Rhode Island Trivia & Tidbits - Page 11

Looking for Rhode Island trivia? Try our list Rhode Island little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

The nation’s first successful water-powered textile mill, the Slater Mill in Pawtucket, is said to be the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution.

first appeared: 5/4/2003

Rhode Island passed the nation’s first conscientious objector law in 1673, a year after electing the state’s first Quaker governor, Nicholas Easton.

first appeared: 4/27/2003

The state’s highest point, Jerimoth Hill in Foster (pop. 4,274) rises only 812 feet.

first appeared: 4/20/2003

The state once had America’s largest steam-engine factory, founded by George Corliss of Providence. The plant built the gigantic steam engine used to power the machinery displayed at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876.

first appeared: 4/13/2003

The 11-foot bronze statue, the Independent Man, standing atop the State House in Providence for over 100 years, has been struck by lightning at least 27 times.

first appeared: 4/6/2003

Conanicut Island in Narragansett Bay was incorporated as Jamestown (pop. 5,622) in 1678. Named for Prince James, later King James II, the island had about 150 residents at the time.

first appeared: 3/30/2003

Native George M. Cohan, singer, dancer, producer, actor, playwright, and composer, is the only composer to receive the Medal of Honor—given to him for patriotic contributions in music.

first appeared: 3/23/2003

The Saylesville Friends Meeting House in Lincoln (pop. 20,898) was built in two sections in 1704-1705 and 1740, making it one of the oldest Quaker meeting houses in continuous use.

first appeared: 3/16/2003

Narragansett Bay’s Fort Adams, built south of Newport (pop. 24,295) between 1824 and 1857, is one of the largest seacoast fortifications ever constructed on the East Coast.

first appeared: 3/9/2003

Goosewing Beach in Little Compton (pop. 3,593) is a narrow wave-washed spit of sand projecting into Rhode Island Sound and is a primary nesting site for piping plovers and least terns, two of the state’s most threatened birds.

first appeared: 3/2/2003

Watch Hill (pop. 350), the site of a lighthouse since 1808, was named for its long use as a place for watchtowers—first by American Indians, then during the French and Indian Wars.

first appeared: 2/23/2003

The blizzard of Feb. 6, 1978, was the worst snowstorm in the state’s recorded history. Until local Army and National Guard units dug out Providence’s streets, they were closed, and downtown commuter traffic wasn’t allowed until Feb. 13.

first appeared: 2/16/2003

A former Soviet cruise missile submarine acquired from the Russians after its decommissioning is moored—and may be visited—at Collier Point Park in Providence. The boat was used in the 2002 movie The Widowmaker.

first appeared: 2/9/2003

The Atlantic House hotel in Newport (pop. 26,475) converted its dining room into a skating area in 1866, becoming the first roller skating rink in America open to the public.

first appeared: 2/2/2003

The Masonic Temple in Warren (pop. 11,360), one of New England’s oldest Masonic buildings, was built in the 18th century with some of its timbers taken from British frigates sunk in Newport Harbor during the Revolutionary War.

first appeared: 1/26/2003

Six native Rhode Islanders served as Civil War generals, but the one most remembered, Gen. Ambrose Burnside, was born in Indiana. He eventually became senator and governor of his adopted state.

first appeared: 1/19/2003

Mr. Potato Head, the first toy to be advertised on television, was created in 1952 at the Hasbro plant in Pawtucket.

first appeared: 1/12/2003

America’s first straw hats were made by 12-year-old Betsey Metcalf of Providence in 1798. Within a few years, straw bonnets—of braided oat straw—became all the rage in America.

first appeared: 1/5/2003

When the British revenue schooner HMS Gaspee ran aground in Narragansett Bay on June 9, 1772, while pursuing the American sloop Hannah, citizens rowed out to the sandbar and burned the ship—one of the earliest acts of open rebellion in the colonies.

first appeared: 12/29/2002

Revolutionary War naval captain Esek Hopkins (1718-1802), born in Scituate (pop. 10,324), was appointed commander in chief of the newly established Continental Navy in December 1775.

first appeared: 12/22/2002

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