The Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibited the sale and manufacture of alcohol in the United States. Two states, Connecticut and Rhode Island, rejected the amendment, which was later repealed.

At 812 ft (247 m), Jerimoth Hill is the highest point in the state of Rhode Island. For many years, hikers could not access the hill because the only path to the summit crossed the driveway of a private property owner, Henry Richardson (aka "the madman of Jerimoth Hill"), who prohibited entry. Richardson posted "no trespassing" signs and installed a security system that alerted him whenever people entered his property. Richardson's belligerence toward hikers made him something of a legend in the community. After his death, the property was purchased by another family who eventually ceded the land to the state.

The Rhode Island Red Chicken was bred in Rhode Island and Massachusetts in the second half of the nineteenth century by cross-breeding birds of Oriental origin such as the Malay with brown Leghorn birds from Italy. It was developed as a dual-purpose breed, to provide both meat and eggs, but is now bred predominantly for egg-laying qualities.

Rhode Island founder Roger Williams established the first Baptist church in America in 1638 after he was kicked out of Massachusetts for his "extreme" religious views--namely, his endorsements of freedom of religion and the separation of church and state.

The International Tennis Hall of Fame, located in Newport, honors both players and other contributors to the sport of tennis. The complex includes a museum that houses a large collection of artifacts and memorabilia, highlighting the history of tennis from its origins up through the modern era.

Rhode Island was the last state to adopt an official state flower. Although the common blue violet (viola sororia) was voted as the state flower by Rhode Island's school children in 1897, it wasn't officially adopted by the state legislature until 1968.

In 2012, the state legislature formally cemented homeless people's right to equal access to jobs, housing, and services, banning discrimination on the basis of housing status and guaranteeing homeless people access to public spaces like sidewalks and subways.

The world's largest bug is on the roof of New England Pest Control in Providence, R.I. It's a big blue termite named Nibbles Woodaway. Nibbles is 58 feet long--about 1,856 times the size of an actual termite.

Over most of its range, the red maple (Acer rubrum) is adaptable to a very wide range of site conditions, perhaps more so than any other tree in eastern North America. It can be found growing in swamps, on poor dry soils, and almost anywhere in between.

Calamari is a Mediterranean dish, consisting of batter-coated squid, sliced into rings and deep-fried, often with marinara sauce on the side. It was adopted as the official state appetizer on June 27, 2014.