armed tender of the British Frigate Rose. The tender was chased aground and captured. Later in June, the General Assembly created the American Navy when it commissioned the sloops Katy and , armed with 24 guns and commanded by Abraham Whipple who was promoted to Commodore. Rhode Island was the first Colony to declare independence from Britain on May 4, 1776. Slater Mill in Pawtucket was the first commercially successful cotton-spinning mill with a fully mechanized power system in America and was the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in the US. The oldest Fourth of July parade in the country is still held annually in Bristol, Rhode Island. The first Baptist church in America was founded in Providence in 1638. Ann Smith Franklin of the Newport Mercury was the first female newspaper editor in America (August 22, 1762). Touro Synagogue is the oldest synagogue in America, founded in Newport in 1763. Pelham Street in Newport was the first in America to be illuminated by gaslight in 1806. The first strike in the United States in which women participated occurred in Pawtucket in 1824. Watch Hill has the nation's oldest flying horses carousel that has been in continuous operation since 1850. The motion picture machine was patented in Providence on April 23, 1867. The first lunch wagon in America was introduced in Providence in 1872. The first nine-hole golf course in America was completed in Newport in 1890. The first state health laboratory was established in Providence on September 1, 1894. The Rhode Island State House was the first building with an all-marble dome to be built in the United States (1895–1901). The first automobile race on a track was held in Cranston on September 7, 1896. The first automobile parade was held in Newport on September 7, 1899, on the grounds of Belcourt Castle. Miscellaneous local culture Rhode Island is nicknamed "The Ocean State", and the nautical nature of Rhode Island's geography pervades its culture. Newport Harbor, in particular, holds many pleasure boats. In the lobby of T. F. Green, the state's main airport, is a large life-sized sailboat, and the state's license plates depict an ocean wave or a sailboat. The large number of beaches in Washington County lures many Rhode Islanders south for summer vacation. The state constitution protects shore access, including swimming and gathering of seaweed. The 1982 Rhode Island Supreme Court decision in State v. Ibbison