by Emily Crawford

Created on: August 21, 2008

Born and raised in Connecticut, I have always considered myself fairly knowledgeable about my state. I've even bragged about some of the fun historical nuggets that have helped define Connecticut's character throughout the years. For example, The Hartford Courant, delivered to my doorstep each morning, is the oldest continuously published newspaper in the country; PEZ candy is made in Orange; and Silly Putty was invented in New Haven and the man who introduced it to the world manufactured the "Real Solid Liquid" in North Branford and lived in a mansion in my childhood hometown of Madison until his death in 1976.

So, imagine my surprise the other day when I stumbled upon FunTrivia.com's "Little Known Connecticut Facts" quiz (http://www.funtrivia.com/playquiz.cfm?qid=54293) and answered only 60 percent of the questions correctly! I had absolutely no idea that Dr. Samuel Higly started the first copper coinage in America in Simsbury in 1737; that the first lollipop machine was used in Connecticut by George Smith in 1908 (he named it after a racehorse); or that Avery's Beverages in New Britain is the oldest soda bottling plant in New England - after 100 years, Avery's still uses real sugar, no corn syrup, and now features 35 flavors of soda. Its newest beverage line is "Totally Gross Soda," featuring six flavors, Swamp Juice, Toxic Slime, Dog Drool, Bug Barf, Kitty Piddle, and Monster Mucus. "These totally gross flavors are dedicated to the ten year old in all of us," reads Avery's web site. "They're SODAsgusting."

Discovering a side of Connecticut I never knew, I pondered what other hidden treasures I might uncover with just a smidge of investigation. It's times like these I truly relish how the Internet has enhanced my life. Here are a few of the gems I mined during a quick search:

- Dribbleglass.com ("The Internet's Official Humor Site") notes that a local ordinance in Atwoodville prohibits people from playing Scrabble while waiting for a politician to speak.
- Cattle branding in the United States began in Connecticut when farmers were required by law to mark all of their pigs.
- In Hartford, it is illegal to cross the street walking on your hands.
- In 1937, Connecticut became the first state to issue permanent license plates for cars.
- B.F. Clyde's Cider Mill in Mystic is the only steam-powered Cider Mill in the United States.

Though more commonly known, some key Connecticut facts worth mentioning include: the state's claim to fame as home to the first hamburger, the Polaroid camera, the helicopter, the Frisbee, Wiffleball, and the color television; the first nuclear submarine, "The Nautilus," was launched in Groton in 1954; the official state song is "Yankee Doodle;" and Ella Grasso, who became Governor of Connecticut in 1975, was the first woman elected governor of a state in her own right (in other words, without her husband preceding her in the governor's chair).

But, the story I love most is the legend of the Charter Oak, the tree memorialized on the Connecticut quarter. In 1687, 25 years after Connecticut received its Royal Charter from England's Charles II, James II tried to demand it back. During the chaos that ensued as Connecticut leaders and royal representatives debated the surrender of the charter, the document was successfully hidden in the hollow cavity in the trunk of an old white oak tree. The charter and the colonists' rights were saved. More than 150 years later, the tree was knocked down during a severe storm. Following formal mourning of the Charter Oak, a piece of its wood was made into a chair that today stands as the ceremonial seat of the president of the Connecticut Senate.

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