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Here's what we know about Rhode Island: It's the smallest state in the Union, it's not an island, and its capital is Providence. We hate to admit it, but, other than those three tidbits of information, our knowledge of Rhode Island is extremely limited. We started our search by typing three words into the search box: "Rhode Island name." The results returned one site in the Yahoo! directory, but unfortunately it was an online store for old maps. We ventured on and clicked on "Go To Web Page Matches." The Google search results found more than 187,000 web pages that contained the words "rhode," "island," and "name." We selected the web page titled, Stately
Knowledge: Rhode Island: Just the Facts. The page, part of the Internet Public Library, offered a quick look at Rhode Island facts, including its nickname (The Ocean State), its motto (Hope), and its bird (the Rhode Island Red). Also noted is the origin of the name, which the site claims is the Greek Island of Rhodes. A promising start, but the answer was a bit too cryptic and ambiguous for our liking. Luckily the page offered several links to online encyclopedias and almanacs. The first site we checked was Encarta Encyclopedia, where we found a clear and concise introduction to Rhode Island. According to this site, historians disagree over the source of the name.
Some claim the name was first used by the Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524, when he compared Block Island (in the southern part of the state) to the island of Rhodes in the Mediterranean. Other historians maintain the name is a corruption of Roodt Eylandt (Red Island), the title applied to Aquidneck Island (the Native American name for the land) because of the red clay on its shore. Hoping to find a definitive answer, we headed over to Encyclopędia Britannica and searched on Rhode Island. After a few clicks, we found ourselves reading about Rhode Island history. The article corroborates the Isle of Rhodes theory, claiming Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano compared the size of Block Island to the
Mediterranean island of Rhodes. Although there is some controversy, the Isle of Rhodes explanation seems to be the most accepted version of the story behind the naming of "Little Rhody."
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