Posted inBicentennial, Maine

On this date in Maine history: Feb. 29

Feb. 29, 1820: The Portland-based Eastern Argus newspaper reports that William King, soon to become Maine’s first governor, led a successful effort to convince the Massachusetts General Court to grant a two-year extension to Maine on the terms of its separation from Massachusetts. The court’s action removed one of the final obstacles to Maine’s statehood, […]

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Posted inBicentennial, Maine, News

On this date in Maine history: Feb. 27

Feb. 27, 1813: The commonwealth of Massachusetts, of which Maine is still a part, establishes the Maine Literary and Theological Institution in Waterville. It becomes Waterville College in 1821; Colby University, to honor major donor Gardiner Colby, in 1867; and finally Colby College in 1889. In 1871 the school becomes the first all-male college or […]

Posted inBicentennial, News

On this date in Maine history: Feb. 26

Feb. 26, 1972: Sen. Edmund S. Muskie, D-Maine, defends his wife in a speech he delivers during a snowstorm outside the offices of the Manchester Union Leader while campaigning for the March 7 New Hampshire presidential primary. The newspaper’s editor, William Loeb, had printed an article accusing Muskie’s wife, Jane, of drunkenness and using off-color […]

Posted inBicentennial, Maine, News

On this date in Maine history: Feb. 22

Feb. 22, 1864: The three-masted steamer Bohemian, bound from Liverpool, England, to Portland, strikes Alden’s Rock, a ledge near Cape Elizabeth, at night in a dense haze. The accident kills 42 people, including two crew members. The ship, an iron vessel owned by the Ocean Steamship Co. of Montreal, was carrying 219 passengers, most of […]