Rhode Island State Facts and Trivia

Rhode Island Facts and Trivia

1. Rhode Island is the smallest state in size in the United States. It covers an area of 1,214 square miles. Its distances North to South are 48 miles and East to West 37 miles.
2. Rhode Island was the last of the original thirteen colonies to become a state.
3. 'Rhode Island never ratified the 18th Amendment prohibition.
4. Judge Darius Baker imposed the first jail sentence for speeding in an automobile on August 28, 1904, in Newport.
5. The Flying Horse Carousel is the nation's oldest carousel. It is located in the resort town of Watch Hill.
6. The first circus in the United States was in Newport in 1774.
7. Rhode Island's official state name is Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.
8. The world's largest bug is on the roof of New England Pest Control in Providence. It's a big blue termite, 58 feet long and 928 times actual termite size.
9. Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island, established the first practical working model of Democracy after he was banished from Plymouth, Massachusetts because of his "extreme views" concerning freedom of speech and religion.
10. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams publicly acknowledged Roger Williams, as the originator of the concepts and principles reflected in The First Amendment. Among those principles were freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of public assembly.
11. The era know as The Industrial Revolution started in Rhode Island with the development and construction in 1790 of Samuel Slater's water-powered cotton mill in Pawtucket.
12. Standing 11 feet tall and 278 feet above ground the Independent Man is a gold-covered, bronze statue placed atop the State House on December 18, 1899.
13. A reproduction of the original Liberty Bell is in the entrance hall on the south entrance to the State House. It was donated to the people of the state by the United States Treasury Department in 1950, when Harry S. Truman was president. It is about 3-1/2 feet tall and the diameter of the bell at its widest part is approximately 3-1/2 feet. It is such a realistic copy that is even has a crack similar to the original Liberty Bell.
14. The White Horse Tavern was built in 1673 and is the oldest operating tavern in the United States.
15. Rhode Island founder Roger Williams established the First Baptist Church in America in 1638. The existing structure was built in 1775
16. Portsmouth is home to the oldest schoolhouse in the United States. The school was built in 1716.
17. Since 1785 Bristol has the longest-running, unbroken series of 4th of July Independence Day observances in the country.
18. Cumberlandite is the official state rock. It is dark brown or black with white markings and found on both sides of Narragansett Bay but not north of Cumberland.
19. The Quonset hut was invented at Quonset Point a key naval reserve base.
20. Jerimoth Hill is the state's highest point at 812 feet above sea level.