New Jersey

HISTORY

Before the arrival of the Europeans, the land that is now New Jersey was inhabited by the Lenape (also known as Delaware Indians ), who were nomads, hunters, and farmers.

Dutch and Swedish colonization of New Jersey started soon after the 1609 exploration of its coast and bays by Sir Henry Hudson. Towns sprang up in the 1630s, such as Bergen (now Jersey City), Trenton (the capital), and Burlington. The area occupied by the Dutch was known as New Netherland and the Swedes, New Sweden.

New Netherland and New Sweden By Nieuw_Nederland and Nya_Sverige.Wikipedia

The area came under English rule after the surrender of Fort Amsterdam in 1664. King Charles II renamed the province after the Isle of Jersey in the English Channel, in recognition of the island's help during his exile.

In 1739 German immigrant Caspar Wistar pioneered America's first large-scale production of bottles for beer and wine at his New Jersey plant. It was the earliest successful workers' co-operative venture in the colonies.

New Jersey took part in the American Revolutionary War. On Christmas 1776, George Washington's army entered the colony to attack British soldiers at Trenton and Princeton. The American army won, in the two famous battles that were important in boasting American morale.

George Washington rallying his troops at the Battle of Princeton

In the summer of 1783, the Continental Congress met in Nassau Hall at Princeton University, making Princeton the nation's capital for four months.

On December 18, 1787, New Jersey became the third state to ratify the United States Constitution. Two years later, on November 20, 1789, the state became the first in the newly formed Union to ratify the Bill of Rights.

The New Jersey Assembly officially approved the flag as the state emblem on May 11, 1896. The buff color is due indirectly to George Washington, who had ordered that the uniform coats of the New Jersey Continental Line be dark (Jersey) blue, with buff facings.

In 1876 Thomas Edison moved to Menlo Park, New Jersey where he opened the first large scientific workshop in the world. Eleven years later, Edison moved his laboratory from Menlo Park, to West Orange, in the same state where he constructed a large laboratory for experimentation and research. (His home and laboratory were established as the Edison National Historic Site in 1955).

Thomas Edison in his laboratory, West Orange, New Jersey, 1901

The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires, built by Thomas Edison, begun service at Roselle, New Jersey in 1883.

Thomas Edison finished construction of the first motion picture studio, the Black Maria in West Orange, New Jersey in 1893.

One of Thomas Edison's sons, Charles, served as the 42nd Governor of New Jersey.

Richard Hollingshead opened the world's first drive-in cinema on ten acres off Wilson Boulevard in Camden, New Jersey in June 1933. The screen was 40 by 30 feet. Admission was 25 cents per car plus another quarter for each passenger.

In 1938 actor Orson Welles stirred a national panic with his radio drama The War of the Worlds. Listeners believed the "simulated" news bulletins in the drama were real and that Grovers Mill, New Jersey, actually was being invaded by men from Mars.

The longest tightrope crossing by bicycle is 71.63 m (235 ft) and was achieved by Nik Wallenda (USA) in Newark, New Jersey, USA, on 15 October 2008.

THEME PARKS

Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, Ocean County, New Jersey is the second-largest theme park in the world, after Disney's Animal Kingdom.

The world’s tallest rollercoaster, is located at Six Flags Great Adventure park. Kingda Ka, is 139 metres (456ft) high.

Kingsa Ka By Dusso Janladde - Wikipedia Commons

Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom, which is the tallest drop ride in the world, drops riders 415 feet at speeds of up to 90 mph. It is built on the face of Kingda Ka.

The Action Park amusement park located in Vernon, New Jersey, was open from 1978 until 1996 was so unsafe it was given nicknames such as "Traction Park" and "Accident Park" by doctors at nearby hospitals due to the number of severely injured parkgoers they treated. The Alpine Slide alone produced 14 broken bones, 26 head injuries, and 1 fatality.

FUN NEW JERSEY FACTS

Video game company King Digital Entertainment is behind the 65-foot-by-31-foot hammock, which they installed as a promotional gimmick. It worked, as it has garnered attention by claiming the Guinness World Record title of World's Largest Hammock. It’s located in Jersey City, New Jersey, and it is reportedly big enough to hold 170 people lying head to head.

The George Washington Bridge, connecting Fort Lee in Bergen County across the Hudson River to New York City, is the world's busiest motor vehicle bridge.

The George Washington Bridge, By John O'Connell - originally posted to Flickr 

New Jersey has more scientists and engineers per square mile than anywhere in the world.

New Jersey is the fourth-smallest state, but has the eleventh-highest number of people. It therefore has the highest population density (number of people for the amount of land) in the United States.

 22% land (approx 1,100,000 acres) of New Jersey is occupied by New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve, spread across 7 counties.

Seventy-five New Jersey’s would fit comfortably in Alaska.

New Jersey population distribution. Wikipedia Commons

India Square, Jersey City, is known as Little Bombay. It is home to the highest concentration of Asian Indians in the Western Hemisphere.

New Jersey, with 96, is the US state with the greatest number of hazardous waste sites.

The underwater portion of Liberty Island, where the Statue of Liberty sits, is part of New Jersey, not New York.

According to a 2016 survey, New Jersey is the U.S. state with the most Millennials still living at home.

The group Bloodhound Gang recorded a track called "The Ten Coolest Things About New Jersey". The "song" consists of ten seconds of silence.