1. In 1660, Mary Dyer was hanged on Boston Common for her Quaker religious beliefs. She was one of four Quakers executed in Massachusetts that year.
2. In 1774, the Massachusetts Government Act took effect, which revoked the colony's charter and placed it under direct British control in response to the Boston Tea Party.
3. In 1792, the cornerstone was laid for the Massachusetts State House, which remains an iconic symbol of Boston and Massachusetts to this day.
4. In 1914, the Springfield Armory in Western Massachusetts began producing the M1911 pistol for the U.S. Army. The Armory was a key producer of firearms for the military until its closure in 1968.
5. In 2004, Massachusetts became the first state in the U.S. to legalize same-sex marriage, after the state's highest court ruled that a ban on same-sex marriages was unconstitutional.