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-- New Jersey History Timeline - August
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On August 2 of 1928 Following a Democratic Party rally, female aviator Amelia Earhart performs aerial acrobatics above the National Guard Camp at Sea Girt, where Governor A. Harry Moore spent summers, then lands on the drill field and lunches with the governor. |
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On August 3 of 1972 The US Senate ratifies the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the Soviet Union. The concept of limiting anti-ballistic missile systems was first advanced by President Lyndon Johnson at the Glassboro Summit he held with Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin in June 1967 on the campus of then Glassboro State College (now Rowan University). |
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On August 4 of 2007 A confrontation in a Newark schoolyard which began as a robbery escalates to an execution- style shooting in which three college-bound friends are killed and a fourth seriously wounded. Six men and boys are later arrested and convicted of committing the murders and receive life sentences. |
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On August 5 of 1882 The Standard Oil Company of New Jersey is incorporated as part of the Standard Oil Trust established by John D. Rockefeller in order to take advantage of New Jersey's lenient laws allowing companies to hold stock of other firms. In 1911, in the case of Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States, the US Supreme Court found Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey had monopolized the petroleum industry through a series of anti-competitive actions in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act and ordered its dissolution and division into several geographically separate and eventually competing firms. |
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On August 6 of 1974 The Grateful Dead perform a four-hour long concert at Roosevelt Stadium In Jersey, City. Some critics and fans cite the show as one of the best-ever performances by The Dead. |
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On August 7 of 1789
The United States Lighthouse Service is created by an act of the First Congress signed by President George Washington. The Act provided for the federal government to assume the costs and operations of existing and new lighthouses, including the one at Sandy Hook built in 1764, now the oldest operating lighthouse in the nation. In 1989, a joint Congressional resolution sponsored in the House by Representative William Hughes of New Jersey and signed by President Ronald Reagan designated August 7 as “National Lighthouse Day.”
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On August 8 of 2009 A mid-air collision between a private plane which had taken off from Teterboro Airport and a sightseeing helicopter over the Hudson River near Hoboken kills nine people, including the pilot, his brother and nephew in the plane and five Italian tourists and the pilot in the helicopter. |
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On August 9 of 2019
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency disclosed testing results showing that out of three filters provided to Newark residents by the city to reduce lead in the water to safe levels, two had failed to work. At the same time, the EPA urged Newark residents in sections of the city affected by the water supply to use bottled water for drinking and cooking until additional sampling and testing was performed.
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On August 10 of 1968 The song '1,2,3 Red Light,' recorded by The 1910 Fruitgum Company band from Nutley, is listed on the Billboard Top 40 of best-selling singles in the US and later would rise as high as number 5. It is considered one of the leading examples of 'Bubblegum pop,' a genre of pop rock music with an upbeat sound marketed to appeal to pre-teens and teenagers which was popular from around 1967 to 1972. |
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On August 11 of 1964
Racial unrest sparks riots in Paterson and Elizabeth. Violence first begins in Paterson when African American teenagers throw bottles and rocks at passing police cars, followed by hundreds of other residents smashing windows, looting stores and hurling debris at police. At about the same time in Elizabeth, rioters threw Molotov cocktails into three taverns with subsequent looting and damage of stores and cars. The unrest continues for three days before order is restored.
On August 12 of 2004
New Jersey Governor James McGreevey declares "I am a gay American" and intention to resign his office in a televised statement from the State House in Trenton. The resignation comes after reports of his affair with Golan Cipel, an Israeli citizen whom he he had named as a state official serving as a liaison to terrorism programs.
On August 13 of 2013
Bridget Anne Kelly, deputy chief of staff to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie,sends an email to Port Authority official David Wildstein with the message “time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.” The message initiated the closure of traffic lanes onto the George Washington Bridge from Fort Lee later labeled as the "Bridgegate" scandal.
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On August 14 of 1989 Bon Jovi's "New Jersey" album becomes the first U.S. album to be released legally in the Soviet Union. The Russian label Melodiya paid the group with a truckload of firewood since it was prohibited for rubles to leave the USSR. |
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Ernest Gordon at Princeton. Image: Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University
On August 15 of 2002
Ernest Gordon, who as a captain in the British Army spent 40 months as a prisoner of war in the Japanese prison camps which used forced labor to build the famous bridge on the River Kwai, dies in Princeton at the age of 84. After his release, Gordon emigrated to the US in 1950 and later was named as the Dean of the Princeton University Chapel in 1955, serving until his retirement in 1981.
Ernest Gordon, who as a captain in the British Army spent 40 months as a prisoner of war in the Japanese prison camps which used forced labor to build the famous bridge on the River Kwai, dies in Princeton at the age of 84. After his release, Gordon emigrated to the US in 1950 and later was named as the Dean of the Princeton University Chapel in 1955, serving until his retirement in 1981.
On August 16 of 1968
A Blues/Rock trio called Earth debuts in a coffee house in Red Bank. The guitarist and singer is 18-year-old Bruce Springsteen.
A Blues/Rock trio called Earth debuts in a coffee house in Red Bank. The guitarist and singer is 18-year-old Bruce Springsteen.
On August 17 of 1896
The city council of Atlantic City adopts a resolution formally designating the wooden walkway along the beach, first built in 1870, as “The Boardwalk.”
The city council of Atlantic City adopts a resolution formally designating the wooden walkway along the beach, first built in 1870, as “The Boardwalk.”
On August 18 of 1918
Fights between white and African-American soldiers at Camp Merritt in Bergen County break out after white soldiers from Mississippi forcibly eject five black soldiers from the Camp's integrated YMCA building. Military Police are dispatched to break up the hostile crowds with swinging nightsticks; several shots are fired, with two black soldiers wounded and a third, who was sitting in his barracks and not involved in the disturbance, killed by a stray bullet which struck him in the chest.
Fights between white and African-American soldiers at Camp Merritt in Bergen County break out after white soldiers from Mississippi forcibly eject five black soldiers from the Camp's integrated YMCA building. Military Police are dispatched to break up the hostile crowds with swinging nightsticks; several shots are fired, with two black soldiers wounded and a third, who was sitting in his barracks and not involved in the disturbance, killed by a stray bullet which struck him in the chest.
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On August 19 of 1779 In the Battle of Paulus Hook, Continental forces commanded by Major 'Light Horse' Harry Lee launch a successful raid after dark on British troops encamped in a fort in what is now downtown Jersey City. Lee's soldiers surprised the British, taking 158 prisoners, and then withdrew before dawn. Despite regaining the fort and its cannons, the British lost much of their control over New Jersey. |
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On August 20 of 1923
The first American-built rigid airship, the US Navy's 'Shenandoah,' is launched in Lakehurst, and begins its maiden voyage from the same location on September 4. On September 3, 1925, the ship crashed in a storm over rural Ohio while on a publicity tour, killing 14 on board and destroying the ship. |
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On August 21 of 1957
After service during World War II and the Korean War, the Battleship USS New Jersey is decommissioned. It would later be re-commissioned, however, in 1968 for service in the Vietnam War and also subsequently was deployed in the Middle East.
After service during World War II and the Korean War, the Battleship USS New Jersey is decommissioned. It would later be re-commissioned, however, in 1968 for service in the Vietnam War and also subsequently was deployed in the Middle East.
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On August 22 of 1906 The Victor Talking Machine Company based in of Camden began to manufacture the Victrola. The hand-cranked unit, with horn cabinet, sold for $200. |
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On August 23 of 2011
One of the largest earthquakes ever recorded in the eastern United States, with a magnitude of 5.8 on the Richter Scale centered in a rural area of Virginia, sent shock waves across much of the East Coast, including New Jersey and as far away as Canada.
On August 24 of 1876
Abraham Browning of Camden is believed to have been first person to refer to New Jersey as "the Garden State" while speaking at the Philadelphia Centennial exhibition on "New Jersey Day." In 1954, a bill was passed by the legislature to include the slogan on license plates, but Governor Robert Meyner vetoed it, stating that he did not find the "Garden State" term to be particularly relevant to describe the state's diverse qualities. The bill was enacted into law, however, when the legislature overrode his veto.
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On August 25 of 1932 Amelia Earhart lands at Newark Airport, slightly more than 19 hours after she took off from Los Angeles, becoming the first woman to make a solo non-stop transcontinental flight. |
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On August 26 of 1791
John Fitch, a former Trenton gunsmith, is granted a patent for his invention of the steamboat. Fitch had operated a service for paying customers on the Delaware River between Burlington and Philadelphia in the summer of 1790.
On August 27 of 1932
Jersey City Mayor Frank Hague organizes a rally launching the presidential campaign of Franklin D. Roosevelt which attracts a crowd of 100,000 to the National Guard training center in Sea Girt. The success of the rally aids Hague in becoming the key New Jersey liaison to the Roosevelt Administration in obtaining federal funds and jobs.
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On August 27-29 of 2011 Hurricane Irene makes landfall in New Jersey with 75 mile-per-hour winds and heavy rain, including over 11 inches at Freehold. Prior to its landfall, coastal areas were evacuated and casinos in Atlantic City were ordered to be closed. The storm impact continued for three days with extensive flooding, loss of electric power to some 1.5 million customers and damages estimated at some $1 billion. |
Plaque in Princeton designating meeting of Franch and Continental armies. Image: NewJerseyAlmanac.com
On August 29 of 1781
French forces commanded by General Jean Baptiste de Rochambeau and Continental Army under George Washington join together at Princeton. On September 1, they break camp to march south on their way to Yorktown, Virginia. With the aid of the French fleet, their combined armies would trap the British under the command of General Lord Charles Cornwallis and force his surrender on October 19.
On August 30 of 1964
The Beatles give their first performance in New Jersey at Atlantic City's Convention Hall. They stay the next two days in Cape May before their next concert in Philadelphia.
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On August 31 of 1897 Thomas Edison is awarded a patent for his invention of the Kinetoscope, a wooden box in which one person at a time could view moving images through a peephole window at the top of the device, a precursor to Edison's later invention of the 'projecting kinetoscope,' the first movie projector. |
