Business/Industry/Inventions

Since 1882

1856 - 1920 

Born in Worcester. 

Before becoming the Jones  in Dow Jones Industrial Average , he attended Worcester Academy and was  was renowned for his ability to edit and interpret financial reports .

Charles Dow was born in Sterling CT in 1851.

 Created by Esther Howland 

 1882 - 1945 

Born in Worcester, the Father of Rocketry launched the first liquid fueled rocket on March 16th, 1926. 

 For over 50 years David Clark headsets remain an aviation standard.  

Employees at the time credited J. Hamilton Givan (1933 -2007) for its development  and pioneering  sales at local airports. 

Created in 1963

In 1948,  Frank Fiorillo (1928 - 2019) was born in Worcester to Italian immigrants and became a food pioneer. As stated by the Worcester Historical Society, Fiorillo "inspired people to make their own fresh pizza at home. His Roman Pizza Mix was the first commercial pizza-pie mix in a box." His obituary states " he was an expert chef known for his world class pizza, meatballs, sauce, Ricotta Pie and his Feast of the Seven Fishes." 

 On June 23, 1960 the FDA formally approved the pill as an oral contraceptive.

 From this WGBH article: With Margaret Sanger's "project fully funded, development began in earnest at Pincus’s Worcester lab and Rock’s Brookline clinic. They experimented with dosages and tested the pill, first on women in Massachusetts, then in Puerto Rico, Haiti, Mexico and Los Angeles. The trials were not always smooth. Dosages were sometimes way too high. Side effects could be severe. And not all the women even knew they were being experimented on. "
Approximately 400,000 women recieved a prescription that first year.

1873
Swedish immigrant Sven Pulson, in Frank Norton's pottery shop on Water Street,  invented a grinding wheel from emery, clay, and water to finish the products of Worcester's expanding metals industry.
However,  according to railgrinding wheel, "Norton himself was uninterested in the “abrasives” business, preferring to focus on his primary pottery trade. Fortunately, seven visionary Worcester entrepreneurs—including young engineer Milton Higgins and machinist John Jeppson—recognized the immense potential of the invention. They raised the necessary funds and purchased the industry-changing patent and company name from Frank Norton. In 1885, the Norton Company was officially born." 

1874 - 1961

From Worcester and graduated WPI, Higgins  possessed a fascination with metalworking and spent many hours observing blacksmiths, farmers and factory workers at work. Like many of his contemporaries, he was also enchanted by the chivalric tales of knights.
While being in business with his father,  Higgins traveled many times to Europe. He had purchased some copies of armor but in 1928, according to WIKI,  he purchased a group of armors from Sir Joseph Duveen. This was his first truly significant acquisition and was followed by several equally important purchases during the next decade. He now realized he needed somewhere to house his collection. In 1928 he started work on a building next to the Worcester Pressed Steel Company. It was finished in 1931 at a cost of $300,000. It became the Higgins Armory Museum, which was the largest museum in the United States solely devoted to armor .

1957

Leominster

The iconic plastic pink flamingo was created in Leominster by Don Featherstone in 1957.

The city celebrates 

'Pink Flamingo Day' on June 23rd.

Click here for a history of pink flamingos

1861 - 1939

Springfield

Though  Canadian born Dr. Naismith was a   physical educator, physician, Christian chaplain, and sports coach, he is best known     for inventing the game of basketball in Springfield MA.

Read his interesting story here. 

1861 -  1947

Born in Boston, Durant, a pioneer in the automobile industry, was the founder of General Motors and a co-founder of Chevrolet. 

He also founded Frigdaire. 

1933 - 2021

Born in Boston (Dorchester), Adelson was known to be a casino owner and developer.

b.1983

Born in Holliston, Systrom is the co-foounder of Instagram.

  1921

Developed in Southbridge by Edgar Tillyer and Dr. Estelle Glancy, the (American Optical (AO) Lensometer, revolutionized the optical industry as the first commercial, mass-produced instrument for accurately verifying eyeglass prescriptions. 

Optical Heritage Museum in Southbridge

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