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Revolutionary soldier to shed British
blood at the Battle of Lexington, April 19, 1775 was Solomon
Brown from New Haven, Vermont, who thus fired the first
effective shot in the Revolutionary War.
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Constitution to outlaw slavery was Vermont's
in 1777.
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Stars and stripes flag to lead American
armed forces on land was the Bennington Flag used at the
Battle of Bennington on August 16, 1777.
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Constitution to provide for a system
of public school education was Vermont's in 1777.
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Marble quarry was started at East Dorset
in 1785 by Isaac Underhill.
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Copper cents minted by a state were authorized
by the Vermont General Assembly in 1785 and made by Reuben
Harmon, Jr. at Rupert.
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U.S. congressman elected
who had served time in jail was Matthew Lyon of Vermont
(1789). Jailed under the terms of the Alien and Sedition
Acts, later declared unconstitutional, Lyon was
re-elected to Congress while still in jail.
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State admitted to the Union after the
ratification of the Constitution was Vermont on March
4, 1791.
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Morgan Horse, owned by Justin Morgan,
was brought to Randolph in 1792.
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Copper mine was opened in Strafford in
1793.
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Seeding machine patent was issued to
Eliakim Spooner in 1799.
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Educational society was established in
Pawlet in 1804.
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Globe factory was established in 1813
by James Wilson of Bradford for the manufacture of geographic
globes. Wilson made the first artificial globe in America
in 1799.
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School for higher education of women
was established by Emma Willard at Middlebury in 1814.
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Steel carpenter's square was invented
by Silas Hawes of Shaftsbury in 1814.
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Private military college was established
at Norwich in 1819 by Capt. Alden Partridge. At that time,
it offered the first Civil Engineering course. The college
was later moved to Northfield.
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Normal school exclusively for the preparation
of teachers was established by S. R. Hall in 1823 in Concord.
Hall also wrote the first textbook on teaching and was
the first person to use the blackboard in the classroom.
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Platform scale was built by Thaddeus
Fairbanks at St. Johnsbury in 1830.
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Fishing spoon lure was invented in 1830
by Julio Buel of Castleton.
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Sandpaper was invented by Isaac Fisher
at Springfield in 1834.
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Electric railway (1837), printing press,
piano, and motor (1834) were built by Thomas Davenport
of Brandon. He was also the editor of the first electrical
journal.
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Marble cutting saw was invented by Hiram
Kimball of Stockbridge in 1837.
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Laughing gas was discovered by Gardner
Colton of Georgia. Horace Wells of White River Junction
was the first person to use laughing gas as an anesthetic
for pulling teeth in 1844.
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Toy carts, violin cases and guitar cases
sold in America were invented by Joel A. H. Ellis of Springfield
in the mid 1800s. Ellis also invented doll carriages and
jointed dolls.
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Postage stamp used in America was made
in Brattleboro in 1846.
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Steam-heated factory was the Burlington
Woolen Company in 1846.
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Agricultural land grant college act,
proposed by Senator Justin Smith Morrill of Vermont, was
signed by President Lincoln in 1862.
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State to offer troops in the Civil War
was Vermont.
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Agricultural society for dairymen, the
Vermont Dairy Association, was organized in 1869 in Montpelier.
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Pulp paper mill was established in 1869
by William A. Russell in Bellows Falls. Russell later
became the first president of the International Paper
Company.
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Flat turret lathe, a basic industrial
tool, was invented in 1891 by James Hartness of Springfield.
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American Morgan Horse register published
in Middlebury in 1892, establishing first American breed
of horses.
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Successful photographs
and measurements of snowflakes and raindrops were made
by Wilson A. "Snowflake" Bentley in 1895.
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State absentee voting law was enacted
in 1896 by Vermont.
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Person to cross the entire United States
by automobile was Dr. H. Nelson Jackson, a Burlington
physician, who traveled from San Francisco to New York
City in 1903.
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Horse farm operated by the United States
government was established in 1907 at Middlebury.
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Morgan Horse Club founded in 1909 at
White River Junction.
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Boy Scout Club was organized in Barre
in 1909 by William F. Milne, a Scottish immigrant.
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300 mile endurance horse race was from
Burlington, Vermont to Camp Devens, Massachusetts, in
1919.
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Air Traffic Regulations course was set
up in 1934 at Norwich University in Northfield.
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Commercially viable ski tow in the U.S.
was operated in Woodstock on Clinton Gilbert's farm in
1934.
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State symphony orchestra was organized
in 1935, with Alan Carter of Rutland as its conductor.
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State anti-sit-down strike legislation
was enacted in 1937.
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Beneficiary of monthly Social Security
payments was Ida M. Fuller of Ludlow who received check
#000-000-001 for $22.54, January 31, 1940.
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Chairlift was used on Mt. Mansfield in
1940.
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Wind turbine used to generate power for
an alternating current power system was operated at Grandpa's
Knob in Castleton in 1941.
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Woman to win Olympic gold medals in skiing
was Andrea Mead, of Rutland, in 1952.
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Woman elected Lieutenant Governor was
Consuelo N. Bailey in 1954.
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American gold medal in the Olympic three-day
individual equestrian event was won by Tad Coffin of Strafford
in 1976.
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American medal in an Olympic nordic skiing
event was won by Bill Koch of Guilford in 1976.
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United States Ambassador to the United
Nations was Warren R. Austin of Burlington(1946). Before
that, Austin was a United States Senator.
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Head Start Program (1965), used to prepare
disadvantaged preschool children for elementary school,
was started in East Fairfield with 12 children.
