Plastic Pink Flamingos First Hatched in This Massachusetts City

Don Featherstone passed away at an elderly care facility in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, in June 2015. Featherstone might have passed through this life without being widely noticed if it wasn't for the invention that made him famous.

The plastic pink flamingo.

Yes, Donald "Don" Featherstone, born January 25, 1936, in Worcester, Massachusetts, created the plastic pink flamingo.

Featherstone, an artist, was known for creating the plastic pink flamingo while working for the Leominster-based Union Products Company in 1957.

Though born in Worcester, Featherstone grew up in Berlin, Massachusetts. He and his wife Nancy lived in Fitchburg, where they kept 57 plastic pink flamingos on their back lawn.

Don and Nancy Featherstone had a habit of dressing alike for more than 35 years.

Featherstone was a graduate of Worcester Art Museum's art school in 1957. Union Products, a company specializing in blow mold sculptures, hired Featherstone to design three-dimensional animals.

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Featherstone eventually created over 750 different items. One of his first creations was the plastic pink flamingo which went on sale in 1968. It was a creation that won Featherstone the Nobel Arts Prize in 1996.

Featherstone served as president of Union Products from 1996 until his retirement in 2000.

The pink flamingo has become a popular lawn ornament. Charities "flock" unsuspecting potential donors by placing pink flamingos on their lawns.

Fans occasionally toss plastic pink flamingos on the ice after the NHL's Las Vegas Golden Knights win games at the T-Mobile Arena.

Don Featherstone died on June 22, 2015, from Lewy body dementia. He was 79.