September 16: A Hero Dies at the Battle of Harlem Heights

  Today in 1776, one of Connecticut’s most valiant heroes of the Revolutionary War, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Knowlton, died while commanding his men at the Battle of Harlem Heights in New York City. Born in Massachusetts but raised in Ashford, Connecticut since early childhood, Knowlton was a seasoned veteran who had served under fellow Connectican…

August 28: Future Founding Father Becomes a Husband in Fairfield

  Today in 1775, several members of prominent families from Connecticut and Massachusetts gathered at the Burr homestead in Fairfield, Connecticut to witness the marriage of one of America’s most famous patriots, John Hancock, to his fiancée Dorothy Quincy. 1775 had already been quite a memorable year for the couple. In April, John Hancock had…

August 13: A Trusted Patriot Defects to the Redcoats

  During the eight long years of the Revolutionary War, both British and American commanders employed creative and dangerous tactics in the attempt to gather military intelligence that could give their armies a battlefield advantage. One common but highly risky method of obtaining such intelligence was to have a soldier pretend to “defect” to the…

August 3: Delegates To a Congress of Future Revolutionaries.

  Today, Americans are so familiar with the imagery and  legends surrounding the Declaration of Independence that they often forget just how radical that event was. The very notion that representatives from all 13 American colonies would meet in secret in an extralegal “Continental Congress” to discuss coordinated resistance to British rule was an incredibly…

July 21: Testing the World’s First Attack Submarine — in 1776

  While Connecticut has been home to an outsized share of American innovators and creative geniuses, few of them have had as long-lasting an impact as David Bushnell, inventor of the Turtle — the world’s first combat submarine. Born in Saybrook in 1740, Bushnell decided at age 30 to sell his share of the family…

July 7: The Revolutionary War Burning and Looting of Fairfield

  Throughout the Revolutionary War, Connecticut citizens lived in fear of devastating British raids on shoreline communities. From the British perspective, Connecticut was a nest of rebel activity, both overt and covert. Not only was it home to a government that had early and ardently supported the Patriot cause, its shoreline towns openly gave shelter…

June 16: The Liberty Bell’s Whirlwind Tour of Connecticut

  Today in 1903, just after 6:00 p.m., one of the most iconic symbols of American freedom — the Liberty Bell — arrived in Connecticut. Over the next 24 hours, it would visit five Connecticut cities and towns, giving tens of thousands of Connecticans a chance to see and be seen in its presence, before…

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…

May 22: The Plan That Won The American Revolution

  Today in 1781 marked the beginning of the end of the Revolutionary War. General George Washington of the Continental Army and Comte de Rochambeau of the French Army met at the elegant home of a Wethersfield merchant to plan the military campaign that would produce the decisive and ultimately war-winning victory at Yorktown, Virginia…