Connecticut: The Place of Weird Firsts
Even though Connecticut is still technically the fifth state of the U.S., we have celebrated a lot of firsts since 1788.
1705: Copper was discovered in Simsbury and created the first copper coinage in America in 1737
1728: First steel mill operating in America
1771: U.S.’s oldest public library began
1807: West Hartford is the birthplace of Noah Webster, the author of the first dictionary published
1809: Mary Kies of South Killingly was the first woman to receive a U.S. patent for a method of weaving straw with silk
1810: First publicly supported free town library in the U.S.
1832: First expert in the treatment of Asiatic cholera was a professor at Yale Medical School, Dr. Henry Bronson
1834: First friction matches made by Thomas Sanford in Beacon Falls
1836: First manufacturing of the safety fuse in Simsbury
1878: First telephone book ever issued. It contained only fifty names
1878: 21 venturous citizens of New Haven became the world’s first subscribers to telephone exchange service
1895: First hamburger
1901: First automobile law passed. The speed limit was set at 12 miles an hour
1908: First lollipop-making machine opened for business in New Haven.
1934: First Polaroid camera
1937: First state to issue permanent license plates for cars
1939: First helicopter
1948: First color television