CONNECTICUT - Last minute travel specials to Hartford/West Massachusetts
General Description & Facts... Within its compact borders, Connecticut has forested hills, new urban skylines, shoreline beaches, white-steeple colonial churches, and historic village greens. There are classic Ivy League schools, modern expressways, great corporate offices, and small farms.

Connecticut is a thriving center of business, as well as a vacation land. It is both a New England state, and suburban to New York City.

Statehood: January 9, 1788 (5th state)
Nickname/Official Designation: "The Constitution State" was adopted by Act of the Legislature, 1959.
Name Origin/Indian: Quinnehtukqut -- Mohegan for "Long River Place" or "Beside the Long Tidal River"
Capitol: Hartford, the sole Capital City since 1875
State Motto: Qui Transtulit Sustinet -- "He Who Transplanted Still Sustains"
Population: The population of Connecticut was 3,405,565 according to the 2000 U.S. Official Census. The most recent population estimate from the Connecticut Department of Public Health is 3,409,549 as of July 1, 2000.
Cities with largest population (2000):

• Bridgeport 139,529
• New Haven 123,626
• Hartford 121,578
• Stamford 117,083
• Waterbury 107,271

Area: 5,018 square miles
Counties: 8
Towns: 169
Cities: 21
Boroughs: 9
Famous For: Inventors (Charles Goodyear, Elias Howe, Eli Whitney, Eli Terry), Inventions, Watchmaking, Typewriters, Insurance, Submarines
The emblems of the State are as follows: The State Seal was provided for in the Constitution, 1818. The State Flag was adopted by Act of the Legislature, 1897.

• The State Flower, the Mountain Laurel, was adopted by Act of the Legislature, 1907.
• The State Bird, the Robin, was adopted by Act of the Legislature, 1943.
• The State Tree, the White Oak, was adopted by Act of the Legislature, 1947.
• The State Animal, the Sperm Whale, Physeter Catodon, was adopted by Act of the Legislature, 1975.
• The State Insect, the Praying Mantis, Mantis Religiosa, was adopted by Act of the Legislature, 1977.
• The State Mineral, the Garnet, was adopted by Act of the Legislature, 1977.
• The State Song, "Yankee Doodle," was adopted by Act of the Legislature, 1978.
• The State Ship, USS Nautilus, was adopted by Act of the Legislature, 1983.
• The State Hero, Nathan Hale, was adopted by Act of the Legislature, 1985.
• The State Shellfish, the Eastern Oyster, was adopted by Act of the Legislature, 1989.
• The State Composer, Charles Edward Ives was adopted by Act of the Legislature, 1991.
• The State Fossil, Eubrontes Giganteus, was adopted by Act of the Legislature, 1991.
• The State Heroine, Prudence Crandall, was adopted by Act of the Legislature, 1995.
• The State Tartan was adopted by Act of the Legislature, 1995.

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, Dr. Robert K. Jarvik, a Stamford native, invented the world's first artificial heart .