1. In 1781, French forces led by General Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, arrived in Newport, Rhode Island to assist the Americans in their fight for independence. This would eventually lead to the Battle of Yorktown and the end of the Revolutionary War.

2. In 1861, Connecticut Senator James Dixon introduced the Crittenden Compromise, a last ditch effort to avoid the Civil War by offering a series of constitutional amendments to preserve slavery in the South. The compromise failed to gain enough support in Congress.

3. On January 10, 1901, the first United States Navy submarine, the USS Holland, was launched in New York. Designed by Connecticut inventor John Philip Holland, the Holland was the first modern submarine and helped to revolutionize naval warfare.

4. In 1974, former Connecticut Governor Ella Grasso became the first woman to be elected governor of a U.S. state in her own right. Grasso had previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives and was a staunch advocate for women's rights.

5. Connecticut native Samuel Colt, inventor of the revolver, was born on January 10, 1814. Colt's innovative designs and manufacturing methods revolutionized the firearms industry and helped to make Hartford, Connecticut a center of industrial innovation in the 19th century.