- The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States.
- Total Area: 45th among states, 23,934 sq km (9,241 sq mi).
- Massachusetts is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean.
- Capital: Boston
- Boston Common became the first public park in 1634.
- Many of Massachusetts's towns were founded by colonists from England in the 1620s and 1630s.
- Plymouth was the second permanent English settlement in North America.
- Boston Latin School became the first secondary school in 1635.
- In 2004, Massachusetts became the first U.S. state to legally recognize same-sex marriage.
- Harvard, the first college, was founded in 1636.
- Originally dependent on fishing, agriculture, and trade with Europe, Massachusetts was transformed into a manufacturing center during the Industrial Revolution.
- The first post office, free public school and public library were all founded in Boston.
- The Massachusetts Bay Colony was named after the indigenous population, the Massachusett.
- The first newspaper, lighthouse, and subway were all started in Boston.
- The 3rd Monday in April is a legal holiday, Patriot’s Day, in Massachusetts.
- James Naismith invented basketball in Springfield in 1891. He taught physical education and wanted an indoor sport for his students during the winter months.
- The Peabody Essex Museum has over 500 original documents of the Salem witch trials in 1692.
- There is displayed a giant milk bottle at the Children’s Museum in Boston that if it were real could hold 50,000 gallons of milk and 8,620 gallons of cream.
- William Morgan invented volleyball in Holyoke in 1895. It was first called “Mintonette,” and later changed to volleyball.
- In the 1840s the potato famine drove many Irish to Massachusetts, and they eventually became the state's largest ethnic group.
- Quincy is home to the first Dunkin Donuts and the first Howard Johnson’s.
- Harvard University, the nation's oldest college, was chartered in Cambridge in 1636.
Massachusetts facts
