1. In 1638, the town of New Haven was founded. It was the first planned town in the United States and was established by a group of English Puritans seeking religious freedom.

2. In 1864, the U.S. Senate confirmed the appointment of William Alfred Buckingham as Connecticut's governor. Buckingham had previously served as governor during the Civil War and was a staunch supporter of President Abraham Lincoln.

3. In 1945, Connecticut native William H. Hastie was appointed as the first African American governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Hastie was a prominent civil rights leader and had previously served as a federal judge.

4. In 1986, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty was unconstitutional. This decision made Connecticut the second state in the United States to abolish the death penalty.

5. In 2013, Connecticut passed some of the strictest gun control legislation in the United States following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown. The law banned high-capacity magazines and required universal background checks for all gun purchases.