A: Abraham Ribicoff, who served from 1955 to 1961. For a list of the governors and their hometowns, see the online version of the Connecticut State Register and Manual, also known as the blue book.

Q: Hockey season is here! Name the three other World Hockey Association teams that accompanied the Whalers into the National Hockey League in the 1979-80 season.

A: The Edmonton Oilers, Quebec Nordiques, and Winnipeg Jets.

Q: The 1860 home of Nathaniel Shipman, a federal judge and founding partner of the still-prominent Hartford law firm of Shipman and Goodwin, still stands. Where is it?

A: Charter Oak Place, which "became a prestigious residential street about the time of the Civil War because of its convenience to downtown and splendid view of the Connecticut River," according to Gregory E. Andrews and David F. Ransom, in their book, "Structures and Styles: Guided Tours of Hartford Architecture."

Q: Stand under the electronic billboard for the Hartford Civic Center, at the corner of Asylum and Trumbull streets, and you'll also be standing where a landmark hotel - stately enough to host the likes of Lincoln - once stood. Name it.

A: The Allyn House Hotel, which was torn down in the 1960s. See page 112 of Wilson H. Faude's book "Lost Hartford" for a great juxtaposition of photographs, one showing the Allyn House as it appeared the early years of the last century, the other showing the Civic Center from the same angle. To get another sense of how it appeared, see the former Brownstone restaurant building, still standing on the other side of Trumbull.

Q: Who was Caroline Hewins?

A: She was chief librarian of the Hartford Public Library from 1875 to 1926. She became a leader in her field, creating one of the nation's first children's libraries, among other things. The HPL's online catalog is named after her. Visit CAROLINE, as in CApitol Region OnLINE, at:

http://www.hartfordpl.lib.ct.us/caroline.htm.