Boston400 as living memory
Open one object and the anniversary becomes a person, a place, a route, and a thread through the city.
On December 16, 1773, after a mass meeting at Old South Meeting House, about 150 men went to Griffin's Wharf and destroyed 342 chests of imported tea.
Established in 1848, Boston Public Library was the first large free municipal library in the United States.
Dating to 1839, the Boston Public Garden is recognized as the first public botanical garden in the United States, with formal paths, plantings, a lagoon, and Swan Boats.
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Upcoming anniversaries computed live from the graph · full timeline →
The road to 2030 the program of quadricentennial moments
Living History · interactiveDrag a slider across four centuries and watch the founding, the Revolution, the institutions, and the modern city appear on the map in the order history actually wrote them.
The timeline — oldest first ordered by year
Boston Massacre (1770)
On March 5, 1770, British soldiers fired into a crowd of civilians, killing five people, including Crispus Attucks, near the Old State House.
Boston Tea Party (1773)
On December 16, 1773, after a mass meeting at Old South Meeting House, about 150 men went to Griffin's Wharf and destroyed 342 chests of imported tea.
Midnight Ride of Paul Revere (1775)
On April 18-19, 1775, Paul Revere rode from Boston toward Lexington as part of an intelligence and alarm network warning of a British expedition.
Battle of Bunker Hill (1775)
On June 17, 1775, New England troops met the British army in the Revolution's first major pitched battle; British forces took the field after suffe…
Boston Public Garden
Dating to 1839, the Boston Public Garden is recognized as the first public botanical garden in the United States, with formal paths, plantings, a l…
Boston Public Library
Established in 1848, Boston Public Library was the first large free municipal library in the United States. Its McKim Building opened in Copley Squ…
The Freedom Trail
A 2.5-mile route marked by brick, paint, and signs, linking 16 colonial, Revolutionary, and federal sites from Boston Common through the North End…
From Boston's past to what comes next.
History Is For Everyone opens the people and events that shaped Boston. This guide follows the living place: its institutions, streets, ideas, and next chapter.
Why BostonIt started a revolution, buried its dead in the heart of downtown, and still walks you past four hundred years on a single afternoon. Fall in love on foot.
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