40 Must Know Interesting Facts About New Jersey

Sure, you possibly are aware that New Jersey features among the most densely inhabited state and is the hometown of renowned celebrities like Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen. New Jersey constitutes the eleventh most populous and the forty-seventh most vast of the fifty states of the USA. The state achieved statehood on December 18, 1787, becoming the third state to connect with the union. Its 3 bordering states are New York, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. New Hampshire (nicknamed as Garden State) contains 21 counties. The capital of the state is Trenton. New Jersey is postally abbreviated as NJ.

Here are some interesting facts concerning New Jersey:

1. A few of the most productive inventions of the 20^th century occured in New Jersey. One was achieved by Thomas Edison when he acquainted the world with his idea of an electric light bulb. At his Menlo Park laboratory, Edison created his first high resistance incandescent electric light.
2. New Jersey comprises the “diner capital of the world.” This is primarily due to certain conditions that aided grow the dining culture in the state. First, on account of the initial development of the transportation mechanism in the state, when people were out traveling, they required some place to halt and consume food. The latest and upcoming diners catered to this purpose extremely well. The geographic situation of the state joining New York and Phladelphia aided to grow the trend. And the remainder is history! As per a few sources, the state has the maximum diners within the world.
3. The world’s first dinosaur statue was founded in Haddonfield, New Jersey in October 1858. It was the first whole dinosaur skeleton to be discovered and the first to be publicly demonstrated also.
4. The world’s biggest light bulb which is 13 feet tall and weighs 8 tons is errected near Thomas Edison’s ancient lab in Edison, New Jersey. The light bulb was designed in 1938 and it is wrapped by 153 individual Pyrex pieces.
5. Thomas Edison filed over 400 patents form his laboratory in Menlo Park. He employed copper in nearly his entire electrical inventions; within phones, generators, electromagnets, and motors.
6. The Holland Tunnel which joins New Jersey, Jersey City and Manhattan in New York City, New York is the first automatically ventilated underwater tunnel in the world. After 7 years of building, the tunnel opened in 1927. At the moment of its opening, the Holland Tunnel was the longest unceasing underwater vehicular tunnel in the world. At its greatest depth, the tunnel rests approximately 93 feet below the Hudson River.
7. New Jersey comprises the most thickly populated state in the country. The state houses the top 4 densely populated municipalities in the USA and 7 among the top 10. Guttenberg comprises the fourteenth most thickly populated region in the world.
8. John Philip Holland began his work on the submarine’s design while he was working as an educator in St. John’s Parochial School in Paterson, New Jersey. Firstly, a 33 inch version of the submarine was examined at Coney Island, New York. The success of the examination fetched another sponsorship fund of 4,000 dollars to the inventor to grow his design.
9. In 1991, New Jersey stopped ocean dumping. To effect a change from ocean dumping to a more environmental friendly and sustainable way of getting rid of waste, the state had to spend over a $100 million.
10. Standard time was invented in 1883 by William F. Allen of South Orange. Do you know that during 1850s, the Americans aligned their watches in nearly a hundred local times? The requirement for a standard time was realized due to the then-developing railroad industry. The need for a reliable and standard schedule for railways was realized and as an outcome in 1883 the U.S. was split into 4 time zones, each having a standard time. 
11. New Jersey is also the leading state for the manufacturing and growth of fragrances and flavors.
12. The gold upon the dome of the New Jersey’s state capitol was financed by the state’s school kids. The dome carries 48,000 piece of gold leaf and every gold leaf piece cost $1. The school kids of New Jersey collected the money through the “Dimes for the Dome” program.
13. The sandy hook lighthouse is in service from June 11, 1764. The lighthouse finished 250 years of service in 2014 and a celebration was organized to mark the momentous occasion. 
14. The state has been nicknamed as the garden state. The state has over 10,000 farms and grows over 100 varieties of vegetables and fruits. The state is rated nationally among the top ten as a producer of products like squash, tomatoes, bell peppers, blueberries, cranberries and peaches.
15. The initial public exhibition of the telegaph was done at Speedwell Ironworks in Morristown, New Jersey on 11 January, 1838.
16. Nearly 100 battles were contested in New Jersey during the Revolutionary War. This was mainly due to its situation adjacent the middle of the 13 colonies and between Philadelphia and New York. All 10 of New Jersey’s biggest cities are within thirty miles of Philadelphia or New York.
17. The first boardwalk in the world is constructed in Atlantic City in 1870. At 5.5 miles, it is the Earth’s longest and the oldest within the United States.
18. Cape May is the nation’s initial sea side resort. It is called for the Dutch sea captain Cornelius Jacobsen Mey.
19. The state is residence to 26 recognized nesting pairs of peregrine falcons, the fatest animals on Earth. The peregrine falcon is the quickest animal on earth – reaching speeds of more than 200 miles per hour.
20. Stephen Grover Cleveland born Caldwell, New Jersey, who functioned as the 22^nd and 24^th president of the United States, is the sole president in American history to act two non-consecutive terms in office (1885-1889 and 1893-1897).
21. New Jersey is one among the 13 original colonies.
22. The state’s name emerges from the English Channel Island of Jersey.
23. New Jersey is also termed as the “medicine chest of the world.”
24. The state was nicknamed the “garden state” due to its fertile land. Nonetheless, due to industrialization and urban expansion, the landscape of the state has altered substantially.
25. The state’s largest ethnic group are Italian Americans.
26. In 1776, passing the Delaware River into Trenton, New Jersey; George Washington battled with, and finally defeated the British troops. This was one of the initial important victories in the Revolutionary War.
27. India Square, New Jersey, is residence to the greatest concentration of Asian Indians in the Western Hemisphere.
28. The state has among the busiest and most substantive transportation systems in the world.
29. Over 2/5 of the land is forested.
30. The state has 28 state parks and 11 state forests.
31. Ponds and lakes cover nearly 300 square miles of the state’s area. The Delaware is its main river and the state exchanges it with Pennsylvania. The Hudson River forms the boundary between New York and New Jersey.
32. Paterson contains the second-highest density of any U.S. city after only New York City. It is also named as the “silk city” for its prominent role in silk manufacturing during the second half of the 19^th century. As percentage, Paterson contains the second-biggest Muslim population in the United States.
33. Giovanni da Verrazano was the initial European to come in the region. Before the English gained control of the region in 1664, Finnish, Swedish, and Dutch inhabited the region and fought over land.
34. The world’s biggest kite festival is held annually in Wildwood, NJ.
35. The transistor was invented in Murray Hill, NJ at Bell Laboratories.
36. Bell Lab engineers in Holmdel, NJ were the first to identify the background radiation of the Big Bang.
37. The first seaplane was constructed in Keyport, NJ.
38. The first airmail (to Chicago) was begun from Keyport, NJ in 1927.
39. The first Drive-in Movie theatre was opened in Camden, NJ.
40. New Jersey is home to the two New York pro Football Teams! The Giants and the Jets!

Hold your breath! The list ends here. But make sure you visit this place which is the cradle of so many fascinating facts and innovations.