Connecticut History Trivia

1. The origin of the controversy about Connecticut's borders came from its English colonial charter, which was reissued by King Charles II in 1662. What were the borders in Connecticut's new charter?

From Quiz Connecticut's Western Reserve

Answer: One degree of latitude

In 1662, Connecticut's new charter combined the New Haven Colony (capital: New Haven) and the Connecticut Colony (capital: Hartford). The new charter granted Connecticut the land between 41 degrees and 42 degrees (which in practice became 42 degrees 2 minutes) north latitude, although the grant did not include the land that was expressly claimed by the Dutch as New Netherland (later New York). The grant ran all the way to the "South Sea", now known as the Pacific Ocean, so Connecticut claimed the land between those lines of latitude all the way across the continent. This is the charter that Connecticut lawmakers reportedly hid in the Charter Oak in Hartford in 1687 to prevent a representative of King James II (who was trying to revoke the charter to incorporate all of the colonies along the Atlantic coast east of the Delaware River into a dominion called "New England") from reclaiming it. The "Glorious Revolution" of 1688 that overthrow King James II ended that bid.

From Quiz Exploring Connecticut

Answer: steel mill

Though apparently not a large mill, American steel was first produced in Connecticut. Steel making at the time was a slow and costly procedure, so most of the steel produced was used to make expensive items, such as knives and swords.

From Quiz Connecticut Emblems

Answer: Praying Mantis

The praying mantis was adopted as the state insect in 1977.

From Quiz Connecticut's Western Reserve

Answer: Pennsylvania

After England's defeat of the Dutch and conquest of New Netherland, King Charles II expressly granted some of the prior Dutch-claimed land that was not in New York to William Penn in 1681 for the colony of Pennsylvania. Because of overlap in the royal grants, both Connecticut and Pennsylvania claimed the northern half of the current state of Pennsylvania, especially the Wyoming Valley area. Both states settled it in the mid-1700s, and Connecticut settlers founded the town of Wilkes-Barre in 1769. Connecticut considered the land to be "Westmoreland County" and gave it a representative in the state legislature. Three times between 1769 and 1784, the rival settlers fought wars that became known as the "Pennamite-Yankee Wars" (Yankees being the Connecticut settlers), and Yankee settlers were also massacred by natives in the Wyoming Valley during the American Revolution. In 1782, the Continental Congress awarded the Wyoming Valley land to Pennsylvania under the "Trenton Decree" (which also included a proviso that it would have no impact on the settlers' land titles), but Pennsylvania's brutal attempt to evict the Yankee settlers in 1784 (on behalf of Pennsylvania land speculators) led to the Third Pennamite-Yankee War, which even turned Pennsylvanians against the Pennamites.

From Quiz What Happened In Connecticut?

Answer: Newgate Prison

"This establishment is designed to be, for all its arrangements, an object of terror, and everything is accordingly contrived, to make the life endured in it as burdensome and miserable as possible." This was British traveler Edward Kendall's grim assessment in 1807 of Newgate Prison in East Granby, Connecticut.

From Quiz Exploring Connecticut

Answer: F4U Corsair

The Corsair was designed and produced by the Chance Vaught Corporation of East Hartford. It became one of the best fighter aircraft used by the U.S. Navy in World War II. There was such a demand for the plane that two other companies were authorized to produce it. The plane was powered by a Pratt & Whitney 2,000 horsepower engine, also made in East Hartford. Also used in the Korean war, over 12,000 Corsairs were produced. Connecticut's state legislature named it the state airplane in 2005.

From Quiz Connecticut Emblems

Answer: Sperm Whale

Sperm whales were hunted for their blubber, meat and ivory by sailors from New London, Mystic and other ports in the 1800s. Today they are on the endangered species list.

From Quiz Connecticut's Western Reserve

Answer: New Connecticut

Although the United States Congress demanded that each of the states surrender its western claims to the government in return for the United States agreeing to pay its Revolutionary War debts, Connecticut - as a result of the Third Pennamite-Yankee War - wanted to sue Pennsylvania under the Articles of Confederation to reverse the "Trenton Decree", which Pennsylvania hadn't followed. To resolve this, Pennsylvania and Connecticut agreed that Connecticut would surrender its claims in Pennsylvania (but that land ownership under those claims would be respected by Pennsylvania) if it were granted a portion of the Ohio territory, beginning at the Pennsylvania border, between the same lines of latitude (41 and 42 degrees north). This reserve would approximately equal the size of the disputed Wyoming Valley lands. The risk to the "perpetual union" among the states posed by the threatened lawsuit persuaded Congress to agree. The name "New Connecticut", originally assigned to Connecticut's claim to Vermont, was reused for the new western Connecticut territory. However, New Connecticut was technically just part of Connecticut, and its residents were residents of Connecticut.

From Quiz What Happened In Connecticut?

Answer: The world's first working manned submarine.

The submarine was fashioned from two large pieces of oak fitted together and held tight by iron bands. A coat of tar made it watertight. Because the craft resembled two turtle shells fashioned together, Bushnell's friends nicknamed it "The Turtle".

From Quiz Exploring Connecticut

Answer: Pequot War

The first armed confrontation between natives and settlers, the Pequot War lasted from 1634 to 1638. Connecticut and Saybrook Colony soldiers, along with colonists from Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth colonies fought the Pequots and their allies, the Narragansetts and Mohegans. The Pequots were overwhelmingly defeated; there were so few left they were no longer a viable tribe. It took them over 350 years to regain economic and social power.

From Quiz Connecticut Emblems

Answer: Nathan Hale

Nathan Hale was a hero of the Revolutionalry War. He said, 'I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.'

From Quiz What Happened In Connecticut?

Answer: dark

Friday, May 19th, 1780 dawned partly cloudy with light rain showers. Darkness first appeared at 8:00 AM and by 11:00 the sky was so dark birds returned to their roosts and people had to light candles to prepare the midday meal. The sky began to clear at 2:00 PM and people were able to return to their activities. No satisfactory explanation was ever found and many feared that the Judgement Day was upon them.

From Quiz Exploring Connecticut

Answer: it became a prison

Copper was discovered in Simsbury. Mining took place from 1707 to 1745 in nearby East Granby. The tunnel complex was then turned into Newgate Prison, named after Newgate Prison in London. Besides local criminals, it housed Loyalists and British prisoners during the American Revolution. The prisoners simply called the place "hell".

From Quiz Connecticut's Western Reserve

Answer: Native American raids

Some Native American tribes (Wyandotte, Delaware, Chippewa, and Ottawa) had signed a treaty at Fort McIntosh (present-day Beaver, Pennsylvania) in 1785 to permit the settlement of New Connecticut and neighboring lands. However, the Spanish, the French, and especially the British objected to the spread of American settlers, but none of them were willing to commit their own troops to prevent it. Instead, their agents stoked the grievances of other Native American tribes, particularly the Shawnee, which led to the Northwest Indian War (1785-95), also known as the Ohio War. Not until United States victory in that war was confirmed by 1795's Treaty of Greenville, which extinguished most of the native claims in New Connecticut and surrounding areas, could the Western Reserve safely be settled.

From Quiz What Happened In Connecticut?

Answer: Cookbook

Simmons' "American Cookery", published in Hartford, CT in 1796 was the first compilation of recipes and culinary advice written by an American to meet the unique needs of the new nation's kitchens. Recipes included the use of corn, pumpkin and turkey, items previously unknown to Old World cooks.

From Quiz Exploring Connecticut

Answer: Mount Frissel

While the tallest peak in Connecticut is Bear Mountain, the highest elevation is the slope of Mount Frissel at 2,380 ft (725 m). The peak of the mountain, 2,453 ft (747 m) is in Massachusetts. Lefty? William "Lefty" Frizzell was an American country music singer.

From Quiz Connecticut Emblems

Answer: Prudence Crandall

Prudence Crandall was socially ostracized after opening a private academy for young Negro women.

From Quiz What Happened In Connecticut?

Answer: Perkin's Tractors

Comprised of two short metal rods of dissimilar metal, Perkin's Tractors claimed to eliminate even severe pain and cure a variety of diseases simply by drawing them across the afflicted area! Thousands swore by them and they were sold on both sides of the Atlantic until skeptics finally succeeded in debunking them.

From Quiz Exploring Connecticut

Answer: minting coins

A physician and blacksmith, in 1728 Dr. Higley was appointed by the Connecticut government to be the exclusive steel maker in the state for ten years. As his commission drew to a close he used his knowledge of steel to make dies to strike coins, made of copper, which he mined on his own property. They were not an official colony coin, more of a local barter item. There are few remaining examples since most were apparently melted down for their high copper content.

From Quiz Connecticut Emblems

Answer: Robin

The robin cecame Connecticut's state bird in 1943.

From Quiz What Happened In Connecticut?

Answer: Lee's Windham Bilious Pills

Two centuries ago "biliousness" was the catchall diagnosis for a broad variety of gastrointestinal ailments, from constipation to appendicitis. For generations of Americans, the cure-all for this silly sounding condition, as well as an assortment of other ailments, was the first ever medicament patented in the United States - pills formulated by Dr. Samuel Lee Jr. of Windham Ct., Lee's Windham Bilious Pills.

From Quiz Exploring Connecticut

Answer: Mum City

At one time, chrysanthemums were a major part of Bristol's economy. At their height of popularity, over 80,000 were produced yearly and sold all over the U.S. and into Canada. The Bristol Mum Festival has been ongoing since 1963, although in 2014, with mums accounting for less of the city's income, the city council decided to seek a new image.

From Quiz Connecticut Emblems

Answer: Yankee Doodle & Yankee Doodle Dandy

Yankee Doodle reminds us of the important role Connecticut played during the Revolutionary War.

From Quiz Connecticut's Western Reserve

Answer: Moses Cleaveland

Cleaveland was one of the investors in the Connecticut Land Company, and his mission was to survey the land from the Cuyahoga River east to the Pennsylvania border, as well as to repel or buy off any renegade natives (which proved to be necessary). He chose to survey 25-square-mile township tracts instead of the 36-square-mile tracts that were standard under the Land Ordnance of 1785, which he could legally do because the land was part of the state of Connecticut, not a territory of the United States. He also founded a settlement at the Cuyahoga River harbor named Cleaveland after himself, although the first "a" in his name was later dropped from the settlement's name for unknown reasons. His group further established the settlement of Port Independence (now Conneaut) along Lake Erie before they reached the Cuyahoga.

From Quiz What Happened In Connecticut?

Answer: He mass produced clocks on an assembly line with interchangable parts

Just two centuries ago, clocks were made one at a time using a process that could take months just to produce one clock. Owning a clock back then was a symbol of prosperity and clocks were taxed as luxury items. Eli Terry revolutionized the clock making industry by assembling clocks on a production line using interchangeable parts. His method lowered the cost of clocks to the point where most anyone could afford to own one.

From Quiz Exploring Connecticut

Answer: first automobile law

Worried about drivers controlling the new horseless carriages, Connecticut passed a law setting the speed limit for automobiles at 12 miles per hour in cities and 15 miles per hour in the countryside. Drivers were also cautioned to slow down, or stop completely, around horses. In 1937, Connecticut became the first state to issue permanent license plates.

From Quiz Connecticut Emblems

Answer: White Oak & Charter Oak & The White Oak & The Charter Oak

Connecticut's original charter was hidden inside a white oak to keep it from the king's men. It became known as the Charter Oak.

From Quiz Connecticut's Western Reserve

Answer: Warren

All of New Connecticut was designated as Trumbull County (named after then-Connecticut governor Jonathan Trumbull Jr.), and it needed an administrative center, referred to as either a capital or a county seat. However, because of continuing tensions with both the British and the natives, the Connecticut authorities felt that an inland settlement such as Warren, which wouldn't be vulnerable to sea raids, would be a safer location than a port settlement such as the other three choices. Warren had been founded by Ephraim Quimby, who purchased the land from the Connecticut Land Company and named the town after its surveyor, Moses Warren. Today, Warren is still the county seat of the realigned (and much smaller) Trumbull County in Ohio.

From Quiz What Happened In Connecticut?

Answer: Vulcanized Rubber

1n 1834, a hardware store owner, Charles Goodyear became obsessed with a substance called "Gum Elastic", or "India Rubber". Charles realized that whoever could unlock the secret to making this substance stable would be rewarded with fame and fortune. Five years later in 1839, Charles accidentally brushed against a hot stove a concoction of India rubber, sulfur and white lead. The resulting compound became what we call today "vulcanized rubber". Charles never lived long enough to profit from his discovery. He died $200,000 in debt in 1860. His invention, however, lives on in its many forms including the tires we use on our vehicles.

From Quiz Exploring Connecticut

Answer: dinosaurs

Many dinosaur fossils have been found in the Connecticut River Valley. In 1966, a bulldozer operator excavating for a new state government building in Rock Hill uncovered hundreds of dinosaur tracks. The state authorized Dinosaur State Park to be built around the site and currently about 500 tracks are visible in a geodesic dome. Many more are covered for preservation. They date to the Jurassic period, about 200 million years ago. The tracks belong to the Eubrontes, which has become the state fossil.

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