A Program Of
Major Support Provided By
Other CT Humanities Programs
Now Viewing:
Who Knew?
The Longest Highway Drawbridge – Who Knew?
… that in 1896, when the Middletown and Portland Bridge…
Read
Hurricanes Connie & Diane Deliver Double Hit – Who Knew?
…that Hurricanes Connie and Diane, which struck within days of…
Read
North Branford Vied for the Title of “Shredded Coconut Capital of the World” – Who Knew?
…that patents granted to North Branford residents included one for…
Read
Weir Farm the Result of a Trade – Who Knew?
…that Weir Farm located in Ridgefield and Wilton, Connecticut resulted…
Read
Cleopatra’s Needle and Groton’s Captain Davis – Who Knew?
…that Cleopatra’s Needle, the Egyptian obelisk erected in Central Park…
Read
Horseshoe Nail Capital of the World – Who Knew?
…that Hartford, famous as the Insurance Capital of the World,…
Read
Samuel L. Clemens Receives Scrap-book Patent – Who Knew?
…that writer and humorist Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his…
Read
Misread Signal Leads to Deadly South Norwalk Train Wreck – Who Knew?
…that by 1853, the era of steamboat transportation had largely…
Read
War and the Fear of Enemy Aliens – Who Knew?
…that Greenwich had a special police unit trained to handle suspected foreign agents operating in Connecticut.
Read
Six Cities Respond to 1902 Waterbury Fire – Who Knew?
…that the fire, which swept through Waterbury on a stormy…
Read
There’s No Place Like Home for the Designer of Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers – Who Knew?
Connecticut-born Adrian, the American clothing designer who found success in Hollywood, designed Dorothy’s ruby slippers for The Wizard of Oz.
Read
Hartford Publishes the First Literary Work by an African American – Who Knew?
…that Jupiter Hammon, who endured life-long enslavement became the first…
Read
Waterbury Clock Company Saved by Mickey Mouse – Who Knew?
…that the Ingersoll Waterbury Company (now Timex) was saved from…
Read
New London Harbors a German Submarine During World War I – Who Knew?
The German merchant submarine Deutschland made two trips to America, including one to New London, Connecticut, during World War I.
Read
1938 Hurricane Fuels Charcoal Business – Who Knew?
…that the hurricane of 1938 which devastated the Quinebaug Forest…
Read
Boat Shoes Have Ties to Connecticut – Who Knew?
…that during a cold Connecticut winter in 1935 Paul Sperry…
Read
The Hardware City Could’ve Been the Motor City – Who Knew?
…that New Britain could add automobile manufacturing to its long…
Read
Landscape Architecture Helps in Healing – Who Knew?
…Hartford-born landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted re-designed the grounds on…
Read
Get Out Your Paper Dress, Gal! – Who Knew?
…that in 1966 the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford was featured…
Read
Colonel Augustus G. Hazard, Gunpowder Manufacturer – Who Knew?
…that Connecticut resident, Augustus G. Hazard owned and operated over…
Read
Mohawk Mountain Made Snow for Winter Sports Lovers – Who Knew?
…that in the early 1950s innovative Connecticut minds created the…
Read
The Living Actually Haunted Many Connecticut Taverns – Who Knew?
Early Connecticut laws deemed anyone who spent excessive time in taverns as a “tavern haunter” and subjected them to fines and ridicule.
Read
The Atheneum Joins War Effort – Who Knew?
…that the Wadsworth Atheneum contributed to home front morale and…
Read
The White Pine Acts – Who Knew?
The British government made it illegal for colonials to cut down white pine trees over 24 inches in diameter—preserving the trees for use as masts on British naval ships.
Read
Evaporated Milk’s Connecticut Connection – Who Knew?
…that in 1856 businessman Gail Borden Jr. opened the first…
Read
BF Clyde and the Steam-powered Cider Mill – Who Knew?
…that the oldest steam-powered cider mill in the US still…
Read
The World’s Record for the Largest Muster – Who Knew?
…that Deep River holds the distinction of hosting the largest…
Read
Shakers Revolutionize Garden Seed Business – Who Knew?
…that the Shakers of Enfield first packaged seeds in small…
Read
Benjamin Silliman and Soda Water – Who Knew?
…that Yale’s first professor of chemistry, Benjamin Silliman, was also…
Read
Mounds Candy Bar Involved in Espionage – Who Knew?
…that a storied Naugatuck business had its own “navy” and…
Read
Semi-Pro Baseball in Sharon – Who Knew?
…that from the 1930s until about the early 1970s, Sharon…
Read
A Voice for Veterans: A Civil War era ‘Whistle-Blower’ – Who Knew?
Her obituary stated that “Mrs. Ambler was always expected to say something” on behalf of those who had fought for the Union.
Read
Monument to Hero of the Greenwich Police Department – Who Knew?
… that a memorial in Byram Park honors the town’s…
Read
America’s First Planetarium – Who knew?
…that in 1744 Thomas Clap, Rector and Yale College president…
Read
Hartford Circus Fire: “The Tent’s on Fire!” – Who Knew?
…that the Hartford Circus Fire may be the worst human-caused…
Read
Harwinton’s Sign has a Long History – Who Knew?
…that a sign has stood at the intersection of Route…
Read
Oldest Cavalry Unit – Who Knew?
….that the First Company Governor’s Horse Guards is the oldest,…
Read
The Rise of the “Second Home” Community in Sharon – Who Knew?
…that after the Civil War and through the 1930s, recreational…
Read
Elisha Root Changes Industry – Who Knew?
…that Elisha Root invented die casting that revolutionized the mechanization…
ReadMore Articles