July 8, 1524: Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazano arrives in France after a sea voyage that took him to North America, including, in early May, the coast of what is now Maine. His trip is the first clearly documented European visit to the Maine coast. Verrazano later will describe it as the “land of the […]

July 7, 1833: Several Irishmen beat a sailor severely near Carr’s Wharf in Bangor. Hundreds of other sailors disembark from ships along the waterfront and burn Joseph Carr’s pub and a nearby tenement house to the ground. The next night, sailors destroy Irish shanties and attack local Irishmen. The town calls out the militia. Several […]

July 6, 1854: A mob incited by a street preacher named Brown burns the Old South Meeting House in Bath, which was bought by Irish Catholics to serve as a church. The incident is one of several violent anti-Catholic crimes that occurs in the 1850s in Maine, including the tarring of the Rev. John (or […]

July 5, 1906: John Wesley “Jack” Coombs, a former baseball star at Freeport High School and Colby College, debuts for the Philadelphia Athletics, pitching a seven-hit shutout to defeat the Washington Senators, 3-0. Coombs plays 14 seasons in the major leagues, compiling a 158-110 pitching record with a career ERA of 2.78. He pitches for […]

July 4, 1786: Ten years to the day after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the residents of a part of Falmouth called the Neck achieve some independence of their own when their home area becomes incorporated as the separate community of Portland. What is now downtown Portland remained largely in ruins for many […]

July 3, 1847: Cannons boom and bells ring in Augusta as President James K. Polk (1795-1849) pays a call in the city at the invitation of the Legislature, which had learned Polk was planning a New England tour. The president and several officials traveling with him – including Secretary of State and future President James […]

July 2, 1863: Col. Joshua Chamberlain (1828-1914) of Brunswick, while suffering from malaria and dysentery, successfully leads the 20th Maine Regiment in fending off a Confederate attack by Col. William Oates’ 15th Alabama Regiment at the extreme left of the Union Army’s line at Little Round Top, helping enable the Union forces to win the […]

July 1, 1950: The newly constructed Scarborough Downs racetrack opens for its first races. The facility includes a grandstand that can hold 6,500 spectators, stables for 1,000 horses and parking for 6,000 cars. The $1 million complex was carved from a patch of woods in 73 days. The track was built despite opposition from anti-gambling […]

June 30, 1818: As a result of successful negotiations with the British in 1817, the United States regains control of Eastport, which the British had occupied since seizing it – and the rest of eastern Maine – during the War of 1812. The Americans relinquish claims to islands east of Eastport that now are part […]