Timeline Rhode Island
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Rhode Island is 1,231 sq. mls. Its official name is
State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.
(WSJ, 6/2/99, p.CA4)(SSFC, 12/17/06, p.G5)
1603 Roger
Williams (d.1683) was born in London. After a brief period as a
Baptist, the founder of the Rhode Island Colony and colonial religious
leader, became a Seeker—one who adhered to the basic tenets of
Christianity but refused to recognize any creed. Williams was the first
champion of complete religious toleration in America.
(HNQ, 5/1/99)(WSJ, 6/21/05, p.D10)
1631 Feb 5, The founder of
Rhode Island, Roger Williams, and his wife arrived in Boston from
England.
(AP, 2/5/97)
1635 Oct 9, Religious dissident
Roger Williams was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony (Mass.
Bay Company). He became a founder of Rhode Island.
(AP, 10/9/01)
1636 Jul 4, City of Providence,
Rhode Island, was formed.
(Maggio)
1637 Nov 7-1637 Nov 8, Anne
Hutchinson (b.1591) and her followers were tried as heretics and
banished from the Mass Bay colony to Rhode Island.
(http://law.jrank.org/pages/2329/Anne-Hutchinson-Trials-1637-1638.html)(WSJ,
11/25/08, p.A13)
1637 Roger Williams (1603-1683),
minister, founded Providence, Rhode Island, after spending the winter
with Indians. He created a haven for dissenters.
(WSJ, 6/21/05, p.D10)
1639 May 8, William Coddington
founded Newport, RI.
(MC, 5/8/02)
1639 Roger Williams of Providence,
Rhode Island, embraced the Baptist faith long enough to help found the
first Baptist church in America. After 4 months he abandoned the
Baptist congregation and left organized religion behind.
(AH, 4/07, p.27)
1643 Roger Williams of Providence,
Rhode Island, published “A Key into the Language of America,” a
dictionary of the Narragansett Indian language and a commentary on the
culture and customs of the southern New England Indians. The work was
printed in England by Gregory Dexter.
(AH, 4/07, p.27)
1644 Mar 14, Roger Williams of
Providence, Rhode Island, was issued a charter in the name of the king,
which connected the towns of Providence, Portsmouth, and Newport under
the title of "the Incorporation of Providence Plantations in the
Narragansett Bay in New England." A March 24 date is also common for
this and reflects later use of the new style calendar.
(www.publicbookshelf.com/public_html/Our_Country_Vol_1/rhodeisl_fe.html)
1644 Roger Williams published “The
Bloudy Tenent of Persecution,” a sweeping condemnation of
Massachusetts’s intolerance and a manifesto defending the rights of
each individual to decide, according to his own conscience, how best to
worship god without interference from any civil authority.
(AH, 4/07, p.27)
1652 May 18, A law was passed in
Rhode Island banning slavery in the colonies but it caused little stir
and was not enforced. More than 1,000 slave voyages were mounted from
Rhode Island, mostly in the 18th century, carrying more than 100,000
Africans into slavery.
(HN, 5/18/99)(Reuters, 3/29/07)
1662 Jan 27, 1st American lime
kiln began operation in Providence RI.
(MC, 1/27/02)
1663 Jul 15, King Charles II of
England granted John Clarke a charter for the colony of Rhode Island
guaranteeing freedom of worship. He granted the charter giving the
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations an elected governor
and legislature. Roger Williams (1603-1683) authored the Rhode Island
and Providence Plantation Charter, which stated that religion and
conscience should never be restrained by civil supremacy.
(http://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/ri04.asp)(AH, 4/07, p.21)
1675 Feb 10, Narragansett and
Nipmuck Indians raided Lancaster, Mass. Over 35 villagers were killed
and 24 were taken captive including Mary Rowlandson and her 3 children.
Rowlandson was freed after 11 weeks and an account of her captivity was
published posthumously in 1682. Wakefield, Rhode Island, USA, The Great
Swamp Memorial marks the site where 4,000 Indians died in defense of a
secret fort.
(Postcard, Wakefield Chamber of Commerce)(AH, 6/02,
p.48)
1675 Dec 19, Some 1,000 colonial
troops attacked the Narragansett winter village in Rhode Island. The
Great Swamp Fight ended with some 80 English killed and 600 Indians
dead, mostly women and children. Wakefield, Rhode Island, USA, The
Great Swamp Memorial marks the site where 4,000 Indians died in defense
of a secret fort.
(Postcard, Wakefield Chamber of Commerce)(AH, 6/02,
p.48)
1676 Mar 29, Wampanoag allies
including Narragansetts destroyed Providence, Rhode Island. The house
of Roger Williams was destroyed as he negotiated with Indian leaders on
the outskirts of town.
(AH, 6/02, p.48)(AH, 4/07, p.29)
1676 Aug 12, Indian chief King
Philip, also known as Metacom, was killed by a Pocasset Indian
named Alderman in the swamps of Rhode Island. This ended the King
Philip’s War. Benjamin Church, a Plymouth volunteer, ordered that
Philip be beheaded and quartered. [see Aug 28]
(AH, 6/02, p.50)
1676 Aug 28, Indian chief King
Philip, also known as Metacom, was killed by English soldiers, ending
the war between Indians and colonists. [see Aug 12]
(HN, 8/28/98)
1676 Roger Williams published
“George Fox Digg’d Out of His Burrowes.” It was an account of his
debates with the Quakers in Newport and Providence.
(AH, 4/07, p.28)
1683 Apr 1, Roger Williams
(b.1603) died in poverty in Rhode Island. Williams died at Providence
between 16 January and 16 April 1683/84, his wife Mary having
predeceased him in 1676. Williams was the first champion of complete
religious toleration in America. In 2005 Edwin S. Gaustad authored the
biography “Roger Williams.”
(http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=1110)(WSJ,
6/21/05, p.D10)
1754 Jun 19, The Albany Congress
opened. New York colonial Gov. George Clinton called for the meeting to
discuss better relations with Indian tribes and common defensive
measures against the French. The attendees included Indians and
representatives from Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. Benjamin Franklin
attended and presented his Plan of Union, which was adopted by the
conference. The meeting ended on July 11.
(AH, 2/06,
p.45)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albany_Congress)
1761 Jun 10, Puritan version of
"Othello" opened in Newport, Rhode Island.
(MC, 6/10/02)
1762 Aug 22, Ann Franklin became
the first female editor of an American newspaper, the Newport, Rhode
Island “Mercury.”
(AP, 8/22/00)
1763 Dec 2, Touro Shul, the oldest
existing US synagogue, was dedicated in Newport, RI.
(MC, 12/2/01)
1764 Brown University was founded.
(SFC, 11/9/00, p.A22)
1765 More than 100 Africans
perished on the slave ship Sally in the voyage from Africa. Some hanged
themselves or starved to death. Some rebelled and were shot dead or
drowned. In 2007 the ship's log book, detailing the deaths of slaves
that occurred almost daily aboard the ship, was encased in glass in an
exhibit at Brown University.
(Reuters, 3/29/07)
1772 Jun 9, The 1st naval attack
of Revolutionary War took place when residents of Providence, RI.,
stormed the British revenue cutter HMS Gaspee, burned it to the
waterline and shot the captain.
(WSJ, 6/24/03, p.A1)
1774 Jun 13, Rhode Island became
the 1st colony to prohibit importation of slaves.
(MC, 6/13/02)
1776 Jan 16, Continental Congress
approved the enlistment of free blacks. This led to the all-black First
Rhode Island Regiment, composed of 33 freedmen and 92 slaves, who were
promised freedom if they served to the end of the war. The regiment
distinguished itself at the Battle of Newport.
(SFEC,11/23/97, Par p.19)(MC, 1/16/02)
1776 May 4,
Rhode Island declared its freedom from England, two months before the
Declaration of Independence was adopted.
(AP, 5/4/97) (HN, 5/4/98)
1778 Feb 28, Rhode Island General
Assembly authorized the enlistment of slaves.
(MC, 2/28/02)
1778 British troops ordered ships
in Newport Harbor to be sunk as French naval forces approached.
(SFC, 3/12/99, p.A9)
1785 Jul 4, The first Fourth of
July parade was held in Bristol. It served as a prayerful walk to
celebrate independence from England.
(SFC, 7/5/97, p.A3)
1785 Aug 20, Oliver Hazard Perry,
US Naval hero ("We have met the enemy"), was born in Rhode Island.
(MC, 8/20/02)
1787 May 25, The Constitutional
Convention convened in Philadelphia after enough delegates showed up
for a quorum. The Founding Fathers turned to the Rushworth's
Collections of England for revolutionary precedents. George Washington
presided. [see May 25, 1777] Rhode Island refused to send delegates.
(AP, 5/25/97)(WSJ, 3/10/99, p.A22)(HN,
5/25/99)(Econ, 9/16/06, p.44)
1790 May 29, Rhode Island became
the last of the 13 original colonies to ratify the United States
Constitution. They held out for an amendment securing religious
freedom. The state was largely founded by Baptists fleeing persecution
in Massachusetts.
(SFC, 6/24/96, p.A19)(AP, 5/29/97)(HN, 5/29/98)
1790 Dec 20, In Pawtucket, Rhode
Island, 23-year-old British subject Samuel Slater began production of
the first American spinning mill. The British jealously guarded their
technological superiority in the early stages of the Industrial
Revolution, making it illegal for machinery, plans and even the men who
built and repaired them to leave the country. After serving a 7-year
mill apprenticeship in England, Slater recognized the potential offered
in America. He memorized the plans for intricate machine
specifications, disguised himself as a farm worker and in 1789 sailed
to a new life across the Atlantic. Slater entered into a partnership
with Rhode Island merchant Moses Brown and built a small spinning
mill--the equivalent of 72 spinning wheels. At first, Slater's Mill
employed only a handful of children between the ages of 7 and 12, but
by 1800, he had more than 100 employees. By the time of Slater's death
in 1835, he owned or had an interest in 13 textile mills and left an
estate of almost $700,000. From this small beginning, America's own
Industrial Revolution grew. [see Dec 21]
(AP, 12/20/97)(HNPD, 12/20/98)(WSJ, 9/23/04, p.D10)
1790 Dec 21, Samuel Slater opened
the first cotton mill in the United States in Rhode Island. [see Dec 20]
(HN, 12/21/98)
1798 Dec 14, David Wilkinson of
Rhode Island patented a nut and bolt machine.
(MC, 12/14/01)
1800 Jan, Pierre Samuel du Pont de
Nemours, his two sons and their families, arrived in Newport from
France.
(SFC, 7/10/00, p.A32)
1831 Gorham Silver Co. was founded
in Providence, RI. Their coin silver products indicated metal that was
900 parts silver out of a total of 1000 metal parts.
(SFC, 3/9/05, p.G4)
1835 Dec 3, 1st US mutual fire
insurance company issued 1st policy in RI.
(MC, 12/3/01)
1850 Oct 19, Annie Smith Peck
(d.1935), one of the world’s renowned mountain climbers, was born in
Providence, Rhode Island.
(www.ric.edu/rpotter/smithpeck.html)
1851 Fruit of the Loom was founded
in Rhode Island as the B.B and R Knight Corporation and changed its
name in 1856. Robert Knight, a textile mill owner, visited his friend,
Rufus Skeel. Mr. Skeel owned a small shop in Providence, Rhode Island
that sold cloth from Mr. Knight's mill. Mr. Skeel's daughter painted
images of apples and applied them to the bolts of cloth. The ones with
the apple emblems proved most popular. Mr. Knight thought the labels
would be the perfect symbol for his trade name, Fruit of the Loom.
(www.fruitoftheloom.eu/Consumer2009/en/about_our_history.php)
1854 Chickens, later called Rhode
Island Reds, were first bred in R.I.
(SFEC, 8/29/99, Z1 p.8)
1862 May 9, US Naval Academy was
relocated from Annapolis MD to Newport, RI.
(MC, 5/9/02)
1866 Aug 11, The world's 1st
roller rink opened at Newport, RI.
(MC, 8/11/02)
1871 Robert Knight, Rhode Island
textile mill owner, secured patent number 418 for the brand Fruit of
the Loom.
(SSFC, 11/29/09,
p.N6)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruit_of_the_Loom)
1872 Jun 4, Harvey Flint (d.1882)
patented his Quaker Bitters, a general cure-all with 21.4% alcohol. He
had recently left a family furniture business in Providence, Rhode
Island, and began making Quaker Bitters under the name Flint & Co.
(SFC, 8/8/07,
p.G2)(www.bottlebooks.com/temperance/temperance.htm)
1881 Aug 31, The first U.S. tennis
championships (for men) were played, in Newport, R.I.
(AP, 8/31/06)
1884 Oct 6, The US Naval War
College was established in Newport, R.I.
(AP, 10/6/97)
1890 Aug 20, H.P. Lovecraft
(d.1937), author of horror tales, was born in Providence, RI.
(HN, 8/20/98)(SSFC, 2/27/05, p.B1)
1895 Apr 24, Joshua Slocum
(1844-1909), a Canadian-American sailor, began a voyage around the
world from Boston in a 37-foot rebuilt fishing boat called the Spray.
He ended on Jun 27, 1898, at Newport, Rhode Island. His record was not
beaten until 1938. In 1899 Slocum authored "Sailing Alone Around the
World."
(www.millicentlibrary.org/slocum.htm)(WSJ, 3/9/00,
p.A27)(WSJ, 6/21/08, p.W8)
1895 Oct 4, The first U.S. Open
golf tournament was held, at the Newport Country Club in Rhode Island.
At the US Amateur Golf Championship at Newport, R.I., officials ruled
against the prone position use of a pool cue to sink a put.
(AP, 10/4/97)(SFC, 11/29/97, p.C3)
1895 Cornelius Vanderbilt built
his 70-room mansion, the Breakers, in Newport, Rhode Island.
(USAT, 5/8/98, p.3D)
1898 Jun 27, Joshua Slocum
(1844-1909) became the first person to sail single-handedly around the
world. His voyage began on April 24, 1895 in Boston and ended on this
day at Newport, Rhode Island.
(Econ, 3/1/08,
p.86)(www.millicentlibrary.org/slocum.htm)
1901 Jun 29, Nelson Eddy, baritone
(Met opera, film star, duets with Jeanette MacDonald), was born in
Providence, RI.
(MC, 6/29/02)
1907 Feb 11, The passenger ship
Larchmont was steaming through a winter storm in heavy seas, 4 miles
southwest of Watch Hill, Rhode Island when she was rammed by the coal
carrying schooner Harry P. Knowles, which had drifted off course in the
blizzard. The Larchmont sank in 10 minutes and only 19 men including
the captain, George McVey survived the ordeal.
(http://rhodeisland-philatelic.com/rhodeisland/postcard120.htm)
1907 Feb 12, Bodies continued to
wash ashore from the steamer Larchmont, which had collided the previous
with a schooner off New England's Block Island. The vessel's
quartermaster, James E. Staples, claimed a loss of 332.
(AP, 2/12/98)
1916 Aug 25, Van Johnson (d.2008),
film actor, was born in Newport, RI.
(SFC, 12/13/08, p.A5)
1937 Mar 15, H.P. Lovecraft
(b.1890), author of horror tales whose works included "The Color out of
Space," died in Providence, RI.
(HN, 8/20/98)(SSFC, 2/27/05, p.B1)
1939 Nov 14, Wendy (Walter)
Carlos, composer (Switched on Bach), was born in Pawtucket, RI.
(MC, 11/14/01)
1939 The heirs of financier Nelson
W. Aldrich sold his 70-room Narragansett Bay beachfront estate for a
token amount to the Catholic Providence diocese.
(WSJ, 5/15/02, p.A1)
1940 In Rhode Island the Jamestown
Bridge was completed. It connected North Kingstown and Jamestown. It
was demolished in 2006 and replaced by the Jamestown-Verrazano Bridge.
(SFC, 4/19/06, p.A3)
c1941 In Quonset, R.I., Harry
Cobden (d.1999 at 95) co-designed a quick-to-construct steel building
for the Navy. It was called a Quonset Hut.
(SFC, 6/23/99, p.C2)
1941 The Narragansett Bay Plum
Beach Lighthouse at North Kingston, R.I., closed. A restoration in 2003
removed 60 tons of pigeon guano.
(SFC, 12/2/03, p.A2)
1942 Apr 13, Bill Conti, composer
(For Your Eyes Only, Rocky IV), was born in Providence, RI.
(MC, 4/13/02)
1947 Apr 18, James Woods, actor
(Salvador, Against All Odds), was born in Warwick, RI.
(MC, 4/18/02)
1954 The first Newport Jazz
Festival was organized by George Wein and held on the lawn of the
Lorrilard estate in Newport, R.I.
(SFC, 6/30/96, B9)
1956 May 26, Aircraft carrier
"Bennington" burned off RI, killing 103.
(MC, 5/26/02)
1957 Sep 14, Pres. Eisenhower met
with Arkansas Gov. Faubus in Rhode Island. Faubus agreed to cooperate
with the president’s decisions regarding the high schools of Little
Rock.
(http://tinyurl.com/2vggdj)
1959 The Newport Folk Festival
began.
(WSJ, 7/28/98, p.A16)
1960 Oct 20, The 1st fully
mechanized post office opened in Providence, RI.
(MC, 10/20/01)
1965 Jul 25, Folk-rock began when
Dylan used electricity at the Newport Folk Festival, RI.
(SC, 7/25/02)
1965 Rev. Edward Flannery (d.1998
at 86) of Providence, R.I., published “The Anguish of the Jews:
Twenty-three Centuries of Anti-Semitism.
(SFC, 10/23/98, p.D7)
1969 The Newport, RI., Music
Festival began.
(WSJ, 7/15/04, p.D8)
1973 Oct 3, The Providence Journal
in Rhode Island ran a story by journalist Jack White (1942-2005) that
revealed Pres. Nixon and his wife paid just $793 in income taxes in
1970 and $878 in 1971 and received tax refunds totaling over $131,000.
Nixon claimed a $570,000 tax deduction for donating his
vice-presidential papers to the government. Nixon later agreed to pay
$476,000 in back taxes.
(WSJ, 12/15/95, p.A-8)(SFC, 10/13/05, p.B7)
1974 Vincent Cianci Jr. was
elected mayor of Providence.
(WSJ, 8/5/03, p.D6)
1974 Betty Hutton (1921-2007),
former Hollywood film star underwent a detox program in Rhode Island.
Under the guidance of Father Peter McGuire she finished her high school
education and later became a faculty member at Salve Regina University
in Newport, R.I., where she taught classes in TV and cinema.
(SFC, 3/14/07, p.A2)
1976 Former Gov. John O. Pastore
retired after 25 years as a US Senator .
(SFEC, 7/16/00, p.B9)
1977 Superior Court Judge Thomas
Needham (d.2000) ruled that Rhode Island wives were required to use
their husbands’ surnames. The State later overturned his decision.
(SFC, 3/30/00, p.C5)
1978 The Cuban jazz band Irakere
performed at the Newport Jazz Festival.
(SFC, 6/16/96, BR
p.42)(www.apassion4jazz.net/newport.html)
1980 In Providence a fiberglass
sculpture of a termite was erected by the New England Pest Control Co.
overlooking I-95 for $20,000. The termite was named Nibbles Woodaway in
1990.
(SFC, 5/23/01, p.B4)
1982 Mar 16, Claus Von Bulow was
found guilty in Newport, R.I., of trying to kill his now-comatose wife,
Martha, with insulin. Von Bulow was acquitted in a retrial.
(AP, 3/16/02)
1985 Jun 10, Socialite Claus von
Bulow was acquitted by a jury in Providence, Rhode Island, at his
retrial on charges he’d tried to murder his heiress wife, Martha
“Sunny” von Bulow.
(AP, 6/10/00)
1987 Jul 27, In Warwick, RI, Craig
Price (13) crept across his neighbor's yard, broke into a little brown
house on Inez Avenue and stabbed Rebecca Spencer 58 times. She was a
27-year-old mother of two. On Sep 1, 1989, he butchered Joan Heaton
(39) with kitchen knives she had bought earlier that day. The bodies of
her daughters, Jennifer 10, and Melissa 8, were found in pools of
blood, pieces of knives broken off in their bones; Jennifer had been
stabbed 62 times. Price was scheduled to be released in 1994 but was
sentenced to 15 years, seven to serve and eight suspended, following
contempt charges and belligerent statements. Fights in prison added
more time to his sentence. As of 2007 Price's scheduled release date
was February 2022. He will be 48.
(AP,
12/16/07)(www.projo.com/extra/2004/craigprice/content/timeline.htm)
1997 The first Terrastock music
festival was held in Providence R.I. In 1998 the festival moved to SF.
(SFC, 4/20/98, p.D1)
1999 Oct 24, R.I. Senator John
Chafee died in Maryland at age 77. He was first elected to the state
Legislature in 1956 and served 3 terms as governor. He was also a
veteran of the Korean War and served as Secretary of the Navy.
(SFC, 10/26/99, p.A5)(SFEC, 6/25/00, Par p.4)
2000 Jan 28, In Providence Cornel
Young Jr., 28, an off duty police officer, was shot dead by 2 police
officers when he tried to assist in a street confrontation. In April a
grand jury decided not to file charges against the officers.
(SFC, 2/4/00, p.D3)(SFC, 4/19/00, p.A8)
2000 Jul 15, Former governor and
senator John O. Pastore died at age 93.
(SFEC, 7/16/00, p.B9)
2000 Aug 23, The final winner of
the "Survivor" TV contest set on Pulau Tiga island was broadcast to as
many as 40-50 million viewers. Richard Hatch (39), a corporate trainer
from Newport, R.I., won the $1 million grand prize. In 2006 Hatch was
convicted on three counts related to tax evasion and was sentenced to
51 months in federal prison plus three years of supervised probation.
(SFC, 8/23/00, p.A1)(SFC, 8/24/00,
p.A1)(http://tinyurl.com/4sna5j)
2000 Nov 9, Ruth Simmons was named
the 18th Pres. of Brown Univ. She became the 1st African American to
head an Ivy League institution.
(SFC, 11/9/00, p.A22)
2001 Apr 2, Vincent Cianci Jr.
(59), mayor of Providence, RI, was indicted by a federal grand jury on
racketeering charges. Cianci was convicted on a single count of
racketeering conspiracy in Jun, 2002, and sentenced to 5 years and 4
months in jail on Sep 6. In 2003 Mike Stanton authored "The Prince of
Providence," a biography of Cianci.
(SFC, 4/3/01, p.A2)(SFC, 6/25/02, p.A4)(SFC, 9/7/02,
p.A3)(WSJ, 8/5/03, p.D5)
2001 Jul 19, Rhode Island became
the 3rd state, behind Minnesota and Connecticut, to extend civil rights
protections to transsexuals and cross-dressers.
(SFC, 7/20/01, p.A5)
2002 Apr, Provincetown acquired
the Russian submarine Juliett 484 as an attraction to raise money for a
museum centered on the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, yet to be
acquired. Russia launched Juliett in 1968 as a diesel sub that carried
4 nuclear missiles. In 1994 it was taken from the Liepaja naval base in
Latvia to Helsinki, Finland, for use as a restaurant and bar. In 1998
it was towed to St. Petersburg but failed as a tourist attraction. In
2001 she taken to Halifax for use in the movie “K-19: The Widowmaker.”
(WSJ, 5/24/02, p.A1)
2002 Jun 8, Carlos Pacheco, an
employee at the Providence Journal production plant, killed 2
co-workers and wounded another. He was later found dead in a burned out
car in Warwick.
(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.A20)
2003 Feb 20, The Station, a
Warwick, Rhode Island, nightclub erupted in a raging fire during a
pyrotechnics display at a rock concert, 98 people were killed and 200
others injured. Flammable soundproofing was later blamed. In Feb, 2006,
Dan Biechele, manager of the band, pleaded guilty to 100 counts of
manslaughter in exchange for up to 10 years in prison. He was sentenced
to 4 years in prison. In 2008 Anheuser-Busch and a Rhode Island beer
distributor agreed to pay $21 million to settle lawsuits brought by
survivors of the fire.
(SFC, 2/22/03, A1)(WSJ, 3/3/03, p.A1)(SFC, 2/1/06,
p.A3)(SFC, 5/11/06, p.A7)(SFC, 5/24/08, p.A3)
2003 Dec 9, Jeffrey and Michael
Derderian, owners of a Rhode Island nightclub, and Dan Biechele, the
tour manager for the rock band Great White, were indicted on charges
related to the February 20 fire that killed 100 people. In 2006 a judge
gave the owners 4 years and probation.
(AP, 12/9/04)(SFC, 5/10/06, p.A7)(WSJ, 9/30/06, p.A1)
2004 Jun, Doctors at Rhode Island
Hospital implanted a BrainGate, pea-size sensor made by Cyberkinetics,
in the brain of Matthew Nagle, a quadriplegic, which connected to
computer. Over a 9-month period he learned to use his mind to control
motion on a video monitor and a robotic arm. The journal Nature
reported the results of the experiment on July 13, 2006.
(SFC, 7/13/06, p.A1)(Econ, 7/15/06, p.77)
2005 Mar 26, A small plane,
carrying 2 Rhode Island families from vacation in Florida, crashed near
Penn. State Univ. All 6 people aboard were killed.
(SSFC, 3/27/05, p.A3)
2006 Jan 3, Rhode Island became
the 11th state to legalize medical marijuana and the first since the
U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that patients who use the drug can
still be prosecuted under federal law.
(AP, 1/4/06)
2006 Jan 25, "Survivor" Richard
Hatch was convicted in Providence, R.I., of failing to pay taxes on his
$1 million winnings. He was later sentenced to more than four years in
prison.
(AP, 1/25/07)
2006 Feb 22, A Rhode Island jury
found 3 companies, Sherwin-Williams, NL Industries and Millennium
Holdings, liable for creating a public nuisance by selling lead paint
decades ago, and that the companies should pay to clean it up from
homes and buildings in the state.
(WSJ, 2/23/06, p.D7)
2006 Feb 25, In Rhode Island Brown
University announced it will stop investing in companies that do
business in Sudan because the country has been accused of genocide.
(AP, 2/25/06)
2006 Apr 18, In Rhode Island the
1940 Jamestown Bridge was demolished. It connected North Kingstown and
Jamestown and was replaced by the Jamestown-Verrazano Bridge.
(SFC, 4/19/06, p.A3)
2006 Apr 28, Rhode Island,
America's smallest state, was reported to be seeking to become the
first state to offer a wireless broadband network from border to
border. The Rhode Island Wireless Innovation Networks (RI-WINs) was
expected to be fully in place by 2007, providing wireless connectivity
throughout the state, whose land mass of about 1,045 square miles is
only slightly more than double the size of metropolitan Los Angeles.
(Reuters, 4/28/06)
2006 Sep 29, A Rhode Island
nightclub owner was sentenced to four years in prison and his brother
to probation, angering relatives of the 100 people who died in a 2003
fire at their club.
(AP, 9/29/07)
2006 Dec 15, New US rules went
into effect governing the reporting of public sector pension assets. A
number of US states faced pension asset shortfalls. Taxpayers in
Connecticut and Rhode Island faced some $3500 in unfunded liabilities
per citizen. California faced $49 billion in unfunded pension
liabilities.
(Econ, 11/18/06, p.36)
2007 Mar 3, Warren Alpert
(b.1920), philanthropist, died in NYC. In 1950 he formed Warren
Equities Inc., which became one of the largest independent gasoline and
convenience store marketers and one of the leading independent
wholesale petroleum marketers in the Northeast. In 1986 Alpert
founded the Warren Alpert Foundation, a philanthropic effort devoted to
supporting medical research and health care. On Jan 29 it was announced
that he had donated $100 million to Rhode Island’s Brown Medical school.
(WSJ, 3/5/07, p.A1)(http://tinyurl.com/25gd5v)
2007 Rhode Island lawmakers ended
a 51-year prohibition on Sunday auto sales.
(WSJ, 11/6/08, p.A14)
2008 Mar 4, John McCain clinched
the Republican nomination. Hillary Clinton won primaries in Texas, Ohio
and Rhode Island, halting Barack Obama's winning streak. Obama won in
Vermont. Obama came away with a large share of delegates, too, in
counting that continued.
(AP, 3/5/08)
2008 May 26, David Mumford of
Brown University said he would donate his $33,333 portion of the
prestigious Israeli mathematics Wolf Prize, to a Palestinian university
and an Israeli group that tries to ease Israeli travel restrictions on
Palestinian students.
(AP, 5/26/08)
2009 Jan 1, Claiborne Pell
(b.1918), former US Senator from Rhode Island (1660-1997), died. He was
the chief sponsor of the 1965 law establishing the national Endowment
for the Arts and the national Endowment for the Humanities. He also
sponsored legislation creating the Basic Educational Opportunities
Grants (1972), which provided direct aid to college students. The
awards were renamed the Pell Grants in 1980.
(SFC, 1/2/09, p.B6)
2009 May, Rhode Island under Gov.
Donald Carcieri projected a budget gap of $372 million for the year
ending June 30. Carcieri pushed a plan to phase out the state’s 9%
corporate tax rate to improve the state’s friendliness towards business.
(Econ, 5/2/09, p.34)
2009 Jun 16, Rhode Island became
the 3rd state in the US to allow marijuana sales to chronically ill
patients as the General Assembly voted to override a veto by Gov. Don
Carcieri.
(SFC, 6/17/09, p.A7)
Go to http://www.timelinesdb.com
Subject = Rhode Island
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