For some 12,000 years, indigenous peoples inhabited this area. The Algonquian-speaking Abenaki and Iroquoian-speaking Mohawk were active in the area at the time of European encounter.
The first European to see Vermont is thought to have been French explorer Jacques Cartier in 1535. On July 30, 1609, French explorer Samuel de Champlain claimed this territory as part of New France. In 1666, French settlers erected Fort Sainte Anne on Isle La Motte, the first European settlement in Vermont.
Vermont not only takes its state nickname ("The Green Mountain State") from these mountains, it is named after them. The French Monts Verts or Verts Monts is literally translated as "Green Mountains".
On May 10, 1999, Governor Howard Dean signed House Bill No. 302, designating apple pie as the official state pie of Vermont. The legislation also specified that, when serving apple pie in Vermont, a "good faith" effort shall be made to serve it with one of the following: (a) a glass of cold milk, (b) a slice of cheddar cheese weighing at least 1/2 ounce, or (c) a large scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Montpelier is the least-populous state capital in the United States.
On July 2, 1777, in response to abolitionists' calls across the colonies, Vermont became the first colony to ban slavery outright. Vermont was also the first state to produce an African-American university graduate, Alexander Twilight, in 1823.
The red clover (Trifolium pratense) was designated as the state flower in 1895. It is often seen in the countryside of Vermont hosting the state insect--the western honey bee (Apis mellifera).
Chester A. Arthur was born on October 5, 1829 in Fairfield, Vermont. Calvin Coolidge was born on July 4, 1872 in Plymouth Notch, Vermont.
Vermont was one of the first states to ban billboards, passing the statute in 1968, according to the Vermont Natural Resources Council. Other states with billboard bans include Maine, Hawaii and Alaska.
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