Charles Thurber invented the typewritier in Worcester in 1840.
In 1847, the first commercial valentine was mass produced in Worcester by Esther Howland.
Worcester blacksmith Albert Tolman is said to have invented the rickshaw in 1848 for a missionary traveling to South America.
The first national Women's Rights Convention convened in Worcester in 1850.
Dr. Robert H. Goddard of Worcester Polytechnic Institute's class of 1908 and later Clark University patented the first liquid fuel rocket in 1914.
Radio station WCTS (C.T. Sherer Co.) had dancing firemen who did their first tap dance on radio around 1925.
Harvey Ball designed the world famous Smiley face in 1963.