We’ve searched the internet for the funniest, wackiest, most interesting, and weirdest facts about New Jersey that we could find. Who knew there were so many “firsts” in Garden State? After reading this list, you will no doubt be victorious in a New Jersey-themed trivia night.
I bet you were wondering why the property names on Monopoly boards sounded familiar! They were named after the streets of Atlantic City.
The first recorded baseball game was played in Hoboken, NJ in 1846.
More than 100 battles were fought on New Jersey soil during the Revolutionary War.
Albert Einstein worked at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton until his death in 1955.
The Jersey shore is a beast, with 127 miles of coastline on the Atlantic.
The headquarters of the United States Equestrian Team is located in Gladstone, NJ. What a great place for HQ, with New Jersey having the most horses per square mile in the country.
New Jersey was the first state to sign the Bill of Rights.
Jack Nicholson was raised by his grandparents near Asbury Park and attended Manasquan High School, where he was voted class of 1954 clown.
In 1896, Trenton, NJ hosted the first professional basketball game.
9,800 farms spanning more than 790,000 acres of farmland call New Jersey home. Residents surely reap the benefits. Corn or tomatoes, anyone?
Second only to Maryland, the New Jersey State House is one of the oldest still in use (it was first completed in 1792).
The first drive-in theater, Camden’s Automobile Theater, opened in 1933. Only one remains in Jersey today: Vineland’s Delsea’s Drive-In Theater.
There are two states where it is illegal to fill your own gas tank: Oregon, and yes, New Jersey.
Many, many celebrities have called New Jersey home at some point in their lives, including Queen Latifah, Meryl Streep, Anthony Bourdain, Stephen Colbert, and more. Check out 26 of them here.
In 1937, the Hindenburg crashed and burned while trying to land at Naval Air Station Lakehurst in Manchester Township. 36 people were killed.
Orson Welles, in a 1938 radio broadcast of “The War of the Worlds”, caused panic in the nation when he managed to convince people that the Martians landed at Grover’s Mill, New Jersey.
The Baby Ruth candy bar is named after Grover Cleveland’s daughter, a native of New Jersey.
The home that inspired the mansion in “The Addams Family” is located on Elm Street in Westfield, NJ.
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