Thule is the northernmost place mentioned in ancient Greek and Roman literature and cartography. Today, the area around Thule includes parts of Scotland, Orkney and Shetland. Saaremaa in Estonia and Smla island in Norway also are included in modern interpretations of the place. However, the exact location of Thule is unclear.
The Thule Group has a worldwide manufacturing presence and employs over 3400 people. The company is headquartered in Connecticut, where the company designs and manufactures 70 percent of its products. The company also employs more than 500 people in the United States, and most of its production is done at a facility in Seymour. This makes sense if you want to ship to multiple locations nationwide.
The story of Thule’s origins dates back to the ancient Greek explorer Pytheas, who returned to Athens with fantastic tales of the island. The stories struck a chord with Greek philosophers, and references to the icy Thule were found in their writings. In the Middle Ages, Thule was portrayed as the northernmost land, and in Nazi Germany, it was claimed that the icy region was the birthplace of the Aryan race.
The story of Thule’s founding has a complicated history. In the 20th century, explorers began mapping the world’s most northerly regions. During World War II, the far north became a battleground. In the 1950s, the U.S. Air Force established an air base in northern Greenland that enabled bombers to fly across the North Pole to Moscow. Meanwhile, nuclear pollution from the Russian Northern Fleet found its way to the Arctic Ocean.
