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Early America certainly was a simpler society than that which we have today, but some of today’s familiar institutions were part of the national experience over 200 years ago. On this date in 1795, the city of Baltimore set up a permanent, elected board of health, successor to the nation’s first such appointed agency. The first board was created by Maryland’s governor to cope with yellow fever epidemics beginning in 1792. At one point, the city of Baltimore quarantined or …

America’s first — and oldest — school is celebrating its 369th birthday today. The Boston Latin School started in 1635 with a handful of students meeting in the headmaster’s home. Admission was by reading aloud a few verses from the Bible. Stressing a classical education and the development of independent thought, the school has long been considered one of the top public secondary schools in the nation. Its list of graduates includes John Hancock, George Santayana, and Leonard Bernstein. Ben …

One of world’s most important medicines — insulin — became available for general use this month in 1923, saving the lives of millions of people suffering from diabetes. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas and is critical in the processing of carbohydrates in the human body. It was first isolated the year before by a Canadian team led by Dr. Frederick Banting at the University of Toronto. The effect was like a miracle. One year, the disease was …

Immigration and assimilation are matters of much current debate, but in 1980, those issues came floating in on the tide. It was on this date that what’s known as the Mariel boatlift began. When Cuban ruler Fidel Castro announced that any citizens wishing to leave the police state could, the voluntary exiles made their way to the port town of Mariel, just west of Havana. During the exodus, some 125,000 Cubans crossed the Florida straits in about 5,000 small boats, …