57 Fun Facts About RI --To Share With Our Exchangers

 Thanks, Spencer McGee!  And thanks, Flickr and FB

1. The only nuclear explosion to ever happen in the U.S. outside of a controlled environment happened in Wood River, R.I. in 1964 when a worker at United Nuclear Corporation Recovery Systems mistakenly put too much uranium solution in a tank, resulting in an explosion as well as their death. The worker was the only causality.

Source: Flickr user hulaman345

 

 2. Block Island has its very own ghost ship, which has haunted islanders ever since a deadly wreck there in 1738. Some say the passengers and crew seek revenge against locals who failed to help them as the boat went down. According to legend, a local mass grave contains their bodies.

3. Mr. Potato Head was named as the official “family-travel ambassador” of Rhode Island in 2000. It makes sense with the Hasbro headquarters located in Pawtucket. He was also the first toy to be advertised on television.

Source: Flickr user somegeekkintn

4. The state of Rhode Island can still technically fine a company for making certain employees work on Sunday. Unfortunately for weekend warriors, it’s only a fine for unnecessary work that’s done, and it’s only a maximum of $10.

5. Buying your kid a toy gun? Remember, cap guns are illegal in Rhode Island.

Source: Flickr user deltamike

6. The big Kodiak sculpture in Providence known as “Indomitable” is 11 feet tall and weighs more than three tons.

7. Thank Governor Ambrose Burnside for the popularity of the sideburn.

Source: Flickr user eusebius@commons

8. It’s said a carnivorous tree digested the decomposing body of Rhode Island founder Roger Williams. The tree wasn’t charged with any crime and is still on display.

9. Rhode Island is not zombie friendly. There’s actually a statewide law against biting off another person’s leg. And you thought this was a free country, sheesh!

Source: Flickr user y

10. Over 400 Rhode Islands can fit inside of Alaska, and almost 4,000 can fit in America.

11. In 1993, the official drink of Rhode Island became Coffee Milk.

Source: Flickr user spablab

12. Blake Rodgers of Cranston, R.I. once held the record for most high-fives in a 24-hour period, able to get 3,131 at the Dunkin’ Donuts center. Unfortunately he was beaten by an Australian who received 14,607 in the same time.

13. In 1774, Newport became home to the country’s first official circus performance.

Source: Flickr user riccardo palazzani

14. Glendale claims to be home to the world’s oldest penny arcade, with some games dating back to the 1920s, still operating at their original price.

Source: Flickr user rob boudon

15. Rhode Island shores are publically owned.

16. Fore! The first golf open was held in 1895 in Rhode Island.

17. Providence, R.I. is home to the world’s largest bug, a giant 2-ton, 58 foot long termite. Named “Nibbles Woodaway”, this creature waits for his next feast of wood chips on top of the big blue bug pest control building.

Source: big blue bug via facebook

18. With the defendant flying along at and absurd 15 miles per hour, Rhode Island Judge Darius Baker was the first person to jail a person for speeding in 1904.

19. Some studies show that there are more doughnut shops per capita in the Providence metro area than anywhere else.

20. While most people attribute New Orleans with the invention of jazz music, America’s first jazz fest was actually held in 1954 in Newport.

Source: Flickr user weeklydig

21. Cumberland is the only place on earth that cumberlandite has been found. It’s high in iron and titanium and very magnetic, often mistaken for debris from a meteor.

22. While most people credit the Boston Tea Party with starting the revolutionary war, almost two years before a group of Rhode Islanders attacked a British warship, burning it and killing one of the leading officers.

23. This year, a Providence high school senior, Ben Perry, set the Guinness World Record for marathon cooking, working for 40 hours straight.

24. Rhode Islanders are great at growing pumpkins, setting and resetting the world record for the largest pumpkin several times in the last decade. Though Ron Wallace’s 2,009-pound pumpkin was topped by some Californian’s this year, there’s no doubt Rhode Island will soon be back on top.

Source: Flickr user pquan

25. You’ll get fined if you throw pickle juice on a trolley in Rhode Island.

26. In Newport, it’s illegal to smoke a pipe after sunset.

Source: Flickr user jakeliefer

27. Now popularly called badminton, Rhode Island is often credited with holding the first lawn tennis championship in 1899.

28. The first U.S. National Championship was also held in Rhode Island in 1881 at the Newport casino. It’s still an annual event today, making it America’s oldest tennis tourney.

29. Rhode Island wasn’t the first Rhode Island. In fact, it’s named after a Greek island called Rhodes.

Source: Flickr user nasa earth observatory

30. Behind only St. Peter’s Basilica, the Minnesota state capital, and the Taj Mahal, the Rhode Island State House is home to the fourth largest self-supporting dome in the entire world. Plus, it’s topped with an 11 foot tall, 500 pound statue.

Source: Flickr uer howthegodschillx

31. Next time you pay with a dollar bill, remember that Rhode Islander Gilbert Stuart was the artist behind the George Washington portrait featured on the bill.

Source: Flickr user c_ambler

32. Often credited with starting the Industrial Revolution, Samuel Slater developed the first water-powered cotton mill in 1790 in Rhode Island.

33. The famous songs “Yankee Doodle Dandy” and “ You’re A Grand Old Flag” were written by Rhode Islander George M. Cohan.

34. Rhode Island has more shipwrecks per square mile than any other state.

Source: Flickr user deivis

35. In 1640, Anne Hutchinson became the first woman to establish an American town, Portsmouth, R.I.

36. Brown University was named after Rhode Islander Nicholas Brown, one of the key leaders in ratifying the Constitution.

37. Providence is consistently ranked as one of the most exciting mid-sized cities in America, with some of the youngest, most vibrant residents. It helps that they’ve got one nighttime hangout for every 500-or-so residents.

38. All Rhode Islanders should know that the Rhode Island Red Chicken is the official state bird.

Source: Flickr user garrett heath

39. Rhode Island was the first state to declare its independence on May 4, 1776.

40. Rhode Island was also the first state to make its anti-slavery stance official, passing laws as early as 1652.

41. At four letters, Rhode Island’s state motto, “Hope,” is shorter than any other state motto.
42. Pelham Street in Newport was the first gas lit street in America.

43. Think twice before you take your favorite horse out on 95. They’ll pull you over and ticket you if they think you’re preparing for a race.

44. Next time you’re in Exeter, visit the graveyard to check out the grave of a suspected vampire, Mercy Brown. It’s said that when her body was exhumed two months after her death, she had moved inside of the coffin and her heart showed no signs of decay. They did the only rational thing. They burned the heart and fed the ashes to her sick brother.

Source: Flickr user anieto2k

45. Newport is home to several spooky places, including Belcourt Castle, where haunted chairs are said to buck visitors onto the floor.

46. Both the first Baptist church and the first synagogue to be built in America were built in Rhode Island.

47. Rhode Island was one of a few states to not approve Prohibition.

Source: Flickr user Flickr-rickr

48. For some odd reason, it’s illegal to sell both toothpaste and a toothbrush to the same Providence resident on Sundays.

49. Though the sport never grew to huge popularity among Americans, the first American outdoor polo match was held in Rhode Island in 1876.

50. Apparently Providence has had a problem with risqué outfits in the past, as now it’s against the law to wear see-through clothing.

Source: Flickr user planetc1

51. The state’s full, unabbreviated name, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, is the longest state name.

52. Fashioned after the Sistine Chapel, Woonsocket’s St. Ann’s Roman Catholic Church is home to one of the largest fresco collections in North America. Members of the congregation were the models for the paintings.

Source: Flickr user briyyz

53. Originally rotated by huge draft horses, the watch hill, R.I. carousel, the flying horse carousel, is the oldest in the country, built in 1850.

Source: Flickr user|jw@ldzen|

54. You’ll get ticketed in Scituate for driving with beer in your car, even if it’s not open.

55. If you’re neighbor gets caught having more than 11 permanent vehicles in front of their house, it’s a misdemeanor.

56. Newport may be home to the oldest standing building in America, the "Viking" Tower in Truro Park, with some estimates pulling its construction at 1120 AD.  (Another theory is that it was built by the Chinese...)

Source: newport tower museum via facebook

57. Newport is home to the country’s oldest continually used library, the Redwood Library.
It may be small, but it’s been around for a long time. Rhode Island was bound to have a few secrets left.
Feature Image Source: Flickr user m01229

What’s your favorite fun fact about Rhode Island?