Today in 1900, one of the first electrically powered trolley lines in the United States began service on the three-mile run between Branford and East Haven. It was a relatively short trip that launched major and permanent changes in Connecticut’s urban settlement patterns and lifestyles. The inaugural run of the Branford Electric Railway was…
April 12: For Writers, It Was the First Laptop
Today in 1892, George Canfield Blickensderfer of Stamford patented the first successful portable typewriter, one of the most transformative examples of Yankee ingenuity ever to come from the Constitution State. An antique Blickensderfer portable typewriter Model 5, manufactured sometime in the 1890s. Blickensderfer’s machine used a radical, minimalist design that contained up to 90…
February 29: Whaler Legend Gordie Howe Leaps Into NHL History One Last Time
Today in 1980, at the tender age of 51, hockey legend and Hartford Whaler Gordie Howe became the first NHL player – and still only one of two players – to score an astonishing 800 goals. He did so in a 3-0 Whalers’ victory over the St. Louis Blues. Known as “Mr. Hockey” and…
November 18: A Celebrity Murder Trial with Two Surprise Endings
Today in 1842, hours after he had married his beautiful mistress and moments before he was to be hanged for murder, gunmaker Samuel Colt’s brother John took his own life with a six-inch-long Bowie knife in a New York City prison cell. In doing so, he cheated the “sweating, swearing mob” of 400 invited…
June 2: A Symphony for Connecticut by a Superstar Composer
Today in 1935, a packed house of 1,500 enthusiastic music lovers in Norfolk heard the world premiere of internationally renowned conductor and composer Henry Hadley’s latest work, “The Connecticut Symphony,” a piece composed to celebrate that year’s 300th anniversary of the Constitution state’s founding. Hadley, one of his era’s most popular and widely played…
May 31: Rev. Thomas Hooker Declares “the People” the Foundation of Government
To many students of Connecticut history and colonial America, Thomas Hooker is considered the “founding father” of Connecticut. A Puritan minister who journeyed from England to Holland to Massachusetts in search of a place where he could preach his message of reformed Christianity free from persecution, Hooker served with distinction as the first established…
May 30: 12,000 Bridgeport Workers Mobilize to Support Striking Trolleymen
Today in 1922, Bridgeport’s Central Labor Union issued a formal call to all its 12,000 members to support the striking trolleymen who worked for the Connecticut Railway and Lighting Company, triggering months of labor unrest in one of Connecticut’s largest cities. The Connecticut Railway and Lighting Company was the primary operator of electric trains,…
May 29: Connecticut’s Daring Leader in Two Wars, and Peacetime Hero.
Today in Connecticut history, Revolutionary War general and French & Indian War veteran Israel Putnam passed away on his farmstead in Brooklyn, Connecticut. Best known for his participation in the Revolutionary War’s crucial Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775, Putnam’s reputation for bravery and daring was earned long before hostilities broke out between the…
March 23: The Mad Dog Murders Begin
Hartford’s Joseph Taborsky had already acquired a long rap sheet for stealing, robbery, and other petty offenses by his early 20s. On March 23, 1950, he decided to “celebrate” his 25th birthday with a crime-ridden night on the town, with his younger brother Albert. Telling Albert they were going to “get some money,” the…
March 4: 2 Down (11 Letters) – State Where America’s Oldest Crossword Tournament Began
Will Shortz, crossword puzzle editor of The New York Times, founded and still runs the tournament, now in its fifth decade. Today in 1978, the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, the first competition of its kind ever held in the United States, kicked off a weekend of fierce competition at the Marriott Hotel in Stamford,…
February 13: A Greenwich Girl with Great Hair Ices Olympic Gold
Today in 1976, a 19-year-old ice skater born in Greenwich captivated audiences worldwide with her masterful, gold-medal-winning performance at the Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria. Her near perfect routine would catapult her to international stardom and, along with a unique hair style that created a national craze, also set Dorothy Hamill on a path…
February 12: England’s Most Famous Detective Was Born in Hartford
A scion of one of Connecticut’s oldest and most prominent families, world-famous actor and playwright William Hooker Gillette, was born in Hartford in 1853. Drawn early to the theater arts, he left the city at the age of 20 to seek his fortune as an actor and stage producer. He met with moderate success…