| 1524
- |
Verrazano
explores the Jersey coast |
| 1609
- |
Hudson
explores Newark Bay |
| 1660
- |
Bergen,
now Jersey City, becomes the first permanent town in
New Jersey |
| 1664
- |
The
British take control of New Jersey from the Dutch |
| 1758
- |
The
Old Barracks in Trenton is built |
| 1766
- |
Rutgers
University is founded |
| 1776
- |
N.J.'s
first newspaper, the New Jersey Gazette, issues its
first edition |
| 1776
- |
New
Jersey adopts its first state constitution |
| 1783
- |
Princeton
briefly serves as the nation's capital |
| 1784
- |
Trenton
briefly serves as the nation's capital |
| 1787
- |
New
Jersey is the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution |
| 1790
- |
New
Jersey is the first state to sign the Bill of Rights |
| 1804
- |
Alexander
Hamilton and Aaron Burr have a famous duel in Weehawken |
| 1824
- |
The
first ferry service in the U.S. opens between Hoboken
and Manhattan |
| 1844
- |
New
Jersey adopts its second state constitution |
| 1858
- |
The
first nearly complete
dinosaur fossil is found in Haddonfield |
| 1869
- |
The
first intercollegiate
football game is played in New
Brunswick |
| 1876
- |
Thomas
Edison opens laboratories in Menlo Park |
| 1879
- |
Edison
invents a practical incandescent lamp |
| 1882
- |
The
first amusement pier over the ocean is built in Atlantic
City |
| 1883
- |
Roselle
is the first U.S. town to be lighted by electricity |
| 1887
- |
Thomas
Edison moves his laboratories to West Orange |
| 1912
- |
New
Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson is elected President
of the U.S. |
| 1918
- |
A
German U-boat sinks six American ships off the coast
of New Jersey |
| 1921
- |
The
first Miss America Pageant is held |
| 1927
- |
The
Holland Tunnel opens |
| 1933
- |
The
first drive-in movie
theater in the U.S. opens in Camden |
| 1943
- |
The
U.S.S. New Jersey battleship is put into active service |
| 1947
- |
Larry
Doby, from Paterson, becomes the second African American
to play Major League Baseball |
| 1947
- |
New
Jersey adopts its third state constitution |
| 1951
- |
The
New Jersey Turnpike opens |
|
1957
- |
The
first New Jersey State Little League Baseball Tournament
is played |
| 1963 - |
Snowboarding
pioneer Tom Sims of Haddonfield creates the "ski
board," an early version of the snowboard |
| 1976 - |
The
Meadowlands Sports Complex opens |
| 1993
- |
Christine
Todd Whitman is elected New Jersey's first female
governor |
| 1995
- |
The
New Jersey Devils win the Stanley cup, becoming the
first New Jersey team to win a major league professional
sports championship |
| 1998
- |
The
Toms River East Little League team wins the Little
League World Series |
| 2000
- |
The
New Jersey population in the 2000 Census is 8,414,350 |
| 2001
- |
The
U.S.S. New Jersey battleship becomes a museum |
| 2001
- |
New Jersey is home to more scientists and engineers per square mile than anywhere else in the world. |
| 2003 - |
New Jersey preserves a record 20,000 acres of farmland. |
| 2003 - |
The New Jersey Devils wint he Stanley Cup defeating the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. |
| 2004 - |
New Jersey Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act becomes law. |
| 2005 - |
A beluga whale swims up the Delaware River to Trenton, more than 100 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. |
| 2006 - |
New Jersey Constitution amended to create the Office of Lieutenant Governor to be elected in 2010. |
| 2006 - |
Lucy the Margate Elephant, a National Historic Landmark, is struck by lightning for the first time, but recovered. |
| 2006 - |
New Jersey Supreme Court rules that gay couples are entitled to the same legal rights and financial benefits as heterosexual couples. |
| 2006 - |
Rutgers University wins the inaugural Texas Bowl defeating Kansas State by a score of 37-10. |
| 2007 - |
Governor Corzine signs bill to eliminate the death penalty. |
| 2008 - |
Princeton astronomer, Alicia Soderberg, becomes first person to view a supernova, a star in the act of exploding. |
| 2008 - |
New Jersey has more millionaire residents than any other state in the nation. |
