1. In 1776, the town of Marblehead became the first American town to provide a full company of soldiers for the Continental Army during the American Revolution. The soldiers sailed off to join General Washington’s troops in New York.

2. In 1881, Benjamin Franklin Goodrich founded the B.F. Goodrich Company in Massachusetts. Originally a rubber shoe manufacturer, the company went on to become a global leader in the tire industry.

3. In 1939, the Massachusetts legislature passed a law allowing women to serve on juries, making the state one of the first in the nation to do so. The law took effect in January 1940.

4. In 1953, the Boston Braves played their final home exhibition game at Braves Field, ending an 82-year tenure in Boston. The team moved to Milwaukee the following year.

5. In 1994, the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority voted to name the Massachusetts Turnpike in honor of John A. Volpe, a former Massachusetts Governor and Secretary of Transportation under Presidents Nixon and Ford. The highway is officially known as the Governor John A. Volpe Turnpike, although it is more commonly referred to simply as the Massachusetts Turnpike or "the Pike."