- 1888
| Jun 11 | Bartolomeo Vanzetti is born in Villafalletto in northern Italy. | Ref: 87 |
- 1891
| Apr 22 | Nicola (nee Ferdinando) Sacco is born in Torremaggiore in southern Italy. | Ref: 87 |
- 1908
| Apr 12 | (day unspecifed) Sacco and his brother Sabino emigrate to the United States. | Ref: 87 |
| Jun 12 | (day unspecifed) Bartolomeo Vanzetti emigrates to the United States. | Ref: 87 |
- 1917
| May 12 | (day unspecifed) Vanzetti and Sacco meet in Boston at a meeting of Galleanist Anarchists. One week later they depart for Mexico with other Italian anarchists to avoid conscription. | Ref: 87 |
| Sep 12 | (day unspecifed) Sacco and Vanzetti return to the United States. | Ref: 87 |
- 1918
| Feb 22 | At the height of the Red Scare, the office of the Cronaca Sovversiva, an anarchist newspaper both Sacco and Vanzetti had written for and donated money to, is raided. The names Sacco and Vanzetti are for the first time linked by officials to anarchist activities. | Ref: 87 |
- 1919
| Feb 12 | (day unspecifed) "Go-Head!", a circular attributed to "The American Anarchists", appears throughout New England. In it, the American Anarchists, presumably the Italian-American Anarchists, threaten to "dynamite" officials in retaliation for the ongoing deportations and repression the anarchists are enduring. | Ref: 87 |
| Apr 28 | A bomb plot is discovered. The plot involved sending over 30 dynamite bombs to persons on the anarchists' enemies list, including A. Mitchell Palmer, the U.S. Attorney General, J. P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis (who one year later would become the first commissioner of baseball). | Ref: 87 |
| Jun 02 | In another round of bombings Carlo Valdinoci (who had been in Mexico with Sacco and Vanzetti two years earlier) blows himself up outside the home of Attorney General Palmer. Sacco and Vanzetti are rumored to have taken part in the bombing. | Ref: 87 |
| Nov 12 | (day unspecifed) The Justice Department begins rounding up anarchists. | Ref: 87 |
| Dec 24 | Four men attempt to rob the payroll of the L.Q. White Shoe Company in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. One, later known as the "shotgun bandit", fires at the moving payroll truck. They are unsuccessful and no one is hurt. The would-be bandits escaped. | Ref: 87 |
- 1920
| Mar 08 | Roberto Elia and Andrea Salsedo, anarchists who worked for the Cronaca Sovversiva, are taken into custody by the Department of Justice without a warrant or being arrested. They are beaten until they agree to inform on their fellow anarchists. | Ref: 87 |
| Apr 15 | In South Braintree, Massachusetts, two men armed with handguns shoot and kill Frederick Parmenter and Alessandro Berardelli, employees of the Slater & Morrill Shoe Company. The thieves rob the men of the $15,776.51 payroll they were carrying. The thieves are picked up by a car carrying other men. | Ref: 87 |
| Apr 16 | Ferruccio Coacci, an Italian anarchist who was to be in East Boston to be deported the day before, tells Bureau of Immigration Inspector O. L. Root that he did not report as scheduled because his wife was sick and he needed a few days to take care of her. Suspicious, Root asks Michael E. Stewart, Bridgewater chief of police, to look into Coacci's story. Stewart had patrolman Frank LeBaron accompany Root to talk to Coacci. When they arrive at Coacci's, they find Coacci's wife in fine health and Coacci packing a suitcase and insisting on leaving immediately. He was taken to the immigration station and left for Italy two days later. Stewart will later conclude that both of the South Braintree hold-ups done by the same group of Italians, Coacci being one of them. | Ref: 87 |
| Apr 17 | The car used by the South Braintree bandits, a stolen Buick, is discovered two miles from Coacci and Buda's home. | Ref: 87 |
| Apr 20 | Stewart goes to Coacci's former home and talks to Mario Boda. Boda claims he is a salesman and that his car is being repaired at the Elm Square Garage. | Ref: 87 |
| Apr 22 | Stewart talks to Simon Johnson, owner of the Elm Square Garage, and sets a trap for Boda by instructing Johnson to call him when anyone comes for the car. | Ref: 87 |
| May 03 | Andrea Salsedo, perhaps acting out of guilt, commits suicide by jumping out of the fourteenth-floor room. | Ref: 87 |
| May 03 | Vanzetti takes a train to Sacco's house. | Ref: 87 |
| May 04 | Sacco and Vanzetti learn of their comrade Salsedo's suicide and become scared they will be found and implicated in a bomb plot. They agree, with Mario Boda and Riccardo Orciani (another anarchist), to meet the following day at the Elm Square Garage in West Bridgewater (where Boda's car was being repaired) and dispose of incriminating evidence. Sacco goes to Boston to obtain a passport. | Ref: 87 |
| May 05 | Sacco and Vanzetti take the streetcar to West Bridgewater and meet Buda and Orciani at the garage. Finding the garage locked, the four go to the house of the owner, Simon Johnson, who advises Boda not to take the car because the license plates had expired. Meanwhile, his wife telephones the police. Boda and Orciani ride off on Orciani's motorcycle while Sacco and Vanzetti walk to the streetcar to return home. | Ref: 87 |
| May 05 | At 10:00 P.M. as the streetcar pulls into Brockton, a policeman boards and arrests Sacco and Vanzetti as "suspicious characters". Both men are armed. Vanzetti is found to have shotgun shells, leading to the authorities' belief that he was the "shotgun" bandit at Bridgewater. Sacco and Vanzetti lie to police about their politics, their guns, why they were in Bridgewater, and deny knowing Coacci and Buda. They repeat these lies to the District Attorney. | Ref: 87 |
| Jun 11 | Vanzetti, despite having no previous criminal record,is indicted for the Bridgewater hold-up. He is quickly brought to trial, convicted, and sentenced to the maximum sentence of 12 to 15 years by Judge Thayer. | Ref: 87 |
| Sep 11 | Sacco and Vanzetti are indicted for the South Braintree murders. | Ref: 87 |
| Sep 16 | Boda detonates a horse-and-buggy bomb at the corner of Wall and Broad streets in Manhattan causing thirty deaths, over 200 injuries, and $2 million in property damage. The bomb is revenge for the prosecution of Sacco and Vanzetti. | Ref: 87 |
- 1921
| May 31 | Trial begins at Dedham, Massachusetts. | Ref: 87 |
| Jun 03 | After several days of voir dire, only seven jurors have been selected and the entire panel of 500 people exhausted. The Court directs the Sheriff to bring in 200 more potential jurors. | Ref: 87 |
| Jun 04 | The defense challenges the way in which the additional potential jurors were arbitrarily rounded up. Judge Thayer denies the challenge. | Ref: 87 |
| Jun 07 | Assistant Prosecutor, Harold Williams, delivers the opening statement for the State. | Ref: 87 |
| Jun 09 | Eyewitnesses Carrigan, Bostock, and Wade testify that were unable to identify any of the bandits they had seen at the crime. Mary Splaine, a bookkeeper, testifies that she saw Sacco leanout of the automobile as it crossed railroad tracks. On cross-examination, Splaine denies saying at the preliminary hearing that she had doubts as to whether she could identify Sacco, though her statement is in the record. | Ref: 87 |
| Jun 10 | Lewis Pelser testifies that Sacco is the "dead image" of the man in the car. He admits in cross-examination that he earlier told the police that he had not witnessed the robbery and had run away because he was scared. | Ref: 87 |
| Jun 11 | Lola Andrews testifies that she had spoken to a man working under a car in front of the shoe factory the day of the robbery and identified Sacco as the man. She denies stating during an interview that a picture of Sacco did not resemble the man she had seen. | Ref: 87 |
| Jun 13 | Vanzetti is identified by Michael LeVangie, the gate-keeper at a railroad crossing, as being the driver of the bandit car. | Ref: 87 |
| Jun 14 | Harry Dolbeare testifies that Vanzetti is the man who was in the back of the get-away car. Two other witnesses, Heron and Tracy, identify Sacco as the man they had seen around East Braintree the day of the robbery. | Ref: 87 |
| Jun 15 | The final identification witness, Goodridge, testifies he had seen Sacco shooting from the car. The defense tries to impeach his testimony by implying a larceny charge had gone unpunished in return for his testimony. Judge Thayer refuses to allow the defense to introduce its impeaching evidence. | Ref: 87 |
| Jun 16 | Testimony is given concerning the finding of a Buick touring car near West Bridgewater. The car is identified as being the car used in the Bridgewater and South Braintree hold-ups. | Ref: 87 |
| Jun 17 | Connolly, the officer who arrested Sacco and Vanzetti on the train, testifies that Sacco and Vanzetti reached for their guns when they were arrested. | Ref: 87 |
| Jun 20 | Employees of the Iver Johnson Company testify that the gun taken from Vanzetti when he was arrested was "of the same kind" as the one left at their store by the victim Berardelli. Sacco's boss testifies that a cap found at the scene was similar to one Sacco wore. | Ref: 87 |
| Jun 21 | Proctor, a ballistics expert, testifies that shells found at the scene and taken from the bodies of the decedents were "consistent with" having been fired by Sacco's pistol; it was later challenged that the word "consistent" was used purposely to lead the jury to believe that Sacco's pistol was the murder weapon without explicitly saying so. | Ref: 87 |
| Jun 22 | The defense begins to present its case. | Ref: 87 |
| Jun 28 | Kurlansky testifies that Mrs. Andrews had once told him she could not identify the defendants but a government agent was forcing her to do so. Defense expert witnesses testify that Sacco's gun did not fire the bullet that killed Berardelli. | Ref: 87 |
| Jul 05 | Vanzetti takes the stand. He is questioned at length about his political views during cross-examination. | Ref: 87 |
| Jul 06 | Sacco takes the stand. He tries on the cap found at the crime scene, and it did not fit (yet they did not acquit). | Ref: 87 |
| Jul 07 | During cross-examination, Sacco, too, is questioned at length concerning his political views. | Ref: 87 |
| Jul 14 | The case goes to the jury. At 7:30 pm the jury returns its verdict: Sacco and Vanzetti are both found guilty of murder in the first degree. | Ref: 87 |
| Nov 08 | The Ripley motion for a new trial is made. The defendants argued that it was reversible error for the the jury foreman, Ripley, to have had brought into the juryroom .38 caliber cartridges, presumably to show the other jurors what they looked like. The defense also produces an affidavit stating that Ripley had responded to a comment that the defendants might not be guilty by saying "They ought to hang anyway." | Ref: 87 |
- 1922
| May 04 | The Gould and Pelser motions are made. The Gould motion is based on affidavit by Gould, an eyewitness, stating that during the shootout a man who did not look like Sacco or Vanzetti fired at him from the car. The Pelser motion is based on the retraction of Pelser, the witness who said Sacco was the "dead image" of the person who shot Berardelli. Pelser now alleges that Assistant District Attorney Williams persuaded him to make the identification. | Ref: 87 |
| Jul 22 | The Goodridge motion for a new trial is made. It is based on the lack of credibility of prosecution witness Goodridge, a known felon who testified under a false name. | Ref: 87 |
| Sep 11 | The Andrews motion for a new trial is made. It is based upon Mrs. Lola Andrews' retraction. | Ref: 87 |
- 1923
| Apr 30 | The Hamilton motion for a new trial is filed. It is based upon criminologist and gun case expert Hamilton who signed an affidavit stating that said the bullets at the scene and in Berardelli did not come from Sacco's gun. | Ref: 87 |
| Nov 05 | The Proctor motion for a new trial is made. Prosecution expert witness Proctor admitted that the use of the ambiguous phrase "consistent with" was prearranged by the District Attorny to allow the jury to believe he was testifying that Sacco's gun was the gun that killed Berardelli. | Ref: 87 |
- 1924
| Oct 01 | Judge Thayer denies all motions for a new trial. | Ref: 87 |
- 1925
| Nov 10 | (day unspecified) Celestino Medeiros, a Portugese convict doing time for murder, allegedly confesses to Sacco that he had been involved in the South Braintree hold-up. | Ref: 87 |
- 1926
| May 12 | The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts upholds Sacco and Vanzetti's convictions and denies their motion for a new trial. | Ref: 87 |
| May 26 | A motion is filed for a new trial based upon Medeiros' confession and information about the Morelli gang, an Italian gang that robbed freight cars in Providence, R.I. and New Bedford, Mass. | Ref: 87 |
| May 30 | (date given as "late-May) Anarchists issue a new call for bombings as a result of the Massachusetts' Supreme Court decision. | Ref: 87 |
| Jun 01 | A bomb explodes at Samuel Johnson's home, presumably mistaking him for his brother Simon (the man whose call led to the arrest of Sacco and Vanzetti). | Ref: 87 |
| Jun 13 | (thru Sep 17th) The Medeiros motion is argued before Judge Thayer. | Ref: 87 |
| Jun 23 | Judge Thayer denies the Medeiros motion. | Ref: 87 |
- 1927
| Jan 27 | (and 28th) The appeal from the denial of Medeiros motion argued before the Supreme Judicial Court. | Ref: 87 |
| Apr 07 | The denial of the Medeiros motion is affirmed. | Ref: 87 |
| Apr 09 | Italy & US anarchists Sacco & Vanzetti given death sentences. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 28 | After being interviewed for several hours by Governor Fuller, Vanzetti writes a letter to the Governor providing more complete answers to the Governor's questions and pleading for the Governor to stop the scheduled executions. | Ref: 87 |
| Aug 03 | Gov. Fuller announces that he will not intervene to stop the scheduled executions. | Ref: 87 |
| Aug 06 | A Massachusetts high court hears the final plea from Sacco and Vanzetti, two Italians convicted of murder. | Ref: 2 |
| Aug 23 | Immigrant laborers Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti are executed for the murders of two men during a 1920 a robbery they did not commit. Fifty years later, in 1977, Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis establishes a memorial in the victims' honor. | Ref: 2 |
- 1932
| Sep 27 | (Sacco and Vanzetti) Judge Thayer's house is bombed (presumably for his role in the Sacco and Vanzetti case). | Ref: 87 |
- 1977
| Aug 23 | Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis proclaims "Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti Day" on the fiftieth anniversary of their death. | Ref: 87 |
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Sacco & Vanzetti Chronology