List of Famous people born in Massachusetts, United States of America

Alfred W. Crosby Jr. was professor of History, Geography, and American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, Harvard University and University of Helsinki. He was the author of books including The Columbian Exchange (1972) and Ecological Imperialism (1986). In these works, he provided biological and geographical explanations for the question why Europeans were able to succeed with relative ease in what he referred to as the "Neo-Europes" of Australasia, North America, and southern South America.

Lucretia Mott was an American Quaker, abolitionist, women's rights activist, and social reformer. She had formed the idea of reforming the position of women in society when she was amongst the women excluded from the World Anti-Slavery Convention held in London in 1840. In 1848 she was invited by Jane Hunt to a meeting that led to the first public gathering about women's rights, the Seneca Falls Convention, during which Mott co-wrote the Declaration of Sentiments.

Charles W. Sweeney was an officer in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II and the pilot who flew Bockscar carrying the Fat Man atomic bomb to the Japanese city of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. Separating from active duty at the end of World War II, he later became an officer in the Massachusetts Air National Guard as the Army Air Forces transitioned to an independent United States Air Force, eventually rising to the rank of major general.

Myles Richard Bass, known professionally as Myles Kennedy, is an American musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Alter Bridge, and as the lead vocalist in guitarist Slash's backing band, known as Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators. A former guitar instructor from Spokane, Washington, he has worked as a session musician and songwriter, making both studio and live appearances with several artists, and has been involved with several projects throughout his career.

Sarah Hammond Palfrey Danzig was an American tennis player whose career spanned two decades from the late 1920s until the late 1940s. She won two singles, nine women's doubles, and four mixed doubles titles at the U. S. National Championships.

Douglass Cecil North was an American economist known for his work in economic history. He was the co-recipient of the 1993 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. In the words of the Nobel Committee, North and Fogel "renewed research in economic history by applying economic theory and quantitative methods in order to explain economic and institutional change."

Robert Williams Wood was an American physicist and inventor who made pivotal contributions to the field of optics. He pioneered infrared and ultraviolet photography. Wood's patents and theoretical work inform modern understanding of the physics of ultraviolet light, and made possible myriad uses of UV fluorescence which became popular after World War I. He published many articles on spectroscopy, phosphorescence, diffraction, and ultraviolet light.

Robert Burns Woodward FRS(For) HFRSE was an American organic chemist. He is considered by many to be the most preeminent synthetic organic chemist of the twentieth century, having made many key contributions to the subject, especially in the synthesis of complex natural products and the determination of their molecular structure. He also worked closely with Roald Hoffmann on theoretical studies of chemical reactions. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1965.

Harry Nelson Pillsbury was a leading American chess player. At the age of 22, he won one of the strongest tournaments of the time, but his illness and early death prevented him from challenging for the World Chess Championship.

Michael Joseph Pazik is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. He pitched parts of three seasons in the majors, from 1975 until 1977, for the Minnesota Twins.