Space Exploration

Robert H. Goddard of Worcester, Massachusetts and a graduate of both WPI and Clark University, built the world's first liquid-fueled rocket.

Goddard's rocket launching site was in Auburn.

Goddard's work anticipated many of the developments that ushered in the space age.

Independence

The Battles of Lexington and Concord marked the first military engagements of the Revolutionary War.

Pop Culture

Harvey Ball, born and raised in Worcester, invented the Smiley Face in 1963.

A graduate of the Worcester Art Museum School, Ball designed the Smiley Face to boost company morale during the merger of State Mutual Life Assurance Company (now known as Hanover Insurance) and Guarantee Mutual Company.

Politics

Massachusetts is home to many famous politicians who influenced the trajectory of America.

One such politician is John Adams. Adams was an early advocate for independence and served as the second President of the United States.

Sports

Basketball was invented at Springfield College in Massachusetts by physical education teacher Dr. James Naismith.

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is located in Springfield.

Massachusetts also has some of the best sports teams in the world: the Red Sox, the New England Patriots, the Celtics, and the Bruins.

Medicine

Research at Clark University done by Dr. Gregory Goodwin Pincus led to the development of the birth control pill.

Philosophy

Concord was the heart of the transcendentalism movement in the United States.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, a leader in the transcendentalism movement, was a also a pillar of the school of American Romanticism.

Education

Massachusetts has had many innovative education reforms over the years.

Horace Mann of Franklin, Massachusetts was an advocate of public school reform.

Mann's main principles were: (1) the public should no longer remain ignorant; (2) that such education should be paid for, controlled, and sustained by an interested public; (3) that this education will be best provided in schools that embrace children from a variety of backgrounds; (4) that this education must be non-sectarian; (5) that this education must be taught by the spirit, methods, and discipline of a free society; and (6) that education should be provided by well-trained, professional teachers.

Music

One of the earliest influential composers was Lowell Mason of Boston.

Mason transformed American church music from a practice of having professional choirs and accompaniment to congregational singing accompanied by organ music.

Art

The town of Stockbridge, Massachusetts greatly influenced Norman Rockwell's art.

Rockwell spent the last twenty-five years of his life in Stockbridge and many of the residents and locales of the small town were woven into his paintings depicting rural American life.