The Handy Boston Answer Book

Samuel Willard Crompton

Description

Boston. Bahston. A wicked good look at the city of Boston, it’s people, history, culture, and surrounding neighborhoods.

Whether it's called Beantown, The Olde Towne, Titletown, The Cradle of Liberty, The Athens of America, The Puritan City, The City on a Hill, or any of its other obscure or oft-repeated nicknames, Boston has a long and varied history. Its universities and hospitals lead the nation, and its sports teams, politicians, and colloquialisms continue to captivate. Exploring this city’s fascinating history, people, myths, culture, and trivia, The Handy Boston Answer Book takes an in-depth look at one of America's oldest major cities.

Learn about the city’s founding by Puritan settlers, the Boston Massacre, the Great Fire, the opening of the T, the busing desegregation strife, the Big Dig, and much, much more. Tour landmarks from Faneuil Hall to Fenway Park to the United States' first public school, Boston Latin School, and important institutions such as Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital. Sports (and the local sports fanatics) are illuminated (and explained). Popular neighborhoods, ethnic enclaves, and the surrounding suburbs are canvassed. The government, notable sons and daughters, parks, and cultural institutions are all packed into this comprehensive guide to the city of Boston. Find answers to 1,200 questions, including:

What was the Boston revolt of 1689?

Who dramatized Paul Revere's Midnight Ride?

How did the Embargo Act of 1807 affect Boston?

How did Protestant and Yankee Boston become the multi-ethnic metropolis of today?

When did Boston's Great Fire occur?

How much of the city's land was reclaimed by filling in marshes, mud flats, and gaps between wharves along the waterfront?

What cities and towns comprise the “Greater Boston” region?

How many college students reside in Boston?

Why is the Boston Marathon always run on the third Monday of April?

Who ran the Boston Marathon the most times?

Were the baseball players always called the Red Sox?

Why did Boston get the "Athens of America" nickname?

What's “The T”? What's “The Pike”?

Who designed Boston’s “Emerald Necklace”?

Who was Boston's longest-serving mayor?

Are “Tonics” and “Whoopie Pies” available at most “Spas”?

What do the colored lights on top of the old Hancock building say about the weather?

What do Samuel Adams, James Taylor, Benjamin Franklin, and Taylor Schilling have in common?

A convenient place to go to look up the basic—and fun—facts about Boston, its history and culture, The Handy Boston Answer Book illustrates the unique character of the city through a combination of facts, stats, and stories, as well as the unusual and quirky. This informative book also includes a helpful bibliography and an extensive index, adding to its usefulness.

Sujets

• Histoire
• Cambridge Massachusetts
• Boston Massachusetts
• Shawmut Peninsula
• State
• Siege of Boston
• Charles River
• Boston Massacre
• United States
• New England
• History
• Bunker Hill
• Rivière Charles
• Local
• Boston Tea Party
• Boston
• Massachusetts

Informations

• Publié par: Visible Ink Press
• Date de parution: 19 septembre 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781578596164
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 12 Mo

Extrait

About the Author

Samuel Willard Cromptonis a native of Massachusetts who has visited about thirty of the fifty states. During a break from his literary endeavors he took a thirtyday train trip around the en tire perimeter of the country, and he’s never been the same since. Some of the highlights were the Four Mile Bridge at As toria and Cut Bank, Montana. Crompton is the author or editor of many books, includingThe Illustrated Atlas of Native Amer ican Historyand Visible Ink’sThe Handy Civil War Answer BookandThe Handy Military History Answer Book. He is a spe cialist in the French and Indian Wars and has served as a talking head for the Military Channel on itsFirst Commandprogram. Crompton teaches history at Holyoke Com munity College in Massachusetts, where he has seen his students move from the ana log to digital ages. He resides in Hadley, Massachusetts.

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Please visit the “Handy Answers” series website at www.handyanswers.com.

Copyright © 2017 by Visible Ink Press® THE This publication is a creative work fully protected by all applicable copyright laws, as well as by misappropriation, trade secret, unfair competition, and HANDY other applicable laws. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief BOSTON passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, or website. ANSWER All rights to this publication will be vigorously defended. Visible Ink Press® 43311 Joy Rd., #414 BOOK Canton, MI 481872075 Visible Ink Press is a registered trademark of Visible Ink Press LLC.

Most Visible Ink Press books are available at special quantity discounts when purchased in bulk by corporations, organizations, or groups. Customized printings, special imprints, messages, and excerpts can be produced to meet your needs. For more information, contact Special Markets Director, Visible Ink Press, www.visibleink.com or 7346673211.

Managing Editor: Kevin S. Hile Art Director: Mary Claire Krzewinski Typesetting: Marco DiVita Proofreaders: Barbara Lyon and Aarti Stephens Indexer: Larry Baker

Cover images: Shutterstock.

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Names: Crompton, Samuel Willard, author. Title: The handy Boston answer book / by Samuel Willard Crompton. Description: Canton, MI : Visible Ink Press, 2016. | Series: Handy answers series | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2016026089 (print) | LCCN 2016026303 (ebook) | ISBN 9781578595938 (tradepaper) | ISBN 9781578596188 (Kindle) | ISBN 9781578596171 (ePub) | ISBN 9781578596164 (uPDF) Subjects: LCSH: Boston (Mass.)—Miscellanea. Classification: LCC F73.3 .C94 2016 (print) | LCC F73.3 (ebook) | DDC 974.4/61—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016026089

Printed in the United States of America

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Dedication

This book is for my beloved Charlotte, who arrived in Boston many years ago, as the first step of her American pilgrimage.

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Contents

A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S xi P H O T O S O U R C E S xiii

THE BASIC FACTS … 1

EARLY BOSTON, 1630–1760 … 7 The First Government (11) … Boston Turns into Massachusetts (14) … Indian Wars (18) … Loss of the Charter (22) … Science and Religion (35) … Foreshadowing the Revolution (40) … The Great War for Empire (42)

REVOLUTIONARY BOSTON … 47 King George III and His Colonists (49) … The Stamp Act (51) … The Declaratory Acts (54) … The Boston Massacre (57) … An African American Voice (63) … The British Occupation (64) … April 19, 1775 (66) … Bunker Hill and Breed’s Hill (71) … A Different Solution (76) … From Revolution to Nationalism (81) … End of the Eighteenth Century (83) … The Physical Scene (85)

NINETEENTHCENTURY BOSTON … 87 Miscellany (89) … The War of 1812 (91) … Boston as Seen by Lafayette (92) … Turning

T I M E L I N E xv I N T R O D U C T I O N

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Water into Dry Land (93) … The Cause of Humankind (95) … The Torch Passes (96) … The Irish (98) … Boston Area Humanitarians (99) … Coming of the Civil War (100) … African American Soldiers from Boston (103) … Boston’s Triumph and the Golden Years (104) … The New Trinity Church (107) … Boston in 1874 (108) … Ethnic Wars (110)

THE MODERN METROPOLIS … 113 World War I (118) … Aftermath of the Great War (119) … Postwar Conservatism (121) … The 1930s (124) … World War II (126) … Urban Renewal—Phase One (129) … The 1960s (131) … The Kennedy Influence (132) … The 1970s (133) … Pride and Shame (134) … Blizzard to Blizzard (138) … The Shocking Charles Stuart Case (140) … Tall Ships and Tall Buildings (141) … The Big Dig (141) … Turn of the Century (147) … Ethnic Realities (148)

THE BOSTON MARATHON … 151 The Beginnings (151) … Tarzan (159) … The Great Boom (163) … Women in the Marathon

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