Six states of northeastern United States viz., Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut form what is called the region of New England. Here are some engrossing facts for you to ponder over!
#1: New England is surrounded by New York state to the west, Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north respectively, Atlantic Ocean to the east and southeast, and Long Island Sound to the southwest.
#2: New England gets its name from the Puritan Separatist Pilgrims who came from England in 1620 and established the second successful English settlement in America, the Plymouth colony.
Ten years later, more Puritans from England came and established the Massachusetts Bay Colony to the north of Plymouth Colony, and they spread to the entire region from there on.
Because these colonies were established by the Puritans from England, the entire region came to be known as "New England".
#3: New England has a very diverse physical geography. Southeastern New England has a narrow coastal plain, the western and northern regions have rolling hills and worn-down peaks, while the coastal areas lie close to the Atlantic fall line.
#4: The largest city in New England is Boston. Moreover, Greater Boston is the region’s largest metropolitan area.
#5: New England played a pivotal role in the eradication of slavery from the United States.
#6: It was also the first region in the whole of US to witness drastic transformation, owing to the Industrial Revolution.
#7: The town of Salem in Massachusetts, New England is known the world over for the infamous Salem Witch Trials, which took place there. These cases went down in history as classic examples of mass hysteria.
#8: New England has historically been an important center for the supply of granite, lobster, and codfish. However, service industry – tourism, education, financial and insurance services, etc. – also plays an important part in the region’s economy.
#9: As per the American Religious Identification Survey, New England is the least religious region of the US, with more than half of the population claiming religion to be an unimportant part of life.
#10: Because New England’s heritage and culture was primarily shaped by European immigrants, a distinct influence of the same can be seen on their food, dialect, architecture, and government.
For instance, submarine sandwiches are called ‘grinders’ in New England and thick milkshakes are called ‘frappes’.
#11: New England has a distinct food language from that of the rest of the country.
#12: New England boasts the highest ice cream consumption per capita in the whole of United States.
#13: Many world-famous novelists and poets have called New England their home. They include John Irving, Edgar Allan Poe, H. P. Lovecraft, Stephen King, H.W. Longfellow, Edwin Arlington Robinson, Amy Lowell, and Sylvia Plath, among others.
#14: Numerous film critics have dubbed New England as ‘Hollywood East’. The region has a rich film-making history, dating back to the start of the motion picture era.
#15: American football, basketball, and volleyball were invented and codified in New England.