November 1, 1909: The Museum of Fine Arts opens, at 465 Huntington Avenue in the Fenway section of Boston. It moved there from its original location, which opened in 1870. It remains New England's foremost museum.
It has been expanded a few times. The Decorative Arts Wing was built in 1928, and expanded in 1968. An addition was built from 1966 to 1970, and another opened in 1976. The West Wing, now the Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art, was designed by I.M. Pei, and opened in 1981. This wing now houses the museum's cafe, restaurant, meeting rooms, classrooms, and a giftshop/bookstore, as well as large exhibition spaces. The Tenshin-En Japanese Garden designed by Kinsaku Nakane opened in 1988, and the Norma Jean Calderwood Garden Court and Terrace opened in 1997.
The front of the building is graced with Cyrus Dallin's statue of a Native American on horseback, Appeal to the Great Spirit. There are permanent exhibitions devoted to Egyptian, Nubian, Dutch, French impressionist, Native American, Chinese, and Japanese -- the largest collection of Japanese artworks under one roof outside Japan.
Copley's Paul Revere, 1768
Its best-known works are Gilbert Stuart's unfinished portrait that remains the best-known image of George Washington, and John Singleton Copley's definitive portrait of Boston's own Paul Revere.
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November 1, 1909 was a Monday. There were no scores on this historic day: Baseball season had ended, football was in midweek, and professional basketball and hockey barely existed.
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