-- New Jersey History Timeline - June
* January * February * March * April * May
* June * July * August * September
* October * November * December
* June * July * August * September
* October * November * December
** Home
|
On June 1 of 1933
New Jersey became the fifth state to approve the 21st Amendment, repealing the 18th Amendment that initiated Prohibition. During Prohibition, New Jersey became a leading site for importing illegal alcohol from Canada, particularly from ships offshore of Absecon Island, with local officials and law enforcement declining to comply with the federal law. Atlantic County's famed political boss, Enoch "Nucky" Johnson, reportedly boasted: “We have whisky, wine, women, song and slot machines. I won’t deny it and I won’t apologize for it. If the majority of the people didn’t want them, they wouldn’t be profitable and they would not exist.” 
On June 2 of 1977
Governor Brendan T. Byrne signs the Casino Control Act into law in front of Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall. The first casino, Resorts International, opened on May 26, 1978.  William Trent House
On June 3 of 1719
First reported mention of "Trent-Town," named after founder and large landowner William Trent, is made when a constable is appointed while the area was still part of Hunterdon County. In the next year, a jail is built. 
On June 4 of 2001
Princeton University's Class of 2001 names Bruce Wright as an honorary member of its class. Wright was awarded a scholarship to attend Princeton in 1939, but denied admission when the university learned upon his arrival on campus that he was black. Wright later received degrees from Lincoln University and New York Law School, practiced law and served for 25 years as a judge in New York, retiring as a judge of the State Supreme Court. He died in 2005.  Image credit: ullstein bild/Getty Images
On June 6 of 1933
The first drive-in theater in the US opens in Pennsauken, owned by chemical company executive Richard M. Hollingshead, Jr., who had obtained a patent for the system. On June 7 of 2016
Hillary Clinton claims that she has clinched the 2016 Democratic Presidential nomination on the basis of early returns from the New Jersey primary, where she ultimately scores a 63% to 37% win over Senator Bernie Sanders.  Image: William J. Schlenger, Jr.
On June 8 of 1987 A fire due to a gas leak destroys an amusement pier off the boardwalk in Long Branch with an arcade, several retail stores, haunted mansion and amusement park. It is never rebuilt, and its site is now the location of the Pier Village dining and shopping complex. 
On June 9 of 1922
The 50-foot high Princeton Battle Monument depicting General George Washington leading his troops at the Battle of Princeton fought on January 3, 1777, is unveiled and dedicated in Princeton with attendees including President Warren G. Harding and representatives from the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. The ceremony featured a 21-gun salute and military honor guard. On June 10 of 1809
The steamboat Phoenix built by John Stevens and his son Robert L. Stevens at their estate in Hoboken becomes the first steamboat to set out on the open ocean, sailing around New Jersey and up the Delaware River to Philadelphia. 
On June 11 of 1950
Martin Luther King, Jr., while a seminary student at Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, and residing in Camden with fellow student Walter McCall, stages his first formal sit-in against racial discrimination when he, McCall and two others are refused service at Mary’s Cafe in Maple Shade. Cafe owner Ernest Nichols was arrested after he fired his gun into the air when the group persisted in asking for service, but was later released. The protest led to King’s first lawsuit against discrimination and utilized a New Jersey anti-discrimination law, the first statewide measure approved anywhere in the US. On June 12 of 1984 Vincent "Jimmy Sinatra" Craparotta Sr., 56, a reported member of the Lucchese crime family, was bludgeoned to death by three men with golf clubs in Toms River. In 1993, following a 10-week-long trial, four men were convicted of murder and related charges. Authorities contended that Craporatta was killed because he resisted efforts by the Lucchese family to take over a company that made video poker machines owned by Craporatta’s nephews, On June 13 of 1988
After a four-month trial, a jury in the US District Court in Newark awards the estate of Rose Cipollone of Little Ferry, a smoker for 42 years, $400,000 against The Liggett Group tobacco company on the ground that Liggett had misrepresented the risks of smoking in its advertising for Chesterfield and L&M cigarettes. The verdict is subsequently overturned on appeal, however, restoring the tobacco industry's record to that point of never being held liable for the risks of smoking. |