Table of Contents

New Jersey

Many Bird Species

Over 270 bird species may be found at New Jersey's Hackensack Meadows wetlands preserve.1)

Great Swamp

The Great Swamp, located in north-central New Jersey, has about 6,000 acres of freshwater wetlands that were designated for federal protection after residents of New Jersey petitioned to conserve it in its natural state.2)

Cockpit of the Revolution

More engagements were fought on New Jersey territory during the American Revolutionary War than in any other state, earning the state the moniker “Cockpit of the Revolution”.3)

Self-Service Gasoline Stations

Self-service gasoline stations are prohibited in New Jersey.4)

Oranges

Orange, East Orange, South Orange, and West Orange are all towns in New Jersey, but there is no North Orange.5)

Silk

New Jersey is the top manufacturer of silk in the United States.6)

Shorline

A 120-mile-long stretch of white sand shoreline on New Jersey's eastern border boasts some of the world's most magnificent beaches.7)

Richard Biegenwald

Richard Biegenwald, a serial murderer who operated from 1974 to 1983, was called the Jersey Shore Thrill murderer because he snatched the bulk of his female victims from Jersey Shore beaches.8)

First Steam Locomotive

In 1824, the first steam locomotive manufactured in America was built in Hoboken, New Jersey.9)

Colonizers

New Jersey has been colonized by Native American Lenape, Munsee, and Unlachtigo tribes, as well as Swedish, Finnish, Dutch, and English immigrants, all before becoming a US state.10)

Bill Of Rights

New Jersey representatives were the first to sign the Bill of Rights on behalf of their state.11)

George Carteret

New Jersey was named after an English colonist who previously served as governor of the British Isle of Jersey.12)

Atlantic City Boardwalk

The famed 4-mile-long Atlantic City Boardwalk is called after the man who planned it in the 1870s, Alexander Boardman, rather than the wooden planks with which it was built.13)

Garden State

The Garden State was awarded to New Jersey in 1876 as a tribute to the huge amount of food cultivated in the state at the time.14)

Grover Cleveland

Grover Cleveland is the only President of the United States who was born in New Jersey.15)

Famous Natives

Buzz Aldrin, Judy Blume, and Frank Sinatra are all New Jersey residents.16)

Jersey Shore

Jersey Shore, an MTV reality program that aired from 2009 to 2012 and followed the lives of eight young people during their summers in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, established ratings records for MTV, reaching a peak viewership of 9 million viewers.17)

Lucy the Margate Elephant

Lucy the Margate Elephant is a six-story-tall, 90-ton elephant-shaped edifice that was erected near Atlantic City in 1881 to attract inhabitants and has subsequently been designated a National Historic Landmark.18)

The Seaside Heights

The Seaside Heights, New Jersey, home that served as the scene for the reality program Jersey Shore is now available for rent—for $2000 per night.19)

Gambling Issue

In 1976, New Jersey people chose to allow gambling solely in Atlantic City, with the aim of raising income to finance urban growth and redevelopment there; it is now the only city in New Jersey where gambling is permitted.20)

Thomas Edison

While residing in Newark, New Jersey, Thomas Edison created the phonograph, the quadruplex telegraph, direct current, the carbon microphone, the fluoroscope, and the light bulb.21)

The Wizard of Menlo Park

Thomas Edison's Menlo Park, New Jersey, laboratory ultimately took up two city blocks, garnering Edison the moniker “The Wizard of Menlo Park”. It is currently a national park with a museum honoring Edison and his innovations.22)

Paterson

Paterson, New Jersey, was the first planned industrial city in the United States; it was created in 1792 by Alexander Hamilton, America's first Secretary of the Treasury. Despite its beginnings as the nation's major industrial base, Paterson had fallen to the sixth poorest city in the United States by 1983.23)

Bruce Springsteen

Many of Bruce Springsteen's most renowned songs were inspired by locations he knew and experiences he experienced growing up in a working-class household in Long Branch, New Jersey.24)

Diner Capital Of The World

New Jersey has more diners than any other state in America, with over 600 in the state, and is renowned as the “Diner Capital of the World”.25)

Highest Population Density

New Jersey has the highest population density in the United States. In 2018, there were more than 1,200 people per square mile.26)

First Drive-In Theater

The first drive-in theater debuted in 1933 in Camden, New Jersey, the birthplace of the young man who devised the concept.27)

Princeton University

Princeton University was founded in 1746 as the College of New Jersey, but its name was changed in 1896. It is the fourth oldest higher education institution in the United States.28)

First College Football Game

Princeton fell to Rutgers in front of an audience of roughly 100 people in the inaugural collegiate football game, which took place in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in 1869.29)

Bullet-Proof Vest

Wearing a bullet-proof vest while committing a severe crime is unlawful in the state of New Jersey.30)

Best State To Live In

According to 2019 statistics, New Jersey is the finest US state in terms of the cost and quality of education.31)