Little known Connecticut state facts
“History’s first submarine attack took place in New York Harbor in 1776! The Connecticut inventor David Bushnell called his submarine the Turtle because it resembled two large tortoise shells of equal size joined together. The watertight hull was made of 6-inch-thick oak timbers coated with tar. On September 6, 1776, the Turtle targeted the HMS Eagle, flagship of the British fleet. The submarine was supposed to secure a cask of gunpowder to the hull of the Eagle and sneak away before it exploded. Unfortunately, the Turtle got entangled with the Eagle’s rudder bar, lost ballast and surfaced before the gunpowder could be planted.”
Within its tiny borders, Connecticut has given a home to many important inventions in our lives and has cemented its place in history. General George Washington referred to Connecticut as “The Provision State” due to the supplies contributed to his army by then Governor Jonathan Trumbull. This simple patriotic act found its place in history as being the only Colonial State to support our independence from Great Britain.
Through its first 172 years, Connecticut had two capitals, one in Hartford and the other in New Haven. It was not until 1875 that Hartford became the only official capital of Connecticut. Many famous people claim Connecticut as their home state such as George Walker Bush and Charles Goodyear. In 1741 the famous traitor of the American Revolution, Benedict Arnold was born in Norwich. The father of the American Dictionary, Noah Webster was born in West Hartford in 1758.
Below you will find more interesting facts about Connecticut that you may not already know.
* Famous For: Inventors, Inventions, Watch making, Typewriters, Insurance, Submarines
1656 – First municipal public library in America
1775 – First submarine
1836 – First revolver
1842 – First public art museum
1844 – First use of anesthesia
1861 – First Ph.D. Degree, Yale University awarded in Philosophy
1868 – First tape measure
1877 – First pay phone
1877 – First telephone exchange,
1908 – First lollipop
1920 – first Frisbee, Yale students discovered empty pie plates from Mrs. Frisbie Pies
in Bridgeport could be sailed across the New Haven Green
1934 – first Polaroid camera
1939 – first helicopter
1948 – First color television
1954 – first nuclear submarine, launched in New London
1982 – First artificial heart, Dr. Robert K. Jarvik, a Stamford native, invented the world’s first artificial heart
* Connecticut has no county government. Below the state level, governing units are either cities or towns.
* marine insurance, the great grandfather of all modern forms of insurance, had its start in Connecticut. Fire insurance got its formal start in 1794.
* There are 106 insurance companies based in Connecticut.
