Massachusetts Facts
Preamble to the Constitution of the Commonwealth, 1780
Written by John Adams, Samuel Adams, and James Bowdoin"The end of the institution, maintenance and administration of government, is to secure the existence of the body-politic, to protect it, and to furnish the individuals who compose it, with the power of enjoying in safety and tranquility their natural rights, and the blessings of life: And whenever these great objects are not obtained, the people have a right to alter the government, and to take measures necessary for their safety, prosperity and happiness. The Body-Politic is formed by a voluntary association of individuals: It is a social compact, by which the whole people convenants with each Citizen, and each Citizen with the whole people, that all shall be governed by certain Laws for the Common good. It is the duty of the people, therefore, in framing a Constitution of Government, to provide for an equitable mode of making laws, as well as for an impartial interpretation, and a faithful execution of them; that every man may, at all times, find his security in them.
We, therefore, the people of Massachusetts, acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the goodness of the Great Legislator of the Universe, in affording us, in the course of His Providence, an opportunity, deliberately and peaceably, without fraud, violence or surprize, on entering into an Original, explicit, and Solemn Compact with each other; and of forming a new Constitution of Civil Government, for Ourselves and Posterity, and devoutly imploring His direction in so interesting a design, Do agree upon, ordain and establish, the following Declaration of Rights, and Frame of Government, as the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts."
Famous Firsts in Massachusetts
For over three hundred years, Massachusetts has led the nation and the world in many ways. Here are just a few of them:
1621 - The first Thanksgiving was celebrated in Plymouth.
1629 - The first tannery in the U.S. began operations in Lynn.
1634 - Boston Common became the first public park in America.
1635 - The first American public secondary school, Boston Latin Grammar School, was founded in Boston.
1636 - Harvard, the first American university, was founded in Newtowne (now Cambridge).
1638 - The first American printing press was set up in Cambridge by Stephen Daye.
1639 - The first free American public school, the Mather school, was founded in Dorchester, a neighborhood of Boston. Also, the first post office in America was Richard Fairbanks' tavern in Boston.
1650 - The first American ironworks were established in Saugus.
1653 - The first American public library was founded in Boston.
1686 - Oxford became the first non-Puritan town.
1704 - The first regularly issued American newspaper, "The Boston News-Letter", was published in Boston.
1716 - The first American lighthouse was built in Boston Harbor.
1775 - The first battle of the Revolution was fought in Lexington and Concord, and the first ship of the U.S. Navy, the schooner "Hannah", was commissioned in Beverly.
1780 - First State Constitution.
1789 - The first American novel, William Hill Brown's "The Power of Sympathy", was published in Worcester.
1803 - The Middlesex Canal, the first canal built for commercial use in the United States, was completed.
1806 - The first church built by free blacks in America, the African Meeting House, opened on Joy Street in Boston.
1826 - The first American railroad was built in Quincy.
1827 - Francis Leiber opened the first swim school in America. Among the first to enroll was John Quincy Adams.
1831 - The first abolitionist newspaper, "The Liberator", was published in Boston by William Lloyd Garrison.
1837 - Samuel Morse invented the electric telegraph based on Morse Code, a simple pattern of "dots" and dashes.
1839 - Rubber was first vulcanized by Charles Goodyear in Woburn.
1840 - The typewriter was invented by Charles Thurber in Worcester.
1845 - The first sewing machine was made by Elias Howe in Boston.
1846 - The first public demonstration of ether anesthetic was given in Boston.
1850 - The first National Women's Right Convention convenes in Worcester.
1865 - Robert Ware of M.I.T. began the first professional training program for architects. Prior to this, architects trained in Europe or learned through apprenticeship.
1866 - The first African-American legislators in New England were elected to the General Court.
1875 - The first American Christmas card was printed by Louis Prang in Boston.
1876 - The first telephone was demonstrated by Alexander Graham Bell in Boston.
1877 - Helen Magill White becomes the first woman to earn a Ph.D in the U.S. at Boston University.
1881 - The Country Club in Brookline became the first dedicated to "outdoor pursuits".
1886 - The first transformer was demonstrated by William Stanley in Great Barrington.
1888 - The first electric trolley in the state runs from Lynn.
1891 - The first basketball game was played in Springfield. Also, Kennedy Biscuit Workers (later Nabisco) used a machine invented by James Henry Mitchell to mass-produce the first Fig Newton Cookies and named them for Newton, MA.
1893 - The first successful gasoline-powered auto was perfected by Charles and Frank Duryeain in Springfield.
1895 - The first volleyball game was played in Holyoke.
1896 - Landscape architect Charles Eliot developed Revere Beach as the first public beach in America.
1897 - April 19,1897 was the first Boston Marathon. The race was run from Boston to Ashland and the starting field was 15 runners. John J. McDermott was the winner.
1898 - The first American subway system was opened in Boston.
1926 - The first successful liquid fuel rocket was launched by Dr. Robert Goddard in Auburn.
1928 - The first computer, a non-electronic "differential analyzer", was developed by Dr. Vannevar Bush of M.I.T. in Cambridge.
1944 - And, not to be outdone by M.I.T., Howard Aiken of Harvard developed the first automatic digital computer.
1961 - The first nuclear-powered surfaceship, USS Long Beach, was launched in Quincy.
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