Connecticut Trivia & Tidbits - Page 4

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

—The Phelps Tavern Museum and Homestead in Simsbury (pop. 23,234) features rooms furnished in the Colonial style and exhibition galleries that tell of the home’s use as a tavern from 1786 to 1849. One exhibition introduces each of the tavern keepers and explores the social history of a rural New England tavern.

first appeared: 4/22/2007

—Hartford’s Institute of Living, a mental health center founded in 1822, was the first hospital of any kind established in Connecticut and one of the nation’s first psychiatric hospitals. The 35-acre campus was landscaped by Frederick Law Olmsted in the 1860s.

first appeared: 4/8/2007

—Bridgeport is known as “Park City” thanks to its spectacular public parks, including Seaside Park and Beardsley Park. Famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted designed both parks.

first appeared: 3/25/2007

—Eileen Farrell, an operatic soprano, was born Feb. 13, 1920, in Willimantic (pop. 15,823). Her parents, the vaudevillian Singing O’Farrells, recognizing her potential, sent her to study voice in New York. She had an extraordinary range and was as natural singing pop and jazz as she was on the opera stage.

first appeared: 3/11/2007

—Former professional football player Steve Young, a graduate of Greenwich High School, is among the top-rated passers in NFL history. As quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, he was named Most Valuable Player of the 1995 Super Bowl and, in 2005, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

first appeared: 2/27/2007

—An 860-acre state park in East Haddam (pop. 8,333) known as the Devil’s Hopyard offers visitors a spectacular view of booming Chapman Falls, pothole-scarred rocks, a dark glen beneath the falls and steep, cave-pocked cliffs that line the Eight Mile River.

first appeared: 2/11/2007

—World Wrestling Entertainment, formerly the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), is a professional wrestling media and entertainment company headquartered in Stamford.

first appeared: 1/28/2007

Willie Pep, born in Middletown (pop. 43,167), was a featherweight boxing champion from 1942 to 1948 who regained his title in 1949 and enjoyed a career record of 230-11-1 with 65 knockouts. Pep is best remembered for his physical four-bout series against fellow International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee Joseph “Sandy” Saddler.

first appeared: 1/14/2007

—Noah Phelps, a native of Simsbury (pop. 23,234), is a town hero. His spying efforts led to the capture of Fort Ticonderoga by Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys in 1775.

first appeared: 12/17/2006

—Henry Williams, born in Hartford, was the University of Minnesota’s first full-time football coach. During his tenure from 1900 to 1921, the Golden Gophers won eight Big Ten titles. Williams also was the first to propose legalizing the forward pass.

first appeared: 12/3/2006

—Hartford Election Cakes, also known as muster cakes, were baked to celebrate voting days as early as 1771 in Hartford. The cakes also were served to area farmers who descended upon towns for mandatory military practice. Hence the name muster cakes. As were all cakes baked during Colonial times, muster cakes were yeast-leavened and baked in brick fireplace ovens.

first appeared: 11/19/2006

—In 1786, Connecticut agreed to cede to Congress all the land west of its current boundary except for a multimillion-acre tract in northeastern Ohio, known as the Connecticut Western Reserve. The land became part of Ohio Territory in 1800.

first appeared: 11/5/2006

—During his 17-year major league baseball career, centerfielder Jimmy Piersall of Waterbury won two Gold Glove awards and led the American League in doubles with the Boston Red Sox in 1956. The movie and book Fear Strikes Out was based on his battle with mental illness.

first appeared: 10/22/2006

—Numerous species of wading birds, shorebirds, songbirds and terns descend annually to rest, feed and nest on the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge, headquartered in Westbrook (pop. 6,292). Located in the Atlantic Flyway, the refuge includes more than 800 acres of barrier beach, tidal wetland and fragile island habitats.

first appeared: 10/8/2006

The Hyland House in Guilford (pop. 21,398) was built between 1690 and 1710 by sheep farmer George Hyland. In 1916, the house, scheduled for demolition, was purchased by the Dorothy Whitfield Society and later restored. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the house features five fireplaces and a collection of 17th- and 18th-century furniture and decorative arts.

first appeared: 9/24/2006

Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Jim Murray of Hartford, considered one of the 20th century's top sportswriters, began his career at the New Haven Register. He was a staffer for Sports Illustrated and wrote several thousand columns for the Los Angeles Times from 1961 until his death in 1998.

first appeared: 9/10/2006

Nearly 1,000 residents of Simsbury (pop. 23,234) served in the Revolutionary War. Of that number, 100 were engaged in the Battle of Bunker Hill.

first appeared: 8/27/2006

The first law in Connecticut requiring the branding of livestock was passed in the 1640s and dictated that farmers mark their cattle and pigs with a registered brand or earmark.

first appeared: 8/13/2006

The marketing of seeds in packets was a Shaker innovation begun in Enfield (pop. 45,212) in 1802. Demand was so great that Shakers began contracting with local farmers to grow seed to be sold under the Enfield Shaker label.

first appeared: 7/30/2006

The Old Drake Hill Bridge in Simsbury (pop. 23,234), originally built in 1892, was replaced in 1992 with a more modern structure. In 1996, a public/private partnership began creating gardens on and around the bridge by using planters and hanging baskets. The approaches to the bridge were developed as perennial gardens.

first appeared: 7/16/2006

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