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After recovering from a major accident, Eddy wrote Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures , the basis of Christian Science. She founded a church in Boston in 1879, and in 1892 reorganized it as the First Church of Christ, Scientist (see Christian Science Center). Eddy also established the Pulitzer prize-winning Christian Science Monitor newspaper in 1908.

The Huntington and Bakalar galleries in the South Building of the Massachusetts College of Art mount some of Boston’s most dynamic exhibitions of contemporary visual art. It is the only independent state-supported art college in the US and exhibitions tend to emphasize avant-garde experimentation as well as social commentary and documentary.

A 200-year-old codfish, a statue memorializing a licentious Civil War General, and a 23-carat gold dome crowned with a pine cone – such are the curious eccentricities that distinguish Beacon Hill’s most prestigious address (see Massachusetts State House).

A Raytheon company engineer placed popcorn in front of a radar tube in 1946 and discovered the principle behind the microwave oven.

Based in the African Meeting House (the oldest extant black church in the US) and the adjoining Abiel Smith School (the nation’s first publicly funded grammar school for African-American children) – the MAAH offers a look into the daily life of free, pre-Civil War African-Americans. The meeting house was a political and religious center for Boston’s African-American community and it was here that abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison delivered anti-slavery addresses in the mid-19th century. The museum has successfully preserved their legacy and that of countless others through education workshops, exhibitions, and special events.

One of the most comprehensive fine arts museums in the country, the MFA is especially renowned for its collections of French Impressionism and of ancient Egyptian and Nubian art and artifacts. Its Asian art holdings are said to be the largest in the US (see Museum of Fine Arts).

Massachusetts Investors Trust opened in 1924 as the first modern mutual fund that pooled investor’s money to purchase portfolio stocks.

During the 19th century, local sailors and whalers plundered the oceans of the world, enriching the port of New Bedford. The National Historic District preserves many of the fine buildings of the whaling era, while the Whaling Museum (18 Johnny Cake Hill) gives riveting accounts of the enterprise.

With its yacht races and grand manses, Newport has been a playground for the rich since the late 1860s. Many of the elaborate so-called “cottages” built by 19th-century industrialists are open for tours, including Breakers (Ochre Point Av). For natural beauty, hike the 3.6-mile (5.5 km) Cliff Walk overlooking Narragansett Bay and Easton’s Beach.

An 1804 Charles Bulfinch design, 55 Mount Vernon is one of the earliest examples of residential architecture on Beacon Hill. Rose Nichols, the house’s principal occupant for 75 years, bequeathed her home to the city as a museum, which would provide a glimpse of late-19th and early 20th-century life on the Hill. A pioneering force for women in the arts and sciences, Nichols gained fame through her authoritative writings on landscape architecture and far-reaching philanthropic projects.