Rhode Island Trivia & Tidbits - Page 8

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

The America’s Cup yacht race came to Newport (pop. 26,475) in 1930. In 1983—the last year the race was held at Newport—American sailors lost the prestigious cup to the Australian team, ending America’s 132-year winning streak.

first appeared: 6/27/2004

The longest professional baseball game, pitting the Pawtucket Red Sox against the Rochester Red Wings, began on April 18, 1981, in Pawtucket. With a 2-2 score in the 32nd inning, play was suspended until June 23 when the Red Sox ended the game by driving in a run in the 33rd inning.

first appeared: 6/20/2004

The Gettysburg Gun, last fired during the eponymous 1863 Civil War battle, sits in the foyer of the Rhode Island Statehouse. A cannonball became lodged in the muzzle after the gun was struck by a shell. The cannonball remains there today.

first appeared: 6/13/2004

Fish landings over the last two decades have ranked Rhode Island third among New England states, behind Massachusetts and Maine, and sixth among the 16 Atlantic coastal states.

first appeared: 6/6/2004

The Culinary Archives and Museum at Johnson and Wales University in Providence is the repository for some 500,000 items connected with food preparation, including antique kitchen tools and presidential culinary items.

first appeared: 5/30/2004

The John H. Chafee, the state’s new marine research boat, was named in honor of the state’s late senator. Launched in January, the state-of-the-art oceanographic vessel will be used to monitor Rhode Island’s marine resources.

first appeared: 5/23/2004

The Marble House in Newport (pop. 26,475), one of the town’s many seaside mansions, was built by architect Richard Morris Hunt for William K. Vanderbilt, grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt, the shipping and railroad tycoon. Begun in 1888, the house cost $3 million and took four years to complete.

first appeared: 5/16/2004

The first fully automatic post office was opened in Providence in 1960.

first appeared: 5/9/2004

Thousands of samples of building materials sit for years on a framework facing the sea at the Point Judith Corrosion Test Site south of Narragansett Pier (pop. 3,671). Eventually, they are analyzed to gauge the effects of exposure to ocean air and the sun.

first appeared: 5/2/2004

The Lightburne, a tanker carrying 72,000 gallons of gasoline and kerosene, sank off the southeast coast of Block Island (pop. 1,010) in 1939. The leaked fuel, ignited by an automatic flare, burned for two hours.

first appeared: 4/25/2004

T. F. Green Airport in Warwick, near Providence, is the first state-owned airport in the United States.

first appeared: 4/18/2004

Toy giant Hasbro was founded in 1923 by brothers Henry and Helal Hassenfeld in a small office in Providence. One of the company’s most successful toys, Mr. Potato Head, appeared in 1952 and was the first toy to be advertised on television.

first appeared: 4/11/2004

The International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport features displays, artifacts and exhibits chronicling more than a century of tennis history. It is located at the Newport Casino, site of the first U.S. National Championships in 1881.

first appeared: 4/4/2004

Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828), who painted the portrait of George Washington found on each U.S. dollar bill, was born in Saunderstown. His birthplace is both a home and gristmill that are now open as a museum.

first appeared: 3/28/2004

Smith’s Castle in Wickford (pop. 1,920) is a 1678 timber-framed home open to the public as a living museum of early life in the colony.

first appeared: 3/21/2004

In addition to founding the state in 1636, Roger Williams also established the First Baptist Church in America.

first appeared: 3/14/2004

The Quonset hut was developed at the state’s Quonset Point Naval Air Station in 1940. The semicircular corrugated steel buildings were fast and inexpensive to erect, and served as barracks, hospitals, kitchens, warehouses, and even latrines.

first appeared: 3/7/2004

St. Mary’s, the state’s oldest Roman Catholic parish, was founded in 1828. Jacqueline Bouvier and John Fitzgerald Kennedy were married in the church in 1953.

first appeared: 2/29/2004

Colonial ships sailing from Newport (pop. 26,475) brought, by one estimate, more than 50,000 slaves into the West Indies, where they were traded for molasses to make rum during the 1700s.

first appeared: 2/22/2004

The main mineral in Rhode Island beach sand is quartz, but it can also contain feldspar, mica, hornblende and garnet.

first appeared: 2/15/2004

jump to page: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17

newspaper partner login create account

Recent

Popular

Recipes

Below are the most recent American Profile articles:

Below are the most recent, highest rated American Profile articles:

Below are the most recent, highest rated American Profile recipes:

Relish

Spry

Below are the most recent articles from our Relish sister site. Click on the "Spry" tab above to see the most recent articles from our other sister site.

Below are the most recent articles from our Spry sister site. Click on the "Relish" tab above to see the most recent articles from our other sister site.