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invention and technology - Connecticut History | a CTHumanities Project

Illuminating Connecticut’s Past: The Bradley & Hubbard Legacy

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Electric Boat: From Innovation Trials to WWII Submarine Leadership

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Sophia Woodhouse Welles: Wethersfield’s World-Famous Bonnet Maker

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Sarah Boone: First Connecticut Black Woman to Receive Patent

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New London Harbor Lighthouse: Connecticut’s First Official Lighthouse

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The Ives Manufacturing Company: Connecticut’s Foremost Toy Maker

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This Won’t Hurt a Bit! A Brief History of Anesthesia

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The Stamford Foundry Company Made Notable Stoves

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The “Perfect Handle” Hatchet – Who Knew?

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Yankee Ingenuity: Curtis Veeder, a Mechanical Genius and Shrewd Businessman

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David Bushnell and his Revolutionary Submarine

  • Writer:
    Brenda Milkofsky

  • Town(s):
    Old Saybrook, Westbrook

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A Different “Type” of Connecticut Industry

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Boone Guyton Tested the Limits of World-Famous Aircraft

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Elastic Web Expands Textile Manufacturing in West Haven

Elisha Root Changes Industry – Who Knew?

The Life of Chauncey Jerome: An Insider’s Look at What Made Early Bristol Tick

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The Steady Evolution of a Connecticut Family Business

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WDRC AM/FM – Connecticut’s Oldest Commercial Radio Station

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Ferry Boats a Way of Life in Early Connecticut

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The Story of Pineapple Cheese

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Albert Augustus Pope, Transportation Pioneer

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Benjamin Dutton Beecher had a Penchant for Invention

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Frank Duryea Drives the First Automobile in Connecticut

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The “Fancy Chair” Craze of the 1800s: Lambert Hitchcock and the Story of the Hitchcock Chair

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Edwin Land Inventor of the Polaroid Born – Today in History: May 7

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World-renowned Maker of Axes: The Collins Company of Canton

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The Pike Family Lived a Life of Dyeing

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Shakers Revolutionize Garden Seed Business – Who Knew?

Road Signs of the Air

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Benjamin Silliman and Soda Water – Who Knew?

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Marking Time: Early Connecticut Innovations Transform Clock Making

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Charles Ritchel and the Dirigible

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The Corbin Cabinet Lock Company and Patent Law: A Lesson in Novelty from a CT Perspective

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Town Patents the Lattice Truss Bridge – Today in History: January 28

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Family Ties Bring Together North Branford Industry

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Rubber Vulcanization and the Myth of Nathaniel Hayward

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Norwich’s “Volcanic” Past

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Mohawk Mountain Made Snow for Winter Sports Lovers – Who Knew?

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The First US Can Opener – Today in History: January 5

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Phillips’ Milk of Magnesia Originated in Stamford

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Horace Wells Discovers Pain-free Dentistry

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Daniel Curtiss: The Life of a 19th-Century Self-Made Man

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New Haven Gives the Lollipop its Name – Today in History: October 13

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The Whitney Armory Helps Progress in Hamden

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American Architect Ithiel Town Born – Today in History: October 3

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World’s First Helicopter – Today in History: September 14

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Parachutist Snagged in Midair – Today in History: September 13

A Diversified Mind: Hiram Percy Maxim

  • Writer:
    Michael Marinaro

  • Town(s):
    Hartford, Newington

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Wheeler & Wilson: A Stitchy Situation in Watertown

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Roosevelt Rides in an Electric Car – Today in History: August 22

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A Pie Tin’s Soaring Sales

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A World in Motion: Artist and Sculptor Alexander Calder

  • Writer:
    Theresa Erskine Roth

  • Town(s):
    Roxbury

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Aristocratic Dental Cream Gets Squeezed

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Erector Set Patented – Today in History: July 8

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John Howe Makes a Better Pin – Today in History: June 22

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The Blake Rock Crusher – Today in History: June 15

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Thomas Hall’s Electric Block Railroad Signal – Today in History: June 7

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The Inventive Minds of Connecticut Women: Patents in the 19th Century

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W. J. Squire’s Gill Net Manufactory in East Haddam

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First Woman to Receive US Patent – Today in History: May 5

Colt’s Submarine Battery – Today in History: April 13

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Charles Goodyear’s Machine for Making Rubber Fabrics

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The Telescoping Fishing Rod – Today in History: March 8

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Rockwell Hardness Tester – Today in History: February 11

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Connecticut Transforms Aaron Draper Shattuck

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Pratt & Whitney Debuts Wasp Engine – Today in History: December 24

Barkhamsted Reservoir Construction Washes Away a Community

Pierre Lallement and the Modern-Day Pedal Bicycle – Today in History: November 20

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Helicopters, Guitars, and Guide Dogs: The Revolutionary Mind of Charles Kaman

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First US Detachable Electric Plug – Today in History: November 8

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Seth Thomas Works Around the Clock in Wolcott

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Igor Sikorsky Dies – Today in History: October 26

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Portland Improves the Steam Engine

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Airborne Pioneers: Connecticut Takes Flight

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Improving Sea Transportation: Guilford Goes About it the Light Way

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USS Nautilus Passes Under North Pole – Today in History: August 3

North Branford Vied for the Title of “Shredded Coconut Capital of the World” – Who Knew?

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Levi Pease, Stage Route and Transportation Innovator

Cleopatra’s Needle and Groton’s Captain Davis – Who Knew?

New England’s Grand Ambition: The Farmington Canal

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A Revolution On Two Wheels: Columbia Bicycles

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Horseshoe Nail Capital of the World – Who Knew?

Furniture Caster Patented – Today in History: June 30

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Samuel L. Clemens Receives Scrap-book Patent – Who Knew?

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Flying High with Early Dirigible

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Albert Pope Pioneered Bicycles for Women

Jacob Schick Invents the Electric Razor – Today in History: May 13

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First American Medicine Patent – Today in History: April 30

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USS Tullibee – Today in History: April 27

The Coaster Brake – Today in History: April 9

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Amateur Radio Comes of Age in Connecticut

  • Writer:
    Michael Marinaro

  • Town(s):
    Newington

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Connecticut’s First Municipal Electric Utility

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The Revolving Gun – Today in History: February 25

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North and South: The Legacy of Eli Whitney

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John Fitch Born – Today in History: January 21

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Clarence Dickinson Carries Printing Innovation into the 20th Century

Igor Sikorsky and his Flying Machines

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Noble Jerome’s Clock Patent Model

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Phineas Pratt’s Machine for Making Combs – Today in History: April 12

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The Portable Typewriting Machine – Today in History: April 12

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Alfred Carlton Gilbert, Inventor of the Erector Set – Today in History: February 15

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Reel Lawn Mower Patent – Today in History: January 28

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Connecticut Patents

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[Archived] Patents – Bloomfield’s Inventive Minds

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Government Orders Horse Pistols – Today in History: March 9

Heart Pump out of an Erector Set – Who Knew?

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Silas Brooks, Balloonist

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Charles Goodyear and the Vulcanization of Rubber

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The Turtle Submarine – Today in History: September 6

Halladay’s Revolutionary Windmill – Today in History: August 29

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The Colt Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company

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Hubbell’s Pull-Chain Electrical Light Socket – Today in History: August 11

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Christopher Miner Spencer, 19th-century Arms Manufacturer

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First Human Test of a Nylon Parachute – Today in History: June 6

Thread Your Needle – Today in History: March 2

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When the World Ran on Connecticut Time

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The USS Nautilus: The World’s First Nuclear Submarine

  • Town(s):
    Groton, New London

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The League of American Wheelmen and Hartford’s Albert Pope Champion the Good Roads Movement

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Salisbury Iron Forged Early Industry

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Amasa Goodyear and Son Re-Invent Naugatuck

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The Automatic Gallows – Today in History: June 18

  • Town(s):
    Wethersfield

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