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108-701: The Hultman Aqueduct forms part of the water supply system of eastern Massachusetts , managed by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA). The aqueduct extends from Southborough to Weston , connecting the Cosgrove Tunnel to the distribution network in the Greater Boston area. Opened in 1939, it replaced the Weston Aqueduct . It is now itself a secondary system, having been supplanted as

216-566: A Wôpanâak word muswachasut , segmented as mus(ây) "big" + wach "mountain" + -s "diminutive" + - ut "locative". This word has been translated as "near the great hill", "by the blue hills", "at the little big hill", or "at the range of hills", in reference to the Blue Hills —namely, the Great Blue Hill , located on the boundary of Milton and Canton . Massachusett has also been represented as Moswetuset . This comes from

324-580: A right to shelter law, and the first U.S. state, and one of the earliest jurisdictions in the world to legally recognize same-sex marriage . Harvard University in Cambridge is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States , with the largest financial endowment of any university in the world. Both Harvard and MIT , also in Cambridge, are perennially ranked as either

432-511: A case study of six outbreaks of MPI in Singapore factories between 1973 and 1978. They were characterized by (1) hysterical seizures of screaming and general violence, wherein tranquilizers were ineffective (2) trance states, where a worker would claim to be speaking under the influence of a spirit or jinn and (3) frightened spells: some workers complained of unprecedented fear, or of being cold, numb, or dizzy. Outbreaks would subside in about

540-418: A cause. Ultimately it was decided that the events were caused by “stress due to upcoming exams” and the incident was determined to be an incident of “hysteria”. Due to the determination of collective stress as the cause, medical sociologist Robert Bartholomew favors the neutral term mass psychogenic illness over mass hysteria, as people respond more favorably to a diagnosis of stress induced symptoms than to

648-722: A co-founder of the Special Olympics . In 1966, Massachusetts became the first state to directly elect an African American to the U.S. senate with Edward Brooke . George H. W. Bush , 41st President of the United States (1989–1993) was born in Milton in 1924. Other notable Massachusetts politicians on the national level included Joseph W. Martin Jr. , Speaker of the House (from 1947 to 1949 and then again from 1953 to 1955) and leader of House Republicans from 1939 until 1959 (where he

756-789: A diagnosis for this condition but the text describing conversion disorder states that "In 'epidemic hysteria', shared symptoms develop in a circumscribed group of people following 'exposure' to a common precipitant." Timothy F. Jones of the Tennessee Department of Health compiles the following symptoms based on their commonality in outbreaks occurring in 1980–1990: Adolescents and children are frequently affected in cases of MPI. The hypothesis that those prone to extraversion or neuroticism , or those with low IQ scores, are more likely to be affected in an outbreak of hysterical epidemic has not been consistently supported by research. Bartholomew and Wessely state that it "seems clear that there

864-476: A diagnosis of mass hysteria. Bartholomew notes such outbreaks are not unusual in schools in the developing world. This is particularly true in schools in which discipline is tight and accompanied with cultural strain between administrators and students. An outbreak can be preceded by months of such tension, which then results in physical symptoms such as seen in Musoli. Far from faking it, “Under such prolonged stress,

972-565: A frontrunner in the Democratic primaries for the 2020 presidential election. However, she later suspended her campaign and endorsed presumptive nominee Joe Biden . Two pressure cooker bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, at around 2:49 pm local time ( EDT ). The explosions killed three people and injured an estimated 264 others. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) later identified

1080-543: A group of people getting sick, you investigate, you measure everything you can measure ... and when you still can't find any physical reason, you say "well, there's nothing else here, so let's call it a case of MPI." Due to the role of the visual and auditory systems in MPI, a link between MPI and mirror neurons has been suggested. In this context, MPI appears as the neurological opposite of autism , caused by an overactive, not underactive, mirror neuron system. This could explain

1188-494: A large population of grey seals . Since 2009, there has been a significant increase in the number of Great white sharks spotted and tagged in the coastal waters off of Cape Cod . Freshwater fish species in Massachusetts include bass , carp , catfish , and trout , while saltwater species such as Atlantic cod , haddock , and American lobster populate offshore waters. Other marine species include Harbor seals ,

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1296-542: A path to decarbonize the state's economy. On April 22, 2020, Kathleen A. Theoharides, the state's Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, released a Determination of Statewide Emissions limits for 2050. In her letter, Theoharides stresses that as of 2020, the Commonwealth has experienced property damage attributable to climate change of more than $ 60 billion. To ensure that the Commonwealth experiences warming no more than 1.5 °C of pre-industrialization levels,

1404-472: A popular student who happened to be sick with a virus. In June 1990, thousands were affected by the spread of a supposed illness in a province of Kosovo in March to June 1990, exclusively affecting ethnic Albanians , most of whom were young adolescents. Symptoms included headaches, dizziness, impeded respiration, muscle weakness, burning sensations, cramps, retrosternal/chest pain, dry mouth and nausea. After

1512-436: A significant change to the state's built environment and ecosystems. In Boston alone, costs of climate change-related storms will result in $ 5 to $ 100 billion in damage. Warmer temperatures will also disrupt bird migration and flora blooming. With these changes, deer populations are expected to increase, resulting in a decrease in underbrush which smaller fauna use as camouflage. Additionally, rising temperatures will increase

1620-579: A variety of behaviors, usually attributed to demonic possession . They would often use crude language and exhibit suggestive behaviors. One convent's nuns would regularly meow like cats. Priests were often called in to exorcise demons. MPI outbreaks occurred in factories following the industrial revolution in England , France , Germany , Italy , Russia , the United States and Singapore . W. H. Phoon, Ministry of Labour in Singapore , gives

1728-558: A week. Often a bomoh (medicine man) would be called in to do a ritual exorcism. This technique was not effective and sometimes seemed to exacerbate the MPI outbreak. Females and Malay people were affected disproportionately. Especially notable is the "June Bug" outbreak: In June 1962, a peak month in factory production, 62 workers at a dressmaking factory in a textile town in the Southern United States experienced symptoms including severe nausea and breaking out on

1836-476: A years-long narrative, propped up by more than a thousand reports from government employees, that a foreign adversary used pulsed electro-magnetic energy waves to sicken Americans." Refugee children in Sweden have been reported to fall into coma-like states on learning their families will be deported. The condition, known as resignation syndrome ( Swedish : uppgivenhetssyndrom ), is believed to only exist among

1944-462: Is Boston . Other major cities are Worcester , Springfield and Cambridge . Massachusetts is also home to the urban core of Greater Boston , the largest metropolitan area in New England and a region profoundly influential upon American history , academia , and the research economy . Massachusetts has a reputation for social and political progressivism ; becoming the only U.S. state with

2052-431: Is distinct from other types of collective or mass delusions by involving physical symptoms. Qualities of MPI outbreaks often include: British psychiatrist Simon Wessely distinguishes between two forms of MPI: While his definition is sometimes adhered to, others contest Wessely's definition and describe outbreaks with qualities of both mass motor hysteria and mass anxiety hysteria. The DSM-IV-TR does not define

2160-474: Is its largest city. Despite its small size, Massachusetts features numerous topographically distinctive regions. The large coastal plain of the Atlantic Ocean in the eastern section of the state contains Greater Boston , along with most of the state's population, as well as the distinctive Cape Cod peninsula . To the west lies the hilly, rural region of Central Massachusetts , and beyond that,

2268-487: Is no coincidence that Kelantan, the most religiously conservative of all Malaysian states, is also the one most prone to outbreaks." This view is supported by Afiq Noor, an academic, who argues that the stricter implementation of Islamic law in school in states such as Kelantan is linked to the outbreaks. He suggested that the screaming outbreak was caused by the constricted environment. In Malaysian culture, burial sites and trees are common settings for supernatural tales about

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2376-402: Is no particular predisposition to mass sociogenic illness and it is a behavioural reaction that anyone can show in the right circumstances." Intense media coverage seems to exacerbate outbreaks. The illness may also recur after the initial outbreak. John Waller advises that once it is determined that the illness is psychogenic, it should not be given credence by authorities. For example, in

2484-715: Is now known as Rhode Island , and Hutchinson joined him there several years later. Religious intolerance continued, and among those who objected to this later that century were the English Quaker preachers Alice and Thomas Curwen , who were publicly flogged and imprisoned in Boston in 1676. By 1641, Massachusetts had expanded inland significantly. The Commonwealth acquired the Connecticut River Valley settlement of Springfield , which had recently disputed with—and defected from—its original administrators,

2592-471: Is quite wet. Frosts are frequent all winter, even in coastal areas due to prevailing inland winds. Boston has a relatively sunny climate for a coastal city at its latitude, averaging over 2,600 hours of sunshine a year. Climate change in Massachusetts will affect both urban and rural environments, including forestry, fisheries, agriculture, and coastal development. The Northeast is projected to warm faster than global average temperatures; by 2035, according to

2700-723: Is the most populous state in New England, the 16th-most-populous in the country, and the third-most densely populated , after New Jersey and Rhode Island. Massachusetts was a site of early English colonization . The Plymouth Colony was founded in 1620 by the Pilgrims of the Mayflower . In 1630, the Massachusetts Bay Colony , taking its name from the Indigenous Massachusett people , also established settlements in Boston and Salem. In 1692,

2808-513: The 2001 anthrax attacks in October 2001, there were over 2,300 false anthrax alarms in the United States. Some reported physical symptoms of what they believed to be anthrax. In 2001, a man sprayed what was later found to be a window cleaner into a subway station in Maryland. Thirty-five people were treated for nausea, headaches and sore throats. Beginning in 2016, some staff stationed at

2916-641: The American Human Development Index and the standard Human Development Index , first in per capita income , and as of 2023, first in median income . Consequently, Massachusetts typically ranks as the top U.S. state, as well as the most expensive state, for residents to live in. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was named after the Indigenous population, the Massachusett or Muhsachuweesut , whose name likely derived from

3024-863: The Cape Cod National Seashore and the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area . In addition, the Department of Conservation and Recreation maintains a number of parks , trails, and beaches throughout Massachusetts. The primary biome of inland Massachusetts is temperate deciduous forest . Although much of Massachusetts had been cleared for agriculture, leaving only traces of old-growth forest in isolated pockets, secondary growth has regenerated in many rural areas as farms have been abandoned. Forests cover around 62% of Massachusetts. The areas most affected by human development include

3132-668: The Commonwealth of Massachusetts , is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States . It borders the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode Island to its south, New Hampshire and Vermont to its north, and New York to its west. Massachusetts is the sixth-smallest state by land area . With over seven million residents as of 2020, it

3240-552: The Connecticut Colony . This established Massachusetts's southern border in the west. However, this became disputed territory until 1803–04 due to surveying problems, leading to the modern Southwick Jog . In 1652 the Massachusetts General Court authorized Boston silversmith John Hull to produce local coinage in shilling, sixpence and threepence denominations to address a coin shortage in

3348-639: The Connecticut River Valley . Along the western border of Western Massachusetts lies the highest elevated part of the state, the Berkshires , forming a portion of the northern terminus of the Appalachian Mountains . The U.S. National Park Service administers a number of natural and historical sites in Massachusetts . Along with twelve national historic sites, areas, and corridors, the National Park Service also manages

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3456-473: The Massachusetts Bay Colony —now known as Boston—in 1630. The Puritans believed the Church of England needed to be further reformed along Protestant Calvinist lines, and experienced harassment due to the religious policies of King Charles I and high-ranking churchmen such as William Laud , who would become Charles's Archbishop of Canterbury , whom they feared were re-introducing "Romish" elements to

3564-670: The Sudbury Reservoir , and 13 miles (21 km) of steel-reinforced concrete pipe to the Norumbega Reservoir , which acts as a pressure regulation facility. Its western end is an intake, with semicircular diversion dam , on the open channel of the Wachusett Aqueduct in Southborough, near the later-constructed John J. Carroll Water Treatment Plant . Above-ground features of the aqueduct include

3672-492: The common loon are becoming rare. A significant population of long-tailed ducks winter off Nantucket . Small offshore islands and beaches are home to roseate terns and are important breeding areas for the locally threatened piping plover . Protected areas such as the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge provide critical breeding habitat for shorebirds and a variety of marine wildlife including

3780-496: The monarchy the former colonies were fighting against during the American Revolutionary War . The name "State of Massachusetts Bay" appeared in the first draft, which was ultimately rejected. It was also chosen to include the "Cape Islands" in reference to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket —from 1780 to 1844, they were seen as additional and separate entities confined within the Commonwealth. Massachusetts

3888-403: The steam engine to power factories. Canals and railroads were being used in the state for transporting raw materials and finished goods. At first, the new industries drew labor from Yankees on nearby subsistence farms, though they later relied upon immigrant labor from Europe and Canada. Although Massachusetts was the first slave-holding colony with slavery dating back to the early 1600s,

3996-554: The "Atlas of Independence", was highly involved in both separation from Britain and the Constitution of Massachusetts , which effectively (the Elizabeth Freeman and Quock Walker cases as interpreted by William Cushing ) made Massachusetts the first state to abolish slavery. David McCullough points out that an equally important feature was its placing for the first time the courts as a co-equal branch separate from

4104-484: The 19th century, Massachusetts became a national leader in the American Industrial Revolution , with factories around cities such as Lowell and Boston producing textiles and shoes, and factories around Springfield producing tools, paper, and textiles. The state's economy transformed from one based primarily on agriculture to an industrial one, initially making use of water-power and later

4212-462: The 48 states. After the world war, the economy of eastern Massachusetts transformed from one based on heavy industry into a service-based economy . Government contracts, private investment, and research facilities led to a new and improved industrial climate, with reduced unemployment and increased per capita income. Suburbanization flourished, and by the 1970s, the Route 128 / Interstate 95 corridor

4320-677: The British government, were a primary reason for the unity of the Thirteen Colonies and the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775. The Battles of Lexington and Concord , fought in Massachusetts in 1775, initiated the American Revolutionary War . George Washington , later the first president of the future country, took over what would become the Continental Army after the battle. His first victory

4428-859: The British monarchy, including open rebellion under the Dominion of New England in the 1680s. Protests against British attempts to tax the colonies after the French and Indian War ended in 1763 led to the Boston Massacre in 1770, and the 1773 Boston Tea Party escalated tensions. In 1774, the Intolerable Acts targeted Massachusetts with punishments for the Boston Tea Party and further decreased local autonomy, increasing local dissent. Anti-Parliamentary activity by men such as Samuel Adams and John Hancock , followed by reprisals by

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4536-581: The Civil War. Massachusetts was the first state to recruit, train, and arm a Black regiment with White officers, the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment . In 1852, Massachusetts became the first state to pass compulsory education laws. Although the U.S. stock market had sustained steep losses the last week in October 1929, Tuesday, October 29 is remembered as the beginning of the Great Depression. The Boston Stock Exchange , drawn into

4644-517: The Colony of Georgia in 1735.) Later, Adams was active in early American foreign affairs and succeeded Washington as the second president of the United States . His son, John Quincy Adams , also from Massachusetts, would go on to become the nation's sixth president. From 1786 to 1787, an armed uprising led by Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Shays , now known as Shays' Rebellion , wrought havoc throughout Massachusetts and ultimately attempted to seize

4752-851: The Greater Boston area in the east and the Springfield metropolitan area in the west, although the latter includes agricultural areas throughout the Connecticut River Valley. There are 219 endangered species in Massachusetts. A number of species are doing well in the increasingly urbanized Massachusetts. Peregrine falcons utilize office towers in larger cities as nesting areas, and the population of coyotes , whose diet may include garbage and roadkill, has been increasing in recent decades. White-tailed deer , raccoons , wild turkeys , and eastern gray squirrels are also found throughout Massachusetts. In more rural areas in

4860-782: The Iranian Intelligence Ministry released the findings of a comprehensive investigation which concluded that the reported illnesses were not caused by any toxic substances. Instead they were suggested to have been due to a variety of reasons, including exposure to a variety of non-toxic substances, mass hysteria, and malingering. In October 2023, over 100 students from the St. Theresa's Eregi Girls’ High School in Musoli, Kenya were hospitalized due to rapid and involuntary arm and leg movement, sometimes accompanied by headaches and vertigo. Routine medical tests revealed nothing unusual, and there were no signs of infectious disease as

4968-576: The Massachusetts Marijuana Legalization Initiative , also known as Question 4. Massachusetts is the seventh-smallest state in the United States . It is located in the New England region of the Northeastern United States . It has an area of 10,555 square miles (27,340 km ), 25.7% of which is water. Several large bays distinctly shape its coast, giving it the nickname "the Bay State". Boston

5076-521: The Northeast United States has risen by ten percent from 1895 to 2011, and the number of heavy precipitation events has increased by seventy percent during that time. These increased precipitation patterns are focused in the winter and spring. Increasing temperatures coupled with increasing precipitation will result in earlier snow melts and subsequent drier soil in the summer months. The shifting climate in Massachusetts will result in

5184-467: The Singapore factory case study, calling in a medicine man to perform an exorcism seemed to perpetuate the outbreak. Besides the difficulties common to all research involving the social sciences, including a lack of opportunity for controlled experiments, mass sociogenic illness presents special difficulties to researchers in this field. Balaratnasingam and Janca report that the methods for "diagnosis of mass hysteria remain contentious." According to Jones,

5292-540: The U. S. Global Change Research Program, the Northeast is "projected to be more than 3.6°F (2°C) warmer on average than during the preindustrial era". As of August 2016, the EPA reports that Massachusetts has warmed by over two degrees Fahrenheit, or 1.1 degrees Celsius. Shifting temperatures also result in the shifting of rainfall patterns and the intensification of precipitation events. To that end, average precipitation in

5400-705: The US embassy in Cuba reported medical symptoms that initially were attributed to "sonic attacks", and later to other unknown weaponry. The symptoms were dubbed "Havana syndrome" by the media. The following year, some US government employees in China reported similar symptoms. Eventually, similar reports came from US government employees and their families around the globe, including in Washington DC. Due to lack of evidence of actual attack and other factors, some scientists suggested

5508-546: The alleged symptoms were psychogenic in nature. Seven U.S. intelligence agencies headed by the CIA spent years reviewing thousands of possible cases of Havana syndrome and preparing a report. On March 1, 2023, the House Intelligence Committee released an unclassified version of the report, titled an "Intelligence Community Assessment". Politico summarized the results by saying, "The finding undercuts

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5616-501: The anxious and not just the medical and psychological casualties." Early symptoms of those affected by MPI are difficult to differentiate from those actually exposed to the dangerous agent. The first Iraqi missile hitting Israel during the Persian Gulf War was believed to contain chemical or biological weapons. Though this was not the case, 40% of those in the vicinity of the blast reported breathing problems. Right after

5724-649: The bite of the tarantula . Those with dancing mania would dance in large groups, sometimes for weeks at a time. The dancing was sometimes accompanied by stripping, howling, the making of obscene gestures, or reportedly laughing or crying to the point of death. Dancing mania was widespread over Europe. Between the 15th and 19th centuries, instances of motor hysteria were common in nunneries . The young ladies that made up these convents were sometimes forced there by family. Once accepted, they took vows of chastity and poverty . Their lives were highly regimented and often marked by strict disciplinary action. The nuns would exhibit

5832-406: The broad transition zone to Humid Subtropical climates. The warm to hot summers render the oceanic climate rare in this transition, only applying to exposed coastal areas such as on the peninsula of Barnstable County . The climate of Boston is quite representative for the commonwealth, characterized by summer highs of around 81 °F (27 °C) and winter highs of 35 °F (2 °C), and

5940-546: The colony did not move to renew his contract or appoint a new mintmaster. The coinage was a contributing factor to the revocation of the Massachusetts Bay Colony charter in 1684. In 1691, the colonies of Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth were united (along with present-day Maine , which had previously been divided between Massachusetts and New York ) into the Province of Massachusetts Bay . Shortly after,

6048-509: The colony. Before that point, the colony's economy had been entirely dependent on barter and foreign currency, including English, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese and counterfeit coins. In 1661, shortly after the restoration of the British monarchy , the British government considered the Boston mint to be treasonous. However, the colony ignored the English demands to cease operations until at least 1682, when Hull's contract as mintmaster expired, and

6156-631: The departure of several manufacturing companies, the state's industrial economy began to decline during the early 20th century. By the 1920s, competition from the American South and Midwest , followed by the Great Depression , led to the collapse of the three main industries in Massachusetts: textiles, shoemaking, and precision mechanics. This decline would continue into the latter half of the 20th century. Between 1950 and 1979,

6264-538: The early 1600s, European colonists caused virgin soil epidemics such as smallpox , measles , influenza , and perhaps leptospirosis in what is now known as the northeastern region of the United States. Between 1617 and 1619, a disease that was most likely smallpox killed approximately 90% of the Massachusetts Bay Native Americans . The first English colonists in Massachusetts Bay Colony landed with Richard Vines and spent

6372-449: The effects resulting from MPI "can be difficult to differentiate from [those of] bioterrorism , rapidly spreading infection or acute toxic exposure." These troubles result from the residual diagnosis of MPI. There is a lack of logic in an argument that proceeds: "There isn't anything, so it must be MPI." It is an example of an argument from ignorance , with ignorance here intended to mean "an absence of contrary evidence". It precludes

6480-486: The end, scientists were divided over the scale of the outbreak, whether it fully explains the many different symptoms and the scale to which sociogenic illness affected those involved. Starting around 2009, a spate of apparent poisonings at girls' schools across Afghanistan began to be reported; symptoms included dizziness, fainting and vomiting. The United Nations , World Health Organization and NATO's International Security Assistance Force carried out investigations of

6588-465: The endangered North Atlantic right whales , as well as humpback whales , fin whales , minke whales , and Atlantic white-sided dolphins . The European corn borer , a significant agricultural pest, was first found in North America near Boston, Massachusetts in 1917. Most of Massachusetts has a humid continental climate , with cold winters and warm summers. Far southeast coastal areas are

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6696-412: The event about one year later. Their conclusions follow. Their conclusion about the above-average extraversion and neuroticism of those affected is not necessarily typical of MPI: In 1974, mass hysteria affected schools in Berry, Alabama , and Miami Beach . In Berry, it took the form of recurring itches . In the episode in Miami Beach initially triggering fears of poison gas. It was traced back to

6804-449: The exclusion of same-sex couples from the right to a civil marriage was unconstitutional. In 2004, Massachusetts senator John Kerry , who won the Democratic nomination for President of the United States, lost to incumbent George W. Bush . Eight years later, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (the Republican nominee) lost to incumbent Barack Obama in 2012. Another eight years later, Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren became

6912-414: The executive. (The Constitution of Vermont , adopted in 1777, represented the first partial ban on slavery among the states. Vermont became a state in 1791 but did not fully ban slavery until 1858 with the Vermont Personal Liberty Law. The Pennsylvania Gradual Abolition Act of 1780 made Pennsylvania the first state to abolish slavery by statute - the second English colony to do so; the first having been

7020-419: The family income. Those affected were found to have high levels of job dissatisfaction. Those with strong social ties tended to have similar reactions to the supposed gas, which only one unaffected woman reported smelling. No gas was detected in tests of the data center. In 1962, the Tanganyika laughter epidemic was an outbreak of laughing attacks, rumored to have occurred in or near the village of Kanshasa on

7128-435: The federal Springfield Armory . The rebellion was one of the major factors in the decision to draft a stronger national constitution to replace the Articles of Confederation . On February 6, 1788, Massachusetts became the sixth state to ratify the United States Constitution . In 1820, Maine separated from Massachusetts and entered the Union as the 23rd state due to the ratification of the Missouri Compromise . During

7236-495: The gender difference bias observed in these two conditions, with autism predominantly affecting males (persons with autism show diminished activity in the mirror neuron system), and MPI predominantly affecting young girls, who appear to have a more sensitive mirror system. The earliest studied cases linked with epidemic hysteria are the dancing manias of the Middle Ages , including St. John's dance and tarantism . These were supposed to be associated with spirit possession or

7344-535: The illness had subsided, a bipartisan Federal Commission released a document, offering the explanation of psychogenic illness. Radovanovic of the Department of Community Medicine and Behavioural Sciences Faculty of Medicine in Safat, Kuwait, reported: This document did not satisfy either of the two ethnic groups. Many Albanian doctors believed that what they had witnessed was an unusual epidemic of poisoning. The majority of their Serbian colleagues also ignored any explanation in terms of psychopathology. They suggested that

7452-423: The incident was faked with the intention of showing Serbs in a bad light but that it failed due to poor organization. Rodovanovic stated that this reported instance of mass sociogenic illness was precipitated by the demonstrated volatile and culturally tense situation in the province. Another possible case occurred in Belgium in June 1999 when people, mainly schoolchildren, became ill after drinking Coca-Cola. In

7560-685: The incidents over multiple years, but never found any evidence of toxins or poisoning in the hundreds of blood, urine and water samples they tested. The conclusion of the investigators was that the girls were experiencing a mass psychogenic illness. In 2011, a possible outbreak of mass psychogenic illness occurred at Le Roy Junior-Senior High School, in upstate New York , US, in which multiple students began having symptoms similar to Tourette syndrome . Various health professionals ruled out such factors as Gardasil , drinking water contamination, illegal drugs, carbon monoxide poisoning and various other potential environmental or infectious causes, before diagnosing

7668-596: The intake structure and diversion dam, a headhouse for a shaft at the Sudbury Reservoir (in what is now the Sudbury Dam Historic District ), and the gatehouse and dams of the Norumbega Reservoir. 42°19′48″N 71°23′24″W  /  42.330°N 71.390°W  / 42.330; -71.390 Massachusetts Masshole Massachusite (traditional) Massachusetts ( / ˌ m æ s ə ˈ tʃ uː s ɪ t s / , /- z ɪ t s / MASS -ə- CHOO -sits, -⁠zits ; Massachusett : Muhsachuweesut [məhswatʃəwiːsət] ), officially

7776-415: The most or among the most highly regarded academic institutions in the world. Massachusetts's public-school students place among the top tier in the world in academic performance. Massachusetts is the most educated and one of the most highly developed and wealthiest U.S. states, ranking first in the percentage of population 25 and over with either a bachelor's degree or advanced degree , first on both

7884-645: The name of the Moswetuset Hummock (meaning "hill shaped like an arrowhead") in Quincy , where Plymouth Colony commander Myles Standish (a hired English military officer) and Squanto (a member of the Patuxet band of the Wamponoag people , who have since died off due to contagious diseases brought by colonists) met Chief Chickatawbut in 1621. Although the designation "Commonwealth" forms part of

7992-624: The national church. They decided to colonize to Massachusetts, intending to establish what they considered an "ideal" religious society. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was colonized under a royal charter, unlike the Plymouth colony, in 1629. Both religious dissent and expansionism resulted in several new colonies being founded, shortly after Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay, elsewhere in New England. The Massachusetts Bay banished dissenters such as Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams due to religious and political conflict. In 1636, Williams colonized what

8100-580: The nerves and neurons that send messages to the brain become disrupted, resulting in an array of neurological symptoms such as twitching, shaking, convulsions, and trance-like states.” Bartholomew observes that school-stress borne illness such as occurred here have not been uncommon in Africa since the 1960s. Some appear to be due to Christian missionary schools largely ignoring local traditions and mythologies. Instead, such schools impart their own mythologies and culture. This may create overwhelming anxiety due to

8208-469: The new province's first governor, William Phips , arrived. The Salem witch trials also took place, where a number of men and women were hanged for alleged witchcraft . The most destructive earthquake known to date in New England occurred on November 18, 1755, causing considerable damage across Massachusetts. Massachusetts was a center of the movement for independence from Great Britain . Colonists in Massachusetts had long had uneasy relations with

8316-493: The notion that an organic factor could have been overlooked ( i.e. that there may have been insufficient investigation), or the possibility that the answer may currently be unknown but known at a future point in time. Nevertheless, running an extensive number of tests extends the probability of false positives. Singer, of the Uniformed Schools of Medicine, has summarized the problems with such a diagnosis: [Y]ou find

8424-524: The number of Massachusetts residents involved in textile manufacturing declined from 264,000 to 63,000. The 1969 closure of the Springfield Armory , in particular, spurred an exodus of high-paying jobs from Western Massachusetts, which suffered greatly as it de-industrialized during the century's last 40 years. Massachusetts manufactured 3.4 percent of total United States military armaments produced during World War II , ranking tenth among

8532-568: The number of reported Lyme disease cases in the state. Ticks can transmit the disease once temperatures reach 45 degrees, so shorter winters will increase the window of transmission. These warmer temperatures will also increase the prevalence of Asian tiger mosquitoes , which often carry the West Nile virus . To fight this change, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs has outlined

8640-505: The primary conduit in 2003 by the MetroWest Water Supply Tunnel . From 2009 to 2014, it was rehabilitated and taken offline to repair leaks which were causing losses of at least 400,000 US gallons (1,500,000 L) of water per day in the 1990s. The aqueduct is a pressurized pipe system, consisting of 9,700 feet (3,000 m) of steel-reinforced pipe at its western end, 3 miles (4.8 km) of bored tunnel under

8748-627: The rapid rate of contagion with the apparent reasonableness of the bug infestation theory and the credence given to it in accompanying news stories. In 1974, Stahl and Lebedun described an outbreak of mass sociogenic illness in the data center of a university town in the United States Midwest . Ten of 39 workers smelling an unconfirmed "mystery gas" were rushed to a hospital with symptoms of dizziness, fainting, nausea and vomiting. They reported that most workers were young women, either putting their husbands through school or supplementing

8856-466: The re-routing of several other major highways. The project was often controversial, with numerous claims of graft and mismanagement, and with its initial price tag of $ 2.5   billion increasing to a final tally of over $ 15   billion. Nonetheless, the Big Dig changed the face of Downtown Boston and connected areas that were once divided by elevated highway. Much of the raised old Central Artery

8964-471: The refugee population in Sweden, where it has been prevalent since the early part of the 21st century. Commentators state "a degree of psychological contagion" is inherent to the condition, by which young friends and relatives of the affected individual can also come to have the condition. In a 130-page report on the condition, commissioned by the government and published in 2006, a team of psychologists, political scientists and sociologists hypothesized that it

9072-713: The same school. This is seen as a rather atypical case of recurrent mass hysteria. In July 2022, reports of up to 15 girls showing unusual symptoms such as screaming, trembling, and banging their heads came up from a government school in Bageshwar , Uttarakhand , India . Mass psychological illness has been suggested as a possible cause. In late 2022 and early 2023, thousands of students, mostly girls, in numerous schools in Iran were initially believed to have been poisoned in various and undetermined manners by unidentified perpetrators and numerous arrests were made. On 29 April 2023,

9180-437: The skin. Most outbreaks occurred during the first shift, where four fifths of the workers were female. Of 62 total outbreaks, 59 were women, some of whom believed they were bitten by bugs from a fabric shipment. Entomologists and others were called in to discover the pathogen, but none was found. Kerchoff coordinated the interview of affected and unaffected workers at the factory, and summarized his findings: Kerchoff linked

9288-738: The spirits of dead infants ( toyol ), vampiric ghosts ( pontianak ) and vengeful female spirits ( penanggalan ). Authorities responded to the Kelantan outbreak by cutting down trees around the school. Outbreaks of mass psychogenic illness "have been reported in Catholic convents and monasteries across Mexico, Italy and France, in schools in Kosovo and even among cheerleaders in a rural North Carolina town". Episodes of mass hysteria have been frequent in Nepalese schools, at times even leading to

9396-488: The state became a center of progressivist and abolitionist (anti-slavery) activity in the years leading up to the American Civil War . Horace Mann made the state's school system a national model. Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson , both philosophers and writers from the state, also made major contributions to American philosophy. Furthermore, members of the transcendentalist movement within

9504-616: The state emphasized the importance of the natural world and emotion to humanity. Although significant opposition to abolitionism existed early on in Massachusetts, resulting in anti-abolitionist riots between 1835 and 1837, abolitionist views there gradually increased throughout the next few decades. Abolitionists John Brown and Sojourner Truth lived in Springfield and Northampton, respectively, while Frederick Douglass lived in Boston and Susan B. Anthony in Adams . The works of such abolitionists contributed to Massachusetts's actions during

9612-807: The state will work towards two goals by 2050: to achieve net-zero emissions , and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85 percent overall. The State of Massachusetts has developed a plethora of incentives to encourage the implementation of renewable energy and efficient appliances and home facilities. The Mass Save program, formed in conjunction with the State by several companies that provide power and gas in Massachusetts, provides homeowners and renters with monetary incentives to retrofit their homes with efficient HVAC equipment and other household appliances. Appliances such as water heaters, air conditioners, washers and driers, and heat pumps are eligible for rebates in order to incentivize change. Mass hysteria MPI

9720-416: The state's official name, it has no practical implications in modern times, and Massachusetts has the same position and powers within the United States as other states. John Adams may have chosen the word in 1779 for the second draft of what became the 1780 Massachusetts Constitution ; unlike the word "state", the word " commonwealth " had the connotation of a republic at the time. This was in contrast to

9828-574: The students being taught one thing at home, such as ancestor worship, which is then forbidden at a Christian mythology based school. Other such outbreaks have similar tradition-based causes, such as a 1995 outbreak of “bouts of screaming, crying, foaming at the mouth, and partial paralysis” in over 600 girls at an African Muslim school in Northern Nigeria. This outbreak was surmised to be due to expectations of traditional arranged marriage, colliding with modernity's emphasis on romantic love that

9936-494: The students had observed in movies. The difference between these two cases of mass psychogenic illness reinforces that each outbreak needs to be evaluated in the specific circumstances in which it occurred, as such instances are “never spontaneous reactions to stress per se; they are always couched in some unique context.” In 2002, Bartholomew and Wessely stated that the "concern that after a chemical, biological or nuclear attack, public health facilities may be rapidly overwhelmed by

10044-618: The students with a conversion disorder and mass psychogenic illness. In August 2019 the BBC reported that schoolgirls at the Ketereh national secondary school (SMK Ketereh) in Kelantan , Malaysia, started screaming, with some claiming to have seen 'a face of pure evil'. Simon Wessely of King's College Hospital , London, suggested it was a form of 'collective behaviour'. Robert Bartholomew , an American medical sociologist and author, said, "It

10152-509: The suspects as brothers Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev . The ensuing manhunt ended on April 19 when thousands of law enforcement officers searched a 20-block area of nearby Watertown . Dzhokhar later said he was motivated by extremist Islamic beliefs and learned to build explosive devices from Inspire , the online magazine of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula . On November 8, 2016, Massachusetts voted in favor of

10260-496: The temporary closure of those schools involved. In 2018, a unique phenomenon of "recurrent epidemic of mass hysteria" was reported from a school of Pyuthan district of western Nepal. After a nine-year-old school girl developed crying and shouting episodes. Other children of the same school became affected in rapid succession, resulting in 47 affected students, 37 females, 10 males, in the same day. Since 2016, similar episodes of mass psychogenic illness have been occurring every year at

10368-669: The town of Salem and surrounding areas experienced one of America's most infamous cases of mass hysteria , the Salem witch trials . In the late 18th century, Boston became known as the "Cradle of Liberty" for the agitation there that later led to the American Revolution . In 1786, Shays' Rebellion , a populist revolt led by disaffected American Revolutionary War veterans, influenced the United States Constitutional Convention . Originally dependent on agriculture , fishing , and trade , Massachusetts

10476-547: The truth. After the rise of a popular breakthrough YouTube channel in 2019, where the presenter exhibits extensive Tourette's -like behavior, there was a sharp rise in young people referred to clinics specializing in tics, thought to be related to social contagion spread via the Internet , and also to stress from eco-anxiety and the COVID-19 pandemic . The authors of an August 2021 report found evidence that social media

10584-629: The western coast of Lake Victoria in what is now Tanzania , eventually affecting 14 different schools and over 1,000 people. On the morning of Thursday 7 October 1965, at a girls' school in Blackburn in England, several girls complained of dizziness. Some fainted. Within a couple of hours, 85 girls from the school were rushed by ambulance to a nearby hospital after fainting. Symptoms included swooning, moaning, chattering of teeth, hyperpnea , and tetany . Moss and McEvedy published their analysis of

10692-475: The western part of Massachusetts, larger mammals such as moose and black bears have returned, largely due to reforestation following the regional decline in agriculture. Massachusetts is located along the Atlantic Flyway , a major route for migratory waterfowl along the eastern coast. Lakes in central Massachusetts provide habitat for many species of fish and waterfowl, but some species such as

10800-625: The whirlpool of panic selling that beset the New York Stock Exchange, lost over 25 percent of its value in two days of frenzied trading. The BSE, nearly 100 years old at the time, had helped raise the capital that had funded many of the Commonwealth's factories, railroads, and businesses. " Governor of Massachusetts Frank G. Allen appointed John C. Hull the first Securities Director of Massachusetts. Hull would assume office in January 1930, and his term would end in 1936. With

10908-653: The winter in Biddeford Pool near Cape Porpoise (after 1820 the State of Maine) in 1616. The Puritans , arrived at Plymouth in 1620. This was the second permanent English colony in the part of North America that later became the United States, after the Jamestown Colony . The "First Thanksgiving" was celebrated by the Puritans after their first harvest in the " New World " and lasted for three days. They were soon followed by other Puritans, who colonized

11016-642: Was a culture-bound syndrome , a psychological illness endemic to a specific society. This phenomenon has later been called into question, with children witnessing that they were forced, by their parents, to act in a certain way in order to increase chances of being granted residence permits. As evidenced by medical records, healthcare professionals were aware of this scam, and witnessed parents who actively refused aid for their children, but remained silent. Later, Sveriges Television , Sweden's national public television broadcaster, were severely critiqued by investigative journalist Janne Josefsson for failing to uncover

11124-642: Was dotted with high-tech companies who recruited graduates of the area's many elite institutions of higher education. In 1987, the state received federal funding for the Central Artery/Tunnel Project. Commonly known as "the Big Dig ", it was, at the time, the biggest federal highway project ever approved. The project included making the Central Artery , part of Interstate 93 , into a tunnel under downtown Boston, in addition to

11232-545: Was originally inhabited by tribes of the Algonquian language family , including Wampanoag , Narragansett , Nipmuc , Pocomtuc , Mahican , and Massachusett . While cultivation of crops like squash and corn were an important part of their diet, the people of these tribes hunted , fished , and searched the forest for most of their food. Villagers lived in lodges called wigwams as well as longhouses . Tribes were led by male or female elders known as sachems . In

11340-556: Was replaced with the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway . The project also improved traffic conditions along several routes. The Kennedy family was prominent in 20th-century Massachusetts politics. The children of businessman and ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. included John F. Kennedy , who was a senator and U.S. president before his assassination in 1963; Ted Kennedy , a senator from 1962 until his death in 2009; and Eunice Kennedy Shriver ,

11448-706: Was the siege of Boston in the winter of 1775–76, after which the British were forced to evacuate the city. The event is still celebrated in Suffolk County only every March 17 as Evacuation Day . On the coast, Salem became a center for privateering . Although the documentation is incomplete, about 1,700 letters of marque , issued on a per-voyage basis, were granted during the American Revolution. Nearly 800 vessels were commissioned as privateers, which were credited with capturing or destroying about 600 British ships. Bostonian John Adams , known as

11556-720: Was the only Republican to serve as Speaker between 1931 and 1995), John W. McCormack , Speaker of the House in the 1960s, and Tip O'Neill , whose service as Speaker of the House from 1977 to 1987 was the longest continuous tenure in United States history. On May 17, 2004, Massachusetts became the first state in the U.S. to legalize same-sex marriage . This followed the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court 's decision in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health in November 2003, which determined that

11664-674: Was transformed into a manufacturing center during the Industrial Revolution . Before the American Civil War , the state was a center for the abolitionist , temperance , and transcendentalist movements. During the 20th century, the state's economy shifted from manufacturing to services ; and in the 21st century, Massachusetts has become the global leader in biotechnology , and also excels in artificial intelligence , engineering , higher education , finance , and maritime trade . The state's capital and most populous city , as well as its cultural and financial center ,

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