Portal:Connecticut
The Connecticut Portal
Connecticut (/kəˈnɛtɪkət/ ⓘ kə-NET-ih-kət) 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 more than 3.6 million residents as of 2024, 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 had merged into the first 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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Karen Anne Carpenter (March 2, 1950 – February 4, 1983) was an American musician who was the lead vocalist and drummer of the highly successful duo the Carpenters, formed with her older brother Richard. With a distinctive three-octave contralto range, she was praised by her peers for her vocal skills. Carpenter's work continues to attract praise, including appearing on Rolling Stone's 2010 list of the 100 greatest singers of all time.
Carpenter was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and moved to Downey, California, in 1963 with her family. She began to study the drums in high school and joined the Long Beach State choir in college. After several years of touring and recording, the Carpenters were signed to A&M Records in 1969, when Karen was 19 years old. They achieved enormous commercial and critical success throughout the 1970s. Initially, Carpenter was the band's full-time drummer, but she gradually took the role of frontwoman as her drumming was reduced to a handful of live showcases or tracks on albums. (Full article...)
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The Charter Oak in Hartford (from History of Connecticut) -
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Governor Jonathan Trumbull (from History of Connecticut) -
A map showing Connecticut's towns in 1770. (from History of Connecticut) -
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Map showing the Connecticut, New Haven, and Saybrook colonies and the CT-NY dispute (from History of Connecticut) -
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The New Haven system (from History of Connecticut) -
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A map showing Connecticut's land claims. (from History of Connecticut) -
Pequot War of 1637 (from History of Connecticut) -
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1895 map from Rand McNally (from History of Connecticut) -
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The March Route of Rochambeau's Army: Reservoir Road in Newtown. Few roads surpassed this quality in Connecticut until the mid-1800s. (from Transportation in Connecticut) -
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School zones generally have a speed limit of 25 mph. (from Transportation in Connecticut) -
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A map of Connecticut featuring highways and major routes alongside airports, buses, ferries, and railways. (from Transportation in Connecticut) -
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Some bridges on the Merritt Parkway were constructed by workers paid by the US Works Progress Administration (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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The cover of the first timetable for Ridgefield to Branchville bus services (from Transportation in 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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Christopher John Dodd (born May 27, 1944) is an American lobbyist, lawyer, and Democratic Party politician who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1981 to 2011. Dodd is the longest-serving senator in Connecticut's history. He previously served in the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 1981.
Dodd is a Connecticut native and a graduate of Georgetown Preparatory School in Bethesda, Maryland, and Providence College. His father, Thomas J. Dodd, was also a United States Senator from 1959 to 1971. Chris Dodd served in the Peace Corps for two years prior to entering the University of Louisville School of Law, and during law school concurrently served in the United States Army Reserve. (Full article...)
Did you know? -
- ... that a variety of the Connecticut field pumpkin is known as "the original commercial jack-o'-lantern pumpkin"?
- ... 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 TV station was dedicated to the state's first female governor, Ella Grasso, whose son was a minority owner?
- ... 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 in 2023, Ralph Nader founded the newspaper Winsted Citizen in his hometown of Winsted, Connecticut, where he delivered papers as a boy?
- ... that the directors of the Dutchess and Columbia Railroad stole back the railroad from a bankrupt lessee?
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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