1. In 1853, the Providence Daily Journal reported that a group of African American students from Rhode Island traveled to Boston to attend the Colored Convention. One of the students, Henry Harwinton, gave a speech advocating for the abolition of slavery and for greater educational opportunities for African Americans.

2. On February 12, 1915, Rhode Island became the last state in the US to enact a statewide prohibition on alcohol, three years before the passage of the 18th Amendment that established Prohibition nationwide.

3. In 1930, the first US Navy submarine base opened in New London, Connecticut, just across the border from Rhode Island. The base was home to the USS Nautilus, the first nuclear-powered submarine, which was launched in 1954.

4. On February 12, 1965, civil rights activists led by Martin Luther King Jr. marched on the statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama, demanding the right to vote for African Americans. This event, known as the Selma to Montgomery march, helped lead to the passage of the Voting Rights Act later that year.

5. In 2003, Rhode Island native Dan Gable won a gold medal in the 74 kg freestyle wrestling competition at the Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Gable had previously won a gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, and went on to become a successful wrestling coach at the University of Iowa.