J.L. Bell recounts that on his arrival in Philadelphia, Ben Franklin tried to get some bread to tide him over, but couldn't find any bakers who understood the Boston terms he used. Finally, he just told a baker to give him "three penny worth of any sort" of bread - and then was amazed at the three huge "puffy rolls" he got, because it turned out that pennies had a different worth in Philly than in Boston.
The Boston City Council today approved a resolution that calls on the city to change the name of Faneuil Hall because Peter Fanueil was a slave owner. Read more.
WBUR reports on the 70th anniversary of an explosion that caused the greatest loss of life ever along the Boston waterfront: The Oct. 16, 1953 explosion aboard the USS Leyte, an aircraft carrier being converted into an anti-submarine carrier at the Boston Naval Shipyard - today the Raymond Flynn Marine Park in South Boston.
J.L. Bell reviews the Boston Archaeology Program's new List of Known Enslaved People in Boston and finds some omissions among the current 2,357 entries, including Onesimus, who introduced the idea of smallpox inoculation, and Phillis Wheatley. Read more.
The folks at the Boston City Archives wonder if you can place this scene. See it larger.
View of the Great Chelsea Fire of 1973 from Burlington's Civil Defense HQ in Overlook Park on Winnmere Hill. Photo by Steve Duke
Burlington Retro's Robert Fahey recounts the reaction and response in Greater Boston (or more specifically, Burlington) to the Great Chelsea Fire of 1973, which happened fifty years ago today.
Irene Schwachman's 1962 photograph of Washington Street, Adams Square. See it larger.
Cities tell stories. This is particularly evident (if not inescapable) in Boston.
Developing Boston: Berenice Abbott & Irene Shwachman Photograph a Changing City, which is on view at the Boston Athenæum through the end of the year, is a clear demonstration of the stories that surround us. Read more.
Drone video of the more damaged side, by First Church.
The leaders of First Church in Cambridge plan to take down the "golden cockerel" weathervane that has topped the church spire since 1873 for repairs. But in discussions set to begin this Sunday, parishioners will consider whether the church should then put the historic rooster back atop the spire - or sell it. Read more.
The folks at the Boston City Archives wonder if you can place this scene. See it larger.
WCVB reports on the 20th anniversary of the day Little Joe the gorilla escaped confinement at the Franklin Park Zoo, and updates us on his current status.
J.L. Bell recounts the story of Polly Summer, a doll which, as the saying goes, has seen some things - it arrived in Boston just before the Revolution and survives to this day, although not in the best of shape.
The folks at the Boston City Archives wonder if you can place this photo. See it larger.
At one time, the building was the Boston Club.
Earlier this month, the Unification Church sold the 46 Beacon St. residence and former club it had owned since 1976 to a pair of local developers, according to Suffolk County Registry of Deeds records. Read more.
The folks at the Boston City Archives wonder if you can place this scene. See it larger. A wider view.
The folks at the Boston City Archives wonder if you can place this scene, showing a horseshoeing barn (one kid, no waiting!) next to an ice-cream parlor. See it larger.
Zsa Zsa Gabor gets "Golden Filene's Key to Boston" on arrival at Logan on Jan. 18, 1954.
The newest of the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority's three harbor ferries is the Phillis Wheatley, named for the Boston woman who became a famous poet in the colonial era even as she remained enslaved (yes, here in Boston). Read more.
The folks at the Boston City Archives wonder if you can place this scene. See it larger.
Boston cops shove striking workers out of the way so East Boston gas trucks can make deliveries
In January, 1969, members of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers went on strike across the country against large oil companies. In East Boston, a Herald-Traveler photographer snapped Boston cops pushing picketers out of the way so that drivers of gasoline tanker trucks could deliver the loads they'd picked up at Mobil Oil Corp.'s East Boston terminal. Read more.
The folks at the Boston City Archives wonder if you can place this scene. See it larger.
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