NJ.gov

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
1756	Princeton University is established
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
	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
1935	Scientist Albert Einstein establishes his home in New Jersey
1942	German U-boats attack shipping off the New Jersey coast
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
	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
1978	New Jersey scientists win Nobel Prize for finding the echo of the 13.7 billion year old "Big Bang."
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
	The New Jersey Devils win the Stanley Cup defeating the Dallas Stars.
2001	The U.S.S. New Jersey battleship becomes a museum
	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.
	The New Jersey Devils win the 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.
	Lucy the Margate Elephant, a National Historic Landmark, is struck by lightning for the first time, but recovered.
	New Jersey Supreme Court rules that gay couples are entitled to the same legal rights and financial benefits as heterosexual couples.
	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.
	New Jersey has more millionaire residents than any other state in the nation.