Boston 101.
Quick Boston Facts
- Population, city: 600,000 people
- Population, metropolitan area: 3.7 million people
- 48 square miles in size
- The Freedom Trail: a three-mile historic walking trail through old Boston and Charlestown featuring:
- The Bunker Hill Monument: site of the first major battle of the Revolutionary War
- Paul Revere’s House: the oldest wooden building in Boston
- The Old South Meeting House: where the Boston Tea Party was planned
- The USS Constitution: the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the U.S.
- Faneuil Hall: Built in 1742 as Boston’s meeting and market place, also known as the “Cradle of Liberty”
- The African Meeting House was built in 1806 and is the nation’s oldest existing black church
Boston Firsts
Here are some of the national and local “firsts” that happened in Boston.
- 1632 – First law against smoking in public
- 1634 – First public park: Boston Common
- 1635 – First public school: Boston Latin, still in operation
- 1636 – First college: Harvard University
- 1653 – First public library
- 1662 – First Official Censor: hence the phrase “banned in Boston”
- 1704 – First newspaper: Boston News-Letter
- 1716 – First lighthouse: Boston Light, still in operation
- 1765 – First chocolate factory: Baker Chocolate Factory in Dorchester
- 1806 – First African-American meeting house constructed
- 1835 – First public school for African-American children: Abiel Smith School
- 1837 – First college for women: Mount Holyoke, still in operation
- 1876 – First telephone: Alexander Graham Bell
- 1896 – First cookbook: The Boston Cooking-School Cookbook, by Fanny Farmer
- 1897 – First subway: Metro Boston Transportation Authority, the “T”, completed on schedule and on budget
- 1897 – First U.S. Marathon: Boston Marathon
- 1903 – First World Series game: Boston Americans 3, Pittsburgh Pirates 7
- 1928 – First computer: at MIT
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