Like the 80s without hairspray, the world just wouldn’t be the same place without the contributions of Massachusetts. We’ve produced some amazing people, incredible inventions, and game-changing scientific advancements. From pioneering social progress to basically being the reason the NBA exists, this state has left its footprint on the planet in a big way.
- You owe that phone in your pocket to Massachusetts.
Flickr/Chris Devers Alexander Graham Bell first tested the earliest version of a telephone on March 10, 1876. He called his assistant….in the next room. Later that year, Bell upped the impressiveness by telephoning between Boston and Cambridge.
- We invented basketball in Springfield.
Wikimedia Commons/Clendening History of Medicine Library Gym teacher Dr. James Naismith created the game of basketball in 1891 at Springfield College. The story goes that he was seeking to keep his class active on a rainy day and came up with the idea of tossing soccer balls into peach baskets nailed to the walls. Dribbling was not part of the original game, though one could “bounce pass” to teammates.
- Your favorite beach sport has its roots here, too.
Wikimedia Commons/ Volleyball was invented in 1895 by William Morgan in Holyoke.
- American radio began right here.
Wikimedia Commons/Cardiff Council Flat Holm Project I bet lots of you remember taking a field trip to Marconi beach at the Cape Cod National Seashore. On 18 January 1903, Guglielmo Marconi’s radio station in South Wellfleet sent a message of greetings from Theodore Roosevelt to King Edward VII of the United Kingdom. It was the first transatlantic radio transmission originating in the United States. Marconi shared the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics.
- We invented rocket science.
Wikimedia Commons/Esther C. Goddard Well, sort of. The first successful liquid fuel rocket was launched in Auburn by Dr. Robert Goddard in 1926.
- No chocolate chip cookies without Massachusetts!
Wikimedia Commons/Kimberly Vardeman The chocolate chip cookie was invented by Ruth Graves Wakefield. She owned the Toll House Inn, in Whitman. Her 1938 cookbook, Toll House Tried and True Recipes, was the first to include a recipe for the American favorite.
- We gave the world Amy Poehler.
Wikimedia Commons/David Shankbone Born in Newton in 1971!
- And Conan O’Brien.
Wikimedia Commons/Gage Skidmore Brookline-born as of 1963.
- Not to mention Leonard Nimoy.
Wikimedia Commons/NBC Television Born 1931 (on Earth) in Boston.
- And throw in Ben Franklin, John Adams, Edgar Allen Poe, and Jack Kerouac for good measure.
Wikimedia Commons/Joseph-Siffrein Duplessis
- We brought snacking to new heights. And heats.
Flickr/Ewen Roberts Massachusetts residents Percy Spencer patented the first microwave in 1945 after he noticed that standing near a radar set had melted a chocolate bar in his pocket.
- You have Massachusetts to thank (or blame) for spreadsheets.
Flickr/Jon Newman MIT graduates Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston developed VisiCalc, the first computerized spreadsheet system. You’re…welcome?
- We make the world a more brilliant place.
Wikimedia Commons/John Phelan Harvard. MIT. Northeastern University. Boston College. Boston University. Brandeis University. You can’t throw a stone without hitting a world-class center of learning. Massachusetts is also home to three of the top five U.S. News and World Report’s best liberal arts colleges: Williams (#1), Amherst (#2), and Wellesley (#4).
- And, oh yeah, we’re basically the birthplace of the nation.
Wikimedia Commons/John Trumbull Massachusetts was a hot-spot of anti-British sentiment before the American Revolution and the site of the first battles against the British at Lexington and Concord. Boston became known as “The Cradle of Liberty” due to its central role in the war for independence.
And there you have it: fourteen ways that Massachusetts has shaped history and the modern world. Do you know of any other ways that Massachusetts has had global influence? Share with your friends and let us know in the comments!
Flickr/Chris Devers
Alexander Graham Bell first tested the earliest version of a telephone on March 10, 1876. He called his assistant….in the next room. Later that year, Bell upped the impressiveness by telephoning between Boston and Cambridge.
Wikimedia Commons/Clendening History of Medicine Library
Gym teacher Dr. James Naismith created the game of basketball in 1891 at Springfield College. The story goes that he was seeking to keep his class active on a rainy day and came up with the idea of tossing soccer balls into peach baskets nailed to the walls. Dribbling was not part of the original game, though one could “bounce pass” to teammates.
Wikimedia Commons/
Volleyball was invented in 1895 by William Morgan in Holyoke.
Wikimedia Commons/Cardiff Council Flat Holm Project
I bet lots of you remember taking a field trip to Marconi beach at the Cape Cod National Seashore. On 18 January 1903, Guglielmo Marconi’s radio station in South Wellfleet sent a message of greetings from Theodore Roosevelt to King Edward VII of the United Kingdom. It was the first transatlantic radio transmission originating in the United States. Marconi shared the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Wikimedia Commons/Esther C. Goddard
Well, sort of. The first successful liquid fuel rocket was launched in Auburn by Dr. Robert Goddard in 1926.
Wikimedia Commons/Kimberly Vardeman
The chocolate chip cookie was invented by Ruth Graves Wakefield. She owned the Toll House Inn, in Whitman. Her 1938 cookbook, Toll House Tried and True Recipes, was the first to include a recipe for the American favorite.
Wikimedia Commons/David Shankbone
Born in Newton in 1971!
Wikimedia Commons/Gage Skidmore
Brookline-born as of 1963.
Wikimedia Commons/NBC Television
Born 1931 (on Earth) in Boston.
Wikimedia Commons/Joseph-Siffrein Duplessis
Flickr/Ewen Roberts
Massachusetts residents Percy Spencer patented the first microwave in 1945 after he noticed that standing near a radar set had melted a chocolate bar in his pocket.
Flickr/Jon Newman
MIT graduates Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston developed VisiCalc, the first computerized spreadsheet system. You’re…welcome?
Wikimedia Commons/John Phelan
Harvard. MIT. Northeastern University. Boston College. Boston University. Brandeis University. You can’t throw a stone without hitting a world-class center of learning. Massachusetts is also home to three of the top five U.S. News and World Report’s best liberal arts colleges: Williams (#1), Amherst (#2), and Wellesley (#4).
Wikimedia Commons/John Trumbull
Massachusetts was a hot-spot of anti-British sentiment before the American Revolution and the site of the first battles against the British at Lexington and Concord. Boston became known as “The Cradle of Liberty” due to its central role in the war for independence.
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