Connecticut General Information Nickname: Constitution State State bird: American Robin State flower: Mountain Laurel Capital: Hartford Date of admission to the Union: 9th Jan 1788 (original 13 States; date of ratification of the Constitution) Population: 3,405,565 (2000) Population density: 237.2/sq km 2000 total overseas arrivals/US ranking: 260,000/24 Time: Eastern (GMT - 5). Daylight Saving Time is observed. The State: Connecticut is a mixture of town and country; beyond the towns inhabited by New York commuters and the major cities are quiet colonial villages set in a rural landscape. The third-smallest State in the USA has a rich literary history. Hartford was the home of Mark Twain, and tourists can visit the mansion where he wrote his greatest work, Huckleberry Finn. Next door is the farm on which the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe, lived until her death. For children, there is the delightful Bushnell Park Carousel, which was built in 1914 in one of the first public American parks. Other Hartford attractions include the oldest public art museum in the country, Wadsworth Atheneum; and the Old State House, which housed the State government until 1914. The nearby village of Farmington contains the Hill-Stead Museum, which displays a collection of Impressionist masterpieces. New Haven is the site of Yale University, the Peabody Museum of Natural History and Yale University Arts Gallery. The Arts Gallery houses a John Trumbull collection and Italian Renaissance works. The town is also known for its theatre; famous names to have trodden the boards in New Haven include Glenn Close and Meryl Streep. The New Haven Symphony and the Yale Repertory Theater have their homes here. Mystic Seaport is a living museum of Connecticut’s maritime past. There is a display of tall ships, a maritime museum, shops and art and craft collections. Visitors can sail out on the Sunbeam Express to watch the whales at play or marvel at the sharks, dolphins and seals at Mystic Aquarium. They can also shop and dine in the New England Colonial setting of Olde Mistick Village. Other attractions in the State include the entertainment complexes and casinos of Foxwoods Resort and Mohegan Sun, the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, and the Haight Vineyard and Winery. Copyright © 2003 Columbus Publishing Ltd.