New Jersey Trivia & Tidbits - Page 2

Looking for New Jersey trivia? Try our list New Jersey little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

—Founded in 1947, the Hammonton (pop. 12,604) Little League is the oldest squad of its kind in New Jersey. In 1949, the Hammonton All-Stars won the Little League World Baseball Series by defeating Pensacola, Fla., with a score of 5-0.

first appeared: 1/11/2009

—First a half-mile oval dirt track, and later a 1.5-mile paved track, Trenton (pop. 85,403) Speedway hosted world-class auto racing in the 1960s and 1970s. Among racing luminaries to win major races at the track were A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Al Unser, Bobby Unser, Richard Petty and Bobby Allison.

first appeared: 12/29/2008

—The Pennsylvania Railroad Co., whose eastern terminus was in Jersey City until early in the 20th century, built the first tunnel beneath the Hudson River to Penn Station in New York City. The tunnel eliminated the need for rail passengers to complete their journey to Manhattan by ferry.

first appeared: 11/30/2008

—Born in 1973 in Livingston (pop. 27,391), Claudio Reyna was a two-time Olympian and captain of the U.S. national men’s soccer team. He retired as captain of the Red Bulls of New York in July.

first appeared: 11/16/2008

—Barnum’s Animal Crackers, produced in Fair Lawn (pop. 31,637) by Nabisco Brands, are turned out to the tune of 40 million boxes a year for consumption in the United States and 17 other countries. The crackers are baked in a 30-foot-long traveling band oven at a rate of 12,000 per minute.

first appeared: 11/2/2008

—During the 1780 Battle of Springfield (pop. 14,429), the Rev. James Caldwell grabbed hymnal books from the First Presbyterian Church and had American troops use their pages as rifle wadding and cartridge paper. Unfortunately, the retreating British burned all but four of the town’s buildings, one of which was the church.

first appeared: 10/19/2008

—Pro Hall of Fame football center Jim Ringo of Phillipsburg (pop. 15,166) played with the Green Bay Packers from 1953 to 1963, and with the Philadelphia Eagles from 1964 until his retirement in 1967. He participated in 10 Pro Bowls during his career.

first appeared: 10/5/2008

—The Cannon Ball House in Springfield (pop. 14,429), built around 1741, was a farmhouse at the time of the Revolutionary War. It earned its name after a cannonball was found lodged in a beam. Now a museum, the house contains five American Revolution-era rooms, along with Civil War items, early tools, a battle diorama and a Colonial garden.

first appeared: 9/21/2008

—In 1921, the first radio fog signals in the nation were placed in commission on the Ambrose Lightship, Fire Island Lightship and Sea Girt Light Station in Sea Girt (pop. 2,148) on the New Jersey coast.

first appeared: 9/7/2008

—Joey Dee & the Starliters were a popular 1960s music group, perhaps best known for their 1961 hit “Peppermint Twist.” Dee, the group’s founder, was born Joseph DiNicola in 1940 in Passaic.

first appeared: 8/24/2008

—Jim Ringo, who played for his high school in Phillipsburg (pop. 15,166), went on to play center in the National Football League from 1953 to 1967. Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1981, Ringo died in 2007.

first appeared: 8/10/2008

—The 18-foot fiberglass statue of a woman hefting a tire that stands in front of a Uniroyal tire store in Gloucester Township is one of many located around the country. The New Jersey model, recently repainted and given superhero boots, a cape and headband, has been dubbed “Nitro Girl.”

first appeared: 7/27/2008

—Born in Trenton in 1936, Antonin Scalia is an American jurist and the second most senior associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He was nominated by President Ronald Reagan in 1986.

first appeared: 7/13/2008

—The leading raptor rehabilitation facility in the East, the Raptor Trust in Millington, just south of Morristown (pop. 18,544), cares for thousands of injured or orphaned birds of prey each year. The organization now includes an education center geared to third-graders through college students and older adults.

first appeared: 6/29/2008

—The first robot to replace a human worker was placed on the assembly line by General Motors in Ewing Township (pop. 35,707) in 1961. The machine was an automated die-casting mold that dropped red-hot door handles and other car parts into pools of cooling liquid on a production line that moved them along to workers for trimming and buffing.

first appeared: 6/15/2008

—On June 3, 1948, the first Fly-in Drive-in movie theater was opened in Asbury Park (pop. 16,930) and could accommodate 500 cars and 25 airplanes. The planes landed at a nearby airfield and then taxied to the last row, which was designed for planes. When the movies were over, a Jeep towed the planes back to the airfield.

first appeared: 6/1/2008

—Lou Creekmur, born in Hopelawn, a part of Woodbridge Township, was an eight-time Pro Bowl offensive lineman, who helped the Detroit Lions win three National Football League titles in the 1950s. An outstanding blocker on both passing and rushing plays, Creekmur was a frequent All-NFL selection.

first appeared: 5/4/2008

—Cape May (pop. 4,034) was explored by Dutch sea captain Cornelius Mey in the 1620s and given his name. The spelling later was changed by English settlers.

first appeared: 3/9/2008

—Ballerina Patricia McBride, who was born in 1942 in Teaneck (pop. 39,260), became the youngest principal dancer in the New York City Ballet in 1961.

first appeared: 2/24/2008

—The J. Thompson Baker house in Wildwood (pop. 5,436) was the home of the first mayor after the town was incorporated. He served from 1912 to 1914. Among those who slept in his eight-bedroom house was President Woodrow Wilson.

first appeared: 2/10/2008

jump to page: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17

newspaper partner login create account

Recent

Popular

Recipes

Below are the most recent American Profile articles:

Below are the most recent, highest rated American Profile articles:

Below are the most recent, highest rated American Profile recipes:

Relish

Spry

Below are the most recent articles from our Relish sister site. Click on the "Spry" tab above to see the most recent articles from our other sister site.

Below are the most recent articles from our Spry sister site. Click on the "Relish" tab above to see the most recent articles from our other sister site.