Some People Don't Know These 10 Things Came From Connecticut
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Taylor Ellis
Author
Have you ever invented anything? If you have, you know how amazing it feels to create something new. But what if your creation went on to be used in households all over the world? Connecticut’s residents have invented some pretty great stuff over the years that still get a lot of use. Think you know what stuff got its start in Connecticut?
Connecticut is "The Constitution State" for a reason. Their Fundamental Orders, established January 1639, was the first written constitution in North America, and came more than a hundred years before the U.S. constitution. Connecticut is also the first state to have speeding laws. So I guess we're really into order.
Boston claims to have the first public library in the U.S., established in 1848. But New Haven had a municipal library bequeathed to them in 1656. To boot, Noah Webster of Webster's Dictionary is from West Hartford. So Connecticut has the market on educational tools.
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In 1846, anesthesia was introduced by dentist Horace Wells in Hartford. I bet that came in handy when the first successful artificial heart was installed just under 150 years later (by Robert Jarvik in Connecticut).
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Now a staple of american food, the burger was invented in 1900 at Louis Lunch in New Haven. This is no surprise coming from the state that is also thought to be home to the first cookbook!
Or as you might say, suckers. George Smith invented these in the 1880s. He was inspired by chocolate on a stick and thought it would make hard candies easier to eat.
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This tool has evolved over time, but credit for the first one goes to Ezra Warner of Waterbury, who invented it in 1858. This is crazy when you consider canned food started almost 50 years earlier. That must have been such a hassle!
Another invention to make life easier! This small piece of machinery was introduced in Hartford in 1905.
You ever wonder why it's not just called a flying disk? Because it's named after Frisbie's Pies in Connecticut, which provided a lot of fun for college students when it was discovered their pie tins could be thrown around. Yale has argued they founded the game on their campus first, but that has yet to be confirmed.
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TV used to be a little box. A 23 inch screen was considered giant. And until 1948, they were all black and white. Connecticut would raise the bar again in 1979 when Bristol based ESPN debuted as the first all-sports channel.
WDRC in Hartford began broadcasting in 1939, making them the first FM radio station. So next time you're driving to work and rocking out to your favorite FM station, remember that all started in good old Connecticut.
Life would be a pretty different place (and probably much more boring) without these cool things. How many did you already know about?
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