Home About us Products Services Contact us Bookmark
:: wikimiki.org ::
John Stevens (New Jersey)

John Stevens (New Jersey)

John Stevens (c. 1716 – 10 May 1792) was delegate to the Continental Congress from New Jersey in 1783. He was born (either in 1715 in Perth Amboy, New Jersey or on 21 October 1716 in New York City when his mother was visiting there), the son of John Stevens and his wife Ann Campbell. He married Elizabeth Alexander, daughter of James Alexander, Surveyor general of New Jersey and New York and counsel for Peter Zenger, in 1748. They had two children:
- John Stevens (1749-1838)
- Mary Stevens, who married Robert R. Livingston, Jr., negotiator of the Louisiana Purchase. He became secretary to Governor Livingston of New York. He died at Hoboken, New Jersey and was interred at the Frame Meetinghouse Cemetery in Lambertville, Hunterdon Co., New Jersey Stevens, John Stevens, John Stevens, John

10 May

May 10 is the 130th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (131st in leap years). There are 235 days remaining.

Events


- 1291 - Scottish nobles recognize the authority of King Edward I of England.
- 1497 - Amerigo Vespucci allegedly leaves Cádiz for his first voyage to the New World.
- 1503 - Christopher Columbus visits the Cayman Islands and names them Las Tortugas after the numerous sea turtles there.
- 1534 - Jacques Cartier visits Newfoundland.
- 1768 - John Wilkes is imprisoned for writing an article for the North Briton severely criticizing King George III. This action provokes rioting in London.
- 1774 - Louis XVI becomes King of France.
- 1775 - American Revolutionary War: Fort Ticonderoga is taken by a small force led by Colonel Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen.
- 1775 - American Revolutionary War: Representatives from the 13 colonies of the United States meet in Philadelphia and raise the Continental Army to defend the new republic. They place it under command of Cavalier George Washington of Virginia.
- 1796 - First Coalition: Napoleon I of France wins a decisive victory against Austrian forces at Lodi bridge over the River Adda in Italy. The Austrians lose some 2,000 men.
- 1801 - First Barbary War: The Barbary pirates of Tripoli declare war on the United States.
- 1837 - Panic of 1837: New York City banks fail, and unemployment reaches record levels.
- 1857 - Indian Mutiny: In India, the Sepoys revolt against the British Army.
- 1865 - American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is captured by Union troops near Irwinville, Georgia.
- 1865 - American Civil War: Union soldiers ambush and mortally wound Confederate raider William Quantrill in Kentucky, who lingers until his death on June 6.
- 1869 - The First Transcontinental Railroad, linking the eastern and western United States, is completed at Promontory Summit, Utah (not Promontory Point, Utah).
- 1872 - Victoria Woodhull becomes the first woman nominated for President of the United States.
- 1877 - Romania declares itself independent from Turkey, recognized on March 26, 1881 after the end of the Romanian independence war.
- 1908 - Mother's Day is observed for the first time (Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, USA).
- 1924 - J. Edgar Hoover is appointed the Director of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, and remains so until his death in 1972.
- 1933 - Censorship: In Germany, the Nazis stage massive public book burnings.
- 1940 - World War II: The first German bombs of the war fall on England at Chilham and Petham, in Kent.
- 1940 - World War II: Germany invades Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
- 1940 - World War II: Winston Churchill is appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- 1941 - World War II: The House of Commons in London is destroyed by the Luftwaffe in an air raid.
- 1941 - World War II: Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland in order to try and negotiate a peace deal between the United Kingdom and Nazi Germany.
- 1954 - Bill Haley and the Comets release "Rock Around the Clock", the first rock and roll record to reach number one on the charts.
- 1960 - The nuclear submarine USS Triton completes the first underwater circumnavigation of the earth.
- 1969 - The first "Zip to Zap" rural outdoor rock concert at Zap, North Dakota, is ended prematurely as North Dakota National Guard is ordered to disperse the unruly crowd.
- 1979 - The Federated States of Micronesia becomes self-governing.
- 1981 - François Mitterrand takes office as the first Socialist President of France.
- 1988 - Michel Rocard becomes Prime Minister of France.
- 1993 - In Thailand, a fire at the Kader Toy Factory kills 188 workers, mostly young women.
- 1994 - The U.S. state of Illinois executes serial killer John Wayne Gacy for the murder of 33 young men and boys.
- 1994 - An annular eclipse of the sun is visible across much of North America.
- 1996 - A "rogue storm" near the summit of Mount Everest kills eight climbers, making this the deadliest day in the mountain's history. Among the dead are experienced climbers Rob Hall and Scott Fischer, both of whom were leading paid expeditions to the summit.
- 1997 - An earthquake near Ardekul in northeastern Iran kills at least 2,400 people.
- 1998 - National elections are held in Hungary.
- 2001 - In Ghana, a stampede at a football game kills over 120 spectators.
- 2002 - FBI agent Robert Hanssen is given a life sentence without the possibility of parole for selling American secrets to Moscow for $1.4 million in cash and diamonds.
- 2002 - Lynda Lyon Block is executed in Yellow Mama, the electric chair of Alabama.
- 2003 - Record shattering tornado activity during the May 2003 Tornado Outbreaks.
- 2005 - A live hand grenade lands about 100 feet from United States President George W. Bush while he is giving a speech to a crowd in Tbilisi, Georgia, but malfunctions and does not detonate. Vladimir Arutinian later admits throwing the grenade.

Births


- 1265 - Emperor Fushimi of Japan (d. 1317)
- 1604 - Jean Mairet, French dramatist (d. 1686)
- 1641 - Dudley North, English economist (d. 1691)
- 1727 - Anne Robert Turgot, French statesman (d. 1781)
- 1760 - Johann Peter Hebel, German poet (d. 1826)
- 1770 - Louis Nicolas Davout, French marshal (d. 1823)
- 1838 - John Wilkes Booth, American actor and assassin of Abraham Lincoln (d. 1865)
- 1841 - James Gordon Bennett Jr., American publisher (d. 1918)
- 1866 - Léon Bakst, Russian artist (d. 1924)
- 1872 - Marcel Mauss, French sociologist (d. 1950)
- 1878 - Gustav Stresemann, Chancellor of Germany, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1929)
- 1886 - Karl Barth, Swiss Protestant theologian (d. 1968)
- 1886 - Felix Manalo, first Executive Minister of the Iglesia ni Cristo (d. 1963)
- 1888 - Max Steiner, Austrian composer (d. 1971)
- 1889 - Mae Murray, American actress (d. 1965)
- 1890 - Alfred Jodl, German general (d. 1946)
- 1897 - Einar Gerhardsen, Prime minister of Norway (d. 1987)
- 1899 - Fred Astaire, American singer, dancer, and actor (d. 1987)
- 1899 - Dimitri Tiomkin, Ukrainian-born composer (d. 1979)
- 1902 - Anatole Litvak, Ukrainian-born film director (d. 1974)
- 1902 - David O. Selznick, American film producer (d. 1965)
- 1909 - Maybelle Carter, American musician
- 1916 - Milton Babbitt, American composer
- 1927 - Nayantara Sahgal, Indian author
- 1928 - Arnold Rüütel, Estonian president
- 1930 - Pat Summerall, American football player and broadcaster
- 1933 - Barbara Taylor Bradford, English writer
- 1934 - Cliff Wilson, Welsh snooker player (d. 1994)
- 1936 - Gary Owens, American actor and announcer
- 1944 - Jim Abrahams, American film director
- 1946 - Donovan, Scottish musician
- 1946 - Dave Mason, English musician (Traffic)
- 1953 - John Diamond, British journalist (d. 2001)
- 1955 - Chris Berman, American sportscaster
- 1955 - Mark David Chapman, American assassin of John Lennon
- 1955 - Ashoka Jahnavi-Prasad, scientist
- 1956 - Vladislav Listyev, Russian television anchor and journalist
- 1957 - Sid Vicious, English bassist (The Sex Pistols) (d. 1979)
- 1958 - Rick Santorum, U.S. Senator
- 1960 - Bono, Irish singer ( U2)
- 1965 - Linda Evangelista, Canadian model
- 1966 - Jonathan Edwards, British athlete
- 1969 - Dennis Bergkamp, Dutch footballer
- 1970 - David Weir, Scottish footballer
- 1971 - Ådne Søndrål, Norwegian speed skater
- 1972 - Radosław Majdan, Polish footballer
- 1975 - Hélio Castroneves, Brazilian race car driver
- 1977 - Nick Heidfeld, German Formula 1 driver
- 1980 - Jørgen Scharling Rasmussen, Danish singer and cartoonist

Deaths


- 1290 - Duke Rudolph II of Austria (b. 1271)
- 1424 - Go-Kameyama, Emperor of Japan
- 1482 - Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli, Italian mathematician and astronomer (b. 1397)
- 1493 - Colin Campbell, 1st Earl of Argyll, Scottish politician
- 1521 - Sebastian Brant, Alsatian humanist (b. 1457)
- 1566 - Leonhart Fuchs, German botanist (b. 1501)
- 1641 - Johan Banér, Swedish soldier (b. 1596)
- 1657 - Gustaf Horn, Swedish soldier and politician (b. 1592)
- 1691 - Colonel John Birch, English soldier (b. 1615)
- 1696 - Jean de La Bruyère, French writer (b. 1645)
- 1717 - John Hathorne, American magistrate (b. 1641)
- 1726 - Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans, English soldier (b. 1670)
- 1733 - Barton Booth, English actor (b. 1681)
- 1737 - Nakamikado Emperor of Japan (b. 1702)
- 1774 - King Louis XV of France (b. 1710)
- 1787 - William Watson, English physician and scientist (b. 1715)
- 1792 - John Stevens, American delegate to the Continental Congress
- 1807 - Comte de Rochambeau, French soldier (b. 1725)
- 1818 - Paul Revere, American patriot (b. 1735)
- 1829 - Thomas Young, English physician and linguist (b. 1773)
- 1850 - Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, French chemist and physicist (b. 1778)
- 1863 - Stonewall Jackson, American Confederate general (b. 1824)
- 1889 - Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, Russian satirist (b. 1826)
- 1897 - Andrés Bonifacio, Filipino revolutionary leader (b. 1863)
- 1950 - Belle da Costa Greene, librarian, bibliographer, archivist (b. 1883)
- 1955 - Tommy Burns, Canadian boxer (b. 1881)
- 1960 - Yury Olesha, Russian novelist (b. 1899)
- 1977 - Joan Crawford, American actress (b. 1905)
- 1990 - Walker Percy, American author (b. 1916)
- 1994 - John Wayne Gacy, American serial killer (executed) (b. 1942)
- 1999 - Shel Silverstein, American poet and composer (b. 1930)
- 2003 - Milan Vukcevich, Yugoslavian chemist and chess problem composer (b. 1937)
- 2005 - David Wayne, American singer (Metal Church) (b. 1958)

Holidays and Observances


- Feast Day of the following saints in the Roman Catholic Church:
  - Solange
  - Saint Alphius
  - Saint Aurelian
  - Saint William of Pontoise
  - Saint Calepodius
  - Saint Cataldus
  - Saint Comgall
  - Saint Dioscorides
  - Saint Epimachus
  - Gordianus
  - Isidore the Laborer
  - Saint John of Avila
  - Saint Quaratus and Quintus
  - Saint Peter Van
- Memorial Day of Blessed Damien of Moloka'i in Christianity
- Celebration of the Clandestine Retreat of Ma'at and Re in Ancient Egypt
- Confederate Memorial Day in North Carolina and South Carolina
- Constitution Day in the Federated States of Micronesia
- Inauguration Day in South Africa
- Sita Pujan in Hinduism
- Tin Han's Day in China
- Start of Tori no Mawari/Bird Week in Japan
- Mania (mythology) in Ancient Rome
- Dia de la Madre in Mexico
- Mother's Day - 1987, 1998, 2009
- Yom Ha'atzma'ut in Judaism - 2000
- Lag Ba'omer in Judaism - 2012

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/10 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050720.html The New York Times: On This Day]
- [http://www.thisdaythatyear.com/may/people10.htm ThisDayThatYear.com on May 10] ---- May 9 - May 11 - April 10 - June 10 – listing of all days ko:5월 10일 ja:5月10日 simple:May 10 th:10 พฤษภาคม

Continental Congress

The Continental Congress was a body of representatives appointed by the legislatures of the Thirteen Colonies and later of the United States from 1774 to 1789. Initially formed to coordinate a common response for the Colonies to the Intolerable Acts, it became the de facto government of the United States as the dispute with Great Britain escalated into the American Revolutionary War. The Continental Congress is usually divided into three stages: the First Continental Congress which met from September 5, 1774 to October 26, 1774; the Second Continental Congress which met from May 10, 1775 to the ratification of the Articles of Confederation on March 1, 1781; and the Congress of the Confederation or the United States in Congress Assembled, which ran from March 1, 1781 until the government under the Constitution became operative on March 4, 1789. Some historians consider the Congress of the Confederation as a separate body from the Continental Congress, even though the membership of the Second Continental Congress on February 28, 1781 and the Congress of the Confederation on March 2, 1781 were identical.

The Continental Congress

The Stamp Act Congress, formed by colonials to respond to the unpopular Stamp Act taxes, was the direct precursor of the Continental Congress, which was itself formed largely in response to the so-called Intolerable Acts. The First Continental Congress was planned through the permanent committees of correspondence, which kept the local colonial governments in communication with one another as their common opposition to Britain grew. It lasted only from September 5, 1774, to October 26, 1774, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Peyton Randolph served as the first President of the Continental Congress. The primary accomplishment of the First Continental Congress was the drafting of the Articles of Association on October 20, 1774. The Articles formed a compact among twelve of the thirteen colonies to boycott British goods, and to cease exports to Britain as well if the "Intolerable Acts" were not repealed. The boycott was successfully implemented, but its potential at altering British colonial policy was cut off by the outbreak of open fighting in 1775. The Second Continental Congress met on May 10, 1775. The Congress resolved that Britain had declared war against them on March 26, 1775. The Continental Army was created on June 15, 1775, to oppose the British, and General George Washington was appointed commander in chief. On July 8, 1775, they extended the Olive Branch Petition to the crown as an attempt at reconciliation. (King George III refused to receive it.) Silas Deane was sent to France as an ambassador of the United States. American ports were reopened in defiance of the Navigation Acts. Most importantly, on July 4, 1776, they adopted the Declaration of Independence. The Continental Congress was forced to flee Philadelphia at the end of September 1777 as British troops occupied the erstwhile capital of the United States. They simply repaired to York, Pennsylvania, and continued their work. On November 17, 1777, the Continental Congress passed the Articles of Confederation, the first written constitution for the United States. It urged the individual states to pass the articles as quickly as possible. However, it took three and a half years for all the states to finally agree to the Articles. In the meantime, the Second Continental Congress tried to lead the new country through the war with very little money and little real power. Finally, on March 1, 1781, the Articles of Confederation were ratified. The Second Continental Congress adjourned, and then the same delegates met the next day as the new Congress of the Confederation. Seven months later, October 19, 1781, the United States was victorious at the Battle of Yorktown, which ended military operations in the colonies, although combat would continue in the Ohio Valley and in British colonies throughout the globe. Two years later, the Treaty of Paris was signed, which ended the war and gave British recognition to the United States. With very little power and without the external threat of a war against the British, it became more and more difficult to get enough delegates to meet to form a quorum. Nonetheless, even in its dysfunctional state, the Congress still managed to get important legislation passed, such as the Northwest Ordinance. There were enough problems that the Congress called a convention in 1787 to recommend changes to the Articles of Confederation. This convention instead issued a whole new constitution, the Constitution of the United States. The Congress submitted the Constitution to the states, and the Constitution was ratified by enough states to become operative in September 1788. On September 12, 1788, the Congress set the date for choosing the electors for President as January 7, 1789, the date for the electors to vote for President as February 4, 1789, and the date for the Constitution to become operative as March 4, 1789. The Congress of the Confederation continued to conduct business for another month. On October 10, 1788, the Congress formed a quorum for the last time; afterwards, although delegates would occasionally appear, there were never enough to conduct business, and so the Continental Congress passed into history.

Dates and places of sessions

; First Continental Congress :
- September 5, 1774 – October 26, 1774, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ; Second Continental Congress :
- May 10, 1775 – December 12, 1776, Philadelphia :
- December 20, 1776 – March 4, 1777, Baltimore, Maryland :
- March 5, 1777 – September 18, 1777, Philadelphia :
- September 27, 1777 (one day only), Lancaster, Pennsylvania :
- September 30, 1777 – June 27, 1778, York, Pennsylvania :
- July 2, 1778 – March 1, 1781, Philadelphia ; United States in Congress Assembled :
- March 1, 1781 – November 3, 1781, Philadelphia :
- November 5, 1781 – November 2, 1782, Philadelphia :
- November 4, 1782 – June 21, 1783, Philadelphia :
- June 30, 1783 – November 1, 1783, Princeton, New Jersey :
- November 3, 1783 – November 4, 1783, Princeton :
- November 26, 1783 – June 3, 1784, Annapolis, Maryland :
- November 1, 1784 – December 24, 1784, Trenton, New Jersey :
- January 11, 1785 – November 4, 1785, New York, New York :
- November 7, 1785 – November 3, 1786, New York :
- November 6, 1786 – October 30, 1787, New York :
- November 5, 1787 – October 21, 1788, New York :
- November 3, 1788 – March 2, 1789, New York

See also


- History of the United States (1776-1789)
- List of Continental Congress Delegates
- President of the Continental Congress
- Articles of Confederation

External links


- [http://www.americanrevolution.com/ContinentalCongress.htm The Continental Congress - History, Declaration and Resolves, Resolutions and Recommendations]
- [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwjclink.html Full text of Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789]

Further reading


- Edmund C. Burnet;The Continental Congress; 1941; 1975 reprint, Greenwood Publishing, ISBN 0837183863.
- H. James Henderson; Party Politics in the Continental Congress; 1974, McGraw-Hill, ISBN 0070281432; 2002 (paperback) reprint, Rowman & Littlefield, ISBN 0819165255.
- Lynn Montross; The Reluctant Rebels; the Story of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789; 1950, Harper; 1970 reprint, Barnes & Noble, ISBN 038903973X. Category:American Revolution Category:History of the United States government Category:History of Philadelphia Category:Historical legislatures

New Jersey

New Jersey is the fourth smallest and most densely populated state of the United States of America; the U.S. postal abbreviation is NJ. The state is named after the island of Jersey in the English Channel.

History

Once inhabited by the tribes of the Lenape Native Americans, New Jersey was settled by the Dutch in the early 1630s, who formed a settlement at present-day Jersey City. At the time, much of what is now New Jersey was claimed as part of the Dutch colony of New Netherland, which also included parts of present-day New York State and had its capital at New Amsterdam, now known as New York City. Some of southwestern New Jersey also was settled by the Swedes in the mid-1600s as part of the Swedish colony of New Sweden, which included parts of Delaware and southeastern Pennsylvania. These territories were taken by the Dutch in 1654 and incorporated into New Netherland. The entire region became a territory of Britain in 1664 when a British fleet under the command of Colonel Richard Nicolls sailed into what is today New York Harbor and took over the colony. They met minimal resistance, perhaps because of the unpopularity of the Dutch colonial governor, Peter Stuyvesant. The newly taken lands were divided by King Charles II of England, who gave his brother, the Duke of York (later King James II) the region between New England and Maryland as a proprietary colony (as opposed to a royal colony). James then granted the land between the Hudson River and the Delaware River (the land that would become New Jersey) to two friends who had been loyal through the English Civil War: Sir George Carteret and Lord Berkeley of Stratton. During the English Civil War the Channel Isle of Jersey remained loyal to The English Crown and gave sanctuary to the King. It was from the Royal Square in St. Helier that Charles II of England was first proclaimed King of England in 1649, following the execution of his father, Charles I of England. In 1663 in recognition of his loyalty to the English Crown Sir George Carteret, Jersey's Royalist Governor, was gifted a large tract of land in North America henceforth known as New Jersey. Settlement for the first 10 years of English rule was in the Hudson River region and came primarily from New England. The first permanent English settlement was Elizabethtown, now Elizabeth. On March 18, 1673 Berkeley sold his half of New Jersey to Quakers in England (with William Penn acting as trustee for a time) who settled the Delaware Valley region as a Quaker colony. New Jersey was governed as two distinct provinces, West Jersey and East Jersey, for the 28 years between 1674 and 1702. In 1702, the two provinces were united under a royal, rather than a proprietary, governor.

Revolutionary War era

New Jersey was one of the thirteen colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution. During the American Revolutionary War, British and American armies crossed New Jersey numerous times and several pivotal battles took place in the state. Today, New Jersey is often referred to as "The Crossroads of the Revolution" because of that. On Christmas, 1776, the Continental Army under George Washington crossed the Delaware River and engaged the unprepared Hessian troops in the Battle of Trenton. The river crossing has become an iconic moment in the early history of the United States of America, having been immortalized in Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze's painting Washington Crossing the Delaware. Slightly more than a week after victory at Trenton, on January 3, 1777, the American forces scored an important victory by making a surprise attack on Princeton, evading the British under Charles Cornwallis. Later on, the American forces underneath George Washington engaged the forces underneath General Henry Clinton at the Battle of Monmouth. The result of the battle was indecisive. In the summer of 1783, the Continental Congress met in Nassau Hall at Princeton University, making Princeton the nation's capital for four months. It was there that the Continental Congress learned of the signing of the Treaty of Paris (1783) which ended the war. On November 20, 1789, the state became the first in the newly-formed Union to ratify the Bill of Rights. Ironically, on February 15, 1804 New Jersey became the last northern state to abolish slavery by enacting legislation that slowly phased out slavery. However, by the close of the Civil War, about a dozen African-Americans in New Jersey were still apprenticed freedmen. New Jersey initially refused to ratify the Constitutional Amendments banning slavery and granting rights to America's Black population.

Women's suffrage

The [http://www.state.nj.us/njfacts/njdoc10a.htm New Jersey Constitution of 1776] gives the vote to "all inhabitants of this Colony, of full age, who are worth fifty pounds proclamation money." This included blacks, spinsters, and widows. (Married women could not own property under the common law.) It used to be held that this was an accident of hasty drafting: the British were at Staten Island when the constitution was proclaimed, and it declares itself temporary, void if there was reconciliation with Great Britain. Klinghoffer and Elkis ("The Petticoat Electors: Women’s Suffrage in New Jersey, 1776–1807." Journal of the Early Republic 12, no. 2 (1992): 159–193.) show that it was a considered decision, and enforced by later law. Both sides in elections mocked the other for relying on "petticoat electors"; both accused each other of letting unqualified women (including married women) vote. A Federalist legislature passed a voting rights act which applied only to those counties where the Federalists were strong; a Democratic legislature extended it to the entire state. In 1807, as a side-effect of a reconciliation within the Democratic Party, the legislature reinterpreted the constitution (which had been an ordinary act of the Provincial Congress) to mean universal white male suffrage, with no property requirement; but they disenfranchised paupers, to keep down the Irish.

Law and government

The state capital of New Jersey is Trenton. Jon Corzine was elected Governor of New Jersey on November 8, 2005, and will take office on January 17, 2006. Currently, Richard Codey (Democrat) is the Acting governor, because he is (and concurrently serves as) President of the State Senate. Former Governor James E. McGreevey resigned on November 15, 2004, and New Jersey (along with Arizona, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Wyoming) had no position of Lieutenant Governor at the time. However, on Election Day, November 8, 2005, the voters passed an amendment to the state constitution that creates the position of Lieutenant Governor, effective with the 2009 elections. The amendment also provides that in the event of a permanent vacancy in the office of Governor after January 17, 2006 (when the next Governor is sworn in) and before the first Lieutenant Governor takes office in 2010, the President of the Senate, followed by the Speaker of the General Assembly, would become Governor (rather than Acting Governor) but will now be required to vacate his or her Senate (or Assembly) seat. The New Jersey governor is considered one of the most powerful governorships in the nation, as it is the only state-wide elected office in the state and appoints many government officials. Additionally, an acting governor is even more powerful as he simultaneously serves as president of the senate, thus directing the entire legislative and executive process. Current Acting Governor Codey will likely be the last Acting Governor to serve simultaneously as Senate President, as a result of the Constitutional amendment approved by the voters in 2005 (as the current dual role would remain in effect if Codey were to step down before the new Governor takes office). The state's two U.S. Senators are Frank R. Lautenberg (Democrat) and Jon Corzine (Democrat). As governor-elect, Corzine will appoint his own replacement after he steps down from the Senate and is sworn in as Governor in January. New Jersey has 13 Congressional Districts. New Jersey is a politically competitive state; the Governorship has alternated between the parties since the election of Richard J. Hughes in 1961; the legislature has also switched hands, and one house was evenly divided from 1999–2001. Three of the last four gubernatorial elections have been close. The Congressional seats have also been as evenly divided as thirteen seats can be. In national elections, the state now tends to lean towards the national Democratic Party. It was, however, a Republican stronghold for years in the past, having given comfortable margins of victory to the Republican candidate in the close elections of 1948, 1968, and 1976. New Jersey was a crucial swing state in the elections of 1960, 1968, and 1992. In national elections, the state gave large victories to Democrats in the 1990's, while in the 2004 presidential election, John F. Kerry defeated George W. Bush by about 6%. The last elected Republican to hold a Senate seat from New Jersey was Clifford P. Case in 1979. (Nicholas Brady was appointed a U.S. Senator by Governor Thomas Kean in 1982 after Harrison A. Williams resigned the Senate seat following the Abscam investigations. Brady served eight months. The state's Democratic strongholds include Mercer County around the cities of Trenton and Princeton; Essex County and Hudson County, the state's two most urban counties, around the state's two largest cities, Newark and Jersey City; as well as in Camden County and most of the other urban communities just outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and New York City. More suburban northern counties in the orbit of New York, such as Union and Middlesex, also trend Democratic. The more suburban northwestern and southeastern counties of the state are reliably Republican: Republicans have strong backing along the coast in Ocean County and in the mountainous northwestern part of the state, especially Sussex County, Morris County and Warren County. Somerset and Hunterdon counties, more suburban counties in the region, are also Republican in local elections, but can be competitive in national races. In the 2004 General Election, Bush received about 51% in Somerset and 56% in Hunterdon, while up in rural Republican Sussex County, Bush won with 64% of the vote. About half of the counties in New Jersey, however, are considered swing counties, but some go more one way than others. For an example, Bergen County, which leans Republican in the northern half of the county, is mostly Democratic in the more populated southern parts, causing it to usually vote slightly Democratic (same with Passaic County, with a highly populated Hispanic Democratic south and a rural, Republican north), other "swing" counties like Cape May tend to go Republican, as they also have population in conservative areas. The governor's mansion is Drumthwacket.

New Jersey State Constitution

The [http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/lawsconstitution/constitution.asp constitution] was adopted in 1947. It provides for a bicameral Legislature consisting of a Senate of 40 members and an Assembly of 80 members. Each of the 40 legislative districts elects one Senator and two Assembly members. Assembly members are elected by the people for a two-year term in all odd-numbered years; Senators are elected in the years ending in 1, 3, and 7 and thus serve either four or two year terms.

The New Jersey Supreme Court

The New Jersey Supreme Court [http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/supreme/index.htm] consists of a chief justice and six associate justices. All are appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of a majority of the membership of the state senate. Justices serve an initial seven-year term, after which they can be reappointed to serve until age 70.

Geography

New Jersey is broadly divided into three geographic regions: North Jersey, Central Jersey, and South Jersey. North Jersey is within New York City's general sphere of influence, with many of its residents commuting into the city for work. Central Jersey is a largely suburban area. South Jersey is within Philadelphia, Pennsylvania's general sphere of influence. Such geographic definitions are broad, however, and there is often dispute over where one region begins and another ends. High Point Mountain, in Montague Township, Sussex County has the highest elevation in New Jersey. Sussex County, in North Jersey, and its Gold Coast featuring Goldman Sachs Tower.]] New Jersey is bordered on the north and northeast by New York, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by Delaware, and on the west by Pennsylvania (the latter two across the Delaware River.) Prominent geographic features include:
- Delaware Water Gap
- Musconetcong River
- New Jersey Meadowlands
- The Palisades
- Passaic River
- Pine Barrens
- Rancocas River
- Raritan River
- Sandy Hook
- South Mountain

Economy

[http://www.bea.gov/ The Bureau of Economic Analysis] estimates that New Jersey's total state product in 2003 was $397 billion. New Jersey's per capita income is the highest in the nation. Its per capita personal income in 2003 was $40,427, 4th in the United States of America. Its median household income is also the highest in the nation with $55,146. It is also ranked 2nd in the nation by the number of places with per capita incomes above national average with 76.4%. Nine of New Jersey's counties are also in the wealthiest 100 of the country. Women in New Jersey earn the highest per capita income as stated in a 2002 article in the Newark Star-Ledger. Its agricultural outputs are nursery stock, horses, vegetables, fruits and nuts, seafood, and dairy products. In particular, cranberries and eggplant are two of the state's largest crops. Hammonton in the southern part of the state is known as the blueberry capital of the world. Its industrial outputs are pharmaceutical and chemical products, food processing, electric equipment, printing and publishing, and tourism. New Jersey's economy has a large base of industry and chemical manufacturing. Additionally, New Jersey is home to the largest petroleum containment system in the world, outside of the Middle East. Although the state is certainly not defined by these activities, their existence and visibility to those passing through the state along some of its major highways does contribute to many jokes about pollution and ironic plays on the state's nickname, the "Garden State." In terms of quantity and quality, New Jersey ranks ninth in the union, in the number of manufactured goods that come from this state's factories. New Jersey is also a leader in the number of businesses that have their headquarters or do business here. 50 Fortune 500 companies alone have headquarters or do business in Morris County alone. Nearly 100 Fortune 500 companies have headquarters or conduct business in New Jersey. This allows New Jersey to have the largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the world. Paramus is long noted for having one of the highest business per person ratio in the nation, because of the huge number of shops in that town and the surrounding area. Several New Jersey counties such as Essex, Morris, Middlesex, Union, and Bergen counties have been ranked in the World Almanac 2002, as being among the top 15 highest per person per capita income areas in the country. New Jersey has the nation's most diverse economy, with its major industries being agriculture, tourism, nursery products, electronics, manufacturing equipment, pharmacuticals, etc. It is for this reason, New Jersey is able to weather severe economic declines in the national economy and it is why New Jersey's unemployment rate is well below the national average. New Jersey's location between Philadephia and New York City, has allowed New Jersey to grow and thrive since the time of its creation as a state in 1702. Another of New Jersey's great strengths is its large and well-educated labor pool that allow the myriad of industries to exist today. The Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal is the world's largest container ports. Newark Liberty International Airport is ranked as number 7 in the top ten list of the nation's busiest airports and among the top 20 busiest airports in the world. Six Flags Great Adventure is one of the largest theme parks in the world. It is home to the largest wild safari out of Africa and is now home to the world's tallest and fastest coaster, Kingda Ka. As of 2001, New Jersey makes $30 billion each year from tourism as stated in the Star-Ledger's article The Best Of New Jersey. New Jersey is one of the top ten most visited states in the nation.

Demographics

As of 2004, the population of New Jersey was estimated to be 8,698,879. There are 1.6 million foreign-born living in the state (accounting for 19.2% of the state population). New Jersey is the tenth most populous state, but the most densely populated, at 1,134.4 residents per square mile. [http://www.njfaq.com/njfaq4.shtml].

Race, ethnicity, and ancestry

The racial makeup of New Jersey is:
- 66.0% White Non-Hispanic
- 13.6% Black
- 13.3% Hispanic
- 5.7% Asian
- 0.2% Native American (U.S. Census)
- 2.5% Mixed race New Jersey has the 15th largest percentage of minority residents of any state and the 2nd highest percentage in the North. Race/ethnicity citation with state percentages: [http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/phc-t6/tab02.pdf](Adobe PDF) Diversity index citation with state percentages: [http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/atlas/divers.xls](Microsoft Excel) It also has the second largest percentage of Jews (after New York), the second largest percentage of Muslims (after Michigan). New Jersey is the third most Italian-American state in the nation, according to the 2000 Census, and has large percentages of Blacks, Hispanics, Arabs, and Asians. Ancestry citation with state percentages: [http://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/c2kbr-35.pdf](Adobe PDF) The five largest ancestry groups in New Jersey are: Italian (17.9%), Irish (15.9%), African American (13.6%), German (12.6%), Polish (6.9%). Newark and Camden are two of the poorest cities in America, but New Jersey as a whole has the highest median household income in the nation, as well as the second highest per capita income, after Connecticut. This is largely due to the fact that so much of New Jersey is comprised of suburbs, most of them affluent, of New York City and Philadelphia. New Jersey is also the most densely populated state in the nation, and the first and only state that has had every one of its 21 counties deemed "urban," as opposed to rural. The dominant race, ethnicity, or ancestry by county, according to the 2000 Census, are the following:
- New Jersey
  - Italian - Bergen, Morris, Somerset, Ocean, Monmouth
  - Irish - Sussex
  - Black - Essex, Union, Mercer
  - German - Warren, Hunterdon
  - Polish/Slavic - Middlesex
  - Puerto Rican/Hispanic - Hudson, Passaic Ancestry citation with county maps: [http://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/c2kbr-35.pdf] (Adobe PDF) Specific ancestry maps by county, place, and census tract available at: [http://factfinder.census.gov] 6.7% of its population were reported as under 5, 24.8% under 18, and 13.2% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 51.5% of the population.

Religion

The religious affiliations of adults of New Jersey are:
- Christian – 77%
  - Roman Catholic – 39%
  - Protestant – 36%
    - Baptist – 9%
    - Methodist – 6%
    - Presbyterian – 4%
    - Other Protestant or general Protestant – 17%
  - Other Christian – 2%
- Jewish – 5%
- Muslim – 1%
- Other Religions (e.g. Hindu, Sikh) – 1%
- Non-Religious – 16%

Culture

Music

New Jersey has long been an important area for both rock and rap music. Some prominent musicians with connections to New Jersey are:
- Musician Bruce Springsteen, who has sung of New Jersey life on his debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. and in many of his most popular songs, including "Atlantic City," "Born to Run," "Darlington County," "Freehold," "Jersey Girl" (written by Tom Waits), "Jungleland," "Spirit in the Night," and others. Fellow musician Jon Bon Jovi has also written many songs about New Jersey and even named one of his albums after it (see New Jersey). Both reside in New Jersey today.
- Frank Sinatra, born December 12, 1915, the only child of working-class Italian-American immigrants, in a tenement at 415 Monroe St. in Hoboken. He sang with a neighborhood vocal group, the Hoboken Four, and appeared in neighborhood theater amateur shows before he became an entertainment legend and Academy Award winning actor.
- Whitney Houston was born in the city of Newark, New Jersey but grew up in neighboring East Orange, and is best known for her cover of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" which set new records for sales and weeks at number one. Houston has sold well over 180 million records internationally.
- Bob Dylan's song "Hurricane" is about the accusation and trial of Rubin Carter which took place in Paterson. Dylan's view is that Carter was innocent. (In 1985, United States district court Judge H. Lee Sarokin ruled that Carter had not received a fair trial, saying that the prosecution had been "based on racism rather than reason, and concealment rather than disclosure.")
- Legendary jazz pianist and bandleader Count Basie, born in Red Bank in 1904. In the 1960s, he collaborated on several albums with fellow New Jersey native Frank Sinatra.
- Asbury Park, home of The Stone Pony, where Springsteen and Bon Jovi frequented early in their careers, which is still considered by many to be a "Mecca" for up-and-coming musicians.
- The Velvet Underground, who had their first performance as a band at Summit High School in Summit, New Jersey. Songs included "There She Goes Again" and "Heroin."
- Jerseyan Zakk Wylde of Jersey City, who is currently the guitarist with Ozzy Osbourne and is with another popular rock band, Black Label Society. Wylde is famous for his signature "Bulls-eye" Gibson Les Paul guitar.
- Former Fugee Lauryn Hill, a South Orange resident and hip-hop's best-selling solo female artist. Her 1998 debut album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, sold 10 million copies internationally.
- Hip-hop's longest running radio show, founded by two Jerseyans, Special K (Kevin Bonners) and Teddy Ted (Ted Whiting) of Hackensack, who began on New York's WHBI in 1982 and now appear on WPAT-AM.
- Other rap artists, including Irvington's Queen Latifah, the first female rapper to succeed in music, film, and TV, and the Grammy-winning Naughty By Nature of East Orange, who cut 1992's smash hit "O.P.P." Redman, an influential underground figure and Newark native, has recently found commercial success through collaborations with Eminem and the Wu-Tang Clan's Method Man.
- Singer/Actor Constantine Maroulis, a popular finalist on the television show, American Idol, Season 4 (2005), spent a good portion of his formative years in Wyckoff, where he graduated from Ramapo High School. Maroulis is developing a television sitcom which is based on his growing up years in New Jersey and the surrounding metropolitan New York City area.
- Musical artists Fountains of Wayne [http://www.fountainsofwayne.com/home/], a group of New Jerseyians who took the name of a semi-famous lawn and garden store [http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/NJWAYfountains.html] on Route 46 in Wayne, New Jersey (also featured on an episode of The Sopranos).
- The band Snowball 37 [http://www.snowball37.com/], a group of brothers who were inspired by a Kevin Smith reference, is based out of Jersey City.
- The genre Emo until recently thrived in New Jersey, particularly near New Brunswick. Such bands that fit into this category include Thursday, My Chemical Romance, Midtown, Senses Fail, Saves The Day, Hidden In Plain View, The Early November, Armor For Sleep, The Escape Engine, for some more popular bands, recently, the growth of Jersey emo bands has seen somewhat of a decrease as the genre has moved elsewhere.
- Punk music is also an important alternative style in New Jersey, perhaps starting with the band that essentially invented horror punk, The Misfits from Lodi, in the 90s, The Bouncing Souls and Catch 22 were also prominent figures in New Jersey punk, strongly influenced by New Brunswick's Sticks and Stones.
- The DeLeo brothers of Stone Temple Pilots are both from New Jersey. The brothers, Dean and Robert, are the guitarist and bassist for the band.
- Pete Yorn is another New Jersey artist. He has two albums out: musicforthemorningafter (2001) and Day I Forgot (2003).
- Deborah Harry from Blondie was raised in Hawthorne, New Jersey.
- Blues Traveler was formed at Princeton High School in 1987. John Popper, along with high school buddies drummer Brendan Hill, guitarist Chan Kinchla and the late bassist Bobby Sheehan are all natives of New Jersey.
- Spin Doctors began as Trucking Company in 1989 with Chris Barron (lead singer) and Eric Schenkman and were high school friends of the aformentioned Blues Traveler frontman John Popper at Princeton High School.
- American Idol season 4 contestant Anwar Robinson, considered to be one of AI's most talented male singers, was born in Newark and grew up in East Orange and Montclair, in addition, he teaches music at Edison Middle School in West Orange
- Legendary rock band Queen (touring with Bad Company frontman Paul Rodgers) chose a New Jersey venue - the Continental Airlines Arena - to perform their first USA concert in 23 years on October 16, 2005. The crowd surprised them with a strong reaction and plentiful participation, even in what were thought to be the lesser-known songs.
- The three members of the Fugees were from South Orange, New Jersey.
- Coheed and Cambria mentions the Jersey Devil in one of their songs
- Indie Rock band Yo La Tengo makes its home in Hoboken, New Jersey.

TV and film

Motion pictures and televisions shows also have been set in New Jersey. The popular television drama The Sopranos depicts the life of a New Jersey organized crime family and is filmed on location at various places throughout the state. Although not credited, at least one scene from The Godfather (1972) was filmed in New Jersey. The scene with Clemenza's famous line, "Leave the gun. Take the cannolis," was filmed in the marsh along the Hudson River in Jersey City, just west of the Statue of Liberty, in what is now Liberty State Park. The 2004 Sundance Film Festival favorite Garden State (starring Zach Braff and Natalie Portman) was shot on location in Morris Township. Also, the popular animated series Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Megas XLR take place primarily in New Jersey. Director Kevin Smith sets many of his films in New Jersey, particularly his "New Jersey Trilogy" of Clerks., Mallrats and Chasing Amy. The 2004 movie Jersey Girl is also based in New Jersey. Clerks. also had a short-lived animated series spin-off with the same name. It took place in the same locations as the movie. 2001's A Beautiful Mind had several scenes shot at Princeton University. The movie is a biopic of the mathematician John Nash, who currently lives in Princeton, New Jersey. Actor Jack Nicholson grew up on the Jersey shore, and went to Manasquan High School in Monmouth County. The 2004 stoner film Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle took place in New Jersey. Several locations seen in the movie include Princeton University, Newark, New Brunswick, and a fictional White Castle in Cherry Hill. Although supposedly set in New York, the 2003 movie School of Rock was filmed primarily in Edison and Mahwah, perhaps due to the significance these towns have on rock music. The 1988 comedy film Big starring Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia, Jon Lovitz, and Mercedes Ruehl was also filmed in Bergen County, New Jersey. The 1983 cult classic Eddie and the Cruisers was filmed mostly in Somers Point and Ocean City. Bruce Willis grew up in Penns Grove, New Jersey. The movie War of the Worlds was filmed in many locations in New Jersey, including Bayonne and Newark. The infamous radio show broadcast starring Orson Welles, The War of the Worlds was set in Grover's Mill (a section of West Windsor Township) and other locations around New Jersey. The Ron Howard film Cinderella Man and The Elia Kazan film On the Waterfront both take place in the old Hudson County docks.

Legends and Ghosts

A long circulated legend says a creature, the Jersey Devil or the Leeds Devil, terrorizes the population of the Pine Barrens (New Jersey). New Jersey is also home to several other urban legends, such as the ghost of Annie's Road in Totowa, Midgetville in Edgewater, Albino Village in Clifton, the haunted and demon-possessed Clinton Road in West Milford, and the Witch of Igoe Road in Marlboro. There is also the popular attraction of the Atco Ghost where the ghost of a little boy runs across the street late at night chasing a basketball located on Burnt Mill Road in Atco. It is also rumored that Jimmy Hoffa, the late leader of the Teamsters union, is buried beneath Giants Stadium or the New Jersey Turnpike. Camp NoBeBoSco in Blairstown was the location of the original Friday the 13th movie (some believe the series of films to be set in New Jersey, although this is never confirmed onscreen), which was partially based on real murders that have occurred near the campground, in the state's rural northwest. Such horror stories were the inspiration behind the now nationally-famous Weird NJ magazine and website.

Miscellaneous

Weird NJ The properties in the United States version of the board game Monopoly are named after the streets of Atlantic City. Diners are considered very common in New Jersey, and it's thought that nearly all medium-sized and larger towns have one. New Jersey is home to many diner manufacturers. New Jersey is often known by outsiders with little respect for the state as "America's Armpit", both for its shape and location on the Eastern seaboard and for the smell in certain parts of the state due to the landfills.

Transportation

Diners DinersThe New Jersey Turnpike is one of the best-known and most-trafficked roadways in the USA. This toll road carries interstate traffic between Delaware and New York. Commonly referred to as simply "the Turnpike," it is also known for its numerous rest-areas named after prominent New Jerseyans as varied as inventor Thomas Edison; United States Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton; U.S. Presidents Grover Cleveland and Woodrow Wilson, ; writers James Fenimore Cooper, Joyce Kilmer, and Walt Whitman; patriot Molly Pitcher; Red Cross advocate Clara Barton, and football coach Vince Lombardi. The Garden State Parkway, or just "the Parkway," (or "The Garden State Parking Lot" on Fridays during the summer), carries more in-state traffic, and runs from the town of Montvale along New Jersey's northern border with New York to the southernmost tip of the state at Cape May. It also acts as the trunk that connects the New York metropolitan area to Atlantic City. Many New Jersey residents who live near the Parkway or the Turnpike (a majority of the state population) locate their hometowns according to their respective highway exits, though very few New Jerseyans living elsewhere in the state will do so. Other expressways in New Jersey include the Atlantic City Expressway, Palisades Interstate Parkway, Interstate 76, Interstate 78, Interstate 80, Interstate 280, Interstate 287 and Interstate 295. The New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJ Transit) operates extensive rail and bus service throughout the state. NJ Transit is a state-run corporation that began with the consolidation of several private bus companies in North Jersey. In the early 1980s, it acquired the commuter train operations of CONRAIL that connect towns in northern and central New Jersey to New York City. In 1989, NJ Transit began service between Atlantic City and Lindenwold, extending it to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the 1990s. New Jersey has interstate compacts with all three neighboring states. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Delaware River Port Authority (with Pennsylvania), and the Delaware River and Bay Authority (with Delaware) operate most of the major transportation routes into and out of New Jersey. Tolls for the bridges are charged in one direction—it is free to get into New Jersey, but people have to pay to get out. The Washington Crossing and Scudders Falls (on I-95) bridges near Trenton, as well as Trenton's Calhoun Street and Bridge Street ("Trenton Makes") bridges are still free as of this writing. Newark Liberty International Airport is one of the busiest airports in the United States. Run by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, who runs the other two major airports in the New York City region: John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport, it is one of the main airports serving the New York City area. Continental Airlines is Newark's largest tenant, operating an entire terminal at Newark which they use as a hub. United Airlines and FedEx operate cargo hubs. The airport has its own railroad station on New Jersey Transit's Northeast Corridor Line which is also served by Amtrak.

Cities, towns, boroughs, villages, and townships

New Jersey has 566 municipalities; until recently, 567. Unlike other states, all of its municipalities are incorporated entities, with fixed boundaries, and no local government can simply absorb land from another.

Types of government

When the types of government were devised in the nineteenth century, the intention was that cities would be large built-up areas, with progressively smaller boroughs, towns, and villages; the rural areas in between would be relatively large townships. This is still often true, although Shrewsbury Township, New Jersey has been divided until it is less than a square mile, and consists of a single housing development. Some townships -- notably Middletown, Brick, Hamilton, and Dover (which includes Toms River) -- have, without changing their boundaries, become large stretches of suburbia, as populous as (if often more spread out than) cities, often focused around shopping centers and highways rather than traditional downtowns and main streets. As with Toms River, many locations in New Jersey are simply neighborhoods, with no exact boundaries; often the cluster of houses, the traditional neighborhood, the postal district, and the Census designated place will differ. The Federal Government has often failed to understand that a New Jersey township is just another municipality; and some municipalities have changed forms to become the Township of the Borough of Verona or the Township of South Orange Village to receive more Federal aid. The Census Bureau also has a hard time every ten years.

Forms of government

The five types of municipality differ mostly in name. Originally each type had its own form of government, but more modern forms are available to any municipality, even though the original type is retained in its formal name. This is the only difference between boroughs and cities or townships: only boroughs can have the "borough form" of government. Starting in the 1900s, largely driven by reform-minded goals, a series of six modern forms of government were implemented. This began with the Walsh Act, enacted in 1911, which provided for a 3 or 5 member commission elected on a non-partisan basis. This was followed by the 1923 Municipal Manager Law which offered a non-partisan council, a weak mayor elected by and from among the members of the council, and introduced Council-Manager government, with an (ideally apolitical) appointed mana

21 October

October 21 is the 294th day of the year (295th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 71 days remaining.

Events


- 686 - Conon becomes Pope.
- 1492 - Christopher Columbus lands on the San Salvador Islands.
- 1512 - Martin Luther joins the theological faculty of the University of Wittenberg
- 1600 - Tokugawa Ieyasu defeats the leaders of rival Japanese clans in the Battle of Sekigahara, which marks the beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate, who in effect rule Japan until the mid-Nineteenth century.
- 1774 - First display of the word "Liberty" on a flag, raised by colonists in Taunton, Massachusetts and which was in defiance of British rule in Colonial America.
- 1797 - In Boston Harbor, the 44-gun United States Navy frigate USS Constitution is launched.
- 1805 - Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Trafalgar - a British fleet led by Admiral Lord Nelson defeats a combined French and Spanish fleet off the coast of Spain under Admiral Villeneuve. It signalled the virtual end of French maritime power and left Britain navally unchallenged until the twentieth century.
- 1805 - Napoleonic Wars: Austrian General Mack surrenders his army to the Grand Army of Napoleon at Ulm, reaping Napoleon over 30,000 prisoners and inflicting 10,000 casualties on the losers. Ulm was considered to be one of Napoleon's finest hours.
- 1824 - Joseph Aspdin patents Portland cement.
- 1854 - Florence Nightingale and a staff of 38 nurses were sent to the Crimean War.
- 1861 - American Civil War: Battle of Ball's Bluff - Union forces under Colonel Edward Baker are defeated by Confederate troops in the second major battle of the war. Baker, a close friend of Abraham Lincoln, is killed in the fighting.
- 1867 - Manifest Destiny: Medicine Lodge Treaty - Near Medicine Lodge Creek, Kansas a landmark treaty is signed by southern Great Plains Indian leaders. The treaty requires Native American Plains tribes to relocate a reservation in western Oklahoma.
- 1879 - Using a filament of carbonized thread, Thomas Edison tests the first practical electric incandescent light bulb (it lasted 13 1/2 hours before burning out).
- 1895 - The Republic of Taiwan collapses as Japanese forces invade.
- 1902 - In the United States, a five month strike by United Mine Workers ends.
- 1921 - President Warren G. Harding delivers the first speech by a sitting President against lynching in the deep south.
- 1941 - World War II: Germans rampage in Yugoslavia, killing thousands of civilians.
- 1944 - The first kamikaze attack: HMAS Australia was hit by a Japanese plane carrying a 200 kg (441 pound) bomb off Leyte Island, as the Battle of Leyte Gulf began.
- 1945 - Women's suffrage: Women are allowed to vote in France for the first time.
- 1945 - Argentine military officer and politician Juan Perón married actress Evita.
- 1947 - 21 die as a fire destroys an