New Jersey Timeline-1950-1999

-- New Jersey Timeline 1950-1999

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1950 - After the USS New Jersey is re-commissioned at Bayonne on November 21, it sees extensive action in the Korean War until the signing of the armistice in 1953. Its missions include supporting ground troops and targeting North Korean ports and ammunition depots. During the War, there are 836 military deaths from New Jersey of the total 36,574 who die from combat, illness or accident.

- In July, the US Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce chaired by Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee begins an investigation in Atlantic City as part of its national probe of organized crime, later issuing a report finding widespread corruption and ties between political and criminal leaders.

Delaware Memorial Bridge. Image: Delaware River and Bay Authority

1951 - On February 6, a Pennsylvania Railroad train from Jersey City to Bay Head derails crossing a temporary wooden trestle in Woodbridge, killing 85. It is the deadliest train wreck in New Jersey, the third worst train disaster in US history, and the deadliest since 1918.

- On August 16, the Delaware Memorial Bridge, dedicated to the dead of the armed forces and connecting southern New Jersey and the Wilmington-New Castle area of Delaware, is opened to traffic. In December 1969, a second parallel span is opened.

- On November 30, the first 53-mile section of the New Jersey Turnpike is opened to traffic between its southern terminus and Woodbridge, with Governor Driscoll leading a mile-long motorcade from the War Memorial in Trenton to the Hightstown interchange where he cut a ribbon and declared the road open.

- On December 16, an airliner operated by Miami Airlines crashes in Elizabeth shortly after taking off from nearby Newark Airport, killing all 56 on board. At the time, it is the second most deadliest aviation accident in US history.

Selman Waksman. Image: Rutgers University

- Professor Selman Waksman, director of the Rutgers Institute for Microbiology, wins the Nobel Prize in medicine for research that led to the discovery of streptomycin--the first antibiotic effective against tuberculosis, which he discovered with graduate students Albert Schatz and Elizabeth Bugie.

1952 - On January 22, just three weeks after the crash which killed 56, an American Airlines plane crashes into a house in Elizabeth on its approach to land at Newark Airport, killing all 23 on board along with seven people on the ground.

- A National Airlines flight to Miami crashes on February 11 shortly after takeoff from Newark Airport into an apartment building in Elizabeth, killing 29 of the 59 people on board and four people on the ground. It is the third fatal accident in Elizabeth within a month involving flights using Newark Airport, and results in the closing of the Airport following the accident until November 15, when it was determined after an investigation that airport procedures were not causes of the three accidents.

1953 - US Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin, chair of the Senate Committee on Government Operations, holds a series of hearings at Fort Monmouth as part of his investigation of alleged Communists in the Army Signal Corps. The hearings produce little evidence, but lead to complaints over McCarthy's tactics which later result in his loss of influence and eventual censure by the Senate..

- Democrat Robert B. Meyner, a one-term state senator from Hunterdon County who had lost his bid for re-election in the year before, is elected governor. Meyner defeats Republican builder and New Jersey Turnpike Authority Chairman Paul Troast, whose campaign was undermined when it was disclosed that he had written a letter to New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey supporting commutation of the sentence of an imprisoned labor union leader.

- Voters also approve a referendum to officially allow non-profit organizations to have bingo games and raffles.

1955 - The Garden State Parkway, authorized by legislation creating the New Jersey Highway Authority enacted in 1952, is opened for traffic on July 1 along its entire 165-mile length from Cape May to Paramus when Governor Meyner becomes the first person to cross the Paramus toll plaza.

- The Ford Motor Co. opens a vehicle assembly plant in Mahwah, which at the time is the largest in the nation.

1956 - Rutgers and the state government enter into a compact authorized by legislation whereby Rutgers becomes the state university and an instrumentality of the State of New Jersey, with six of 11 members of its Board of Governors appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate and five members appointed by its Board of Trustees.

1958 - On September 15, a Jersey Central Railroad train heading into Manhattan drives through a restricted zone and falls off a lift bridge into Newark Bay, killing 48 passengers. Those killed include George "Snuffy" Stirnweiss, a former second baseman for the New York Yankees.

- The November 24 issue of Time Magazine features a cover story on six potential 1960 Democratic presidential candidates: Governor Meyner, California Governor-elect Edmund "Pat" Brown and Senators John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey and Stuart Symington.

Four of a total of 56 Bomarc missiles deployed at the McGuire Air Force base. Image: US Air Force

1960 - On June 7, an accident at the McGuire Air Force Base occurs when a Bomarc missile equipped with a nuclear warhead, the first long-range anti-aircraft missile in the world, catches fire after the explosive rupture of its onboard helium tank. The heat melts the warhead, releasing plutonium which is later encased in concrete by the Air Force and the Atomic Energy Commission.

- At the Democratic National Convention, Governor Meyner refuses to release the state delegation pledged to his favorite-son presidential candidacy to allow them to vote for the nomination of John F. Kennedy. After Kennedy receives enough votes for the nomination on the first ballot, the chair ignores his attempt to have the state's vote changed and recorded for Kennedy.

- In the November election, John F. Kennedy wins a narrow victory in New Jersey with 49.96% of the vote to Republican Richard Nixon's 49.16%, a margin of 0.8%. Kennedy's margin is attributed by many analysts to high turnouts of Catholic voters to support the election of the first Catholic president.

1961 - Democrat Richard Hughes, a former state judge, wins a 34,920-vote upset victory for governor over James P. Mitchell, a Republican who had been Secretary of Labor in the Eisenhower Administration. Hughes was selected as the Democratic candidate by party leaders after their first choice, Attorney General Grover Richman, suffered a heart attack, and Hughes won the November election due to energetic campaigning while Mitchell was sidelined for weeks with a broken leg.

1964 - Atlantic City serves as the site of the Democratic National Convention which nominates Lyndon Johnson for president and Hubert Humphrey for vice president. The deteriorated hotels and other visitor facilities provoke wide criticism by attendees and media representatives, along with calls by local and state officials for the City's redevelopment.

1965 - Rutgers faculty member Eugene Genovese creates a national controversy when he says at a teach-in on the Vietnam War he did not "fear or regret the impending Viet Cong victory in Vietnam." Despite pressure, Rutgers President Mason W. Gross refuses to dismiss him and Governor Richard Hughes rejects demands by his Republican opponent in the gubernatorial campaign, state Senator Wayne Dumont, to intervene to force Esposito's firing. In November, Hughes is re-elected to a second term by 350,000 votes.

1966 - Governor Hughes proposes a state income tax, but it falls one vote short in the Senate after passage in the Assembly. He then signs into law a three percent sales tax, the state's first broad-based tax.

- Governor Hughes hosts President Lyndon Johnson and Soviet President Aleksei Kosygin at their summit meeting held June 23-25 at then Glassboro State College (current Rowan University).

1967 - On July 13, six days of riots, arson and looting begin in Newark, resulting in 26 deaths and millions of dollars of property losses.The riots begin after the arrest of a black cab driver by two white policemen, but are attributed in subsequent investigations to widespread resentment over discrimination and inadequate schools, housing and social services. Order is restored after Governor Hughes mobilizes the National Guard. Ten days after they begin, the Newark riots are followed by even more extensive violence in Detroit, and additional disorders in Plainfield and Asbury Park also occur during the summer.

1968 - Governor Hughes signs in April the Hackensack Meadowlands Reclamation and Development Act which creates the Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission to oversee reclamation and development of 21,000 acres of public and private land in the Meadowlands.

- In September, Princeton University admits its first women undergraduates.

1969 - USS New Jersey completes six-month deployment off South Vietnam in March during which she fired 12 million pounds of ordnance at mainland targets, and in December is decommissioned.

- Republican Congressman William Cahill of Camden County is elected governor in November, easily defeating by over a half million votes former Governor Robert Meyner, who sought election to a third term after being out of office for eight years.

1970 - An amendment to the state constitution is approved in a referendum in the November election by 81.5% of voters authorizing a state lottery, which begins in the following year.

1971 - On May 10, Governor Cahill signs legislation creating the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority empowered to finance and develop sports and entertainment facilities. He subsequently announces an agreement with the New York Giants of the National Football League to relocate to New Jersey to play in a new stadium to be built in the Meadowlands by the Authority.

1972 - Governor Cahill's Secretary of State, Paul J. Sherwin, is convicted of trying to fix a $600,000 state highway contract for a contractor who then gave $10,000 to Republican fund-raisers with close ties to the Governor.

1973 - On April 4, the New Jersey Supreme Court issues its decision in the Robinson v. Cahill litigation holding that the state's current system of financing public schools through reliance on local property tax revenues violated the state constitution's provision that the state maintain a "thorough and efficient" system of public schools.

- Federal indictments are brought in April charging Nelson Gross, who as Republican state chairman helped secure Governor Cahill's 1969 nomination, and Joseph McCrane, who was the Governor's campaign finance chairman and later named state Treasurer, of illegally masking businessmen's contributions to the Cahill campaign as tax deductions. They are convicted in the following year.

- In June, Congressman Charles Sandman of Cape May defeats Governor Cahill in the Republican gubernatorial primary election. Brendan Byrne, a former aide to Governor Meyner and Essex County Prosecutor who resigned as a state judge to enter the race, is nominated as the Democratic candidate.

- In late October, the House Judiciary Committee chaired by Democrat Peter Rodino of Newark begins an investigation which leads to later hearings on the potential impeachment of President Nixon over the Watergate scandal.

- In the general election in November, Byrne is elected governor in the largest landslide to that point in the state's history with over 66% of the total vote, aided by voter backlash against the Republican Party due to the Watergate scandal and the charges relating to close associates of Governor Cahill.

- Following the November election, outgoing Governor Cahill announces that he is nominating former Democratic Governor Richard Hughes as the chief justice of the state Supreme Court. After Governor-elect Byrne states that he will support the nomination, Hughes is confirmed by the state Senate and becomes the only person to serve as both governor and chief justice in the state's history.

- Prior to his inauguration, Governor-elect Byrne re-negotiates the agreement previously reached by Cahill Administration officials with the New York Giants relating to the team's move to the new stadium to be built in the Meadowlands by the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority.

1974 - In June, Governor Byrne fails in his attempt to pass legislation enacting an income tax to comply with the additional school aid mandated by the state Supreme Court's Robinson v. Cahill decision.

- Commencing on July 27, the House Judiciary Committee chaired by Congressman Peter Rodino votes for three articles of impeachment against President Nixon. On August 9, facing certain impeachment and removal from office, the President resigns.

- In November, voters reject a referendum for a constitutional amendment allowing legal casinos statewide.

1975 - On April 30, Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, is taken over by the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong, marking the end of US involvement in South Viet Nam. Over the course of the War, there are 1,487 deaths of military from New Jersey of over 58,000 who died from combat, illness or accidents.

- New Jersey Supreme Court issues decision in Southern Burlington County NAACP v. Township of Mount Laurel, holding that a system of municipal land use and zoning regulation making it physically and economically impossible to provide low and moderate income housing is unconstitutional. The "Mount Laurel" case subsequently leads to controversial state legislation to establish goals for affordable housing in each municipality.

- Both Time and Newsweek magazines feature Bruce Springsteen on the covers of their October 27 issues. The national publicity follows the positive critical and commercial reception to Born to Run, Springsteen's album released on August 25, which becomes one of the best-selling albums of all time.

1976 - In its In re Quinlan decision released on March 31, the New Jersey Supreme Court holds that the father of 21-year-old Karen Ann Quinlan, who had lapsed into a vegetative state after a night of drinking alcohol and taking tranquilizers, was legally able to order her removal from the ventilator thought to be essential to keeping her alive. After the ventilator is disconnected, she unexpectedly continues to breathe on her own, subsequently dying ten years later of pneumonia. The "right-to-die" decision receives global attention, and leads to legislation in New Jersey and other states defining procedures to be followed in similar situations.

Letter of Governor Byrne to NJ Supreme Court advising of approval of income tax and requesting withdrawal of order closing the public schools. Image: NJ State Archives

- New Jersey public schools close on July 1 pursuant to the state Supreme Court's order after the legislature fails to increase funding to poorer school districts to comply with Court's Robinson v. Cahill decision. Following approval of legislation enacting an income tax, the Court vacates its order on July 8.

- Liberty State Park opens in July after its development by the Department of Environmental Protection from prior waste dumps and landfills and becomes the focus of the state's celebration of the nation's Bicentennial on July 4.

- Meadowlands Racetrack opens with its first harness race on September 1. In a ceremonial circuit of the track to mark its opening, Governor Byrne is loudly booed and cursed. The opening takes place in the first week of withholding from paychecks for the new state income tax.

- Giants Stadium opens on October 10, with the Giants losing 24 to 14 to the Dallas Cowboys before 76,042 fans.

- In November, voters approve a referendum for a constitutional amendment allowing casinos restricted to Atlantic City.

1977 - Governor Byrne is re-elected to a second term. He wins the June primary election with only 30% of the vote against ten challengers, and in the November election comes from behind to defeat former Senate President Raymond Bateman in a campaign focused on Byrne's support of the state income tax and Bateman's proposed alternative financing plan.

1978 - On May 26, Resorts International opens in Atlantic City, the nation's first legal casino outside Nevada.

- After considering relocation to sites in other states, Johnson & Johnson announces plans to build its new World Headquarters in New Brunswick, after the state commits to complete Route 18 into the city and the company leads in the establishment of a public-private redevelopment partnership.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

1979 - Governor Byrne signs the Pinelands Protection Act on June 28 creating a commission to develop a plan and regulations to protect the 1.1 million acres of the Pinelands, one-fifth of the state's area.

- On July 17, Governor Byrne signs legislation creating New Jersey Transit, restructuring the state's commuter bus and rail operations.

- On July 2, Bruce Springsteen performs the opening concert at the new 20,000-seat Brendan Byrne Arena in the Meadowlands. It is the first show in which he performs "Jersey Girl" composed by Tom Waits.

1980 - On February 2, NBC News breaks the story of the FBI's Abscam undercover investigation, which includes use of an agent posing as a wealthy Arab purportedly interested in investing in Atlantic City and offering payments for support from local, state and federal officials.

- The Ford Motor Co. closes its Mahwah assembly plant after twenty-five years of operation and production of some six million vehicles, including Thunderbirds and the ill-fated Edsel. The closing is later noted in the opening lyrics to Bruce Springsteen's song "Johnny 99": ""Well, they closed the auto plant in Mahwah..."

- Former President Richard Nixon purchases a home on a four-acre lot in Saddle River where, after relocating from California, he and Mrs. Nixon live for nine years until they move to a town house in Park Ridge.

- In November, Republican Thomas H. Kean is elected governor by 1,767 votes over Democrat James J. Florio in the closest election in the state's modern history. The result is certified three weeks after the election when Florio requested that an ongoing recount be halted. Kean is a direct descendant of William Livingston, the state's first governor elected in 1776.

1982 - In his inaugural address in January, repeats a brief prayer written by his ancestor William Livingston, the state's first governor who took office over two centuries before. Drumthwacket, an estate in Princeton previously acquired by the state government, becomes the official residence of the governor, replacing the use of nearby Morven, but the Governor continues to live at his home in Livingston, primarily utilizing Drumthwacket for meetings and events.

- US Senator Harrison Williams resigns on March 11 shortly before a vote by the Senate was expected to expel him and prior to his imprisonment for his conviction on charges arising out of the FBI's Abscam investigation.

1984 - The USS New Jersey is ordered to deploy off the coast of Lebanon to support US troops who had been sent to aid the Lebanese government, and on February 8 begins bombardment of Druse and Syrian gun batteries in the mountains which had been firing on the city of Beirut.

USS New Jersey shown firing 16-inch guns off coast near Beirut. Image: US Navy

- On July 10, Governor Kean signs a bill to create the Transportation Trust Fund to provide a more stable source of funding for transportation projects.

1985 - Governor Kean, a former private school teacher, signs legislation in September setting a minimum salary of $18,500 for public-school teachers. His program for an alternative route to obtaining teaching certification apart from traditional higher education teaching programs also goes into effect.

- Governor Kean is re-elected on November 5 over his Democratic opponent, Essex County Executive Peter Shapiro, by a 71% to 24% margin, the largest margin in the history of the state's gubernatorial elections. He wins majorities in 564 of 567 municipalities. Democrats retain control of the Senate, but the Republicans gain a majority in the Assembly for the first time in 12 years.

1987 - On May 25, New Jersey contractor Raymond Donovan, who served as US Secretary of Labor in the Reagan Administration from 1981 to 1985, is acquitted after a trial in a New York State court with other defendants on charges alleging fraud in the award of a contract for work in the New York subway. After his acquittal, Donovan is famously quoted as saying, "Which office do I go to to get my reputation back?"

- Governor Kean signs the Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act into law on July 1 regulating development of freshwater wetlands, which was passed after he had previously issued an executive order freezing development to pressure the legislature to take action.

- In August, beaches in Ocean County are closed after a garbage slick estimated to extend for 50 miles deposits waste including syringes, household garbage and pieces of timber. The incident is followed by other closings and action by New Jersey and New York to end the ocean dumping of solid waste and sewage.

1989 - On October 5, New Jersey becomes the first state in the US to assume both educational and administrative control of a school district when it takes over operation of the Jersey City school system.

- Congressman James J. Florio, who narrowly lost the 1981 gubernatorial election to Thomas Kean, is elected governor over Republican Congressman James Courter with 61% of the vote.

1990 - In his first year in office, Governor Florio enacts tax increases and cuts in state aid to wealthier municipalities and a law imposing the strongest state restrictions on the ownership of assault weapons which provokes sharp opposition. The tax increases, including one which extends the sales tax to toilet paper, spark protests by citizens group called Hands Across New Jersey, as well as support from radio commentators.

1991 - In the November election, the Democrats lose their majority in both houses of the state legislature for the first time in 20 years.

1993 - Liberty Science Center opens in Liberty State Park in Jersey City.

- Governor Florio is defeated for re-election by Republican Christine Todd Whitman, a former Somerset county freeholder and a member of a prominent Republican family. Whitman is the first woman elected governor and Florio is the first incumbent governor since the adoption of the state constitution in 1947 to be defeated in the general election for a second term.

1994 - After her inauguration, Governor Whitman follows through on pledges made late in her campaign for sharp cuts in state income tax rates.

- On April 18, former President Richard Nixon suffers a stroke at his home in Park Ridge. He is taken by ambulance to the Cornell-Weill Medical Center in Manhattan, where he dies on April 22, ten months after his wife Pat's death in the previous year.

- On July 29, seven-year-old Megan Kanka is raped and murdered by Jesse Timmendequas, a convicted sex offender and neighbor of her family's home in Hamilton Township in Mercer County. The murder results in legislation, "Megan's Law," enacted in New Jersey and in adapted forms in other states requiring sex offenders to register their addresses, with locations of their residences published. Timmendequas is sentenced to death, a sentence later changed to life imprisonment when the legislature abolishes the state's death penalty in 2007.

1995 - New Jersey Devils win the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup, the first professional sports team using the New Jersey name to win a championship. They also win in 2000 and 2003.

1997 - Governor Whitman discontinues annual contributions to the state's employee pension funds, issuing bonds to finance the state liabilities. The failure of subsequent governors to make annual appropriations for pension obligations also leads to a growing debt burden undermining the state's fiscal position.

- In November, Governor Whitman is re-elected to a second term in a surprisingly close election, receiving 47% of the vote to 46% for Democrat James McGreevey, Woodbridge mayor and former state senator, and 5% for Libertarian Murray Sabrin, a college professor.

- The New Jersey Performing Arts Center, with a 2,750-seat main theater, opens in October on the site of the former Military Park Hotel in Newark after construction at a cost of $180 million. The Center was first proposed in 1986 by Governor Kean as part of a larger program to promote arts and cultural programs.

Timeline
* Prehistoric-1699 * 1700-1749 * 1750-1799 * 1800-1849 * 1850-1899 * 1900-1949
* 1950-1999 * 2000-