Rhode Island might be the smallest state with the longest name in the nation (the full, unabbreviated title is Rhode Island and Providence Plantations), but there are many interesting facts about the Ocean State some may not know.
For example, it is only 48 miles long and 37 miles wide, but has 400 miles of coastline. It is bordered by Massachusetts and Connecticut and was one of the original 13 colonies, founded in 1636 and granted statehood in 1790.
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Here are six facts about Rhode Island that you might not know:
1. Rhode Island was the last of the original thirteen colonies to become a state.
2. Rhode Island was one of only two states that never ratified the 18th Amendment, which is more commonly known as the period of alcohol prohibition in the United States. Another New England state, Connecticut, also rejected the amendment.
3. Rhode Island has no county government. It is divided into 39 municipalities, and each has its own form of local government.
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4. Rhode Islanders were the first to take military action against England. Two years before the Boston Tea Party, they sunk one of her ships in the Narragansett Bay located between Newport and Providence. The English ship was called The Gaspee.
5. The Industrial Revolution started in Rhode Island with the development of Samuel Slater's water-powered cotton mill in Pawtucket in 1790. Pawtucket is also the home of the toy company Hasbro's headquarters.
6. Rhode Island Judge Darius Baker was the first person to jail a person for speeding in 1904. The offender was driving his motor vehicle at 15 miles per hour.
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