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Sunday 6 July 2014

Connecticut

The name "Connecticut" comes from the Mohegan Indian word "Quinnehtukqut". It means "Long River Place" or "Beside the Long Tidal River."

Connecticut was covered by a glacier as recently as 15,000 years ago, making its landscape very young compared to the rest of the world.

The "Fundamental Orders", the first written constitution that created a government, was adopted in Connecticut in 1639.

Connecticut became the fifth state to be admitted to the United States on January 9, 1788 after ratifying the U.S. Constitution.

State flag

Frisbees originated in the 19th century as the tin dish used to bake pies on by the Frisbie Pie Company  in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

A liberal Republican, PT Barnum served in the Connecticut legislature (1865–9) and as mayor of Bridgeport (1875–6).

On May 21, 1901, Connecticut became the first state to pass a law regulating vehicle speed. (12 mph in cities, 15 mph on country roads).

The first international figure skating championship took place in New Haven, Connecticut in 1914.

The first automatic street light was installed in New Milford, Connecticut on March 2, 1949.  Prior to this development, electric street lamps, not to be confused with traffic control lights, had to be turned on manually or by timer, regardless of lighting conditions.


When Ella T. Grasso was elected governor of Connecticut in 1974, she became the first woman in the US to win a governorship without succeeding her husband.

The hospice movement arrived in the United States in 1975 after a lecture on the subject by its founder, Cicely Saunders at Yale University in Connecticut.

"Yankee Doodle" is the official state song of Connecticut. From 1950-2008 there was a famous coffee and sandwich shop in New Haven called The Yankee Doodle, known to locals (often Yalies) as "The Doodle."

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