The Derby Silver Company was founded in 1872 and began operations on Shelton’s Canal Street one year later.
ReadOn January 11, 1817, Timothy Dwight (theologian, educator, poet, and eighth president of Yale) died in New Haven, Connecticut.
ReadFor over four decades, Japanese-born Yukitaka Osaki worked for Gillette, becoming a recognizable neighbor in the Hadlyme community.
ReadOn January 9, 1788, Connecticut became the fifth state to ratify the Constitution of the United States.
ReadAlmost every Connecticut town has an Elm Street, named for the popular trees that grew in abundance until a fungal infestation greatly diminished their numbers.
ReadSamuel Huntington not only served as Connecticut’s governor and a member of the Continental Congress, but, some would argue, the first President of the United States.
ReadSince the late 19th century, Armenian immigrants and descendants have created a community and shaped New Britain history.
ReadEbenezer Tracy was a carpenter from Lisbon, Connecticut, who specialized in making fine, hand-crafted furniture.
ReadOn January 2, 1958, Governor Abraham Ribicoff officially opened the Connecticut Turnpike—today the Governor John Davis Lodge Turnpike—to traffic.
ReadIn 1973, the state legislature mandated that Connecticut’s license plates should display the state slogan “Constitution State.”
ReadHailed as the “Century Celebration,” the evening of December 31, 1900, saw revelry and reflection as individuals throughout the state welcomed the New Year.
ReadChurch bells served many important functions in early New England. Consequently, skilled bellfounders in Connecticut found themselves in high demand.
ReadThe brass industry in Waterbury began in the mid-18th century and provided an alternative for people struggling to make a living off the rocky, exhausted soil.
ReadA lifelong resident of Ellington, William N. Pinney served his town and his state up until his death at the age of 90.
ReadPanoramic prints of growing cities and towns became popular in the late 1800s as Connecticut transformed from an agricultural to an industrial state.
ReadThe Laurel Brook and Mount Higby Reservoirs helped provide reliable sources of water that drove the growth of Middletown.
ReadNestled in a quiet section of Litchfield County lies the picturesque town of Bethlehem, known best for its designation as “Connecticut’s Christmas Town.”
ReadEarly Connecticut laws deemed anyone who spent excessive time in taverns as a “tavern haunter” and subjected them to fines and ridicule.
ReadFor nearly a decade, this little Connecticut town was renowned as the Christmas-card center of the world.
ReadModes of dress and means of play for youngsters reflect more than changing tastes; they reveal shifts in societal attitudes toward the pre-adult years.
ReadA. Everett “Chick” Austin Jr. and his wife, Helen, designed one of the most unique homes of the 20th century in Hartford.
ReadOn December 15, 1814, delegates to the Hartford Convention met in secret at the Old State House in Hartford.
ReadWhen the Nazis moved into Southbury, however, local citizens reacted forcefully, eventually pushing the anti-Semitic settlers out of the state.
ReadThe Ives Manufacturing Company—arguably Connecticut’s most famous toy company—became known for its variety of clockwork toys and trains.
ReadThe Charter of 1662 described Connecticut boundaries that extended all the way to the the Pacific Ocean!
ReadAfter 1844, persons undergoing limb amputations, tooth extractions, and other painful procedures had reason to thank Dr. Horace Wells.
ReadFrom tools, dishes, and clothing to muskrat bones, household trash from 1700s reveals how Yankees of the era lived.
ReadBenjamin Silliman published the first American study of a meteor—having acquired access to one that fell near the town of Weston.
ReadLemuel Haynes was a father, husband, pastor, and patriot—he is widely considered to be the first Black man in America to be ordained by a Protestant church.
ReadIn the 18th and 19th centuries, the transit was an important opportunity for scientists to calculate the distance between the earth and the sun—the basis for the astronomical unit.
ReadThe horse Little Sorrel became one of the most famous residents of Somers, Connecticut, and a legendary figure of the Civil War.
ReadIn 1891, Thompson, Connecticut, was the site of one of the most horrific railway accidents in American history.
ReadThe roots of Connecticut’s iron industry lie in East Haven, starting in the 17th century.
ReadPachaug State Forest is the largest state forest in Connecticut and covers approximately 24,000 acres and crossing the borders of numerous towns.
ReadThe Reverend Charles Backus opened one of the more prodigious schools of the prophets in Somers, Connecticut.
ReadLivestock were once a central feature and concern of daily life for Litchfield County residents.
ReadA pioneer preacher, a Puritan, and a scholar, Peter Prudden established the first European settlement that became the city of Milford.
ReadThis broadside issued by Thomas and Samuel Green of New Haven announced the Proclamation of Governor Matthew Griswold naming Thursday the 24th of November, 1785, “a Day of Publick Thanksgiving.”
ReadThere were a substantial number of Chinese, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islanders who fought in the Civil War—many of whom served in Connecticut regiments.
ReadCape Verdeans formed parts of whaling and sealing crews leaving Connecticut since the early 19th century, sometimes even rising to positions of authority.
ReadOn November 18, 1820, Nathaniel Brown Palmer of Stonington, Connecticut, discovered the mainland of Antarctica, one of the seven continents.
ReadThe German merchant submarine Deutschland made two trips to America, including one to New London, Connecticut, during World War I.
ReadThe Connecticut poll tax lasted for almost 300 years and encompassed four different variants.
ReadJack Brutus’s military status was unofficial, but he became the official mascot of Company K of the First Connecticut Volunteer Infantry during the Spanish-American War.
ReadAn alleged affair between Elizabeth Tilton and Henry Ward Beecher became public in 1872 and inspired a series of lawsuits for libel.
ReadDespite passage of the federal Uniform Holiday Bill in 1968, Connecticut residents were largely reluctant to move Veterans Day observances from November 11.
ReadAmerican Thread’s arrival in Willimantic in 1899 demonstrates Connecticut’s role in the Progressive Era’s “rise of big business” and “incorporation of America.”
ReadFounded in 1842, this ever-evolving institution is the oldest, continuously operating public art museum in the United States.
ReadUnlike today, in the 18th and 19th centuries, Election Day met with great celebration.
ReadThe layout of New Haven’s nine-square grid, though not the plan itself, is attributed to the original settlers’ surveyor, John Brockett.
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