Today in 1862, gunmaker Samuel Colt died in Hartford. Though he was only 47 years old, Colt died one of the richest men in the United States and left a legacy of manufacturing and innovation that changed the face of Hartford, Connecticut to the Western American frontier and beyond. Internationally recognized for his formative…
January 9: Connecticut Joins the United States
Today in 1788, the delegates at the Connecticut state convention ratified the United States Constitution by a vote of 128 to 40, making Connecticut the fifth state to join the Union. While certain states, most notably New York and Virginia, remained skeptical of the new Constitution and required lots of convincing in order to…
January 8: Washington Gives the First State of the Union Address, Dressed in Connecticut’s Finest
As the first President of the newly-formed United States of America, George Washington was acutely aware that his his every decision would be scrutinized, and his every move would set a precedent for how the nation’s future chief executives should act. As a firm believer in the republican principles laid out in the new…
January 7: Connecticut’s One-Day-Only Governor
It would be an understatement to say that Hiram Bingham III, Connecticut’s famous archaeologist, explorer, professor, pilot, politician, and best-selling author who likely was the inspiration for the fictional adventurer Indiana Jones, accomplished much in his lifetime. It remains an irony, however, that one of Bingham’s most well-known accomplishments was also one of the…
January 6: A Wartime Departure From an Ancient Tradition
Long known as “the Land of Steady Habits,” Connecticut is home to scores of political and cultural traditions that span generations, including many that stretch back into the colonial era. One such tradition has been the Inaugural Ball, a ceremony filled with plenty of pomp and circumstance thrown for newly elected governors by the…
January 5: A Can-Do Connectican Invents the Can Opener
In the early 1800s, responding to Napoleon’s request to find a more efficient way to feed his armies in the field, French inventor Nicholas Appert discovered that heating food stored in glass jars would sterilize it, keeping it safe to eat for long periods of time. Shortly thereafter, Englishman Peter Durand invented a similar…
January 4: Connecticut’s First Woman Pilot’s Final Flight
In the heady days of early American aviation, when tales of plucky pilots and ingenious innovators were a dime a dozen, few pilots stood out from the crowd as much as Mary Goodrich Jenson, the first woman to earn a pilot’s license in the state of Connecticut. Born in Hartford in 1907, young Mary…
January 3: Hunger Pangs – Glastonbury Grocery Stores Run Out of Food
Today in 1943, concerned and sometimes panicky homemakers in Glastonbury flocked to area farms seeking potatoes, eggs, poultry and vegetables to feed their families. The food rush came following weeks of increasing food shortages that had culminated in the sudden closure of several local grocery stores the day before, after they simply ran out…
January 2: Interstate 95, “The Connecticut Turnpike,” Opens — & the Headaches Begin
January 2nd is a date bound to provoke strong feelings among our state’s road warriors. Today in 1958, the Connecticut Turnpike — better known now as Interstate 95 — first opened to the public. The national route of the interstate largely paralleled the path of U.S. Route 1, a major north-to-south highway stretching from…
January 1: New Year’s Day Gets a Brand New Date
Today in 1752, Connecticans woke up to the realization that January first was, and henceforward always would be, New Year’s Day. The year before, and for 597 years before that, both in Old and New England, New Year’s Day had fallen on March 25th. Facing a year that began in mid-winter wasn’t the only…
December 31: Cutting-Edge Teamwork Turns A Starr Into A Star
As a major in the Continental Army, Nathan Starr forged and repaired weapons as part of his service during the Revolutionary War. After the war was over, Starr returned to his hometown of Middletown, Connecticut, and made a living manufacturing blades of a different sort: mostly agricultural tools like scythes for local farmers. In…
December 30: Mutiny at “Connecticut’s Valley Forge”
When Americans think of the hardships faced by starving, shivering Continental Army troops during the harsh winters of the Revolutionary War, they usually remember the infamous winter encampment at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania in 1777–1778. What few realize, however, is that the eastern division of the Continental Army under the command of General Israel Putnam…