1) In 1777, Providence, Rhode Island became the first city to renounce allegiance to the British Crown during the Revolutionary War.

2) On September 25, 1926, Newport Harbor was the starting point for the first America's Cup yacht race broadcast on the radio.

3) The Newport Jazz Festival was founded on September 25, 1954 by music producer George Wein in Newport, Rhode Island.

4) In 1990, the Rhode Island Lottery introduced the nation's first instant scratch-off ticket that featured a car as a prize.

5) In 2014, the state of Rhode Island launched a new tourism campaign called "Cooler & Warmer" that featured a controversial marketing video featuring footage of Iceland and a popular restaurant in Massachusetts. The campaign was criticized and later rebranded as "Rhode Island: Discover Beautiful."