Portal:New England/Did you know

Did you know 1

... that at the 2012 Olympics, Kayla Harrison became the first American to win a gold medal in judo?
... that prior to the 2012 Summer Olympics American javelin thrower Craig Kinsley had never competed in an international competition?
... that the Connecticut Supreme Court found that giving the finger was offensive, but not obscene?
... that Puritan Reverend John Wilson implored Mary Dyer to repent and not be "carried away by deceit of the devil" before her execution in Boston as a Quaker martyr?
... that pioneering immunologist Bunny Koshland helped develop an oral cholera vaccine before she worked on the Manhattan Project?

... that Major League Baseball player Dan Coogan later coached the baseball teams at the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, Bowdoin College, and Georgetown University?
... that Gene Sharp's book on the American Struggle for Independence supports President Adams' claim that the revolution was "substantially effected before hostilities commenced"?
... that Harriet Hanson Robinson went on strike from her job as a bobbin doffer at age eleven?
... that during the Antinomian Controversy, Anne Hutchinson withstood two separate trials without counsel before being banished from Massachusetts?
... that in 1885, American neurologist James Leonard Corning became the first to perform neuraxial anesthesia?

... that baseball pitcher Pete Appleton changed his surname from Jablonowski to embark on a musical career, which he never did?
... that the bartender and the psychiatrist were good ol' mates in Boston and are still good ol' mates in Seattle?
... that Arnold Aronson, a founder of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, helped inspire the career of his nephew, singer-songwriter and organizer Si Kahn?
... that while he was manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, Rip Egan once served alcohol to the opposing pitcher late into the night to keep him from playing at his full potential the next day?
... that Mark Twain and General Custer visited P. T. Barnum in Iranistan?

... that Mary Hallaren was the first woman to join the United States Army?
... that Jeremiah Dummer (1643–1718) was the first American-born silversmith?
... that the First Congregational Church of Litchfield, now regarded as iconic, was replaced in 1873 after being said to have "not a single line or feature ... suggesting taste or beauty"?
... that although Massachusetts is located at the 42nd parallel north, some of its rocks originated near the South Pole?
... that Nathaniel Ames, publisher of the first annual American almanac, avoided arrest by replacing his vituperative cartoon of local judges with a biblical quotation?

... that James Duncan helped co-found both the American Federation of Labor and the International Labor Organization?
... that Maine author C. J. Stevens amazed many of his readers by revealing that gold nuggets can be found by panning certain rivers?
... that although he was expelled by the Jesuit order for supporting the ordination of women, William R. Callahan insisted he was just "following the example of Jesus, who was never willing to shut up"?
... that because a car crashed through his store's window, Steve Bernard's Cape Cod Potato Chips company survived a difficult winter, after which business boomed?
... that Boston mayor Thomas Menino called Clover Food Lab's soy bacon sandwich the "best BLT in Boston"?

... that among Connecticut's contributions to the American Civil War are the Henry rifle and the song "Marching Through Georgia"?
... that The Cyclone at Revere Beach was the world's first roller coaster to reach 100 feet (30 m) in height?
... that American football star Albie Booth became famous after he scored all of Yale’s points in a 1929 upset win over Army?
... that Frye's Measure Mill is the only remaining water-powered measure mill in the United States after some 150 years of operations?
... that, in 2009, Anne Donahue was one of only five Republicans in the Vermont House of Representatives to vote in favor of a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in the state?

... that Alvin Adams founded Adams and Company, forerunner to Adams Express Company, to haul express freight shipments by rail in 1840?
... that professional baseball player Terry Doyle works as a substitute teacher during the offseason?
... that Linda Bean, heiress to part of the L.L. Bean company, twice ran for the United States Congress?
... that Uncle Tom once led a professional baseball league in stolen bases?
... that American folklorist Helen Hartness Flanders recorded, transcribed and catalogued traditional ballads from New England at a time when people were ceasing to sing them?

... that the racing roller coaster Derby Racer (pictured) killed or critically injured at least five people in its 25 years of operation, leading to a Massachusetts Supreme Court case?
... that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts has been praised for an initiative to reduce health care spending, but public anger ensued when the compensation for its departed CEO was reported?
... that the Bank of New England went bankrupt in 1991, but its liquidation is still in progress?
... that New Hampshire-born Charles Coffin Harris, who served as cabinet minister and judge in the Kingdom of Hawaii, also had a business selling fern hair?
... that Ellen Hayes was not only a rare 19th-century female mathematics professor but was also the first woman to run for statewide office in Massachusetts?

... that the house (pictured) in Danbury, Connecticut, where Charles Ives was born has been moved twice to allow local banks to expand their buildings?
... that descendants of Wigglesworth Dole included a missionary to Hawaii, a governor of Hawaii, an attorney general of Hawaii, and a "pineapple king"?
... that during their first football game against Yale in 1884, the Dartmouth Big Green were routed, 113–0?
... that until 1950, only descendants of Massachusetts Bay or Plymouth colonists could become members of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts?
... that Michael Roach, an American professional soccer player, played in college with future teammates Kevin Alston and Alec Purdie?

... that in the 1777 Battle of Machias, a British amphibious assault seized stores of flour, rice, corn, shoes, and ammunition, but was driven off by United States forces assisted by Maliseet, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot Indians?
... that in 1909, the American Brass Company manufactured two-thirds of all the brass in the United States, consumed a third of all copper produced in the U.S., and was the largest fabricator of nonferrous metal in the world?
... that a coin-collecting shop has become the largest supplier of gold to the U.S. Treasury?
... that author and anti-globalization advocate Tim Costello started his writing career in the back of his truck while traveling as a long-haul truck driver?
... that a portion of the Rhode Island Route 37 expressway was inadvertently constructed over a historic cemetery in Cranston, Rhode Island?