Connecticut Trivia & Tidbits - Page 2

Looking for Connecticut trivia? Try our list Connecticut little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

—Roseland Cottage in Woodstock (pop. 7,221) is a Gothic Revival style mansion built by merchant and newspaper publisher Henry Bowen in the mid-1800s. The extensive formal garden in front of the house is a parterre garden and features boxwood hedges surrounding colorful flowers.

first appeared: 1/11/2009

—Goodspeed Musicals was formed in 1959 to restore the 19th-century Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam (pop. 8,333). The Opera House was reopened in 1963 as a professional musical theater.

first appeared: 12/29/2008

—Situated in the northeast corner of the state, Pomfret (pop. 3,798) was purchased from the American Indians in 1686. At the time, the area of about 18,270 acres was known as the Mashmuket Purchase. The town was incorporated and named Pomfret in 1713.

first appeared: 11/30/2008

—In Colonial New Haven, cut pumpkins were used as guides for haircuts to ensure a uniformly rounded style. This method of hairstyling prompted people to nickname those who sported such a hairdo a “pumpkinhead.”

first appeared: 11/16/2008

—In the early 1990s, a sluggish economy prompted Hank Paine, whose family had owned the Howland-Hughes department store in Waterbury since 1922, to launch “The Connecticut Store.” The store features products made in the Constitution State.

first appeared: 11/2/2008

—Comstock, Ferre & Co. in Wethersfield (pop. 26,271) is the oldest continuously operating seed company in the nation, dating back to 1820. Located in the town’s historic district, the company’s buildings still bear the original tin signs.

first appeared: 10/19/2008

—In 1955, the Stamford Museum and Nature Center received a Heckscher Foundation for Children grant to build a working farm. The 10-acre farm includes animals, a maple sugar house and an organic vegetable garden.

first appeared: 10/5/2008

—Scientist Benjamin Silliman, born in Trumbull (pop. 34,243) in 1779, is the man for whom Silliman College at Yale University is named. In addition to being a Yale professor, Silliman was founder and editor of the American Journal of Science and the Arts.

first appeared: 9/21/2008

—The restorative properties of the mineral springs in Stafford (pop. 11,307) drew Indians and settlers long before the town was incorporated in 1719. Although the town first developed as a resort destination, it also became known for its textile mills later in the 1800s.

first appeared: 9/7/2008

—Most of the gunpowder that Union troops used during the Civil War was made in Enfield (pop. 45,212), in a part of town known as Powder Hollow. In fact, the town’s name appears on boxes of gunpowder in the 1989 film Glory.

first appeared: 8/24/2008

—While crossing Bull’s Bridge in Kent (pop. 2,858) in 1781, a horse in George Washington’s party—perhaps his own—fell into the raging Housatonic River. The incident is documented in Washington’s expense account, indicating that $215 was spent retrieving the animal.

first appeared: 8/10/2008

—Jonathan Trumbull Jr. of Lebanon (pop. 6,907) became the first comptroller of the U.S. Treasury in 1778. Later, he served in the first Congress elected under the new Constitution, was speaker of the House, a U.S. senator and state governor.

first appeared: 7/27/2008

—In 1862, Theodore R. Timby, a Waterbury resident, patented his revolving gun turret, an invention that revolutionized military warfare and was used the same year on the ironclad USS Monitor during its historic battle with the CSS Virginia.

first appeared: 7/13/2008

—First lady Edith Roosevelt, the wife of Theodore Roosevelt, was born Edith Kermit Carow in Norwich (pop. 36,117) in 1861. She was known for her organizational skills and for refurbishing the White House.

first appeared: 6/29/2008

—The historic green in Lebanon (pop. 6,907), known as the “heartbeat” of the American Revolution, is closely linked to that historic conflict. The mile-long common is flanked by the Revolutionary War Office and the home of William Williams, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

first appeared: 6/15/2008

—Bartlett Arboretum and Gardens in Stamford is a 91-acre botanical gardens and science education center featuring a variety of trees and plants, gardens, a Red Maple wetland and a wildflower meadow. The arboretum also is home to 14 “Champion” trees, including nine of the largest species in the state and five of the largest in New England.

first appeared: 6/1/2008

—Sasha Cohen, one of the nation’s premier figure skaters and 2006 U.S. national champion, trained in Simsbury (pop. 23,234) with coach Tatiana Tarasova at the International Skating Center of Connecticut from 2002 to 2003.

first appeared: 5/18/2008

—In 1835, the state Legislature granted a rail charter to the Fairfield County Railroad, but after 15 years the project languished. The project was scaled back and renamed the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad. The first line opened in 1852 with two trains making the 75-minute trip between the two communities.

first appeared: 5/4/2008

—Civil War Gen. Ulysses S. Grant was accompanied by 55 Waterbury soldiers when he met with Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee for the surrender at Appomattox Court House, Va., on April 9, 1865. A total of 942 Waterbury natives fought during the Civil War.

first appeared: 3/9/2008

—Jen Rizzotti, point guard for the University of Connecticut’s women’s basketball team, led the Huskies to their first national championship in 1995 and earned AP Player of the Year in 1995-96. She played eight seasons of professional basketball after graduation in 1996.

first appeared: 2/24/2008

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