Five Things You Need To Know: July 26

Weather:  Clouds will stop locals from enjoying the sun today, and temperatures will reach 81 degrees. There will be a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 5 p.m. today with some of the storms producing heavy rain and wind gusts up to 32 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

1. The All Children's Theater Ensemble presents at 2 pm on the lawn of the Meeting House in Tiverton.  Free and open to the community.

Cost: Free

2. The East Bay Summer Strings Ensemble will perform on the Meeting House lawn this evening at 5:30 p.m. 

Now in its third season, the East Bay Summer String Ensemble provides string performers the opportunity to advance their skills as well as perform in an ensemble setting during the summer months.

Cost: $10

3. Summer Music Night at Sakonnet Vineyards will feature the clean acoustic sounds of Toph and Tom. The instrumental duo promises airy summer sounds from 6 - 8 p.m. 

Cost: $10 per car

4. Tiffany Peay Jewelry LTD will celebrate its 15-year anniversary with a celebratory party at the Stone House in Little Compton.

To commemorate the journey from New York City to Rhode Island, a limited edition of the original ring design will be produced and available during the party. Food and drink will be served.

Tiffany Peay Jewelry will be raffled off at the event to benefit a rare form of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

Cost: Free

5. On this day in 1775, the U.S. postal system is established by the Second Continental Congress, with Benjamin Franklin as its first postmaster general. Franklin (1706-1790) put in place the foundation for many aspects of today's mail system. During early colonial times in the 1600s, few American colonists needed to send mail to each other; it was more likely that their correspondence was with letter writers in Britain. Mail deliveries from across the Atlantic were sporadic and could take many months to arrive. There were no post offices in the colonies, so mail was typically left at inns and taverns. In 1753, Benjamin Franklin, who had been postmaster of Philadelphia, became one of two joint postmasters general for the colonies. He made numerous improvements to the mail system, including setting up new, more efficient colonial routes and cutting delivery time in half between Philadelphia and New York by having the weekly mail wagon travel both day and night via relay teams, among other improvements.

Franklin was eventually fired by the British for his revolutionary activities.