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.
Rhode Island was the last of the original thirteen colonies to become a state.
Rhode Island never ratified the 18th Amendment prohibition.
Judge Darius Baker imposed the first jail sentence for speeding in an automobile on August 28, 1904 in Newport.
St. Mary's, Rhode Island's oldest Roman Catholic parish was founded in 1828. The church is best known as the site of the wedding of Jacqueline Bouvier to John Fitzgerald Kennedy in 1953.
Rhode Island has no county government. It is divided into 39 municipalities each having its own form of local government.
The first circus in the United States was in Newport in 1774.
Ann and Hope was the first discount department store in the United States the property was opened in Rhode Island.
Rhode Island's official state name is Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.
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.
Rhode Islanders were the first to take military action against England by sinking one of her ships in the Narragansett Bay located between Newport and Providence. The English ship was called "The Gaspee".
Roger Williams, 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.
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.
