Trifter

History

Boston was founded by Puritans on September 17th, 1630.  Since Boston was latter settled by Europeans it was called Boston after the English city of Boston Lincolnshire.  Boston was the largest city in North America until Philadelphia passed it in the mid 18th Century.  Boston was one of the largest manufacturing cities in the country until the early 1900’s because of the Boston Harbour and rivers that connected it to the surrounding region.

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Climate

Summer is Boston are usually warm and humid are winters are cold, snowy, an often windy due to its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and Boston Harbour.  January is the coldest months with average highs in the lower 40’s while July is the hottest with average highs in the low 80’s.  Boston is prone to snow storms from Northeastern weather systems on average Boston receives 41 inches of snow each year.

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Education

Boston receives its nickname “Athens of America” because there are over 100 colleges and universities in the Greater Boston area.  There are 250,000 students that attend college in Boston and Cambridge alone.  Notable colleges in t greater Boston Area include Boston University, Suffolk College, Emerson College and Massachusetts Institute of Technology which moved from Boston across the river to Cambridge.  Boston public school system is the oldest in the united States which has enrolment around 57,000 students every year.

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Culture

Boston has a large number of theaters such as Boston Opera House, Cutler Majestic Theater, and Citi Performing Arts Center.  Boston was also the birthplace of hardcore punk as well as other genres of music such as ska punk.  Notable bands include The Allstonians and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones.  The city also had a major role in the American Revolution and many of the historic sites are preserved Boston National Historic Park.

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Economy

Boston Colleges and University have a huge impact on the local economy.  They are not only the major employers but they also attract high tech industry to the city.  Colleges and university’s pump an estimated 4.8 billion dollars into the economy.  Tourism is also a big part of the local economy.  Boston is also one of the 10 most popular tourist locations in the country which adds around 8 billion dollars a year into the city.

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Transportation

Nearly one third of Bostonians use public transit to commute to work making Boston’s rapid transit system the fourth busiest in the country.  Walking is also a major form of transportation with 13% of the population commuting by foot giving  Boston the nickname “The Walking City”.  Boston’s airport Logan International Airport handles most of Boston’s passenger service however there are other airports in surrounding areas that schedule passenger service into the Boston area.

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Bean Town & The Great Molasses Flood

The nickname of bean town dates all the way back colonial days when bean were were baked into molasses for several hours.  In Boston this quickly became a favorite dish.  Today Boston Beans are rare to find since there are no companies in the city that make them and only a few restaurants sell them.

On January 15th, 1919 a giant molasses tank exploded sending a wave of molasses through the streets at an estimated 35 MPH.  The accident killed 21 people and injured 150 others.  The amount of cleanup required was extensive and took over 87,000 man hours of work to remove all the molasses from the streets.

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