Some Quick Facts About Connecticut

Statehood:  January 9, 1788 (5th state of the original 13 colonies)      
Population:  3,405,565 census.gov ; 29th, 12/00

Nickname"The Constitution State" was adopted by Act of the Legislature, 1959
Name Origin/Indian:  Quinnehtukqut -- Mohegan for "Long River Place" or "Beside the Long Tidal River"
State Motto:  Qui Transtulit Sustinet -- "He Who Transplanted Still Sustains"
Capital City is Hartford since 1875  More Facts from quick facts census

State Bird: The American Robin       State Animal:  Sperm Whale    
State Tree: White Oak   Quercus alba  (The Charter Oak) 

State Mineral:  Garnet     State insect: Praying Mantis       
State Flower: Mountain laurel   Kalmia latifolia

State Song:  Yankee Doodle        Highest Point: Mt. Fissel 2380 feet, 36th

Agriculture: Nursery stock, eggs, dairy products, cattle.
Industry: Transportation equipment, machinery, electric equipment, fabricated metal products, chemical products, scientific instruments.

The first English settlers of Connecticut arrived in 1636, settling the plantations of Windsor, Hartford and Wethersfield.
Connecticut is home to the oldest U.S. newspaper still being published: The Hartford Courant, established in 1764.
Connecticut is home to the first hamburger (1895) louis lunch.com, Polaroid camera (1934), 
helicopter (1939) and color television (1948).
First ice-making machine1853, First Submarine 1775
The first automobile law was passed by the state of CT in 1901. The speed limit was set at 12 miles per hour.
In 1937, Connecticut became the first state to issue permanent license plates for cars
In 1728, the first steel mill operating in America was located in Simsbury.
Wallingford has earned a worldwide reputation for the production of silverware
Thomas Sanford made the first friction matches in Beacon Falls in 1834
Connecticut was covered by two glaciations: 150,000 and 26,000 years ago
Dinosaur tracks in Rocky Hill were discovered in 1966
In colonial New Haven cut pumpkins were used as guides for haircuts to ensure a round uniform style. Because of this fashion, these New Englanders were nicknamed "pumpkin-heads."
Connecticut's jagged coastline is 254 miles long
Cattle branding in the United States began in Connecticut when farmers were required by law to mark all of their pigs.
All three rock types are found in Connecticut: Sedimentary, Metamorphic, and Igneous
In 1982 Connecticut was the first state in the country to open a materials recycling plant
The first Frisbee in 1920 Yale students discovered empty pie plates from Mrs. Frisbie Pies in Bridgeport could be sailed across the New Haven Green