Portal:Boston

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Boston

Boston (pronounced ˈbɒstən), located in Suffolk County, is the capital and largest city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is considered the unofficial economic and cultural center of the entire New England region. The city, which had an estimated population of 596,763 in 2006, lies at the center of the Cambridge–Boston-Quincy metropolitan area—the 11th-largest metropolitan area (5th largest CSA) in the U.S., with a population of 4.4 million. Residents of Boston are referred to as Bostonians.

In 1630, Puritan colonists from England founded the city on the Shawmut Peninsula. During the late eighteenth century Boston was the location of several major events during the American Revolution, including the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party. Several early battles of the American Revolution, such as the Battle of Bunker Hill and the Siege of Boston, occurred within the city and surrounding areas. After American independence was attained Boston became a major shipping port and manufacturing center, and its rich history now attracts 16.3 million visitors annuallyThe city was the site of several firsts, including America's first public school, Boston Latin School (1635), and first college, Harvard College (1636), in neighboring Cambridge. Boston was also home to the first subway system in the United States.

Through land reclamation and municipal annexation, Boston has expanded beyond the peninsula. With many colleges and universities within the city and surrounding area, Boston is a center of higher education and a center for health care. The city's economy is also based on research, finance, and technology — principally biotechnology. Boston has been experiencing gentrification and has one of the highest costs of living in the United States.

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The Boston Latin School is a public exam school founded on April 23, 1635, in Boston, Massachusetts, making it the oldest public school in America. The Public Latin School was a bastion for educating the sons of the Boston Brahmin elite, enabling the school to claim many influential Bostonians as alumni. Its curriculum follows that of the 18th century Latin-school movement, which holds the Classics to be the basis of an educated mind. Four years of Latin are mandatory for all pupils that enter the school in 7th grade, three years for those who enter in 9th. In 2007 the school was named one of the top twenty high-schools in the United States by U.S. News & World Report. The school was modeled after Boston Grammar School in Lincolnshire, UK, from where many of Boston's original settlers derived. Current students assert with pride that Harvard College, founded a year later in 1636, was created for Boston Latin's first graduates. Whether or not that is true, Boston Latin had been a top feeder school for Harvard, and has consistently sent large numbers of students to Harvard, recently averaging about twenty-five students per year. More than 99% of Boston Latin's approximately 300 annual graduates are accepted by at least one four-year college.


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South Station in Boston, circa 1904.
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Portrait of Paul Revere by John Singleton Copley, c.1768–70
Portrait of Paul Revere by John Singleton Copley, c.1768–70

Paul Revere (bap. December 22, 1734 (OS) / January 1, 1735 (NS) – May 10, 1818) was an American silversmith and a patriot in the American Revolution.

Because he was immortalized after his death for his role as a messenger in the battles of Lexington and Concord, Revere's name and his "midnight ride" are well-known in the United States as a patriotic symbol. In his lifetime, Revere was a prosperous and prominent Boston craftsman, who helped organize an intelligence and alarm system to keep watch on the British military.

Revere later served as an officer in one of the most disastrous campaigns of the American Revolutionary War, a role for which he was later exonerated. After the war, he was early to recognize the potential for large-scale manufacturing of metal.


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