It’s Also History: Tales & Tidbits from Alan's Archives

The British troops left Boston on March 17, 1776, almost a year after the Revolution began. That wasn't quite the end of the story, however. There was one more brief skirmish and the handling of POWs to deal with. The story is about British troop ships sailing into the harbor after the evacuation, and how the prisoners of war were handled..

On March 16, 1926, a century ago, Robert Goddard gave birth to the Space Age as he launched the world's first liquid fuel rocket from a relative's farm in Auburn, MA. It took another 30 years before the space race began in earnest, but it had its roots in a small Massachusetts suburb of Worcester.

Alexander Graham Bell's name is a household word around the world. He is indelibly linked with the invention of the telephone. What is less known is that he uttered his famous first words on his invention in a tiny makeshift lab in downtown Boston, Listen how Bell came to be in Boston and what a tourist would find at the site today.

The old Boston Arena, birthplace to the Bruins and Celtics, pre-dated Boston Garden by 18 years and outlived it by 30. It is now slated to be replaced. Hear how a Boston sports jewel - older than Fenway - survived deep into the twenty-first century, while hosting famous sports and entertainment celebrities, major league games, politicians, and icons of its era..

In 1881, leaders of a private school in Northfield, MA mandated that all students run a 4-mile course around the campus before leaving for Thanksgiving break. It was extremely unpopular until Mrs. Forslund offered pies. It is today the oldest road race in America.

In 1925, the United States had a major soccer league that was second only to baseball in newspaper coverage. Soccer also had - and still has - an open tournament for the national title. It's open to all teams - professional and amateur. Hear how, in 1925 a small club from Andover, Massachusetts beat all comers;

There was a time when Benedict Arnold was considered one of the best soldiers for the American Cause. Hear about how he led an expedition across New England on his way to capture Quebec for the Americans.

Hidden in the shadows of the more famous battles of Lexington & Concord and Bunker Hill is a little-known, but important step on the way to independence. The battle of May 27, 1775, took place along the shores of today's communities of Chelsea, Revere, and East Boston, and is considered to be the first naval engagement of the American Revolution.

very school child knows of Paul Revere, and the history buffs can add the names of Dawes and Prescott to the account, but, in reality, there existed a whole network of express riders who spread the alarm of Lexington and Concord all over eastern Massachusetts.Listen and, and you may discover your town's own "midnight rider."

Before Lexington and Concord, before Leslie's in Salem there was the Worcester Revolt although little known it affectively separated Worcester County from British control.

Everyone knows the names Lexington & Concord, but the American Revolution nearly started two months earlier in Salem. Listen to how it was prevented as cooler heads prevailed on that February day 250 years ago. Instead of the start of a war, it became merely the dress rehearsal of what came on April 19th.

The downtown area of a western Massachusetts town at Christmas time was once featured in an iconic painting . Now, every year, the scene is recreated in real life. Learn about how an image from another era transformed a community.

The history or politics aficionado has heard of the famous Resolute Desk, the president's desk in the Oval Office. Learn about its connections to New England.

Boston may not have hosted the Olympics this year, but there once was a time that a small piece of the games - complete with the lighting of the Olympic cauldron - was staged within the city limits. Hear how and why that took place.

Was he a genius or was he just the luckiest businessman? Hear how Timothy Dexter, self-styled Lord of Newburyport, beat them all in everything he did.

Comic book character Archie Andrews lived in the fictional, but idyllic, town of Riverdale, but one Massachusetts community has a solid claim to be the city it was based on. Listen to hear how Archie, Jughead, Betty, Veronica, and the gang have at least passing resemblances to real Haverhillites.

In 1776, when America officially broke from Great Britain, slavery was legal in all 13 states. Four years later, Massachusetts adopted its state constitution which appeared to outlaw the practice for the first time anywhere in the United States. To end slavery, though, it took a series of court cases to determine the constitution's exact meaning. Two brave souls, who were afforded very little freedom to that point, tested the law and made sure it lived up to its lofty words.

Before serving, elected presidents must first take the oath of office. Since the beginning of our nation, six communities have played host to the ritual - five large cities and one very small New England town. Listen to hear how a village of less than 700 residents was once the site of this iconic transfer of power.

Jingle Bells is one of the most famous songs of all time, but its composer and origin are barely known today. Listen to hear about its connections to New England 

Two days before Thanksgiving there was an explosion in the town of Danvers, Ma that leveled mor than 300 homes and businesses. It was described by one reporter as looking like a war zone. Listen to hear how, despite the devastation, no one was killed or even seriously hurt.

Today, Monday night and Thursday night football games are staples of the NFL schedule. There was a time when all games were played during the day. That pattern was broken right here in New England, but not by a team you might expect.

There's an old New England tradition that began as a newspaper marketing scheme that still lives on long after the paper's demise. It involves a gold-tipped ebony cane and the oldest resident in town. 

Right in the middle of the Roaring 20s Boston’s Pickwick Club was celebrating the Fourth of July. Tragedy struck while the crowd was dancing the Charleston, when the building came crashing down.

Her image was plastered all over every product sold, she was America’s first self-made female millionaire, songs were written about her, but today she’s nearly forgotten. Just who was this woman from Lynn, Massachusetts?

Worcester might be the second largest city in New England, but Major League Baseball doesn't necessarily come to mind when thinking about it. Regardless, the city actually boasted a National League club for three years that played in maybe the strangest venue of any big-time club in any sport.

Mt. Greylock, the highest point in Massachusetts, has always attracted the literary elite of America. The mountain serves as the background for many stories and poems by authors ranging from Melville to Rowling. You might be surprised by the works of fiction centered around the oft hiked peak.

Frederick Douglass was a larger than life figure in the abolitionist movement and in American history. Nearly forgotten are the eight years he lived in Lynn, Massachusetts. Although he writes very little of the city, it's the place where he morphed into a movement leader and is the site of an infamous, but transforming incident aboard a train.

Out in the woods of Cape Ann exist the remnants of a village where hardworking folk once dwelled alongside interesting characters and legends. Hear about the people -and the dogs - who once populated the countryside and the myths that grew up around them.

Jacob Marley, who was, in life, Scrooge's partner, is deeply rooted in mid-19th century London, but was his character inspired by a story written in Lowell, Massachusetts? Listen in and decide for yourself, about Marley's Middlesex County roots.

In 1927 - three years before the first FIFA World Cup - The Uruguay National Team made an unlikely visit to Malden, MA as a warm-up game for that first tournament. Uruguay had done well, beating top teams from around the world, and the club would be victorious in the 1930 World Cup. More surprisingly than their visit, was the fact that they lost to a local team. Listen how the Boston Wonderworkers took on - and beat - the world's best, not only in the match, but also in the ensuing riot.

Sometimes legend and reality coincide. That's the case with the famous Thanksgiving song "Over the River and Through the Woods." Although a seemingly wistful ditty of what we'd like life to be, the tune is actually biographical. The sights and events chronicled in the verses actually exist. Listen to find out where the route of the sleigh takes the listener and discover what river is being crossed.

Everyone knows George Washington was our first president, right? Well, there's a little more to the story than that. Before the current constitution was in place we already had a government - The Congress of the Confederation, and at its head was the President of the United States in Congress Assembled. Nine people held that position before Washington was sworn in. First among them was a man from Connecticut. Hear the story of Huntington's brief, but meaningful, presidency.

What could be more exciting than pirates, buried treasure, and a treasure hunt, all in our own backyard? That's what we have in Lynn Woods. In the mid 1600s it was rumored that pirate Tom Veal secreted his ill-gotten booty deep in the heart of Lynn Woods. Did it really happen? Nobody knows for sure, but that didn't stop nineteenth century treasure hunters from seeking it out. Listen to how a man and his son devoted their lives to searching for it, and hear about what they left behind.

Boston has had several well-known fires, from the Great Fire of 1872 which consumed most of the downtown area, to the Cocoanut Grove, taking 492 lives, and the tragedy at the Hotel Vendome. One that is nearly forgotten today is the Stadium Fire of 1894 - a blaze that started in the middle of a baseball game and ended with the destruction of an entire neighborhood.

When the Civil War came to a close, musician Patrick Gilmore developed a fantastical idea to help heal the nation's wounds - a large-scale concert featuring thousands of performers to be held in a temporary building holding 50,000 spectators. Nearly everyone thought he was crazy, but, against all odds, he pulled it off.

On a cold January day President Elect Franklin Pierce and his family boarded a train in Andover, Massachusetts, two months before he took office. A mile later the train left the track and tumbled down an embankment. The horrible accident nearly ended his presidency before it started, He survived, but the tragedy hobbled his administration for the entire term, destroyed his home life, and probably led to an early death..

Lexington is a town that everyone knows about. The first shots of the American Revolution took place on the town green. Every school child learns about it early on. Together with nearby Concord it's a household word. But who was its most famous resident? He had nothing to do with the town's fame, but, nonetheless, he's notorious. This podcast explains how this person's name became a part of the language.

Every runner and casual sports observer knows that the Boston Marathon is a big deal. What most don't realize, however, is that it is directly connected to the first Modern Olympics in Athens and, thus tied to the birth of the sport. Listen to hear how the Boston Marathon came into being and how it was an offshoot of the Athens Games.

A spring day in 1780 was like no other. It was so dark at noon that candles were needed at lunchtime, animals returned to the barn, and the crickets chirped as if it were night. Some thought the end of the world was at hand. Others looked for a rational explanation, and some just took the time to goof off. Although there have been many plausible hypotheses, no one has ever been absolutely sure what happened on that long ago May 19th.

The Davis Cup Tournament is viewed as the World Cup of Tennis: Nation vs. Nation vying for top honors. The competition moves from city to city, around the globe, but almost forgotten is that very edition in 1900 - the inaugural event staged in Boston. In fact, the tournament was the brainchild of a Harvard tennis player, and the trophy, emblematic of the championship, was created by a venerable Boston jeweler.

You don't often hear of nobility in New England, but if you drive through Woburn Square - about four miles from where the American Revolution began, that would free this country of royal and noble titles - you might just spot a statue labeled "Count Rumford." How did this happen? Why is he honored as such? Listen in to find out about this genius inventor and politician, and a man on the wrong side of the American cause.

In the middle of the depression era the city of Boston had not just one, but two professional football teams. They didn't play in the same leagues, but they were rivals nonetheless - not on the field, but at the box office. They both fought for more than championships. They were in battles for survival.Both teams were slated to host their respective title games, but circumstances got in the way. Listen to the story of how the Boston Redskins and the Boston Shamrocks vied for the football fandom of Boston with neither coming out on top.

The early 1900s was a more innocent time in some ways. Access to the governor’s office was not complicated. Anyone could walk in and ask to speak with the state’s chief executive. One day in 1907, a would be assassin walked in and began shooting. The governor survived the attack and was actually one of the heroes of the day. Listen in to hear the complete story of the attack on Massachusetts governor, Curtis Guild.

Every year the city of Boston receives a gift from the city of Halifax and the province of Nova Scotia - a Christmas tree. Its purpose is to bind the two regions in friendship, but it also commemorates the response to a terrible tragedy that happened more than a century ago. On Dec. 6, 1917, a series of explosions devastated Halifax, killing thousands and injuring many more. Massachusetts responded immediately, before knowing any details, and saved, or relieved the suffering, of thousands more. This is the back story; the saga of the amazing response to those awful events that prompts Nova Scotia's annual present to Boston.

There are all sorts of holiday traditions. Some come steeped in history, honoring great turning points or important people, while others, inexplicably, grow organically from small - almost meaningless events. One such unusual Thanksgiving rite is based on a relatively trivial matter that happened back in 1965. If it had happened to anyone but a folksinger it would never be remembered today. He wrote a song about it which became a hit and later spawned a movie. Today hundreds, maybe thousands, pull out the song and play it some time before feasting on turkey. It's become part of the annual ritual. Now, we all know that the story behind the song "Alice's Restaurant" can't possibly be true, right? But it is - at least, partly. Listen in to get the lowdown on the real story of Alice's Restaurant.

On October 24, 1961, a young mother of two toddlers went about her daily routine: A dentist appointment in the morning, some grocery shopping, checking in with her best friend who just gave birth, she sent her husband's suits to the dry cleaners, fed the children, and then vanished without a trace. Newspapers across the country covered the story in its early days, the local press kept with the story for the rest of the year, but, with no breakthroughs, it faded from the consciousness of the area. Whatever happened to Joan Risch, of Lincoln, MA? Was she murdered? Was she abducted? Did she plan her own disappearance, and, most intriguing of all, at 91, could she still be out there? "Vanished in Lincoln" answers some, but not all, of the questions.surrounding this enduring mystery.

As the Civil War raged across the country, one North Shore town became part of the great recruitment. The crossroads village of South Lynnfield, with its train station, access to Suntaug Lake, and plenty of flat open fields, was the site of the Eastern Massachusetts recruitment center. The tiny town saw an influx of people, raising the temporary population to heights only recently surpassed. Hear about the two summers in the early 1860s when Lynnfield was transformed into the epicenter of Massachusetts military activity.

On August 26, 1871 - just over 150 years ago - the worst train crash in Massachusetts history happened. It wasn't caused by any one mistake or breakdown but, rather, by a series of events. Any of them going right would have prevented the calamity, but that's not what happened. This debacle, known simply as "The Revere Disaster," is nearly forgotten today even in the city where it happened, but it cost 30 lives, was responsible for the downfall of a great railroad, and caused laws and regulations to be changed.

Sports fan or not, you've heard of Fenway Park. The history and trivia buffs can add Braves Field and, maybe even, the Huntington Avenue Grounds to the list, but nearly no one has any knowledge of Lincoln Park, the hub of Boston's Black Baseball. Learn about its very brief history and how this podcaster discovered its existence.

Most people have heard the term "gerrymandering" and might know what it means,generally, but most don't know the origin, or who it was named for, or even how to pronounce the word. This episode explains all that - and more