Short answers, pulled from the story.
Roger Williams founded Providence in June 1636 after being banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He was convicted of sedition and heresy for preaching the separation of church and state and condemning colonists who confiscated land from Native peoples. He named the settlement after what he called "God's merciful Providence."
In 1772, a group from Providence burned the Gaspee, a British customs schooner, south of the city. It was the first act of armed resistance to British rule in North America, predating the Boston Tea Party by more than a year.
Rhode Island renounced its allegiance to the British Crown on the 4th of May 1776, becoming the first of the Thirteen Colonies to do so. It was also the last state to ratify the U.S. Constitution, holding out until the 29th of May 1790.
Providence became one of the wealthiest industrial cities in the United States, manufacturing steam engines, precision tools, silverware, textiles, and jewelry. By the 1960s, trade publications called it "the jewelry capital of the world." Major firms based there included Brown and Sharpe, Gorham Manufacturing Company, and the Fruit of the Loom textile company.
At the 2020 census, Providence had a population of 190,934. Hispanic or Latino residents made up 43.5% of the population, with the majority of Dominican descent. Non-Hispanic whites were 33.8%, African Americans 16.1%, and Asian Americans 5.6%.
Providence is home to Brown University, an Ivy League institution; Providence College; Rhode Island School of Design; Johnson and Wales University; and Rhode Island College, the state's oldest public college. Between the city's colleges, the student population ranges from 32,000 to 44,000, and Brown University is the city's second-largest employer.