1. In 1784, the first Episcopal bishop in the United States, Samuel Seabury, was consecrated in Aberdeen, Scotland. Seabury was born in Groton, Connecticut, and went on to help establish the Episcopal Church in Connecticut and other parts of New England.

2. In 1831, the first issue of The Hartford Courant was published. It remains the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States and has been based in Hartford, Connecticut, since its inception.

3. In 1870, the first African American to graduate from Yale University, Edward Bouchet, received his Ph.D. in physics. Bouchet was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and went on to become a renowned physicist and educator.

4. In 1943, the USS Guardfish, a submarine built in Groton, Connecticut, sank the Japanese aircraft carrier Shoho in the Battle of the Coral Sea. The Guardfish went on to sink several other Japanese vessels during World War II.

5. In 1961, the first McDonald's restaurant in Connecticut opened in Newington. Today, there are over 200 McDonald's locations throughout the state.