New Haven Facts
Interesting Facts about New Haven
1. Fun Fact: Always ahead of the curve Yale students in the 1940s recycled Frisbie pie tins into flying toys which would later become the Wham-O Frisbee.2. Sweet fact: The lollipop, named for a famous racehorse, gets down to business. The first lollipop-making machine created by George Davis starts operation.
3. Interesting fact: The first hamburger was made and served at Louis' Lunch Sandwich Shop in 1895. Still in operation today, you can experience "the greatest burger on the world" without condiments or not at all.
4. Smart gact: The nine-square plan was developed in 1638. Eight squares of 4 x 4 streets frame the 16 acre town green. The design is a National Historic Planning Landmark.
5. Alexander Graham Bell's first telephones were installed and the New Haven District Telephone Company's first list of subscribers – the first phone book- was printed. A New Haven telephone book believed to be the first one containing more than a single sheet of names sold at auction in 2008 for $170,000.
6. Once called Elm City, the Dutch Elm Disease wiped out most of the name sake trees in the mid 1900s.
7. 43rd President George W. Bush was born here in 1946.
8. Actor Paul Fusco (voice of Alf) and actresses Lauren D'Ambruoso (Six Feet Under) and Madeline Zima (The Hand that Rocks the Cradle) were all born in New Haven.
9. Charles Goodyear inventor of vulcanized rubber was born here.
10. Sweet fact: In 1974 the Vienna, Austria PEZ Candy company headquarters were moved to nearby Orange. The original peppermint PEZ was marketed as a smoking alternative.
11. Random fact: New Haven is the 6th largest municipality in New England, 2nd largest in Connecticut.
12. Weird fact: Pumpkin-heads originated here. Using cut pumpkins, hairdressers created uniformly-shaped haircutting guides.
Things to See in New Haven
