Worcester, Massachusetts

History

Worcester was first settled in 1673 and was officially incorporated in 1684. The settlement was established as a town in 1722, and chartered as a city in 1848. When the government of Worcester County was established on April 2, 1731, Worcester was chosen as its shire town (later known as a county seat). From that date until the dissolution of the county government on July 1, 1998, it was the only county seat.

Related Topics:
1673 - 1684 - 1722 - 1848 - April 2 - 1731 - County seat - July 1 - 1998

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John Adams taught at the village schoolhouse in Worcester before returning to Braintree to practice law and contribute to the revolution and founding of the United States.

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On June 9, 1953, Worcester was hit by a tornado that killed 94 people and damaged a large part of the city. It was the deadliest tornado in New England history. Among others, the tornado struck the then campus of Assumption College (currently Quinsigamond Community College).

Related Topics:
June 9 - 1953 - Tornado - Assumption College - Quinsigamond Community College

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;Worcester firsts

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• The Declaration of Independence was first publicly read in Massachusetts by Isaiah Thomas in Worcester in July 1776.
• The monkey wrench was invented by Loring Coes of the Coes Knife Company in 1840.
• The birth control pill was developed by the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology in Worcester suburb Shrewsbury.
• Worcester resident Charles Thurber patented the first modern-day typewriter in 1843.
• The first national convention of women advocating women's suffrage was held in Worcester on October 23 and 24, 1850.
• Dr. Russell L. Hawes, a Worcester physician, invented the first machine for folding plain paper into envelopes in 1852.
• Charles Olson, a poet and Worcester native, coined the term postmodern in his 1958 essay "The Present is Prologue".
• Candy Cummings threw the first ever curveball pitch in Worcester in 1867 while playing for the Brooklyn Stars. It was a strike.
• Elm Park became the first public park in the country when land was deeded to the city of Worcester in 1854.
• Worcester resident Joshua Stoddard invented the steam calliope in 1855.
• Worcester blacksmith Albert Tolman is said to have invented the rickshaw in 1848 for a missionary traveling to South America; however there are numerous other theories about the origin of the rickshaw
• J. Lee Richmond of the Worcesters pitched the first perfect game in major league baseball history on June 12, 1880.
• Candlepin bowling was first developed in Worcester in 1880.
• Worcester resident Henry Perky became the first to mass produce shredded wheat in 1895.
• Albert A. Michelson, chairman of Clark University's Physics Department, named America's first Nobel Prize Winner in 1902 for his experiments relating to his calculation of the speed of light.
• Dr. Robert H. Goddard of Worcester Polytechnic Institute's class of 1908 and later Clark University patented the first liquid fuel rocket in 1914.
• Harvey Ball designed the world famous Smiley face in 1963.
• The first radio station to play a Beatles song in the United States was WORC in Worcester.
• The first woman to serve on a President's cabinet was Frances Perkins of Worcester; she served as FDR's Secretary of Labor.
• The first dictionary printed in the U.S. was in Worcester in the 18th century, by Isaiah Thomas, who also printed the largest newspaper of the time, the Massachusetts Spy.
• In 1847, the first commercial valentine was mass produced in Worcester by Esther Howland.
• Between September 6-10, 1909, Sigmund Freud delivered his only American lectures at Clark University ("Five Lectures on Psycho-Analysis" later published as "On Psychoanalysis"). Carl Jung joined him, and William James attended.