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Who Knew?
Birthplace of the Gerber Baby – Who Knew?
Westport’s artist Dorothy Hope Smith used her neighbor, Ann Turner, as inspiration for her iconic Gerber Baby trademark drawing.
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Elisha Root Changes Industry – Who Knew?
…that Elisha Root invented die casting that revolutionized the mechanization…
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America’s First Planetarium – Who knew?
…that in 1744 Thomas Clap, Rector and Yale College president…
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Boat Shoes Have Ties to Connecticut – Who Knew?
…that during a cold Connecticut winter in 1935 Paul Sperry…
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Hartford Circus Fire: “The Tent’s on Fire!” – Who Knew?
…that the Hartford Circus Fire may be the worst human-caused…
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Harwinton’s Sign has a Long History – Who Knew?
…that a sign has stood at the intersection of Route…
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Connecticut’s First Known Juneteenth Celebration in Norwich – Who Knew?
In 1989, the Norwich Branch of the NAACP organized the first official Juneteenth celebration in Connecticut—several other towns followed suit in subsequent years and decades.
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Oldest Cavalry Unit – Who Knew?
….that the First Company Governor’s Horse Guards is the oldest,…
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Arbor Day’s Roots in Connecticut – Who Knew?
…that Connecticut’s Reverend Birdsey Grant Northrop popularized Arbor Day celebrations…
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Shakers Revolutionize Garden Seed Business – Who Knew?
…that the Shakers of Enfield first packaged seeds in small…
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Mounds Candy Bar Involved in Espionage – Who Knew?
…that a storied Naugatuck business had its own “navy” and…
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Benjamin Silliman and Soda Water – Who Knew?
…that Yale’s first professor of chemistry, Benjamin Silliman, was also…
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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.
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Connecticut’s Only US President – Who Knew?
43rd President George W. Bush was born in New Haven at the Grace-New Haven Community Hospital on July 6, 1946.
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Colonel Augustus G. Hazard, Gunpowder Manufacturer – Who Knew?
…that Connecticut resident, Augustus G. Hazard owned and operated over…
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Mohawk Mountain Made Snow for Winter Sports Lovers – Who Knew?
…that in the early 1950s innovative Connecticut minds created the…
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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.
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Waterbury Clock Company Saved by Mickey Mouse – Who Knew?
…that the Ingersoll Waterbury Company (now Timex) was saved from…
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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.
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BF Clyde and the Steam-powered Cider Mill – Who Knew?
…that the oldest steam-powered cider mill in the US still…
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1938 Hurricane Fuels Charcoal Business – Who Knew?
…that the hurricane of 1938 which devastated the Quinebaug Forest…
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The World’s Record for the Largest Muster – Who Knew?
…that Deep River holds the distinction of hosting the largest…
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The Hardware City Could’ve Been the Motor City – Who Knew?
…that New Britain could add automobile manufacturing to its long…
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Landscape Architecture Helps in Healing – Who Knew?
…Hartford-born landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted re-designed the grounds on…
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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.
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The Atheneum Joins War Effort – Who Knew?
…that the Wadsworth Atheneum contributed to home front morale and…
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The Longest Highway Drawbridge – Who Knew?
… that in 1896, when the Middletown and Portland Bridge…
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Hurricanes Connie & Diane Deliver Double Hit – Who Knew?
…that Hurricanes Connie and Diane, which struck within days of…
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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…
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Weir Farm the Result of a Trade – Who Knew?
…that Weir Farm located in Ridgefield and Wilton, Connecticut resulted…
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Cleopatra’s Needle and Groton’s Captain Davis – Who Knew?
…that Cleopatra’s Needle, the Egyptian obelisk erected in Central Park…
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Horseshoe Nail Capital of the World – Who Knew?
…that Hartford, famous as the Insurance Capital of the World,…
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Samuel L. Clemens Receives Scrap-book Patent – Who Knew?
…that writer and humorist Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his…
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Misread Signal Leads to Deadly South Norwalk Train Wreck – Who Knew?
…that by 1853, the era of steamboat transportation had largely…
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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.
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Six Cities Respond to 1902 Waterbury Fire – Who Knew?
…that the fire, which swept through Waterbury on a stormy…
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Hartford Publishes the First Literary Work by an African American – Who Knew?
…that Jupiter Hammon, who endured life-long enslavement became the first…
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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.
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Get Out Your Paper Dress, Gal! – Who Knew?
…that in 1966 the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford was featured…
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Evaporated Milk’s Connecticut Connection – Who Knew?
…that in 1856 businessman Gail Borden Jr. opened the first…
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Semi-Pro Baseball in Sharon – Who Knew?
…that from the 1930s until about the early 1970s, Sharon…
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Monument to Hero of the Greenwich Police Department – Who Knew?
… that a memorial in Byram Park honors the town’s…
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The Rise of the “Second Home” Community in Sharon – Who Knew?
…that after the Civil War and through the 1930s, recreational…
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