Boston – The 100th anniversary of the birth of John Greenleaf Whittier, the poet laureate of freedom, one of the most beloved and representative of the New England poets, was celebrated today in New England by many hundreds of people, notable gatherings being held at those places which the poet had for a longer or shorter time during his life called home.

• Immigration to America during the year ended June 30, 1907, was vastly greater than in any previous year in the history of the United States. “An army of 1,285,349 souls, they have come drawn hither by the free institutions and the marvelous prosperity of our country, surpassing in numbers the record of all preceding years.”

50 years ago, 1957

The date of Jan. 20 was set last night by the Auburn City Council for a public hearing on a petition by about 150 West Auburn residents to re-zone that section of Auburn as residential.

The section starts at a point on the shores of Lake Auburn which would be a line of Park Avenue extended, runs southerly to a point 500 feet beyond Summer Street, then though Young’s Corner to the Center Minot Road to the Minot town line, along this line to the Turner town line, easterly along this line to the Skillings Road, the Maple Hill Road, taking in 500 feet easterly of that road, and then along the shore of the lake to the point of beginning.

25 years ago, 1982

• When temperatures dropped below freezing in the Twin Cities during the past week, the number of tenants complaining about having no heat in their apartments climbed.

As of Tuesday, Lewiston’s Code Enforcement Division had received 36 complaints from tenants who feel their landlords aren’t maintaining warm enough temperatures in their apartments since the start of the 1982 heating season.

• If you’re looking for an unusual calendar, you might hunt up one of the old editions from 1583.

It’s no longer out of date. We have entered the second 400-year cycle of your Gregorian calendar, which repeats the day-of-the-week, day-of-the-month correspondence of 400 years ago.