Rhode Island's official nickname is "The Ocean State", a reference to the large bays and inlets that amount to about 14 percent of its total area.

Rhode Island has a lot of oceanfront property. The nation's smallest state is only 37 miles across at its widest, but it has 384 miles of shoreline, including its 35 offshore islands.

On May 4, 1776, Rhode Island became the first of the thirteen colonies to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown. It was the last of the thirteen colonies to ratify the United States Constitution on May 29, 1790, and only under threat of heavy trade tariffs from the other former colonies and after assurances were made that a Bill of Rights would become part of the Constitution.

Providence is the capital and most populous city of the state of Rhode Island and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. It was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He named the area in honor of "God's merciful Providence" which he believed was responsible for revealing such a haven for him and his followers.

Ambrose Burnside, the Civil War general who became the namesake of sideburns, was the governor of Rhode Island from 1866 to 1869.

Rhode Island is the smallest U.S. state by area. It covers 1,214 square miles. Its distances North to South are 48 miles and East to West 37 miles.

The flag of the state of Rhode Island is white and consists of a gold anchor in the center (a symbol for hope) surrounded by thirteen gold stars (for the original 13 colonies and Rhode Island's status as the 13th state to ratify the Constitution). A blue ribbon below the anchor bears the state's motto in gold: "HOPE."

On August 27, 1904, Judge Darius Baker of Newport, R.I., imposed the nation's first jail sentence for speeding in an automobile. A jail term was especially harsh because automobile traffic laws were still new. The offender was caught traveling 15 mph.

In 1774, Newport, R.I., became home to the country's first official circus performance. American rider Christopher Gardner, son of Henry Gardner of Newport, gave the first riding exhibition on May 24, 1774. He is believed to have been the first American exhibition rider.

HMS Gaspee was a British customs schooner that had been enforcing the Navigation Acts in and around Newport, Rhode Island in 1772. It ran aground in shallow water while chasing the packet ship Hannah on June 9 near Gaspee Point in Warwick, Rhode Island. A group of men led by Abraham Whipple and John Brown attacked, boarded, and torched the ship. The Gaspee Affair was the first act of violent uprising against the British crown's authority in America, preceding the Boston Tea Party by more than a year and moving the Thirteen Colonies closer to the war for independence.