1: Between 80.5 and 78.5 million years ago, the Hadrosaurus roamed New Jersey. It is now our official "State Dinosaur"!
2: Originally chartered as Queen's College on November 10, 1766, Rutgers University is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine "Colonial Colleges" founded before the American Revolution.
3: On the night of December 25–26, 1776, George Washington led a surprise attack across the Delaware River from Pennsylvania against Hessian forces at Trenton, New Jersey.
4: When Europeans first arrived in New Jersey, they encountered the Lenape native people.
7: Many of the inventions of Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) were first made in Menlo Park and West Orange, NJ.
9: Lucy the Elephant is a six-story elephant- shaped building constructed in 1881 by James V. Lafferty in Margate City, Atlantic County, in an effort to sell real estate and attract tourists.
10: Though associated with NY, Lady Liberty is actually a Jersey girl! The Statue of Liberty stands on an island over the border in NJ.
11: Joyce Kilmer (December 6, 1886 – July 30, 1918) was an NJ writer and poet mainly remembered for a short poem titled "Trees" (1913).
14: Before becoming President in 1913, Woodrow Wilson served as President of Princeton University and Governor of NJ.
17: Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra (December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) - also known as Ol' Blue Eyes, The Chairman of the Board, or simply, The Voice, was born in Hoboken, NJ.
18: Louis Francis Cristillo (March 6, 1906 – March 3, 1959), known by the stage name Lou Costello was born in Paterson, NJ, He was half of the popular comedy act of Abbott and Costello with Bud Abbott (October 2, 1897 – April 24, 1974) who was born in Asbury Park, NJ.