Today in Connecticut History

Today in 1901, Connecticut became the first state in America to pass a law governing the speed of automobiles. According to the new law, cars were not to exceed 12 miles per hour within city limits and 15 miles per hour on rural or suburban roads, and were required to slow down whenever they approached an intersection. Since automobiles were still vastly outnumbered by horse...

Today in 1823, the first classes were held at the Hartford Female Seminary, a revolutionary new school for girls founded by author and education pioneer Catharine Beecher.

Born into the wealthy and influential Beecher family in 1800, Catharine Beecher wholly d...

Today in 1918, one of America’s greatest and most colorful World War I flying aces was killed in France. Raoul Lufbery, a proud Franco-American and former Wallingford resident, died after his plane was fired on by a German triplane during an aerial dogfight.

Born in France in 1885 to a French mother and American father, Lufbery led an adventurous, itinerant l...

Today in 1975, American composer and longtime Connecticut resident Leroy Anderson passed away in his Woodbury home. Famous for whimsical and catchy orchestral pieces, such as the perennial Christmastime favorite”Sleigh Ride,” “The Syncopated Clock,” and “Blue Tango,”  Anderson’s compositions helped define popular music of mid-20th century America. Fellow compos...

Today in 2008, hundreds gathered at Patriots Park in Coventry, Connecticut to attend the unveiling of the first monument to honor all 612 Connecticans who lost their lives during the Vietnam War.

The movement to establish the handsome, black granite monument began as part of a classroom project by students at Coventry’s Captain Nathan Hale Middle School in 20...