Massachusetts is home to the oldest university in the United States, Harvard University, established in 1636.

The state’s official name is the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Massachusetts was the first state to legalize same-sex marriage in 2004.

The first Thanksgiving in the United States is believed to have taken place in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621.

Boston, the capital of Massachusetts, is one of the oldest cities in the United States.

Massachusetts has the highest percentage of residents with a college degree in the country.

The first subway system in the United States was built in Boston in 1897.

The famous Boston Tea Party, a protest against British taxation, took place in Boston Harbor in 1773. (Are we about due for another Boston Tea Party?)

The first public park in America, Boston Common, was established in Boston in 1634.

The first public elementary school in the United States, the Mather School, was founded in Dorchester, Massachusetts in 1639.

The game of basketball was invented by Dr. James Naismith, a physical education instructor from Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1891.

The first public beach in the United States, Revere Beach, is located in Massachusetts.

The first lighthouse in the United States, Boston Light, was built on Little Brewster Island in Boston Harbor in 1716.

The first U.S. subway system, the Tremont Street Subway, was built in Boston in 1897.

The city of Salem, Massachusetts is famous for the infamous Salem Witch Trials that occurred in 1692. In a prank, several teenage girls accused random adult women of witchcraft. The town elders had the women cruelly executed.

The first public park designed in America, the Emerald Necklace, was designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted and spans several Boston neighborhoods.

Massachusetts is known for its rich literary history, being the birthplace of famous authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Louisa May Alcott, and Henry David Thoreau.

The first subway tunnel in the United States was constructed in Boston in 1895.

Massachusetts is home to the largest public library in the United States, the Boston Public Library, established in 1848.

The first American-made automobile was built in Springfield, Massachusetts by the Duryea brothers in 1893.

The first public secondary school in the United States, Boston Latin School, was founded in Boston in 1635.

The Fig Newton cookie was named after the city of Newton, Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts State House in Boston has a unique golden dome, which is made of wood and covered with 23-karat gold leaf.

The birth control pill was developed by Dr. Gregory Pincus and his team at the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology in Massachusetts.

Massachusetts has the only windmill farm in the United States that is located offshore, called the Cape Wind project.

The first public radio station in the United States, WBZ, began broadcasting in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1921.

The largest collegiate rowing event in the world, the Head of the Charles Regatta, takes place annually on the Charles River in Boston.

The first telephone call in history was made by Alexander Graham Bell to his assistant, Thomas Watson, in Boston on March 10, 1876.

The first successful human organ transplant, a kidney transplant, was performed at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston in 1954.

Massachusetts has the highest population density of any state in the United States.

The first newspaper in the United States, the Boston News-Letter, was published in Boston in 1704.