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1524
Rhode Island was explored
Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazano, employed by France, discovered Rhode Island -
Rhode Island became a colony
Rhode Island was founded by Rodger Williams and other colonists such as Anne Hutchinson. It was created for religious reasons. He founded Rhode Island after he was banished from the colony of Massachusetts. -
charter was created
The Royal Charter of 1663 was a document granted by King Charles II of England to the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. It allowed settlers in Rhode Island to govern their own colony and guaranteed their individual freedom of religion. -
suspended charter
King James II suspended charter, ordered Rhode Island to submit to Dominion -
William of Orange became king
William of Orange became King; Rhode Island resumed government under 1663 charter -
Touro Synagogue
Touro Synagogue (founded in 1763) is the oldest synagogue in the U.S. is in Rhode Island -
Brown University founded
Brown University, founded in 1764, was the first American college to accept students of all religions. -
first state that declared independence
Rhode Island became the first state to formally declare its independence from Great Britain. However, the state's leaders were fearful of a too powerful government, so they refused to ratify the Constitution until the Bill of Rights was added to it. -
battle of Rhode Island
Rhode Island was the first colony to officially declare independence from Britain, and one of the original instigators of rebellion against the king. But the colony was undermined by Loyalists in Newport who let the British take over. The Battle of Rhode Island in 1778 was a major failed attempt to eject the invaders. -
first textile mill in Pawtucket
Samuel Slater, known as the Father of the American Industrial Revolution, established America’s first textile mill in Pawtucket. Rhode Island quickly emerged as one of the nation’s most industrialized states, a heritage still celebrated in Pawtucket. -
USS revenge ship sunk
Jan 9, The USS Revenge, a ship commanded by US Navy hero Oliver Hazard Perry ran aground on a reef off of Watch Hill, Rhode Island. Divers discovered the wreck in August 2005, but only made the news public in 2011. -
War of 1812
Rhode Island refused to participate in the war of 1812 -
Gorham Silver Co. founded
Gorham Silver Co. was founded in Providence, RI. Their coin silver products indicated metal that was 900 parts silver out of a total of 1000 metal parts. -
first insurance policy
Dec 3, 1st US mutual fire insurance company issued 1st policy in Rhode Island -
Annie Smith Peck born
Annie Smith Peck (d.1935), one of the world’s renowned mountain climbers, was born in Providence, Rhode Island. -
Fruit of the Loom co. founded
Fruit of the Loom was founded in Rhode Island as the B.B and R Knight Corporation and changed its name in 1856. Robert Knight, a textile mill owner, visited his friend, Rufus Skeel. Mr. Skeel's daughter painted images of apples and applied them to the bolts of cloth. Mr. Knight thought the labels would be the perfect symbol for his trade name, Fruit of the Loom. He later secured the patent number 418 in 1871 -
Rhode Island Reds first bred
Chickens, later called Rhode Island Reds, were first bred in Rhode Island. -
US Naval Academy moved
On May 9, 1862 the US Naval Academy was relocated from Annapolis, Maryland to Newport Rhode Island. -
Trip around the world
Joshua Slocum, a Canadian-American sailor, began a voyage around the world from Boston in a 37-foot rebuilt fishing boat called the Spray. He ended on June 37, 1898, at Newport, Rhode Island. His record was not beaten until 1938. In 1899 Slocum authored "Sailing Alone Around the World." -
First U.S. Open
The first U.S. Open golf tournament was held, at the Newport Country Club in Rhode Island. At the US Amateur Golf Championship at Newport, R.I., officials ruled against the prone position use of a pool cue to sink a put. -
300 year anniversary
Rhode Island celebrated 300 year anniversary -
Once in a lifetime storm
Rhode Island got the worst of it. Parts of downtown Providence received more than 14 feet of water, a storm surge of 12 to 14 feet destroyed most coastal homes, yacht clubs and marinas on Narragansett Bay. Two-thirds of the boats in New Bedford Harbor sank. Before the storm, 100 boats fished the waters between Point Judith, R.I. and New London. Afterward, the hurricane left only three. -
Hurricane Carol
Hurricane Carol was so ferocious the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration retired the name for a decade after it struck in 1954. Strong, sustained winds swept through Rhode Island and the eastern parts of Massachusetts and Connecticut, killing dozens and destroying buildings, automobiles, boats and crops. The storm took out power for days. -
Blizzard of 78 killed many
New Jersey and the New York City area at the beginning of February in 1978. Boston received record snow fall of 27.1 inches and the Providence Rhode Island also set a new record of 27.6 inches of snow. The storm killed approximately 100 people and left about 4,500 injured with over $520 million in damage. -
World Prodigy oil spill
The World Prodigy oil spill happened in June of 1989 and happened because the captain of the ship had not had sleep in one and half days and started to focus on paperwork when the tanker went on the wrong side of a buoy and got caught up on a reef a few hundred feet off the coast of Rhode Island. The captain pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $510,000 worth of fines. -
North Cape barge oil spill
A winter storm drove the barge North Cape onto Moonstone Beach, where it spilled 828,000 gallons of home heating oil that killed thousands of shore birds and littered the beaches ankle deep with millions of dead lobsters. -
Nigh club fire in West Warwick
During a Great White show at the Station Nightclub in West Warwick, R.I., 100 people lost their lives and over 200 were injured in a fire caused by the band's pyrotechnic display. During the show's opening number, the band's road manager, Daniel Biechele, set off the pyrotechnics, as planned. The sparks unexpectedly ignited the foam used for soundproofing the ceiling of the club. The flames spread quickly, engulfing the club, and claiming the lives of many of those trying to escape. -
Rainstorms that caused flooding
The Pawtuxet River in Cranston, Rhode Island crested at 20.79 feet of rain which passed up the previous record of 15.1 feet which was just set one and a half weeks prior to this flood. This flood had caused bridges to be washed away and many homes and businesses were close. -
Bill allowing civil unions
Providence, Rhode Island less than a week after the same-gender marriage was legalized in New York the Rhode Island State Senate approved a bill allowing not marriage, but civil unions for gay couples, despite fierce opposition from gay rights advocates who called the legislation discriminary. -
Hurricane Irene
Hurricane Irene grew from a tropical cyclone in the Caribbean to a category 3 hurricane as it blew north along the East Coast of the US. High winds and tremendous rainfall downed trees and battered shorelines, leaving millions without power and causing some 26 deaths across nine states. Rhode Island was included
