WHM - Worcester Facts & Firsts

Worcester Facts & Firsts

Did you know that there were three attempted settlements of Worcester?

#1- Worcester was first settled under the Indian name of Quinsigamond in 1673. At the start of King Philip's War, the settlement was abandoned.

#2- It was at the second attempted settlement that the name "Worcester" meaning "war-castle" was adopted. This settlement was also abandoned in 1701.

#3- The third and permanent settlement dates form 1713. Worcester was incorporated a town in 1722 and a city in 1848.

Did you know about these famous firsts?

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

- J. Lee Richmond of the Worcesters pitched the first perfect game in major league baseball history on June 12, 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 1907 for determining the speed of light.

- Sigmund Freud’s (1856-1939) only visit to America was in 1909 to give lectures on the new science of psychoanalysis at Clark University and Clark was the only institution that ever gave him an honorary degree.

- Dr. Robert H. Goddard of Clark University patented the first liquid fuel rocket in 1914.

- Harvey Ball designed the world famous Smiley face in 1963.

To learn more about these facts and firsts talk to a librarian!