Rhode Island Trivia & Tidbits - Page 17

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

St. Mary’s in Providence, Rhode Island’s oldest Roman Catholic parish, was founded in 1828. The church was the site of the wedding of Jacqueline Bouvier (1930-1994) to John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963) in 1953.

first appeared: 1/14/2001

The New England Surfing Championship is held off the coast of Narragansett each year—in the frigid month of February.

first appeared: 1/7/2001

The Quonset hut—a prefabricated metal building widely used in World War II as a soldier's barracks or for storage—was invented at Quonset Point Naval Air Station on Narragansett Bay south of Providence.

first appeared: 12/31/2000

The yacht race, "America's Cup," was first held in 1930 off the coast of Newport (pop. 23,500).

first appeared: 12/24/2000

Walter Scott of Providence created the diner concept when he sold prepared food to workers from a horse-drawn freight wagon in the late 1800s.

first appeared: 12/17/2000

Noted for his portraits—especially of George Washington—artist Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828) was born in North Kingston (pop. 3,000). The portrait of Washington on today’s $1 bill was painted by Stuart after being commissioned by Martha Washington in 1796.

first appeared: 12/10/2000

As well as being the smallest of the United States (1,045 square miles), Rhode Island has the shortest state motto: "Hope."

first appeared: 12/3/2000

Rhode Islanders were the first to take military action against England by burning a British ship, H.M.S. Gaspee, in 1772 in the Narragansett Bay located between Newport and Providence.

first appeared: 11/26/2000

One of the world's largest bug statues is on the roof of the New England Pest Control building in Providence (pop. 151,000). It's a big blue termite, 58 feet long, weighing two tons, and made of fiberglass and steel.

first appeared: 11/19/2000

George M. Cohan was a native Rhode Islander, born in Providence in 1878. He wrote, I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy, You're a Grand Old Flag, and a wide variety of other musical pieces made famous through popular Broadway productions.

first appeared: 11/12/2000

Rhode Island was the first of the 13 original colonies to declare its independence from Great Britain, doing so May 4, 1776. However, it was the last of the 13 colonies to ratify the Constitution, approving it on May 29, 1790.

first appeared: 11/5/2000

Nine Men’s Misery Monument in Cumberland (pop. 6,379) is the oldest monument to veterans in the United States. It commemorates a battle between American Indians and nine colonial militiamen that occurred March 26, 1676.

first appeared: 10/22/2000

The Touro Synagogue in Newport is the oldest synagogue in the nation. It was built in 1763 and is home to the oldest Torah in North America.

first appeared: 10/8/2000

Roger Williams, an English Puritan clergyman, founded the colony of Rhode Island in 1636 after he was banished from Massachusetts for his religious and political conflicts with other Puritans. Three years later he founded the first Baptist church in the New World in Providence.

first appeared: 9/24/2000

Brown University in Providence was named Rhode Island College when it was founded in 1764. The school was renamed in 1804 to honor a $5,000 donation from Providence merchant Nicholas Brown.

first appeared: 9/10/2000

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