December 12: Battered “Bat” Battalino Battles Back Bigtime

  Today in 1930, “Bat” Battalino, cheered on by Governor John Trumbull and 1,500 Connecticut fans, battled back from a battering first round knock-down to defeat Cuban boxing sensation, Kid Chocolate, in a 15-round decision at Madison Square Garden. Christopher Battalino was born in Hartford in 1909, the son of Italian immigrants. His boxing ring…

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: A Winter 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…

December 28: When Eastern Pennsylvania Belonged to Connecticut

  Connecticut stands today as one of the smallest states in the Union in terms of land area. But during the 17th and 18th centuries, ambitious Connecticans dreamed of expanding the colony’s control over vast swaths of territory located far to the west. Connecticut’s Royal Charter of 1662, issued by King Charles II, had originally…

December 26: The Governor Who Refused to Leave Office

  One of Connecticut’s most accomplished citizens — and governors — also had one of the state’s most unusual nicknames. Morgan G. Bulkeley — Civil War veteran, financier, insurance executive, first president of baseball’s National League, and strong-arm politician — earned himself the nickname “the Crowbar Governor,” while serving in that office in 1891.” Bulkeley…

December 24: Financier Charles Dow Joins the New York Stock Exchange

  Looking at the many hardships he faced during his Connecticut childhood, no one would have ever guessed that young Charles Dow would  become one of the biggest names in American financial history. Dow was born in 1851 in Sterling to a family of farmers. Because his father and two brothers all died when he…

December 23: Bridgeport Benefactor Beardsley Brutally Beaten in Break-in

    In 1812, James Walker Beardsley was born to a prominent cattle-farming family in Monroe, Connecticut, and remained a farmer for his entire life, splitting his time between his family’s Monroe farm and a second residence in the then-bustling city of Bridgeport. In addition to farming, Beardsley also dabbled in speculation and trading cattle…

December 21: 30 Billion Gallons of Water Later, a Community Was Gone Forever

  In 1929, the Connecticut General Assembly approved the creation of the Metropolitan District Commission, a non-profit corporation designed to help design and implement long-term plans for managing the water supply of the greater Hartford region. The very next year, the MDC assumed operations of several reservoirs located in the hills in the western part…

December 20: The Youngest Person Ever Executed in America.

  Today in 1786, in the town of New London, 12-year-old Hannah Occuish was hanged after being found guilty of murdering a six-year-old girl. Hannah’s execution marked the tragic end to a short life full of trials and tribulations. Born in 1774 to a Pequot mother and father of unknown ethnicity, Hannah was orphaned at…