1. On October 5, 1772, a group of Rhode Island colonists known as the Gaspee Raiders burned a British customs ship, the HMS Gaspee, in Narragansett Bay. This act of rebellion was a precursor to the American Revolution and helped to galvanize colonial opposition to British rule.

2. The first public library in Rhode Island, the Providence Athenaeum, was established on October 5, 1836. The Athenaeum has a collection of over 200,000 volumes and is considered one of the oldest and most prestigious libraries in the United States.

3. On October 5, 1910, Jack Reed, a journalist and socialist activist from Rhode Island, spoke at a rally in New York City in support of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), a radical labor organization. Reed's speech, which called for workers to unite against the wealthy owners of industry, was seen as a threat by the government and led to Reed's eventual arrest and imprisonment.

4. The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Museum, which houses one of the finest collections of art and design in the United States, opened its doors to the public on October 5, 1940. The museum features works by artists such as Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, and Jackson Pollock.

5. On October 5, 1981, tennis player Jimmy Connors won his first US Open championship at the National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York. Connors, who was born in East St. Louis, Illinois, but grew up in Belleville, Illinois, had a storied career that included eight Grand Slam singles titles and 109 career singles titles.