History of Worcester, Massachusetts, USA

Journey back in time to Worcester, Massachusetts, USA

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• 1673 - Worcester is settled
  
  Massachusetts City and Town Incorporation and Settlement Dates
  
  
• 1684 - Worcester is incorporated
  
  Massachusetts City and Town Incorporation and Settlement Dates
  
  
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  Old Salisbury Mansion
  Highland Street
  
  Salisbury Mansion, located at 40 Highland Street, is Worcester’s only historic house museum. Built in 1772 as a combination house and store, it served as the home of “gentleman-merchant” Stephen Salisbury. ... Read MORE...
  
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• General Henry Knox and his troops passed through here in the winter of 1775-76 with a load of 59 cannons pulled by teams of oxen.
  The cannons were captured from the British at Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point. They were transported from Lake Champlain to Dorchester Heights, Mass...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1789 - First American Novel
  The first American novel, William Hill Brown's The Power of Sympathy,
  published in Worcester.
  
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•  1838 - Fire at Worcester.
  A fire broke out in the vicinity of School street, in Worcester, about 1 o'clock on Wednesday morning, which destroyed a large block of dwellings, bri...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1839 - December 28 - The third storm in two weeks hit the northeastern U.S. It brought two more feet of snow to Hartford, CT, and Worcester, MA. Whole gales swept the coast causing many wrecks.
  
  WeatherForYou.com
  
  
• 1840 - Typewriter Invented
  The typewriter was invented by Charles Thurber in Worcester.
  
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  massachusetts.html
  
  In ...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1845 - A Horrible Death
  We learn from the Worcester (Mass.) Transcript, that Mr. ASA MASON, manufacturer of tacks and brads, while adjusting his machinery, was caught by the ...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1845 - WORCESTER. [Pop. 7,497. Inc. 1684.]
  Worcester was called Quinsigamond by the Indians, who joined with Philip against the colonists in the bloody war of 1675.
  
  In 1701, Worceste...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1848 - Worcester is incorporated as a city
  
  Massachusetts City and Town Incorporation and Settlement Dates
  
  
• 1848 - Worcester
  WORCESTER was incorporated in 1684, but in consequence of Indian hostilities the first town meeting was not held till 1722. This part of the country w...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1850 - Women's Rights Convention
  First National Women's Rights Convention held in Worcester
  
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  countrys/ namerica/ usstates/ matimeln.htm
  
  The woman's rig...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1853 - January 21 - Envelope-folding machine patented by Russell Hawes, Worcester, Mass
  
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• 1854 - March 17 - 1st park land purchased by a US city, Worcester, Mass
  
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• 1854 - Worcester
  Worcester, a city and seat of justice of Worcester county, Massachusetts, is delightfully situated in the centre of one of the richest and most produc...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1855 - CATASTROPHE BY FIRE.
  The Cordasville Manufactory, near Worcester, Massachusetts, was burned on the 1st inst. There were between eighty and one hundred operatives in the Fa...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1855 - October 9 - Joshua Stoddard of Worcester, Mass patents 1st calliope
  
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  James Green & Co., dealers in Drugs, Medicines, Chemicals, Paints, Oils Dye-Stuffs, Perfumery, Spices, Sporting and Blasting Powder, Fishing and Hunting Apparatus, &c.
  
  At the Old Stand opposite Centre School House, Main-st.
  WORCESTER, MASS.
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•  1871 - Mary's Little Lamb
  The Worcester Gazette has become nauseated by the many recent effusions concerning "Mary's Little Lamb," and disposes of the animal in this way:
  
  "M...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1871 - Revolver Maker Leaves Large Fortune
  Ethan Allen, who recently died in Worcester, Mass., at the age of sixty-four, preceded Colt in the manufacture of revolvers. One of his earliest inven...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1872 - A Singular Law Suit.
  The proprietors of the Rural Cemetery at Worcester, Massachusetts, have brought suit against a company engaged in the manufacture of chemicals, about ...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1876 - THE MAD WATERS. Giving Way of the Dam at Worcester, Mass. A GRAPHIC SKETCH OF THE SCENE.
  WORCESTER, March 30. - Later advices from the broken dam are of a more assuring character. Large tree trunks, bales of hay and loads of dirt are being...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1884 - Horse Led to Chapel
  Some students in the Industrial institute at Worcester, Massachusetts, recently led a horse up two flights of stairs to the chapel. Twenty-eight membe...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  Clark University
  
  On January 17, 1887, successful American businessman Jonas Gilman Clark announced his intention to found and endow a university in the city of Worcester, filing a petition in the Massachusetts Legislature requesting a charter for ... Read MORE...
  
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•  1889 - A NARROW ESCAPE.
  Fred Shaw, the swan boat man, had a narrow escape from drowning at the lake yesterday. He went out after lilies, and, while busily engaged in his work...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  Salisbury Laboratory Polytechnic Institute
  
  ...built with funds provided by Stephen Salisbury III, who had the building named in honor of his father, one of the founders of the school. lostnewengland.com
  
  Salisbury Laboratory, built in 1889, was ... Read MORE...
  
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• Worcester Massachusetts, 1890
  WORCESTER, the capital of Worcester County, is an enterprising mercantile and manufacturing city 44 miles west-by-southwest of Boston, 43 miles northw...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  1890s C. G. Conn
  Wonder Band Instruments
  Worcester, Mass.
  Elkhart, Ind.
  
  C.G. Conn Ltd., sometimes called Conn Instruments or commonly just Conn, is a former American manufacturer of musical instruments incorporated in 1915. It bought the... Read MORE...
  
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  Lincoln Square and Court House
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•  1892 - It is stated that the Washburn and Moen Manufacturing Company, of Worcester, Massachusetts, is making absolutely perfect diamond dies producing copper wire as fine as two one-thousandths of an inch, by a special process.
  
  Iron
  London, Greater London, England
  February 12, 1892
  
  
• 1895 - Worcester
  Worcester, a city and one of the capitals of Worcester co., Mass., on Blackstone River, in lat. 42° 16' 17" N., lon. 71° 48' 13" W., and on several ra...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  Chestnut Street Congregational Church
  
  Located on Chestnut Street, the Union Congregational Church, also Chestnut Street Congregational, was erected in 1895.
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•  1896 - Train Accident
  BODY IDENTIFIED.
  Remains of Man Killed at Southgate Crossing Friday Those of H. Lyons.
  The body of the man who was killed at the Southgate crossing ...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  Art Museum
  
  In September 1896, Stephen Salisbury III and a group of his friends founded the Art Museum Corporation to build an art institution "for the benefit of all." Salisbury then gave a tract of land, on what was once the Salisbury farm (now... Read MORE...
  
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  Crompton & Knowles Loom Works
  
  Worcester, Massachusetts was in its prime as a manufacturing mecca for inventors and manufacturers in the late 1800s. George Crompton and Lucius J. Knowles both settled in the city and started their own loom... Read MORE...
  
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  H.E. Smith & Co., Manufacturers of and Dealers in Boots, Shoes & Rubbers, Worcester, Mass., 1897 invoice
  
  
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  Globe Corset Company, Worcester, Mass.
  
  The Ladies' Home Journal
  July 1898
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  Park Congregational Church
  (First Children's Church Organized in America)
  
  Park Congregational Church was the first church in the United States to have started exclusively as a ministry to children. Originally located in the heart of Worcester’s... Read MORE...
  
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•  1900 - A Millionaire of Worchester, Massachusetts Is Missing.
  New York, May 16. - Chas. A Richardson, a millionaire manufacturer of Worcester, Massachusetts has been missing for five weeks. The police have search...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  The Common
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  Lincoln Park at Lake Quinsigamond, Worcester, Mass.
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  Central Fire Station
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  Front Street, Harrington Corner
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  Worcester Old Mill Institute Park
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  Free Public Library
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  Notre Dame des Canadiens
  Park Street
  
  Four French-speaking parishes in Worcester merged into a single Catholic church, and with the Notre Dame des Canadiens was founded in 1869, in the place where Bancroft Hotel stands today. The church was... Read MORE...
  
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  Old South Church, corner of Main and Wellington. The church was built around 1890. The structure was built to replace the "Old South Church" which was removed to make room for the present City Hall...
  
  The new and costly edifice, at the corner of... Read MORE...
  
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  "The Warren"
  
  It opened as the Commonwealth Hotel in 1892. Its original advertising read "Modern Improvement, Electric Lights, and Steam Heat." In 1905, the building was bought, rebuilt and renamed the Warren by Ransom F. Taylor. Later, the Warren ... Read MORE...
  
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  Street Scene
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  Worcester County Institution For Savings
  
  The Worcester County Institute for Savings was established in 1828, and remained in close association with its parent organization, the Worcester Bank, until 1903. The bank's presidents include a number of ... Read MORE...
  
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  J. J. Newberry Co. newly enlarged super store. 10-20 Front Street Worcester, Mass.
  
  J.J. Newberry's was an American five and dime store chain in the 20th century. It was founded in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, United States, in 1911 by John Josiah... Read MORE...
  
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  The Sheraton Hotel. Worcester, Mass.
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  White City from Bridge. Worcester, Mass.
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  Lake Quinsigamond
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•  1901 - TROLLEY DEAL IN CONNECTICUT: New Haven Road Purchases the Webster and Worcester System.
  NEW HAVEN, Jan. 12 - The New Haven Road has just purchased through the People's Tramway Company of Danielson, Conn., the Webster and Worcester Street...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1902 - A Massachusetts Man's Big Luck - Gate Tender on a Railroad to Get a Large Slice.
  The Times Special Service.
  WORCESTER, Mass., Saturday, June 7. - Family records expected daily from the parish priest at Lanoraie in Quebec are expec...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1904 - Fireworks Explode in Store - Panic-Stricken Women and Children Rescued from Cellar of Burning Building
  Special to The New York Times.
  
  WORCESTER, Mass., July 2. — Accidentally stepping on a bomb-jack, a large torpedo, Albert Childs, a clerk of the Nel...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  Franklin Square Theatre, Worchester, Mass., 1914
  
  The Hanover Theatre
  Constructed in 1904 as the Franklin Square Theater, the building on Southbridge Street in downtown Worcester, Massachusetts has been the mainstay of community life for more... Read MORE...
  
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•  1905 - Record Cold
  The city engineer's office at Worcester reports last month as the coldest February of which it has any record, the mean temperature being only 18.36 d...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  Elm Park
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  Green Hill Park
  
  Originally the Green estate, this tract of land was sold to the city in 1905 for almost $55,000 (1905 dollars). It is believed that the fish pond was once stocked with German carp.
  
  Andrew Green later became known as "Father of... Read MORE...
  
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  Holy Cross College
  
  The cornerstone was put in place with great solemnity on June 21, 1843 and on the second day of November, with six students aged 9 to 19, the first classes were held. The College held its first Commencement in 1849, of which... Read MORE...
  
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  Park Theatre, 1905
  
  Located on Front Street near the corner of Main Street opposite Worcester Common and City Hall. Gordon’s New Park Theatre was opened prior to 1907 by the Gordon Theatres chain. It was still operating in 1926, it had closed by... Read MORE...
  
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•  1906 - Origin of the U.S. Valentine
  Miss Esther A. Howland of Worcester, Mass., was the first person in this country to manufacture valentines. Before she began in 1840, all these missiv...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1906
  Worcester, a city and one of the capitals of Worcester co., Mass., near the Blackstone River, 44 miles W. by S. of Boston, on the Boston and Albany, t...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  J. W. Bishop Company General Contractors
  Offices
  345 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y.
  683 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, Mass.
  417 Butler Exchange, Providence, R. I.
  107-109 Foster Street, Worcester, Mass.
  
  MILLS AT WORCESTER, MASS.
  
  New Bedford ... ... Read MORE...
  
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  Howard Bros. Mfg. Co.
  Manufacturers of Card Clothing
  Nos. 44 and 46 Vine Street, Worcester, Mass.
  
  New Bedford ... directory : of the inhabitants, business firms, institutions, streets, societies (1908) Author: W.A. Greenough & Co Volume: 1908... Read MORE...
  
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  Aerial Navigation is Thrilling and Interesting
  N. E. Fair, September 5 to 8, 1910
  Four Days - Two Nights
  Captain Baldwin just starting out on one of his daily flights in Worcester, Mass.
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  American Antiquarian Society Library
  Highland Street
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  City Hall, 1910
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  Worcester City Hospital, 1910
  
  Worcester City Hospital was a public hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts from 1871 to 1991. It was established by an act of the Massachusetts state legislature and initially funded with a $200,000 donation from... Read MORE...
  
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  Court Hill and Main Street, 1910
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  High School, 1910
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  Hospital for the Insane, 1910
  
  Worcester State Hospital was an abandoned state hospital that has since been mostly demolished.
  
  The original hospital, known as the Worcester Lunatic Asylum, was built in 1833 which makes it the first state... Read MORE...
  
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  Pleasant Street from Main Street
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  Rostrevor Club, Lake Quinsigamond
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  Union Station
  
  The French-Renaissance styled Worcester Union Station was originally completed in 1911 for the Boston and Albany Railroad (B&A), but it was also used by the New York, New Haven and Hartford and the Boston and Maine railroads.... Read MORE...
  
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  Bancroft Hotel
  
  The Bancroft Hotel is a historic hotel building at 50 Franklin Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Built in 1912 and expanded in 1925, it is one of the city's finest examples of Beaux Arts architecture, and was for many years its... Read MORE...
  
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  Main Street, looking North, 1912
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  Worcester Mass. Main St. North about 1914
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  Y.W.C.A., 1914
  
  1885. The YWCA of Worcester is founded by a group of 14 women having as its objective “to promote the temporal, moral and religious welfare of young women who are dependent on their own exertions for support.” ywcam.org
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  Bancroft Tower
  
  Built in 1900, the castle-esq monument was named after Worcester native, former Secretary of the Navy, diplomat, and historian George Bancroft. The tower was built by Stephen Salisbury III, the last of the Worcester’s esteemed... Read MORE...
  
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  New Baptist Church
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  Bird's-Eye View, 1915
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  State Mutual Building and Main Street
  
  Built in 1897, this office building was the first skyscraper in Worcester, and it was originally home to the State Mutual Life Assurance Company, who relocated from their much smaller quarters just down the... Read MORE...
  
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•  GIANT ROCKET SOON READY FOR TEST
  Professor Robert Goddard's Rocket, Which is Expected to Travel 70 Miles in Air, is Ready
  
  WORCHESTER, Mass., - An actual test of Professor Robert Go...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  Court House and Society of Antiquity
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  Main Street, South of Post Office
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•  1923 - "Wooster Ain't Manchester"
  Diners in a Harrisburg restaurant last evening were treated to a real comedy. A gentleman, presumably from out-of-town, went to the telephone to put i...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  Post Office
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  Worcester Memorial Auditorium and Central Congregational Church
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  Soldiers' Monument, City Hall and Common
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•  1944 - HURRICANE HITS NEW YORK AND NEW ENGLAND COASTS. HIGH WINDS LASH JERSEY, LONG ISLAND.
  ...Worcester In Center.
  The following advisory was issued by the Boston weather bureau at 10 p.m.:
  
  "Latest reports from the vicinity of the hurric...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  Main Street, 1950s
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  Hills Balcony Dryer
  The Safe and Easy Way to hang out clothes in flats and apartments. Holds 110 feet of line. Fastens to side of block and swings into fire escape. Reel folds up quickly, and can be taken in to keep line clean. Ask the landlord to... Read MORE...
  
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•  1953 - 80 DEAD AND 700 INJURED IN WORCESTER TORNADO.
  THOUSANDS OF HOMES WRECKED; PROPERTY LOSS IN MILLIONS.
  
  "MINOR" TWISTER HITS FRANKLIN AND WRENTHAM SECTOR; EXETER, N. H. SLAMMED.
  
  Worcester, June...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1954 - Hurricane Carol - HURRICANE ROARS ACROSS LONG ISLAND. FIVE KILLED BY STORM IN NEW ENGLAND.
  ...A businessman was blown to his death by a 70-mile-an-hour gust in Worcester, Mass., from a 10-story downtown building...
  
  The Times Record Troy N...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1954 - The birth control pill was invented in Worcester in 1954
  Researchers at Clark University were influenced by the work of Margaret Sanger, who campaigned for the development of a contraceptive for poor women w...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1962 - October 27 - Worcester MA received a record 4.7 inches of snow.
  
  The Weather Channel
  
  
• 2001 - ACT, based in Worcester, created human embryo clone
  
  www.worldatlas.com/ webimage/ countrys/ namerica/ usstates/ matimeln.htm