Boston, one of America’s oldest cities, was established as a town in 1630 and later as a city in 1822.  Boston, which began as a homesteading community, has eventually developed into the socio-economic and political hub of New England.

Fact 1. Boston has a population of around 590,000 residents.  The city is noted as an educational hub with the world’s finest, inpatient hospitals and numerous, cultural organizations.

Fact 2. Most famous Bostonian literary personalities include: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emily Dickinson, and Edgar Allan Poe.  The inventor of the cotton gin, Eli Whitney, is from Boston.

Fact 3. In 1630, English Puritans who were fleeing England due to religious persecution settled in Boston.  There was a fleet of 11 ships carrying 700 people helmed by John Winthrop.

Fact 4.  The initial settlement for the Puritans was Charlestown in 1629.  However, due to a lack of fresh water, they moved across the river to Trimountaine before moving to Boston.  The name ‘œBoston’ originated from the hometown of many of the settlers.

Fact 5. Education-wise, the first American public school, Boston Latin School, was established in 1635.  In 1636, a college was initiated which was subsequently renamed Harvard in 1639 after a benefactor.

Fact 6.  Boston has the distinction of publishing the first American newspaper called Publick Occurrences: Both Foreign and Domestick.

Fact 7.  In 1773, tea that was sent by the British East India Company to Boston was thrown into the sea by men dressed as Indians as a sign of resistance towards the British. This event came to be known as The Boston Tea Party.

Fact 8.  The world famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology was founded in Boston in 1861.

Fact 9. Boston prides itself on having the only place in the world where a boat can sail under a train passing under a car below an airplane.  This bridge is called the Boston University Bridge on Commonwealth Avenue.

Fact 10. In March, 1876, the inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, made the first phone call in history from his shop in Boston.