1940 Southbridge, Worcester, Massachusetts
Name: Donald Lachapelle
Age: 1
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1939
Gender: Male
Race: White
Marital Status: Single
Relation to Head of House: Son
Home in 1940: Southbridge, Worcester, Massachusetts
Map of Home in 1940: View Map
Street: Off Morris Street
House Number: 46
Sheet Number: 61A
Attended School or College: No
Household Members:
Name Age
Wilfred Lachapelle 32
Mary Lachapelle 28
Wilfred Lachapelle 8
Edith Lachapelle 7
Nelson Lachapelle 3
Donald Lachapelle 1
1940 - April - 1st electron microscope demonstrated (RCA), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
The microwave oven was invented accidentally in 1945 by Percy Spencer, a Raytheon engineer. While testing a magnetron, he noticed microwaves melted a candy bar in his pocket. Experimenting further, he discovered microwaves could cook food quickly. Raytheon patented the process, and by 1947, they built the first commercial microwave oven, called the 'Radarange.' Initially used in commercial settings, microwaves becomes affordable for home use by the 1960s and 1970s, revolutionizing cooking.
1959 Marriage / PartnerDonald William LACHAPELLE and Jeanne M CARPENTIER 7 November 1959, Thompson, Connecticut, USA (North Grosvenordale) (Quinebaug) (Fabyan) (Mechanicsville)
He was 21 years old.
1962 - The Cuban Missile Crisis was a tense 13-day standoff in October 1962 between the United States and the Soviet Union over the installation of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles from the U.S. coast. The crisis is considered the closest the Cold War came to escalating into a full-scale nuclear war. It began when American spy planes discovered the missiles, leading to a U.S. naval blockade of Cuba and intense negotiations. The crisis ended when Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles in exchange for the U.S. promising not to invade Cuba and secretly agreeing to remove American missiles from Turkey.
1963 - I Have a Dream Speech - Martin Luther King's Address at March on Washington August 28, 1963.
June 17, 1972 – August 9, 1974 - Watergate Scandal began with the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., in 1972. Members of President Richard Nixon's administration attempted to cover up their involvement. The scandal led to the discovery of multiple abuses of power by the Nixon administration, the resignation of President Nixon in 1974, and the indictment of several administration officials.
1973 - January 22 - Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 and Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179: The U.S. Supreme Court declares that the Constitution protects women’s right to terminate an early pregnancy, thus making abortion legal in the U.S.
1973 - March 29 - The last United States soldier leaves Vietnam
The cell phone was invented by Martin Cooper of Motorola. On April 3, 1973, he made the first handheld mobile phone call with the Motorola DynaTAC. This device weighed 2.5 pounds and was 10 inches long, offering 30 minutes of talk time and requiring 10 hours to charge. The first commercial cell phone was released in 1983, revolutionizing communication and leading to the modern smartphones we use today.
1981 - June 5 - First reported case of AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome)
1986 - January 28 - Space Shuttle Challenger accident - The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred on January 28, 1986, when the shuttle broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members.
1989 - The World Wide Web is invented at CERN (Tim Berners-Lee, UK)
2001 - September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Coordinated terrorist attacks by the extremist group al-Qaeda on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, leading to significant changes in U.S. domestic and foreign policy, including the War on Terror.
Obituary
SOUTHBRIDGE/ WOODSTOCK, CT - Donald W. Lachapelle, 77, died Saturday, December 26, 2015 in UMASS Memorial Medical Center after being stricken ill.
Donald leaves behind his wife of fifty-six years, Jeanne (Carpentier) Lachapelle; a son James Lachapelle of Woodstock; a daughter Lori Lachapelle and her companion Gary Dumas of Putnam; two grandchildren: Ashley Lachapelle-Messier and her husband Jeremie of Woodstock and Richard Roy and his companion Darcy Aguilar of Florida; and one brother Wilfred Lachapelle, Jr. of Sturbridge. Donald also leaves his furry friends, Peanut and Benjamin. He was predeceased by one brother Nelson Lachapelle and one sister Edye Nuyttens. He was also predeceased by his beloved Bassett Hound, Donnie.
Donald was born on November 1, 1938 in Southbridge, the son of Wilfred and Mary (Digregorio) Lachapelle and lived in the Southbridge/ Woodstock areas for all his life.
Donald worked for American Optical in Southbridge for well over twenty years where he
Death — 201526 December 2015
Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
He died at the age of 77.
Birth — 1938
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