Rhode Island Trivia & Tidbits - Page 5

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

Providence-born Joe Mullaney played college basketball at Holy Cross and helped the team win the 1947 NCAA Championship. He went on to coach the Providence College Friars to 319 wins and guided the Los Angeles Lakers to the 1970 NBA Finals.

first appeared: 7/2/2006

Roland Hemond, born in Central Falls (pop. 18,928) in 1929, was selected three times as Major League Baseball's Executive of the Year. Hermond was general manager of both the Chicago White Sox and the Baltimore Orioles.

first appeared: 6/25/2006

The late football fullback Steve Furness, a native of Warwick, played defensive line for the Pittsburgh Steelers, with whom he won Super Bowl rings in the 1974, 1975, 1978 and 1979 seasons.

first appeared: 6/4/2006

Jemima Wilkinson of Cumberland (pop. 31,840) is the first American-born woman to found a religious group, which was called Universal Friends. She became ill and nearly died in 1776 and credited her recovery to a vision she had during her sickness. She renamed herself "Public Universal Friend" and preached widely throughout Connecticut and Rhode Island.

first appeared: 5/21/2006

Hockey goaltender Chris Terreri of Providence led his Providence College team to two NCAA Final Four tournaments and was second in the New Jersey Devils' history in games, minutes, wins and shutouts. Since 2001, Terreri has been an assistant coach of the Albany River Rats, the Devils' farm team.

first appeared: 5/14/2006

Gerry Philbin of Pawtucket was a two-time American Football League all-star defensive end. He was a member of the New York Jets in 1969 when Joe Namath led the team to its only Super Bowl championship by beating the heavily favored Baltimore Colts.

first appeared: 4/23/2006

In 1978, the Modern Diner in Pawtucket became the first diner listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A local landmark, the restaurant is housed in a sterling Streamliner, a railway car manufactured in the late 1930s and early 1940s. The cash-only diner serves up retro grub and specializes in breakfast.

first appeared: 4/9/2006

Actress Ruth Hussey of Providence, who died last year at age 93, made more than 40 films but was perhaps best known for her Academy Award-nominated performance as the sarcastic photographer in The Philadelphia Story.

first appeared: 3/26/2006

Baritone singer and actor Nelson Eddy, born in Providence in 1901, is best known for eight movies in which he starred with Jeanette MacDonald in the 1930s and ’40s. In addition to being half of "America’s singing sweethearts," Nelson sang regularly in nightclubs, in operas and on the radio. He died in 1967.

first appeared: 3/12/2006

Wilma Briggs of East Greenwich (pop. 12,948) was the first female in Rhode Island to play high school baseball. She went on to play with the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1948 to 1954. Her career home run total of 43 was the third best in the women’s "hardball" league, featured in the 1992 movie A League of Their Own.

first appeared: 2/26/2006

The state flag has a white background with 13 gold stars representing the 13 original Colonies. They surround a gold anchor and the state motto "Hope," inscribed on a blue ribbon.

first appeared: 2/12/2006

Peter and Bobby Farrelly, producers of There’s Something About Mary and Dumb and Dumber, were raised in Cumberland (pop. 31,840).

first appeared: 1/29/2006

Providence College coach Lou Lamoriello led his team to 12 postseason hockey tournaments from 1969 to 1983. The Providence native later was general manager of the 1995 Stanley Cup-champion New Jersey Devils.

first appeared: 1/15/2006

MISS RHODE ISLAND 2006—Jessica Samson is pursuing a master’s degree in business and aspires to be an executive with a top corporation. She’s also a member of a troupe that performs at nursing homes and community events, and she holds a real estate license.

first appeared: 1/8/2006

Providence College athlete Ernie DeGregorio led his team into the Final Four basketball tournament in 1973 and was named NBA Rookie of the Year in 1974 while playing for the Buffalo Braves.

first appeared: 1/1/2006

Two months before the First Continental Congress issued the Declaration of Independence, the colony of Rhode Island issued a Renunciation of Allegiance, declaring itself free from rule by the British Crown.

first appeared: 12/18/2005

The Watch Hill Light, near Westerly (pop. 22,966), was completed in 1808. The original wooden tower stood until 1855, when a stone replacement was built on a bluff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. During the Hurricane of 1938, the lighthouse keeper reported that waves crashed over the top of the 45-foot tower.

first appeared: 12/4/2005

Christmas in Newport (pop. 26,475) began in 1971 as a two-week festival celebrating the noncommercial traditions of the holiday. The program boasts activities—tree lightings, candlelight tours of historic homes, teas and decorating contests—for nearly every day in December.

first appeared: 11/20/2005

Running back Mark van Eeghen of Cranston was an all-state football player while attending Cranston High School West and rushed for 2,591 yards during three seasons at Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y. (pop. 3,509). He played 10 seasons (1974-1983) in the NFL, including eight with the Oakland Raiders, with whom he won two Super Bowls, and two with the New England Patriots.

first appeared: 11/6/2005

Ernie Calverley, a basketball player from Pawtucket (pop. 72,958), led the nation in scoring for the University of Rhode Island during the 1943-44 season. In 1946, he was the first player to sign with the Basketball Association of America.

first appeared: 10/23/2005

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