Rhode Island Trivia

Did you know?

• Built in 1763, Newport's Touro Synagogue is the oldest surviving synagogue in North America.
• The first discount department store in the United States, 'Ann and Hope,' was opened in Rhode Island.
• Rhode Island was home to the first open golf tournament (1895).
• The original Native American name for Block Island is 'Manisses,' meaning God's Little Island.
• Rhode Island's T.F. Green Airport in Warwick was the first state-owned airport in the USA.
• In 1774, Newport, Rhode Island hosted the first circus in the country.
• Newport has the country's oldest tavern building (The White Horse Tavern, 1673).
• The nation's oldest carousel still delights children in the resort town of Watch Hill, RI.
• The Narragansett Pacer was the first American bred horse of the Colonial era.
• Pelham Street in Newport was first in the country to use gas illuminated street lights.
• President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier were married at St. Mary's church in Newport, RI.
• Rhode Island was home to the first national lawn tennis championships in 1899.
• The first torpedo boat, 'Stiletto', was built in Bristol, RI in 1887.
• In addition to founding RI in 1636, Roger Williams also established the First Baptist Church in America.
• Roger Williams is known to have lived, preached and written in the still standing Smith's Castle, of Wickford, RI.
• Newport held the first auto race in 1895.
• In 1876 Polo was played for the first time in the United States in Newport, RI.
• Rosecliff Mansion's (Newport) 'Court of Love' is modeled after one designed for Marie Antoinette at Versailles.
• RI's state capitol features the fourth largest unsupported marble dome in the world.
• RI enacted the first law against slavery in North America on May 18, 1652.