population, immigration |
| 1873 | | Anne Whitney wins competition to create a sculpture of Samuel Adams for the United States Capitol. | Later the City of Boston installed a bronze version at Faneuil Hall even though in 1874 a Boston commission rejected her sculpture of Charles Sumner because she was a woman.
| statue |
| 1878 | | Old Ironsides takes last Atlantic voyage. | After 1897 it is on exhibit in Boston. | maritime |
| 1879 | | The Boston Antiquarian Club rescues the Old State House | See the Old State House time-line on the Bostonian Society Web site | revolution |
| 1881 | | Controversy over John G. Whittier's "The King's Missive" | In letters to the Boston Daily Advertiser, Whittier and historian George Ellis argued over the imprisonment of Quakers in 17th century Boston. | Quaker, Whittier, poetry |
| 1885 | | Boston proposes a statue of Paul Revere | Although Cyrus Dallin completed several models, the city failed to raise the money to complete the statue. | revolution |
| 1885 | | After moving to Prout's Neck, Maine, Winslow Homer turned to the drama of seafaring. | | maritime |
| Return to Top |
| 1887 | | Mass. Historical Society protests Boston Massacre monument | | revolution |
| 1895 | | Eliza Philbrick creates a "Colonial Gown" for a DAR party in Boston | | reproduction |
| 1897 | | Boston Society of Arts and Crafts Founded | | |
| 1910 | | John F. Fitzgerald mayor of Boston | | |
| 1912 | | Robert Frost, "North of Boston" | | |
| 1972 | | Harvard dedicates the so-called "Bradstreet Gate" between the Science Center and the Yard. | The Bradstreet Gate was controversial because it appeared to by-pass the history of Radcliffe. The passage from Bradstreet's writing engraved on the gate was taken out of context. In the original it described her dismay at the raw condition of the settlement in Boston when she first arrived. Perhaps the first female freshmen in the Yard had similiar anxieties.
Additional Information | |
| 1974 | | Judge Garrity orders school busing in Boston | | |
| 1987 | | Archaeologists begin excavating historic sites threatened by Boston's Big Dig. | Some of the artifacts recovered, including "North America's Oldest Bowling Ball" are on exhibit at the Commonwealth Museum. An interactive website shows the location of the Big Dig in relation to Boston geography as it changed over time.
Additional InformationAdditional Information | |
| 2001 | | Boston Massacre Memorial included on a new Irish Heritage Trail. | What was the justification for doing this?
Additional Information | immigration |
| 2003 | | Boston Women's Memorial features Phillis Wheatley, Abigail Adams, and Lucy Stone | | statue |
