1. The Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum opened on February 26, 2012, in Boston. The museum pays homage to the Boston Tea Party of 1773, where colonists protested against British taxation policies by throwing tea into Boston Harbor.

2. On February 26, 1863, a group of residents from Springfield, Massachusetts, met to form the Springfield Republican newspaper. The newspaper is still in circulation today and has won numerous Pulitzer Prizes for its journalism.

3. In 1940, Massachusetts native, and future President of the United States, John F. Kennedy gave his first political speech at the Massachusetts State House on February 26. Kennedy was running for the US Congress at the time and the speech garnered attention from the national press.

4. Mary Baker Eddy, founder of the Christian Science religion, was born in Bow, New Hampshire, on February 26, 1821. Eddy later lived in Massachusetts and founded the first Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston.

5. On February 26, 1919, the city of Quincy, Massachusetts, became the site of the first US airmail route. The first airmail flight was a round trip from Quincy to New York City and back, covering a distance of 264 miles.