Adriaen Block, representing the Dutch, sails up the Connecticut River.  

1633

The Dutch erect a fort, the House of (Good) Hope, on the future site of Hartford.

1633

John Oldham and others explore and trade along the Connecticut River. Plymouth Colony sends William Holmes to found a trading post at Windsor.

1634

Wethersfield founded by colonists from Massachusetts.

1634

First English arrive in Windsor.

1635

Fort erected at Saybrook by Lion Gardiner.

1635

Group from Dorchester, Massachusetts, joins Windsor settlement.

1636

Thomas Hooker and company journey from Newtown (Cambridge), Massachusetts, to found Hartford.

1637

Pequot War.

1638

New Haven Colony established by John Davenport and Theophilus Eaton.

1639

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut adopted by Freemen of Hartford, Wethersfield, and Windsor; John Haynes chosen first Governor.

1639

Henry Whitfield House, Guilford, oldest house in state, built.

1643

Connecticut joins in forming the New England Confederation.

1646

New London founded by John Winthrop, Jr.

1650

Code of laws drawn up by Roger Ludlow and adopted by legislature.

1662

John Winthrop, Jr. obtains a charter for Connecticut.

1665

Union of New Haven and Connecticut Colonies completed.

1665

The first division of any Connecticut town--Lyme's separation from Saybrook.

1675-76

Connecticut participates in King Philip's War fought in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

1687

Andros assumes rule over Connecticut; Charter Oak episode occurs.

1689

Connecticut resumes government under charter.

1701

Collegiate School authorized by General Assembly.

1708

Saybrook Platform permits churches to join regional consociations or unions of churches.

1717

New Haven State House erected on the Green.

1717

Collegiate School moves to New Haven; called Yale the next year.

1740s

Height of religious "Great Awakening."

1745

Connecticut troops under Roger Wolcott help capture Louisburg.

1755

Connecticut Gazette of New Haven, the colony's first newspaper, printed by James Parker at New Haven.

1763

Brick State House erected on New Haven Green.

1764

Connecticut Courant, the oldest American newspaper in continuous existence to the present, launched at Hartford by Thomas Green.

1766

Governor Thomas Fitch who refused to reject the Stamp Act defeated by William Pitkin.

1767

Thomas and Samuel Green launch newspaper which after many changes becomes New Haven Journal-Courier.

1773

Old New-Gate Prison opens as Connecticut's first prison.

1774

Connecticut officially extends jurisdiction over Susquehanna Company area in Northern Pennsylvania.

1774

Silas Deane, Eliphalet Dyer, and Roger Sherman represent Connecticut at First Continental Congress.

1775

Several thousand militia rush to Massachusetts in "Lexington Alarm."

1775

Connecticut men help plan and carry out seizure of Ft. Ticonderoga.

1775

First gun powder mill in Connecticut started in East Hartford.

1776

Samuel Huntington, Roger Sherman, William Williams, and Oliver Wolcott sign the Declaration of Independence; large majority of Connecticut people under Governor Jonathan Trumbull support the Declaration.

1777

British troops under General Tryon raid Danbury.

1779

British troops under General Tryon raid New Haven, Fairfield, and Norwalk.

1781

Benedict Arnold's attack upon New London and Groton results in massacre at Ft. Griswold.

1781

Generals George Washington and comte de Rochambeau confer at Webb House in Wethersfield.

1783

Meeting of 10 Anglican clergy at Glebe House, Woodbury, leads to consecration of Bishop Samuel Seabury and beginning of Protestant Episcopal Church in United States.

1784

Tapping Reeve establishes the first law school in the United States in Litchfield.

1784

Earliest Connecticut cities incorporated--Hartford, Middletown, New Haven, New London, and Norwich.

1784

Governor Trumbull retires from governorship.

1784

Connecticut relinquishes Westmoreland area to Pennsylvania.

1784

Act passed providing for emancipation at age of twenty-five of all African- Americans born after March 1784. In 1797 the age was lowered to 21.

1785

First Register and Manual published.

1787

Oliver Ellsworth, William Samuel Johnson, and Roger Sherman serve as Connecticut's representatives at Philadelphia Constitutional Convention.

1788

Convention at Hartford approves federal Constitution by 128-40 vote.

1789

Oliver Ellsworth and William Samuel Johnson begin service as first United States Senators from Connecticut.

1792

First turnpike road company, New London to Norwich, incorporated.

1792

First banks established at Hartford, New London, and New Haven.

1793-96

Old State House, Hartford, erected; designed by Charles Bulfinch.

1795

Connecticut Western Reserve lands (now Northeastern Ohio) sold for $1.2 million and the proceeds used to establish the School Fund.

1795

First insurance company incorporated as the Mutual Assurance Company of the City of Norwich.

1796

Thomas Hubbard starts Courier at Norwich. In 1860 paper merges with the Morning Bulletin and continues as Norwich Bulletin to present.

1799

Eli Whitney procures his first federal musket contract.

1802

Brass industry begun at Waterbury by Abel Porter and associates.

1806

First important English dictionary in United States published by Noah Webster.

1810

Hartford Fire Insurance Company incorporated.

1812

Joseph Barber starts Columbian Register at New Haven. In 1911 combined with New Haven Register and continues as Register to present.

1812-14

War of 1812 unpopular in Connecticut; new manufacturers, especially of textiles, boom.

1814

The British Raid on Essex results in the loss of over 25 American ships at Pettipaug Point.

1814

Hartford Convention held in Old State House.

1815

First steamboat voyage up the Connecticut River to Hartford.

1817

Federalists defeated by reformers in political revolution.

1817

Thomas Gallaudet founds school for the deaf in Hartford.

1817

Hartford Times founded by Frederick D. Bolles and John M. Niles.

1818

New Constitution adopted by convention in Hartford and approved by voters; ends system of established church.

1820

Captain Nathaniel Palmer of Stonington is the first American to sight the Antarctic continent. Peter Harvey, a crewman on Palmer's ship, is the first African-American to sail to the Antarctic.

1821

Crewmen under Captain John Davis of New Haven make the first documented landing on Antarctica.

1821

Captain Nathaniel Palmer of Stonington and British sealer George Powell jointly discover the South Orkney Islands in the Antarctic.

1823

Washington College (now Trinity) founded in Hartford.

1827

"New" State House erected in New Haven; Ithiel Town, architect.

Old New-Gate Prison closed. After a brief period of returning to mining, it soon became a tourist attraction.

1828

Farmington Canal opened.

1831

Wesleyan University founded in Middletown.

1831

Mutual Insurance Company of Hartford founded.

1832

First Connecticut railroad incorporated as the Boston, Norwich and New London.

1833-34

State Heroine Prudence Crandall opens school for young African-American girls.

1835

Revolver patented by Samuel Colt.

1835

Music Vale Seminary, first American music school, founded at Salem by Oramel Whittlesey.

1838

Railroad completed between New Haven and Hartford.

1839-41

The Amistad legal case heard before the U.S. Supreme Court.

1840s and 1850s

Peak of whaling from Connecticut ports and especially from New London.

1842

Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, first public art museum, established.

1843

Charles Goodyear develops vulcanizing process for rubber.

1843

Civil rights of Jews protected through act guaranteeing equal privileges with Christians in forming religious societies.

1844

Dr. Horace Wells uses anesthesia at Hartford.

1846

Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company, the first life insurance company, chartered in Connecticut.

1848

Slavery abolished in Connecticut.

1849

First teachers' college founded at New Britain (now Central Connecticut State University).

1851

Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company started (under another name) in Hartford.

1853

Aetna Life Insurance Company started in Hartford.

1860

Lincoln speaks in several Connecticut cities.

1861-65

Approximately 55,000 men serve in Union Army; William Buckingham serves as wartime governor.

1864

Travelers Insurance issues its first policy.

1865

Connecticut General Life Insurance Company founded.

1868

Land at Groton given by Connecticut to U.S. Navy for a naval station.

1875

Hartford made sole capital city.

1877

First telephone exchange in world opened in New Haven.

1879

New Capitol building in Hartford completed; Richard M. Upjohn, architect.

1881

Storrs Agricultural College founded (becomes University of Connecticut in 1939).

1897

Manufacture of automobiles begun by Pope Manufacturing Company of Hartford.

1900

First United States Navy submarine, Holland, constructed by Electric Boat Co.

1901

First American state law regulating automobile speeds.

1902

Constitutional Convention held; proposed new Constitution defeated in a statewide referendum.

1905

General Assembly adopts public accommodations act ordering full and equal service in all places of public accommodation.

1907

The first Boy Scout Troop in Connecticut (Troop 1) is established in East Hartford.

1910

U.S. Coast Guard Academy moves to New London.

1911

Connecticut College for Women founded at New London.

1917

U.S. Navy Submarine School formally established at New London Naval Base, Groton.

1917-18

Approximately 67,000 Connecticut men serve in World War I.

1920

University of New Haven founded.

1927

University of Bridgeport founded.

1928

Igor Sikorsky purchases land in Stratford for new aviation factory; becomes Sikorsky Aviation Company.

1932

St. Joseph College founded in West Hartford.

1936

Floods cause enormous damage in Connecticut River Valley.

1938

Hurricane and floods produce heavy loss of life and property.

1938

First section of Merritt Parkway opened.

1939

First section of Wilbur Cross Parkway opened.

1941-45

Approximately 210,000 Connecticut men serve in World War II.

1943

General Assembly establishes Inter-Racial Commission, recognized as the nation's first statutory civil rights agency.

1944

Ringling Brothers Circus tent fire in Hartford takes 168 lives.

1947

Fair Employment Practices Act adopted outlawing job discrimination.

1950-52

Approximately 52,000 Connecticut men serve in Korean War.

1954

Nautilus, world's first atomic-powered submarine, launched at Groton.

1955

Serious floods cause heavy damage and loss of life.

1957

Ground broken for first building in New Haven's Oak Street redevelopment area.

1958

129-mile Connecticut Turnpike opened.

1959

General Assembly votes to abolish county government (effective 1960); also to abolish local justice courts and establish district courts.

1960

Ground broken for first building in Hartford's Front Street redevelopment area; now known as Constitution Plaza.

1961

New state circuit court system goes into effect.

1962-75

Approximately 104,000 Connecticut men and women serve in the armed forces during the Vietnam War era.

1965

Constitutional Convention held; New Constitution approved by voters.

1966

First elections held for reapportioned General Assembly under new Constitution.

1966

Constance Baker Motley of New Haven, first African-American woman appointed to be a federal judge.

1972

Under constitutional amendment adopted in 1970, General Assembly holds first annual session since 1886.

1974

Ella T. Grasso, first woman elected Governor in Connecticut.

1978

Common pleas and Juvenile Courts become part of the Superior Court.

1982

Appellate Court created by Constitutional Amendment (Effective July 1, 1983.)

1990

Eunice S. Groark, first woman elected Lieutenant Governor in Connecticut.

2001

Reapportionment Commission creates five Congressional districts due to national population shifts identified in the 2000 census.

2001

9/11 Terrorist attacks on New York City kill 152 Connecticut citizens.

2005

Connecticut first state to adopt civil unions for same-sex couples without being directed to do so by a court.

2006

M. Jodi Rell becomes Connecticut's second female Governor elected in her own right.

2008

Connecticut becomes one of the first three states to perform marriages of same-sex couples.

Year of Qualification

Name

State*

Term of Office

1789

George Washington

Virginia

8 yrs.

1797

John Adams

Massachusetts

4 yrs.

1801

Thomas Jefferson

Virginia

8 yrs.

1809

James Madison

Virginia

8 yrs.

1817

James Monroe

Virginia

8 yrs.

1825

John Quincy Adams

Massachusetts

4 yrs.

1829

Andrew Jackson

Tennessee

8 yrs.

1837

Martin Van Buren

New York

4 yrs.

1841

William H. Harrison¹

Ohio

1 m.

1841

John Tyler

Virginia

3 yrs. 11 m.

1845

James Knox Polk

Tennessee

4 yrs.

1849

Zachary Taylor²

Louisiana

1 yr. 4 m. 5 d.

1850

Millard Fillmore

New York

2 yrs. 7 m. 26 d.

1853

Franklin Pierce

New Hampshire

4 yrs.

1857

James Buchanan

Pennsylvania

4 yrs.

1861

Abraham Lincoln³

Illinois

4 yrs. 1 m. 10 d.

1865

Andrew Johnson

Tennessee

3 yrs. 10 m. 20 d.

1869

Ulysses S. Grant

Illinois

8 yrs.

1877

Rutherford B. Hayes

Ohio

4 yrs.

1881

James A. Garfield⁴

Ohio

6 m. 15 d.

1881

Chester A. Arthur

New York

3 yrs. 5 m. 15 d.

1885

Grover Cleveland

New York

4 yrs.

1889

Benjamin Harrison

Indiana

4 yrs.

1893

Grover Cleveland

New York

4 yrs.

1897

William McKinley⁵

Ohio

4 yrs. 6 m. 9 d.

1901

Theodore Roosevelt

New York

7 yrs. 5 m. 21 d.

1909

William H. Taft

Ohio

4 yrs.

1913

Woodrow Wilson

New Jersey

8 yrs.

1921

Warren G. Harding⁶

Ohio

2 yrs. 4 m. 27 d.

1923

Calvin Coolidge

Massachusetts

5 yrs. 7 m. 4 d.

1929

Herbert C. Hoover

California

4 yrs.

1933

Franklin D. Roosevelt⁷

New York

12 yrs. 1 m. 8 d.

1945

Harry S. Truman

Missouri

7 yrs. 9 m. 9 d.

1953

Dwight D. Eisenhower

New York/ Pennsylvania⁸

8 yrs.

1961

John F. Kennedy⁹

Massachusetts

2 yrs. 10 m. 2 d.

1963

Lyndon B. Johnson¹⁰

Texas

5 yrs. 1 m. 29 d.

1969

Richard M. Nixon¹¹

New York

5 yrs. 6 m. 20 d.

1974

Gerald R. Ford¹²

Michigan

2 yrs. 5 m. 11 d.

1977

Jimmy Carter

Georgia

4 yrs.

1981

Ronald Reagan

California

8 yrs.

1989

George Bush

Texas

4 yrs.

1993

William J. Clinton

Arkansas

8 yrs.

2001

George W. Bush

Texas

8 yrs.

2009

Barack H. Obama

Illinois

8 yrs.

2017

Donald J. Trump

New York