New Jersey

1524 – Verrazano explores the Jersey coast.

1609 – Hudson explores Newark Bay.

1638 – 1638 – A Swedish colony is established along the Delaware River (but it was taken over by the Dutch in 1655).

1660 – Bergen, now Jersey City, becomes the first permanent town in New Jersey.

1664 – The British take control of New Jersey from the Dutch.

1676 – New Jersey Colony is divided into east Jersey and West Jersey.

1702 – East and West Jersey combined into one colony.

1721 – William Trent started a village called “Trent’s Town,” which eventually became Trenton in 1790 and the state’s capital city.

1758 – The Old Barracks in Trenton is built.

1776 – N.J.’s first newspaper, the New Jersey Gazette, issues its first edition.

1776 – New Jersey adopts its first state constitution.

1783 – Princeton briefly serves as the nation’s capital.

1784 – Trenton briefly serves as the nation’s capital.

1787 – December 18, 1787, New Jersey becomes the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1790 – New Jersey is the first state to sign the Bill of Rights.

1824 – The first ferry service in the U.S. opens between Hoboken and Manhattan.

1927 – The Holland Tunnel opens.

1942 – German U-boats attack shipping off the New Jersey coast.

1951 – The New Jersey Turnpike opens.