His name is X-Y-Z. At least, that’s what’s on his gravestone in the town of Deep River. The man robbed a bank in 1899 and was shot dead during the attempt. The problem is that no one knows who he was. Perhaps the lady, dressed all in black, who put a flower on his grave each year on the anniversary of his death, knows his identity. But, nobody ever approached her and asked her if she knew who he was. This intriguing story is told by the Curator of the Deep River Historical Society, Rhonda Ferristall.

The 1944 Cary Grant classic Arsenic and Old Lace is portrayed as a comedy involving two elderly women who poison inhabitants of their New York home. In fact, the story is based on the real-life drama that unfolded in the early 1900s in one of CT’s first nursing homes, located in Windsor. We’ll hear the extraordinary story of one of the state’s first serial killings from two representatives of the Windsor Historical Society” Michelle Tom (Library Archivist and Assistant Director) and Steph MacGillivary (Museum Educator).

The only founding father who signed all four of the original documents forming the new United States was Connecticut’s Roger Sherman. Not only was he one of five members of the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence, but he brokered the so-called Connecticut Compromise, breaking a logjam that paved the way for the adoption of the U.S. Constitution. The incredible story is told by New Milford author Bill Devlin.

One man – CT’s Robert Fulton – is responsible for three incredible inventions: the FAA-approved flying car known as the Airphibian, the Skyhook (for rescuing downed military pilots in remote locations), and the flight simulator (used to teach pilots how to fly without actually flying). Fulton had other incredible accomplishments during his life, and we’ll hear all the details from Ben Cruson, the Town Historian of Newtown, the town where Fulton created his inventions.

The town of Wethersfield is the oldest in the state, in terms of an actual English settlement, even though English traders arrived in Windsor months before that (but they only established a trading post at first). Wethersfield was also the first CT town ever attacked by Native Americans. It was in retaliation for an earlier attack on them by Massachusetts Bay Colony soldiers. Wethersfield was also where George Washington met French Commander Rochambeau to discuss how to defeat the British in the Revolutionary War. Over its nearly 400-year existence, Wethersfield has achieved many other distinctions, which will be discussed by Martha Smart, the long-time Research Librarian for the Wethersfield Historical Society.

Of the two commercial airports in Connecticut, the smaller of the two gets relatively little mention. Tweed-New Haven Airport, which straddles the New Haven-East Haven border, has been in business for nearly a century, when it was just a dirt landing strip. The history of the airport, and its namesake Jack Tweed, are told by the Director of Photo Archives for the New Haven Museum, Jason Bischoff-Wurstle.

The infamous Yankee Peddlers are credited with originating in Berlin, CT – the same town where the tin industry started in the young United States. In fact, the same two individuals were responsible for starting both. In this episode, we’ll explore how the business model of door-to-door salesmen got its start, along with American consumerism itself, from the Librarian Emeritus of Berlin, Cathy Nelson.

The concept behind the Mount Rushmore National Memorial was conceived by a sculptor living in Connecticut, Gutzon Borglum. He and his son Lincoln selected the location for the monument, and Gutzon changed the original tourist attraction concept into a national monument featuring four presidents who he selected. The incredible story of how the memorial was actually created and the hurdles that had to be overcome is told by Sarah Beth Cox, who goes by Ranger Sarah Beth while on duty.