Massachusetts had the first:
• Town of Franklin: Although over 30 communities in the colonies eventually renamed themselves to honor Benjamin Franklin, the Massachusetts Town of Franklin was the first to change its name in 1778.
• Game of basketball: It was invented in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1891. Today, the Basketball Hall of Fame is located in Springfield.
• Public Park: Boston Common became the first public park in 1634.
• College in North America: Harvard was founded in 1636.
• Sewing machine: Elias Howe of Boston invented it in 1845.
• Nuclear-powered surface vessel: The USS Long Beach CG (N) 9 was launched at Quincy in 1961.
• Public elementary school in America: The Mather school was founded in Dorchester in 1639.
• Thanksgiving: The first Thanksgiving Day was celebrated in Plymouth in 1621.
• Public Beach: Revere Beach was the first public beach in the United States and is host to Suffolk Downs horse racing track, Wonderland dog racing track and a 14-screen cinema complex.
• Volleyball game: In Holyoke, William G. Morgan, created a new game called "Mintonette" in 1895. After a demonstration given at the YMCA in nearby Springfield, the name "Mintonette" was replaced with the now familiar name "Volleyball."
Unusual Facts from Massachusetts:
- There is a house in Rockport built entirely of newspaper.
- The Fig Newton was named after Newton, Massachusetts.
- The Boston University Bridge on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston is the only place in the world where a boat can sail under a train driving under a car driving under an airplane.
- Glaciers formed the islands of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard during the ice age.
- The Children's Museum in Boston displays a giant milk bottle on the museum's wharf. If it were real it would hold 50,000 gallons of milk and 8,620 gallons of cream.
Science and Education in Massachusetts:
- The American industrial revolution began in Lowell. Lowell was America's first planned industrial city.
- Hingham's Derby Academy founded in 1784 is the oldest co-educational school in the United States. Hingham's First Parish Old Ship Church is the oldest church structure in the United States in continuous use as a place of worship.
- Robert Goddard, inventor of the first liquid fueled rocket, was born and lived much of his life in Worcester and launched the first rocket fueled with liquid fuel from the neighboring town of Auburn.
Learn About Massachusetts
Impress your friends with these interesting facts about your home state!
- Nickname: Bay State
- Capital: Boston
- State Folk Hero: Johnny Appleseed
- State Dog: Boston Terrier
- State Horse: Morgan Horse
- State Insect: Lady Bug
- State Fossil: Dinosaur Tracks
- State Muffin: Corn Muffin
- State Dessert: Boston Cream Pie
- State Folk Song: “Massachusetts”
- State Cat: Tabby Cat
- State Bird: Black Capped Chickadee
- State Fish: Cod
- State Flower: Mayflower
- State Beverage: Cranberry Juice
- State Cookie: Chocolate Chip Cookie
Unique to Massachusetts:
- Massachusetts holds the two largest cites in New England, Boston, the largest, and Worcester.
- In 1838 the Boston & West Worcester Railroad was the first railroad to charge commuter fares.
- The fourteen counties in Massachusetts are made up of 43 cities and 308 towns.
- The first The USS Constitution 'Old Ironsides,' the oldest fully commissioned vessel in the US Navy is permanently berthed at Charlestown Navy Yard. Since 1897 the ship has been overhauled several times in Dry Dock 1.
- The Boston Tea Party reenactment takes place in Boston Harbor every December 16th.
- The 3rd Monday in April is a legal holiday in Massachusetts called Patriot's Day.
- John Adams and John Quincy Adams are buried in the crypt at the United First Parish Church in Quincy.
- The signs along the Massachusetts Turnpike reading "x miles to Boston" refer to the distance from that point to the gold dome of the state house.
- The first U.S. Postal zip code in Massachusetts is 01001 at Agawam.
