We know that Boston, Massachusetts, is a global financial hub with a vibrant urban centre, countless historical landmarks, fascinating museums, world-class universities, and a bustling waterfront.</p> We also know that Boston played a crucial role in the American Revolution, as well as throughout much of American history.</p> However, some of the lesser-known facts about Boston just might surprise you.</p> Originally named Shawmut by the Native Americans, Boston was founded on September 17, 1630 and named after Boston, England, a town in Lincolnshire from where several prominent colonists originated.</li> Boston Common became the first public park in the United States in 1634.</li> The Boston University Bridge on Commonwealth Avenue is the only place in the world where a boat can sail under a train driving under a car driving under an airplane.</li> Revere Beach was the first public beach in the United States.</li> Whirlwind I, the world’s first computer that operated in real-time, was invented at MIT.</li> In 1897, Boston built America’s first subway station: the Tremont Street Subway.</li> Harvard, founded in 1636, was the first college established in North America.</li> Boston’s first mayor with a car, James Michael Curley, used the number of letters in his name to choose the license plate number “576”—the same plate number is still used for the mayor of Boston’s official car.</li> The Ted Williams Tunnel, which runs about 90 feet underground, is the deepest tunnel in North America.</li> Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, is the oldest original Major League Baseball Park still in use.</li> There are no ‘happy hours’ at any Boston bars due to a state regulation that forbids the promotion of discounted liquor.</li> </ol>