This week in New England history: Feb. 29-March 6

By NBP Staff | March 1, 2016, 10:56 EST

A list of significant dates in New England history:

March 1

1917: Poet Robert Lowell, author of numerous poems about Massachusetts locales, including “Falling Asleep over the Aeneid” and  “The Quaker Graveyard in Nantucket,” is born this day in Boston.  One of Lowell’s most famous poems, “For the Union Dead,” prominently features the Robert Gould Shaw memorial on Boston Common by artist Augustus Saint-Gaudens, with whom, coincidentally, Lowell shares a birthday.

1848: Sculptor Augusts Saint-Gaudens, creator of the bas-relief Afro-American 54th regiment and Robert Gould Shaw, which graces the Boston Common, is born in Dublin, Ireland.

March 2

1904: Theodor Seuss Geisel (a.k.a. Dr. Seuss), author of numerous beloved children’s books, including The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham is born in Springfield, Mass.

1942: Author John Irving, best known for “The World According to Garp,” “The Cider House Rules,” and “A Prayer for Owen Meany,” is born in Exeter, New Hampshire.

1791: Vermont is admitted as 14th state, the first state to be added to the union after the original 13 colonies.

1872: The Boston Globe newspaper begins publication.

March 5

1770: In what would become known as the Boston Massacre, British soldiers open fire on hundreds of colonists who heckled them outside the British Custom House, killing five.  The event becomes a rallying cry for the Sons of Liberty, ultimately prompting the Lieutenant Governor, Thomas Hutchinson, to withdraw British troops from the city of Boston.