1. In 1777, at the height of the American Revolution, General George Washington and his Continental Army marched into Trenton, New Jersey, where they engaged in a decisive victory over Hessian troops, capturing nearly a thousand prisoners of war.

2. In 1836, William Livingstone, a prominent New Jersey politician and lawyer who worked closely with founding father Alexander Hamilton, was appointed as the state's first-ever Chancellor, a position established to oversee the state's court system and legal affairs.

3. In 1916, the luxury ocean liner SS North Carolina, which was en route from Wilmington, North Carolina to New York City, ran aground just off the coast of Asbury Park, New Jersey, sparking a dramatic rescue effort to save hundreds of passengers and crew members from the sinking vessel.

4. In 1937, a massive fire broke out at the Lauralton Hall girls' boarding school in Milford, Connecticut, which had been evacuated to nearby West Orange, New Jersey. Though nobody was injured in the blaze, which destroyed much of the school's campus, more than 400 students and staff were left homeless.

5. In 1995, former New Jersey Governor Christie Whitman officially opened the state's first-ever Environmental Education Center in Hillsborough Township, designed to teach visitors about natural history, conservation, and environmental sustainability. Today, the center remains a popular destination for tourists and students alike.