Cambridge, Massachusetts is known for many things, but above all it is know as center of innovation and a city of firsts.

Newtowne, as Cambridge was known until 1638, was originally intended as the capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and was the first city laid out on a grib before it was built (this is hard to believe today, but trust us, we have maps). In 1636 Newtowne became home to the first college in America and in 1775 George Washington created the first American Army on the Cambridge Common. With some of America’s finest universities, world-class museums, regattas, and restaurants the city has seen artists, architects, and musicians define and re-define the avant-garde within its bounds. Through its four centuries of history Cambridge has been able to remain both cutting-edge and rooted in its storied past.

While many of the individual personalities and stories of Cambridge are well-known, there is a larger picture to be drawn: Cambridge as a global leader in innovation. Many of the marks of the modern world were created in Cambridge, and not just the technological. Tools to win World Wars, devices that mechanized modern life, social practices of today’s society, and ideas that are being developed today that will change the future, are all rooted in Cambridge.

This project focuses on the innovations from Cambridge that have had the greatest effect on the lives of Americans and the world. Together they are an amazing collection. Hopefully they will inspire present and future Cantabrigians to continue the city’s astonishing legacy as home to the world’s most forward-thinking innovators.

Please take a look at our map of Cambidge Innovation or let us know about some great invention that slipped below our Radar (or check out the page about Radar in Cambridge).