Connecticut Firsts.

Did You Know? Connecticut is a Land of "Firsts" in Entrepreneurship!

Known as "The Land of Steady Habits",  Connecticut has been home to the entrepreneurial spirit before Etsy arrived on the scene. The following are just a few trivia snippets on creative small businesses and inventions that spawned a healthy economic atmosphere right here in the Nutmeg State.

• Mary Kies of South Killingly was the first woman to receive a U.S. patent- on May15, 1809- for a method of weaving straw with silk.

• The first lollipop-making machine opened for business in New Haven in 1908. George Smith named the treat after a popular racehorse.

• The manufacturing of the first safety fuse started in Simsbury in 1836.

• Inventor Ezra Warner invented the can opener in Waterbury in 1858.

• The Wiffle ball was invented in 1953 by Wiffle balls are manufactured in Shelton, Connecticut.

• Connecticut's Charles Goodyear invented the process that converts rubber into durable products such as tires, hoses, and yes, even hockey pucks.

• The first FM radio station was WDRC in Hartford, which started broadcasting in 1939.

• And move over McDonald's! The first hamburger was invented in 1900 at Louis Lunch in New Haven, CT.

The above list is just the tip of the iceberg on how many entrepreneurs and inventions this small state encouraged in past decades. Today, Connecticut continues its support of innovative talent through a variety of online resources and associations–listed below.  Perhaps this is why the popular slogan, "Better Yet, Connecticut!" comes to mind so easily.

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Written by Suzanne Urban owner of Smirking Goddess and Suzanne Urban Etsy shops. Suzanne is an illustrator, gag writer, and graphic designer. She resides in an antique home in Windsor, CT with her husband- whose Etsy shop RetroUrban debuted this Spring– and her maltipoo Pieper and house rabbit Puma.