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In terms of population, Worcester is the third-largest city in New England, behind Boston and Providence, Rhode Island. "Worcester" is correctly pronounced with two syllables, not three: \wUst@r\ ( SAMPA) . The first syllable of "Worcester" is stressed and usually rhymes with the first syllable of "pussycat"; however, some residents pronounce "Worcester" to rhyme with "mister." (The speakers in that group have the non-rhoticEnglish pronunciation is divided into two main accent groups, the rhotic and the non-rhotic . Rhotic speakers pronounce written r in all positions (except in certain French borrowings where it is never pronounced, like dossier , while non-rhotic speakers accentAn accent is the perceived peculiarities of pronunciation and intonation of a speaker or group of speakers. For native speakers, accent is one of the components of a spoken variety, as a dialect. See also Distinguishing accents in English. A foreign accen common in New England, and so would say \"w1st6\ ("WIH-stuh").)
When the government of Worcester County was established on April 2April 2 is the 92nd day of the year (93rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 273 days remaining. Events 1513 Juan Ponce de Leon sets foot on Florida becoming the first known European to do so. 1755 Commodore William James captures pirate fortr, 1731Events 10 Downing Street becomes the official residence of the United Kingdom's Prime Minister when Robert Walpole moves in. Births May 8 Beilby Porteus, Bishop of London, abolitionist (died 1809) June 21 Martha Washington October 10 Henry Cavendish, Engl, Worcester was chosen as its shire town (later known as a county seatA county seat is a town which is the capital of a county. It is often, but not always, an incorporated municipality. County-wide politics and government are conducted here. The county courthouse and county administration are usually located in the county). From that date until the dissolution of the county government on July 1, 19981998 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar), and was designated the International Year of the Ocean''. Events January January 1998 A massive ice storm, caused by El Nino, strikes New England, southern Ontario and Quebec, resulting, it was the only county seat. Because of the size of the county, there were fifteen attempts over 140 years to split the county into two counties, but without success. Initially, LancasterLancaster is a town located in Worcester County, Massachusetts. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 7,380. For geographic and demographic information on the village of South Lancaster, please see the article South Lancaster, Massachu was proposed as the shire seat; later, Petersham was proposed once and Fitchburg was proposed repeatedly, most recently in 1903. Perhaps as a concession, on August 1884, the Worcester County Registry of Deeds was split into two, with the Worcester Northern registry placed in Fitchburg.