Cambridge (USA)

Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States.

Cambridge was first settled as New Towne in 1630 and renamed Cambridge (after the university town in England) in 1638; it was incorporated as a city in 1846.

Cambridge City Hall By Thomas Steiner 

In 1640 Pilgrim settlers in Cambridge published the first book in America: the Bay Psalm Book, which included English translations of the Bible's Psalms for singing.

When John Harvard bequeathed $3,500 and a small library to Cambridge College, its name was changed to Harvard University.

Cambridge is the seat of several important colleges: Harvard University (1636), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1861), and Radcliffe College (1879). One quarter of the residents are students and one sixth of the workforce is employed in higher education.

The first college orchestra was founded at Harvard University in 1808.

The Cambridge Chronicle, America's oldest surviving weekly newspaper, was published for the first time in Cambridge in 1846.

On July 3, 1775, newly appointed commander-in-chief George Washington arrived at Cambridge Common to take command of the Continental Army, following the American Revolution; Cambridge Common is thus celebrated as the birthplace of the American army. 

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, one of the most celebrated poets in American history, lived at 105 Brattle Street in Cambridge for 45 years. His house had previously served as George Washington's military headquarters during the Siege of Boston; it is now a National Historic Site.

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck both grew up in Cambridge and attended Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. They wrote the screenplay for Good Will Hunting (1997) — set partly in Cambridge — and won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook from his Harvard University dormitory room in Cambridge in February 2004; it was initially available only to Harvard students before expanding to other universities.

The area around Kendall Square, near MIT, has been described as "the most innovative square mile on the planet," home to pioneering biotech companies and offices for major technology firms. MIT's move to Cambridge from Massachusetts' city of Boston took place in 1916.

Source Hutchinson Encyclopedia © RM 2013. Helicon Publishing is division of RM.