10 Random Facts You Always Wanted10 Random Facts You Always WantedTo Know About Connecticut But WereTo Know About Connecticut But Were

Afraid To Afraid To AskBy Sean Maloney

Images courtesy of (L-R) Google.com, Flickr.com, Stamfordplus.com

Image courtesy of Wikimedia.org

1. State Insect

Massachusetts has its ladybug. Mainehas its honey bee. But Connecticut hasthe praying mantis as its state insect.State entomologist Kirby Stafford callsthis bug an exotic rather than a native.

“School kids back in 1977 petitioned toget the mantis because it wasglamorous. Otherwise, we would havethe lady beetle,” Stafford says.

Poor Rhode Island. They don’t evenhave a state insect.

Image courtesy of Sureck/New York Times

2. Same-Sex Marriage

Did you know Connecticut is the secondstate, after Massachusetts, to recognizelegally marriage equality?

The Connecticut Department of PublicHealth has compiled data showing 3,315same-sex couples have tied the knotin the state since the law went into effect in November, 2008.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia.org

3. The Hartford Courant

Connecticut is a state with a lot offirsts - submarine, pay phone and hamburger.

It also can claim first newspaperwith The Hartford Courant whichwas first published on Oct. 29,1764.

Image courtesy of Hartford.gov

4. Witches

Speaking of firsts, the first personto be executed for suspectedwitchcraft was not in Salem, Mass.

According to Trinity Collegeprofessor Judy Dworin, AliceYoung of Windsor, Conn., washanged in 1647 on what is nowthe site of the Old State Houseon Main Street.

“There were 14 convictions and 11executions in Connecticut,” Dworinsays.

Legislation, known as Resolution 26,exonerating the accused is beforethe General Assembly says Dworin.

Map of Connecticut state prisons courtesyof Wikipedia.org

5. The Death Penalty

Connecticut does have a deathpenalty.

There are currently 10 inmates ondeath row. All are male. All arehoused at the Northern CorrectionalInstitution in Somers.

Inmates on death row cost the state’s taxpayers the same as aninmate in the general population -$92.35 per day.

Map of Freedom Trail courtesy of FarmingtonHistorical Society

6. The Underground Railroad

Freedom was something taken veryseriously by Connecticut Abolitionists.

Farmington, a suburb of Hartford, is well-known for its UndergroundRailroad.

“The town was a hub for transportingslaves to Canada because of itsproximity to New Haven and pointsnorth,” says Jean Pickens, presidentof the Farmington Historical Society.

The society provides tours of therailroad that are part of the ConnecticutFreedom Trail.

“It’s quite fascinating to see thecubbyholes near chimneys whereslaves were hidden from prying eyesin some of these stately homes,”Pickens says.

Image of Middlebury, Conn., barncourtesy of Cttrust.org

7. Connecticut Farms

Connecticut’s history is steepedin farming. During the RevolutionaryWar, the state was known as theProvision State because of the steady supply of farm goods itprovided to the soldiers.

With the advent of the Industrial Era,farming in the state naturallydeclined. According to the U.S. Dept.of Agriculture’s 2007 census, only13.1 percent of Connecticut’s landis now used for farming.

Bespoke, New Haven, Conn.,image courtesy of Sullivan/New York Times

8. Dining Out In 1986, Connecticut starteda program called ConnecticutGrown to emphasize theimportance of locally farmedfood.

An offshoot of ConnecticutGrown is the Farm to Chefprogram where Connecticutrestaurants are proactive inthe serving of foods fromneighboring farms.

In 2007, there were almost7,000 eating and drinkingbusinesses in the stateaccording to the NationalRestaurant Association.

Image of Madison, Conn., beachcourtesy of City-data.com

9. Connecticut Coastline

The state has over 1,000 miles ofsaltwater coastline according to theConnecticut Dept. of EnvironmentalProtection.

Up and down Long Island Sound,numerous Connecticut oysterfarmers tend to their bounty.

Linda Piotrowicz at the state’s Dept.of Agriculture says Connecticutleases beds of the ocean floorwhere oysters are grown for eating.

“The farmers have to renew everythree years,” Piotrowicz says.

Fishing and shellfish farming areknown as aquaculture.

Image of Kleen Energy plant courtesyof Daricek/Hartford Courant

10. Construction Disasters

Connecticut is not immune fromnatural or man-made disasters.The Kleen Energy plant explosionin Middletown on Feb. 7, 2010claimed the lives of six men makingit the second worse constructiondisaster in the state.

The L’Ambiance Plaza collapse inBridgeport killed 28 workers in 1987while the Mianus River bridgetragedy in Greenwich killed threemotorists in 1983.