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The Hartford Circus Fire – Today in History: July 6
Called the worst disaster in Hartford’s history, the fire killed 168 and injured 487, including many children.
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P. T. Barnum: An Entertaining Life
Once declared “the most widely known American that ever lived,” this showman’s life story is as colorful as the entertainments he provided in the mid-1800s.
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Silas Brooks, Balloonist
This Connecticut native, Silas Brooks, earned fame as a crowd-pleasing musician, showman, and aeronaut.
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President Grant Celebrates Independence Day in Woodstock – Today in History: July 4
On July 4, 1870, President Ulysses S. Grant attended Independence Day celebrations at Roseland Cottage in Woodstock.
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Pepperidge Farm Opens Bakery – Today in History: July 4
On July 4, 1947, Margaret Rudkin of Fairfield opened a modern commercial bakery in Norwalk and gave it the name of her small bakery, Pepperidge Farm.
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Bigelow Tea–A Connecticut Tea Party
The Bigelow Tea Company was started as a small family business in Manhatten before moving to Norwalk and then Fairfield.
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Mohegan Sacred Sites: Moshup’s Rock
Every nation has a spirit. The Mohegan Spirit moves and breathes within the very rocks and trees of the Mohegan Homeland in Uncasville, Connecticut.
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Buffalo Bill Cody Visits the Monument of Uncas – Today in History: July 2
On July 2, 1907, American adventurer and showman “Buffalo Bill” Cody visited the Mohegan Royal Burial Grounds in Norwich.
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An Artist’s Life in Hartford: The Early Career of Dwight Tryon
Hartford native Dwight Tryon enjoyed a long, successful career as a landscape painter and teacher with studios in New York City and Massachusetts.
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Connecticut Attorney General John H. Light and His Fight for Woman’s Suffrage
Attorney General John H. Light made his pro-suffrage stance public at a time when such advocacy could still lead to criticism
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The Seth Wetmore House: A Storied Structure of 18th Century Middletown
Seth Wetmore was a merchant, judge, and deputy to the General Court of Connecticut. His house is one of Middletown’s oldest homes and one of thirty-three in the city listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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Merritt Parkway Creates Scenic Gateway to New England
This Depression-era road improvement project sought to artfully balance the natural and built environments.
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Greenwich Emergency Responders: On the Move Overtime
Horses, motorcycles, and boats are just a few of the modes of transportation that town emergency personnel have used over the years to get to where they’re needed.
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Stevan Dohanos Captures Connecticut Life
Westport resident Stevan Dohanos was one of America’s top realist illustrators, producing more than 125 popular magazine covers, and over 300 designs for commemorative postage stamps.
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Sarah Pierce’s Litchfield Female Academy
While several educational academies existed for girls in the years following the American Revolution, few proved more influential than Sarah Pierce’s Litchfield Female Academy.
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Abundant Wildlife Drives the History of Rocky Neck State Park
Consisting of 710 acres of camping and recreational areas, Rocky Neck State Park is located on Long Island Sound in East Lyme.
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Henry Ward Beecher, a Preacher with Political Clout
This skilled orator championed woman suffrage, temperance, and the cause of anti-slavery but scandal nearly derailed his career.
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The Rose King of America Transformed Cromwell’s Landscape
Andrew N. Pierson established A.N. Pierson’s, Inc., a small floral nursery in Cromwell that evolved into the largest commercial rose growing enterprise in the country.
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Private vs. Public Property – Today in History: June 23
On June 23, 2005, the US Supreme Court ruled in a precedent-setting eminent domain case Kelo et al vs. New London,.
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John Howe Makes a Better Pin – Today in History: June 22
On June 22, 1832, John Ireland Howe (from Ridgefield, Connecticut) invented the first practical machine for manufacturing pins.
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J. P. Morgan’s Connecticut Roots
One of the great financiers of the late 19th and early 20th century, J. P. Morgan was born (and spent much of his youth) in Hartford, Connecticut.
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Jimmy Piersall’s Public Struggle with Mental Illness
Professional baseball great Jimmy Piersall battled with mental illness all of his life.
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North Haven: Fabricating Sculpture in the 1960s and 1970s
Lippincott, Inc., in North Haven, was one of the most highly respected fine-arts metal fabricators in the country in the second half of the 20th century.
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The Automatic Gallows – Today in History: June 18
On June 18, 1895, Jabez L. Woodbridge of Wethersfield patented an automated gallows.
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Ivoryton Playhouse Opens – Today in History: June 17
On June 17, 1930, the Ivoryton Playhouse opened with a production of the play Broken Dishes, which had just closed in New York.
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Summer Crowds Flocked to New Canaan and Stayed
Like many towns in Connecticut, New Canaan owes much of its modern character to the evolution of industry and transportation in the Northeast.
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The Blake Rock Crusher – Today in History: June 15
On June 15, 1858, Eli Whitney’s nephew, Eli Whitney Blake of New Haven was granted US patent No. 20,542 for a “machine for crushing stone.”
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East Haddam Swing Bridge – Today in History: June 14
On June 14, 1913, the East Haddam Swing Bridge officially opened on Flag Day.
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Harriet Beecher Stowe Born – Today in History: June 14
On June 14, 1811, author Harriet Beecher Stowe was born in Litchfield.
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Stamford’s Three-Gun Armada
During the Revolutionary War, American privateers utilized armed whaling boats to keep the British from the colonies’ shores and prevent illicit trade in British goods.
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The Platt Amendment – Today in History: June 12
Orville Platt from Meriden presented the Platt Amendment to Congress in 1901. It essentially made Cuba an American protectorate.
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The Hardware City Could’ve Been the Motor City – Who Knew?
In 1903 the Russell & Erwin Company and the American Hardware Corporation purchased the Bristol Motor Car Company of Bristol, Connecticut.
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Hooker’s Journey to Hartford
In early June 1636, Puritan religious leader Reverend Thomas Hooker left the Boston area with one hundred men, women, and children and set out for the Connecticut valley.
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USS George Washington Launched – Today in History: June 9
On June 9, 1959, the first nuclear-powered, ballistic-missile submarine, the USS George Washington (SSBN 598), was launched at Groton.
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Bridge Ornaments Help Tell the Legend of the Windham Frog Fight
One June night in 1754, Windham residents awoke to a dreadful sound, the source of which has inspired tall tales ever since.
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Nathan Hale: The Man and the Legend
A school teacher hanged as a spy during the American Revolution, Nathan Hale became Connecticut’s official state hero in 1985.
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Thomas Hall’s Electric Block Railroad Signal – Today in History: June 7
On June 7, 1870, Thomas Hall patented the electromagnetic signal apparatus for railroads–better known as the automatic electric block.
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Collis P. Huntington: The Boy from Poverty Hollow
From a poverty-stricken life in Harwinton, Connecticut, Collis Huntington grew to be one of the wealthiest and most powerful railroad men of his era.
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Samuel Colt and Elizabeth Jarvis Marry – Today in History: June 5
On June 5, 1856, Samuel Colt married Elizabeth Hart Jarvis, the daughter of Reverend William Jarvis and Elizabeth Hart of Middletown.
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Wiffle Throws a Curve in American Leisure Time
When David N. Mullany created the concept for a lightweight ball, he didn’t know his invention would change the way children across the US played backyard baseball.
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The State Cantata – Today in History: June 3
On June 3, 2003, the Connecticut General Assembly designated The Nutmeg, Homeland of Liberty by Dr. Stanley L. Ralph as the State Cantata.
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Elizabeth Park’s Rose Garden: June is Busting Out All Over
Boasting 15,000 bushes and about 800 varieties of roses, it is the oldest municipally operated rose garden in the country.
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Tavern Signs Mark Changes in Travel, Innkeeping, and Artistic Practice
In colonial times, tavern signs beckoned weary travelers to places of rest and entertainment, but by the early 1900s collectors prized them as folk art and relics of a bygone era.
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Helen Keller in Connecticut: The Last Years of a Legendary Crusader
The internationally known author, political activist, and lecturer, Helen Keller, made her final home in Easton.
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Memorial Day 1920 Brings a Changing of the Guard
In 1920, veterans groups played an active role in orchestrating Memorial Day observances in towns across Connecticut.
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Rediscovering Albert Afraid-of-Hawk
While performing with one of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West shows in Danbury in 1900, Albert Afraid-of-Hawk, or Cetan Kokipa, died.
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Noah Webster and the Dream of a Common Language
Best remembered for the dictionary that now bears his name, Noah Webster played a pivotal role in shaping the young nation’s political and social identity.
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Providing Rest for the Weary in Barkhamsted
Built in the late 18th century, Squire’s Tavern represents over 100 years of adaptive reuse architecture.
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The Minute Man, Westport CT
On the morning of June 17, 1910, over a thousand Connecticut residents descended upon Westport for a patriotic, event-filled unveiling of The Minute Man monument.
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Alse Young Executed for Witchcraft – Today in History: May 26
On May 26, 1647, Alse Young of Windsor was the first person on record to be executed for witchcraft in the 13 colonies.
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