Connecticut
Connecticut, officially known as "The Constitution State" and unofficially (and popularly) known as "The Nutmeg State" is located in the New England Region of the United States in the Northeastern part of the country. Southwestern Connecticut is part of the Tri-State Region or New York Metropolitan Area which also includes Northern New Jersey and Southern New York.
Connecticut, with a population of 3,510,297, is bordered on the south by the Long Island Sound, on the west by New York State, on the north by Massachusetts and on the east by Rhode Island. The state capitol and largest metropolitan area is Hartford while the largest city is Bridgeport. Other major cities in Connecticut include New London, Norwich, Norwalk, Danbury, Waterbury, Stamford, New Britain and Milford.
Connecticut's Historical Firsts
1639 -- first constitution adopted, establishing representative government
1656 -- first municipal public library in America, a bequest to the "towne of New Haven"
1670 -- first survey for the first turnpike in America, between Norwich and New London
1729 -- first medical diploma, granted by Yale University
1764 -- first newspaper, The Hartford Courant, published since October 29, 1764
1775 -- first submarine
1783 -- first dictionary, published by Noah Webster, born in West Hartford
1784 -- first law school in America, Litchfield Law School
Graduates included John C. Calhoun, Aaron Burr, Horace Mann,
Oliver Wolcott, Jr. and Noah Webster
1788 -- first State House in America, built after the Federal Constitution ratification
1794 -- first cotton gin, Eli Whitney of New Haven patented this invention
1803 -- first town library, tax-supported and organized in Salisbury
1806 -- first factory town in America, planned and established in Seymour
1808 -- first movable parts mass production in use, making clocks
1810 -- first insurance company, ITT Hartford Group, Inc.
Officially opened for business and people were able to take insurance for the
"loss of life or personal injury while journeying by railway or steamboat"
1819 -- first industrial training school, established by Josiah Holbrook in Derby
1836 -- first revolver
1842 -- first public art museum
1843 -- first portable typewriter
1844 -- first use of anesthesia
1846 -- first sewing machine, Elias Howe procured a patent for the first practical
sewing machine in 1846
1853 -- first ice-making machine
1858 -- first can opener
1861 -- first Ph.D. Degree, Yale University awarded in Philosophy
1868 -- first tape measure
1877 -- first pay phone
1877 -- first telephone exchange, established in Bridgeport
1892 -- first collapsible toothpaste tube
1895 -- first hamburger, served at Louie's Lunch in New Haven
1900 -- first submarine
1907 -- first permanent public planning body in America,
Hartford's Commission on the City Plan
1908 -- first lollipop
1920 -- first Frisbee, Yale students discovered empty pie plates from Mrs. Frisbie Pies
in Bridgeport could be sailed across the New Haven Green
1933 -- first vacuum cleaner
1934 -- first Polaroid camera
1939 -- first FM radio station, WDRC-FM began broadcasting in Hartford
1939 -- first helicopter, Igor Sikorsky designed the first successful helicopter in the
Western Hemisphere
1948 -- first color television
1949 -- first ultra high frequency UHF television station to operate on a daily basis,
KC2XAK in Bridgeport
1954 -- first nuclear submarine, launched in New London
1982 -- first artificial heart invented by Dr. Robert K. Jarvik, a Stamford native,
As the state with the highest per capita income of $47,819, there is a great disparity in incomes through Connecticut. Hartford is one of the ten cities with the lowest per capita incomes in America at $13,428 while New Canaan has one of the highest in the United States at $85,459. Other wealthy cities in Connecticut include Darien, Greenwich, Stamford, Weston, Woodbridge, Wilton and Westport where the per capita income is over $65,000. Since there is such a high cost of living in the state due to a combination of expensive real estate and high winter heating bills as well as various other factors, lower income and blue collar individuals and families are particularly affected by these expenses.
Connecticut has a number of tourist attractions appealing to visitors from all over the United States and from a number of foreign countries. One famous attraction is Mystic Seaport which is known as the Museum of America and the Sea and is the nation's leading maritime museum. Founded in 1929, Mystic is a recreated 19th century coastal village where tourists can visit a number of historic tall ships and watch a working preservation shipyard in action.
This historic area has been a center of ship building since the 1600s and now is the repository of log books, photographs, ships plans and other maritime artifacts . The Seaport has amassed the world's largest collections of maritime photography which totals over one million images and nearly five hundred ships as well as over two million maritime artifacts.
Tourism in Connecticut is a $4 billion a year industry. Visitors are attracted to the state's 250 mile Long Island Sound shoreline, the rolling hills in Litchfield and the beauty of the Connecticut River Valley as well as the delightful scenery of Colonial villages filled with historic homes and landmarks.
The Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center is the world's largest and most comprehensive Native American museum and research center. Visitors are able to walk through life size scenes transporting them into the past. There are also four acres of permanent exhibits which depict 18,000 years of Native and natural history of the area. This museum is located on the land that has been reclaimed by the Pequot Tribe where the huge and well known Foxwoods Casino is now located.
The Foxwoods Resort contains the world's largest casino, three hotels, 25 dining options, the 1,400 seat Fox Theatre, Club BB and the Hard Rock Café. The casino, which is a world-wide landmark, offers more than 7,000 slot machines, hundreds of table games, Keno, Bingo, Poker and horse racing and celebrated its 14th anniversary in 2006. Many of the well known poker celebrities got their start at Foxwoods.
The State of Connecticut can be a wonderful place to live and work with the charm and beauty of its forested hills, new urban skylines, shoreline beaches, white steeple colonial churches and historic village greens. There are modern highways, small farms, well known Ivy League schools and diverse corporate offices.
