One of the original 13 colonies and one of the six states of New England, Massachusetts (officially called the Commonwealth) is perhaps best known as the landing site of the Mayflower and Pilgrims. English explorer and settler John Smith named the state after the Massachusett tribe. Not convinced that Massachusetts is the complete package? Here are 23 more reasons why it's the most desirable place to settle. Whether you play the Celtics or one of their rivals, you'll be surprised to learn that b-ball has its roots in Massachusetts.
Canadian sports coach James Naismith came up with the idea for the game in 1891, while teaching at the YMCA International Coaching School in Springfield. Gone are the days of peach baskets, but basketball is still one of the country's most popular pastimes. Just a year after Naismith invented basketball, she met a young student named William G. Morgan, who was also seeking a career in physical education at the YMCA.
Motivated by Naismith's ingenuity, Morgan decided to create a different version of the game that would be less strenuous for older players. In 1895, the game of Mintonette was born, which would eventually be called volleyball. It's always good to have a hobby, especially one that helps the environment. In 1922, Elis F.
Stenman began building a summer house made entirely of newspaper on a whim. He was so taken with the idea that he eventually began to build furniture out of newspapers as well, including a desk, a chair and a working piano. Nearly 100 years later, the Paper House is still standing as a testament to Stenman's creativity. The Salem witch trials were drama-filled events that resulted in 20 innocent lives lost and sparked decades of mystery and intrigue about this small town by the sea.
People continue to come to Salem on Halloween, partly out of curiosity and partly because almost everyone who shows up is in costume. The Salem Witch Museum is one of the area's most popular tourist spots, and will transport you back in time to the witchcraft frenzy that gripped this area in the late 17th century. Born in Leominster in 1774, John Chapman's life began with humility. Little did he know that an apprenticeship with an orchist would lead him to become one of America's most beloved folk heroes.
Johnny Appleseed, as he came to be known, traveled the country planting apple nurseries in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. If I hadn't followed the chosen path, we could all be enjoying much less apple pie and hot cider. The pink plastic flamingo is the pinnacle of kitschy lawn decor, and you have to thank Leominster native Don Featherstone. In 1957, he was hired by the plastics company Union Products to design and sculpt the first of these striking creations, and almost overnight, they became a pop culture icon.
While you won't see many of them gracing people's patios today, you can take a look at a vintage pair on display at the Smithsonian. Do you love sports? Massachusetts is definitely the place for you. In fact, it will be difficult to find another state more obsessed with sports than the Bay State. From ice hockey and basketball to soccer and baseball, Massachusetts is home to some of the most popular and championship-winning teams in the country.
Several well-known professional sports teams include the Boston Celtics, Boston Bruins, Boston Red Sox, New England Patriots and New England Revolution. In addition to professional sports, Massachusetts has many universities with popular sports teams, including Harvard, Boston College, Northeastern, UMass, and Boston University, just to name a few. Sure, winters are brutal but summers are incredible. In fact, many, if not all, Massachusetts residents will tell you that those beautiful summers more than compensate for snowy winters.
With its warm, sunny days and cool, windy nights, the summer air attracts tourists and visitors from all over the world. For the most part, it expects highs in the 80s and lows in the 60s. Rarely do temperatures reach 90 degrees or higher. Massachusetts is unique among states because its history and culture predate and embody the experiences of the country as a whole.
It is commonly known that Puritans and Pilgrims set the stage for eventual freedom of religious belief when they fled an oppressive government to establish themselves in the New World. Documents such as the Mayflower Pact (1620) and the Body of Freedoms (164), an old code of law, provided the basis for the concept that governments should govern by the consent of the governed and with guarantees to protect individual expression. The fun facts about Massachusetts don't end with the ones mentioned above. There are all sorts of interesting things about the state, including the fact that it's home to a haunted castle.
Located in Gloucester, the Hammond Castle Museum is supposedly obsessed with the castle's creator and first resident, John Hays Hammond, Jr. Visitors to the museum have seen several appearances over the years, but it's not just the ghost of Hammond that has been seen. Legend has it that Hammond's wife and former caretakers also haunt the castle. There are quite a few little-known attractions in Massachusetts, and Gunn Brook Falls is one of them.
The 20-foot waterfall is nestled in the Mount Toby State Forest in Sunderland, but don't let that stop you. It is one of the best easily accessible waterfalls in Massachusetts and can be easily reached via a short round-trip trail. When you get to autumn, you can walk to its base, but it's kind of steep and obviously slippery, so be very careful. If you prefer to simply admire the waterfall, you can also do it.
There are plenty of shaded areas around fall, so consider packing a lunch and staying for a while. Until 1856, Christmas, along with Washington's birthday and the 4th of July, finally became a public holiday in Massachusetts. Massachusetts residents represent a fusion of the prototype of the Yankee spirit of a previous United States and the energies of later immigrants who flocked to their cities in the 19th and 20th centuries. Massachusetts has produced some of the most revered artists, writers and poets of all time, including Winslow Homer, Norman Rockwell, Sylvia Plath, Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr.
Textile, boot and machinery manufacturing began in Massachusetts (and Rhode Island) and laid the foundation for the eventual industrialization and urbanization of Northeastern states. Whether you're starting a family, getting an education, or starting a career, Massachusetts is the place to be. Seven months after gambling was banned, Massachusetts Puritans decided to punish adultery with death (although the death penalty was rare). Even though Massachusetts is one of the smaller states, it's a big deal when it comes to its art scene.
Massachusetts has more poor people than previously thought, according to alternative measurement used by the federal government. Massachusetts was at the forefront when the new country began to transform from an agrarian to an industrial economy. The coast, whose configuration marked by numerous dams gave rise to the nickname Massachusetts, the Bay State, blows from Rhode Island around Cape Cod, in and out of the picturesque harbors along Boston's south coast, through Boston Harbor and the North Shore, swaying around the painters' paradise of Cape Ann to New Hampshire. The American revolution originated in Massachusetts with the first resistance against British colonial rules.
Massachusetts is home to several of the best universities and colleges in the world, many of which are well-known. . .
