- The first telephone book ever issued contained only
fifty names. The New Haven District Telephone Company
published it in New Haven in February 1878.
- The USS Nautilus - the world's first nuclear powered
submarine was built in Groton in 1954.
- Connecticut and Rhode Island never ratified the 18th
Amendment (Prohibition).
- In 1705, copper was discovered in Simsbury. Later, the
copper mine became the infamous New-Gate Prison of the
Revolutionary War. Doctor Samuel Higley of Simsbury started
the first copper coinage in America in 1737.
- The Scoville Memorial Library is the United States
oldest public library. The library collection began in 1771,
when Richard Smith, owner of a local blast furnace, used
community contributions to buy 200 books in London. Patrons
could borrow and return books on the third Monday of every
third month. Fees were collected for damages, the most
common being "greasing" by wax dripped from the candles by
which the patrons read.
- On April 9, 1810, a Salisbury town meeting voted to
authorize the "selectmen draw upon the town treasurer for
the sum of one hundred dollars" to purchase more books for
the Scoville Memorial Library collection, making the library
the first publicly supported free town library in the United
States.
- Mary Kies, of South Killingly was the first woman to
receive a U.S. patent. On May 15th, 1809 for a method of
weaving straw with silk.
- On January 28, 1878, 21 venturous citizens of New Haven
became the world's first subscribers to telephone exchange
service.
- America's first trade association was founded in
Naugatuck Valley.
- Cattle branding in the United States began in
Connecticut when farmers were required by law to mark all of
their pigs.
- In Hartford, you may not, under any circumstances, cross
the street walking on your hands!
- Connecticut is home to the oldest U.S. newspaper still
being published: The Hartford Courant, established in 1764.
- Connecticut has approx. 144 newspapers published in the
State (daily, Sunday, weekly and monthly).
- Connecticut is home to the first hamburger (1895),
Polaroid camera (1934), helicopter (1939), and color
television (1948).
- The first automobile law was passed by the state of CT
in 1901. The speed limit was set at 12 miles per hour.
- The first lollipop-making machine opened for business in
New Haven in 1908. George Smith named the treat after a
popular racehorse.
- Ella Grasso was elected in her own right to be a state
governor in 1974.
- In 1937, Connecticut became the first state to issue
permanent license plates for cars.
- The World Wrestling Federation or the WWF is
headquartered in Stamford.
- Bristol, CT is considered the "Mum City" of the USA
because of the many Chrysanthemums grown and sold to various
states and Canada
- In 1784, New Haven was incorporated as a city.
- Danbury, An important military depot for the American
Revolutionary armies was burned and looted in April 1777 by
the British under Major General William Tryon.
- The first blast furnace in Connecticut was built in
Lakeville in 1762.
- The Submarine Force Museum in Groton is home of the
historic ship Nautilus (SSN 571). It is the official
submarine museum of the United States Navy.
- Connecticut State insect is the Praying Mantis.
- Connecticut's most important crops are dairy, poultry,
forest and nursery, tobacco, vegetables and fruit.
- Connecticut's motto is Qui Transtulit Sustinet -- "He
Who Transplanted Still Sustains".
- In colonial New Haven cut pumpkins were used as guides
for haircuts to ensure a round uniform style. Because of
this fashion, these New Englanders were nicknamed
"pumpkin-heads."
- The name Middlebury derives from the central position
the Town's meetinghouse occupies, six miles from three older
neighbors, Waterbury, Southbury, and Woodbury.
- The first human inhabitants of present-day Burlington
were members of the Tunxis Tribe, who belonged to a
confederation of Algonquian Indians. Legend holds they used
the area as a hunting ground.
- The first English settlers of Connecticut arrived in
1636, settling the plantations of Windsor, Hartford and
Wethersfield.
- The Monroe Town seal is in the form of a circle with the
words "Town of Monroe Connecticut" written in the outer rim
of the seal. Inside this outer circle is a profile of a bust
of James Monroe, who was the fifth President of the United
States, serving from 1817-1825.
- Originally, Montville, along with Groton and Waterford,
was a part of New London. New London was settled in 1646
under the name of Pequot, so called after the Pequot
Indians, the name changing to New London in 1658.
- B.F. Clyde's Cider Mill is the only steam-powered Cider
Mill in the United States and is located in Mystic.
- 7-year-old James Thorsell designed the New Hartford
"Town Bicentennial Emblem".
- New Milford's worst disaster struck in 1902 when the
main business section centered on Bank Street was almost
completely leveled by the "Great Fire".
- Named in 1724 for the stony character of the hilly
countryside, North Stonington was incorporated in 1807.
- To register to vote in Connecticut you must:
- Be a U.S. citizen;
- Be a resident of a Connecticut Town;
- Be at least 18 years old on or before the next
election
- Not be convicted of a felony
- The manufacturing of the first safety fuse started in
Simsbury in 1836.
- In 1728, the first steel mill operating in America was
located in Simsbury.
- Wallingford has earned a worldwide reputation for the
production of silverware.
- The first expert in the treatment of Asiatic cholera was
Dr. Henry Bronson in 1832. He was a professor at Yale
Medical School.
- The first golf tournament in Connecticut for women only
was held in Waterbury on June 12, 1917.
- West Hartford is the birthplace of Noah Webster, the
author of the first dictionary published in 1807.
- Although West Haven is Connecticut's youngest city,
being incorporated in 1972, it is a community that dates
back over 360 years, making it one of the oldest settlements
in the country.
- PEZ® Candy is made in the city of Orange.
- Thomas Sanford made the first friction matches in Beacon
Falls in 1834.
- Some of the world's most famous cloth is woven in the
Stafford textile mills.
- The town of Washington was incorporated in 1779, being
named in honor of General George Washington.
- Hartford has remained the capital city of Connecticut
since 1875.
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