Portal:Connecticut
The Connecticut Portal
Connecticut (/kəˈnɛtɪkət/ kə-NET-ik-ət) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capital is Hartford, and its most populous city is Bridgeport. Connecticut lies between the major hubs of New York City and Boston along the Northeast Corridor, where the New York-Newark Combined Statistical Area, which includes four of Connecticut's seven largest cities, extends into the southwestern part of the state. Connecticut is the third-smallest state by area after Rhode Island and Delaware, and the 29th most populous with slightly more than 3.6 million residents as of 2020, ranking it fourth among the most densely populated U.S. states.
The state is named after the Connecticut River, the longest in New England, which roughly bisects the state and drains into the Long Island Sound between the towns of Old Saybrook and Old Lyme. The name of the river is in turn derived from anglicized spellings of Quinnetuket, a Mohegan-Pequot word for "long tidal river". Before the arrival of the first European settlers, the region was inhabited by various Algonquian tribes. In 1633, the Dutch West India Company established a small, short-lived settlement called House of Hope in Hartford. Half of Connecticut was initially claimed by the Dutch colony New Netherland, which included much of the land between the Connecticut and Delaware Rivers, although the first major settlements were established by the English around the same time. Thomas Hooker led a band of followers from the Massachusetts Bay Colony to form the Connecticut Colony, while other settlers from Massachusetts founded the Saybrook Colony and the New Haven Colony; both merged into the former by 1664.
Connecticut's official nickname, the "Constitution State", refers to the Fundamental Orders adopted by the Connecticut Colony in 1639, which is considered by some to be the first written constitution in Western history. As one of the Thirteen Colonies that rejected British rule during the American Revolution, Connecticut was influential in the development of the federal government of the United States. In 1787, Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth, state delegates to the Constitutional Convention, proposed a compromise between the Virginia and New Jersey Plans; its bicameral structure for Congress, with a respectively proportional and equal representation of the states in the House of Representatives and Senate, was adopted and remains to this day. In January 1788, Connecticut became the fifth state to ratify the Constitution. (Full article...)
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Hurricane Gloria was a powerful hurricane that caused significant damage along the east coast of the United States and in Atlantic Canada during the 1985 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the first significant tropical cyclone to strike the northeastern United States since Hurricane Agnes in 1972 and the first major storm to affect New York City and Long Island directly since Hurricane Donna in 1960. Gloria was a Cape Verde hurricane originating from a tropical wave on September 16 in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. After remaining a weak tropical cyclone for several days, Gloria intensified into a hurricane on September 22 north of the Lesser Antilles. During that time, the storm had moved generally westward, although it turned to the northwest due to a weakening of the ridge. Gloria quickly intensified on September 24, and the next day reached peak winds of 145 mph (233 km/h). The hurricane weakened before striking the Outer Banks of North Carolina on September 27. Later that day, Gloria made two subsequent landfalls on Long Island and across the coastline of western Connecticut, before becoming extratropical on September 28 over New England. The remnants moved through Atlantic Canada and went on to impact Western Europe, eventually dissipating on October 4.
Before Gloria made landfall, the National Hurricane Center issued hurricane warnings at some point for the East Coast of the United States from South Carolina to Maine. Hundreds of thousands of people evacuated, and the hurricane was described as the "storm of the century." In general, Gloria's strongest winds remained east of the center, which largely spared locations from North Carolina to New Jersey, and the passage at low tide reduced storm surge. Hurricane-force winds and gusts affected much of the path, which knocked down trees and power lines. This left over 4 million people without power, causing the worst power outage in Connecticut history related to a natural disaster. Fallen trees caused six of the storm's fourteen deaths. (Full article...)
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Pequot War of 1637 (from History of Connecticut) -
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School zones generally have a speed limit of 25 mph. (from Transportation in Connecticut) -
The Charter Oak in Hartford (from History of Connecticut) -
Map showing the Connecticut, New Haven, and Saybrook colonies and the CT-NY dispute (from History of Connecticut) -
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A map showing Connecticut's land claims. (from History of Connecticut) -
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Governor Jonathan Trumbull (from History of Connecticut) -
The New Haven system (from History of Connecticut) -
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1895 map from Rand McNally (from History of Connecticut) -
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A 1942 advertisement for recreational lodging in Goshen stating that the facility is not a hotel and caters to Christian clientele specifically. (from History of Connecticut) -
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Map of Connecticut showing major highways. (from Transportation in Connecticut) -
Some bridges on the Merritt Parkway were constructed by workers paid by the US Works Progress Administration (from History of Connecticut) -
A map showing Connecticut's towns in 1770. (from History of Connecticut)
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State facts
- Nicknames: The Provisions State, The Land of Steady Habits, The Constitution State, The Nutmeg State
- Capital: Hartford
- Governor: Ned Lamont (D)
- Lieutenant Governor: Susan Bysiewicz (D)
- Secretary of State: Stephanie Thomas (D)
- Attorney General: William Tong (D)
- Senators: Chris Murphy (D), Richard Blumenthal (D)
- Representatives: Jahana Hayes (D), Jim Himes (D), Joe Courtney (D), John B. Larson (D), Rosa DeLauro (D)
- Total area: 5,543 mi2
- Land: 4,845 mi2
- Water: 698 mi2
- Highest elevation: 2,379 ft (Mount Frissell)
- Population 3,576,452 (2015 est)
- Admission to the Union: January 9, 1788 (5th)
State symbols:
- Animal: Sperm whale
- Bird: American Robin
- Fish: American Shad
- Flower: Mountain Laurel
- Fossil: Dinosaur Track
- Insect: European Praying Mantis
- Ship: USS Nautilus (SSN-571)
- Songs: Yankee Doodle
- Tree: Charter Oak
- Mineral: Almandine
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The first confirmed case of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. state of Connecticut was confirmed on March 8, although there had previously been multiple people suspected of having COVID-19, all of which eventually tested negative. As of January 19, 2022[update], there were 599,028 confirmed cases, 68,202 suspected cases, and 9,683 COVID-associated deaths in the state.
As of January 17, 2022[update], 2,943,928 people (81.07% of the state's population) have received at least an initial dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 2,573,422 people (70.86% of the state's population) have been fully vaccinated. (Full article...)
Did you know? -
- ... that Cora Slocomb di Brazza designed the peace flag adopted by the International Council of Women, and her mother Abby Day Slocomb designed the Connecticut state flag?
- ... that a Connecticut radio station was "the loser in a survival-of-the-fittest battle"?
- ... that the directors of the Dutchess and Columbia Railroad stole back the railroad from a bankrupt lessee?
- ... that a Connecticut radio station left the FM band for good after it was out of service for a week and only one person wrote a letter to complain?
- ... that a variety of the Connecticut field pumpkin is known as "the original commercial jack-o'-lantern pumpkin"?
- ... that a Connecticut TV station was dedicated to the state's first female governor, Ella Grasso, whose son was a minority owner?
In the news
- February 10: Disney to shut down Blue Sky Studios, animation studio behind 'Ice Age'
- October 17: Hundreds arrested for 'dark web' child porn by international task force
- October 3: World War II era plane crashes in Connecticut, US, killing at least seven
- February 21: Sixteen states sue U.S. President Trump to stop declaration of emergency for border wall
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WikiProject Connecticut • WikiProject Connecticut routes • WikiProject UCONN
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