1. In 2002, the groundbreaking ceremony for the spectacular Prudential Center took place in Newark. The multi-purpose indoor arena is home to the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League and the Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball team.

2. The Declaration of Rights and Grievances was adopted by the Continental Congress in 1774. The document was the colonists' first collective statement of grievances against British rule and was an early step toward the American Revolution.

3. In 1777, the British Army under General William Howe conquered Philadelphia, forcing General George Washington and the Continental Army to retreat to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

4. In 1966, the state’s first monkeypox case was reported in a laboratory monkey at Merck & Co. in Rahway. Monkeypox is a rare disease similar to human smallpox, and its discovery caused alarm in the public health community.

5. The first commercial radio station in the United States, WJZ (now known as WABC), was licensed to West Orange in 1921. It was funded by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation and began broadcasting on September 27 of that year.