The
Dutch navigator, Adriaen Block, was the first European of record to explore
the area, sailing up the Connecticut River in 1614. In 1633, Dutch colonists built
a fort and trading post near present-day Hartford but soon lost control to English
Puritans from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. English settlements established in
the 1630s at Windsor, Wethersfield, and Hartford united in 1639 to form the Connecticut
Colony under the Fundamental Orders, the first modern constitution.
Connecticut
played a prominent role in the Revolutionary War, serving as the Continental Army's
major supplier. Sometimes called the “Arsenal of the Nation,” the state
became one of the most industrialized in the nation.
Today,
Connecticut factories produce weapons, sewing machines, jet engines, helicopters,
motors, hardware and tools, cutlery, clocks, locks, silverware, and submarines.
Hartford has the oldest U.S. newspaper still being published—the Hartford
Courant, established 1764—and is the insurance capital of the nation.
Connecticut
leads New England in the production of eggs, pears, peaches, and mushrooms, and
its oyster crop is the nation's second largest. Poultry and dairy products also
account for a large portion of farm income.
Connecticut
is a popular resort area with its 250-mile Long Island Sound shoreline and many
inland lakes. Among the major points of interest are Yale University's Gallery
of Fine Arts and Peabody Museum. Other famous museums include the P. T. Barnum,
Winchester Gun, and American Clock and Watch. The town of Mystic features a re-created
19th-century New England seaport and the Mystic Marinelife Aquarium.
Coming!
See
more on Connecticut: Encyclopedia: Connecticut Encyclopedia: Geography Encyclopedia:
Economy Encyclopedia: Government Encyclopedia: History Monthly Temperature
Extremes
Selected
famous natives and residents:
Dean Acheson statesman; Ethan Allan
American Revolutionary soldier; Benedict Arnold American Revolutionary general;
P. T. Barnum showman; Henry Ward Beecher clergyman; John Brown abolitionist;
Prudence Crandell educator and reformer; Oliver Ellsworth jurist; Eileen
Farrell soprano; Charles Goodyear inventor; Nathan Hale American Revolutionary
officer; Dorothy Hamill ice skater; Katharine Hepburn actress; Charles
Ives composer; Edwin H. Land inventor; John Pierpont Morgan financier;
Frederick Law Olmsted landscape designer; Rosa Ponselle soprano; Adam
Clayton Powell, Jr. congressman; Benjamin Spock pediatrician; Harriet
Beecher Stowe author; Mark Twain author; Morris R. Waite jurist; Noah
Webster lexicographer.
Capital:
Hartford
State
abbreviation/Postal code: Conn./CT
Governor:
M. Jodi Rell,1 R (to Jan. 2007)
Lieut.
Governor: Kevin Sullivan,2 D (to Jan. 2007)
Senators:
Christopher J. Dodd, D (to Jan. 2011); Joseph I. Lieberman, D (to Jan. 2007)
U.S.
Representatives: 5
Secy.
of the State: Susan Bysiewicz, D (to Jan. 2007)
Treasurer:
Denise Nappier, D (to Jan. 2007)
Atty.
General: Richard Blumenthal, D (to Jan. 2007)
Entered
Union (rank): Jan. 9, 1788 (5)
Present
constitution adopted: Dec. 30, 1965
Motto:
Qui transtulit sustinet (He who transplanted still sustains)
State
symbols: flower mountain laurel (1907) tree white oak (1947) animal
sperm whale (1975) bird American robin (1943) hero Nathan Hale (1985)
heroine Prudence Crandall (1995) insect praying mantis (1977) mineral
garnet (1977) song “Yankee Doodle” (1978) ship USS Nautilus
(1983) shellfish eastern oyster (1989) fossil Eubrontes Giganteus (1991)
composer Charles Edward Ives (1991)
Nickname:
Constitution State (official, 1959); Nutmeg State
Origin
of name: From an Indian word (Quinnehtukqut) meaning “beside the long
tidal river”
10
largest cities (2003 est.): Bridgeport, 139,664; New Haven, 124,512; Hartford,
124,387; Stamford, 120,107; Waterbury, 108,130; Norwalk, 84,170; Danbury, 77,353;
New Britain, 71,572; Greenwich, 61,972; West Hartford, 61,424
Land
area: 4,844 sq mi. (12,545 sq km)
Geographic
center: In Hartford Co., at East Berlin
Number
of counties: 8
Largest
county by population and area: Fairfield, 903,291 (2004); Litchfield, 920
sq mi.
State
forests: 32 (170,000 ac.)
State
parks: 93 (32,960 ac.)
Residents:
Connecticuter; Nutmegger
2004
resident population est.: 3,503,604
2000
resident census population (rank): 3,405,565 (29). Male: 1,649,319 (48.4%);
Female: 1,756,246 (51.6%). White: 2,780,355 (81.6%); Black: 309,843 (9.1%); American
Indian: 9,639 (0.3%); Asian: 82,313 (2.4%); Other race: 147,201 (4.3%); Two or
more races: 74,848 (2.2%); Hispanic/Latino: 320,323 (9.4%). 2000 percent population
18 and over: 75.3; 65 and over: 13.8; median age: 37.4.
1.
John Rowland resigned in June 2004 and in April 2005 went to prison on corruption
charges. Rell was the lieutenant governor. 2. Sullivan was the Connecticut
Senate president.
