7 Things You Didn't Know About The History Of New Jersey

The tiny town of Roselle, New Jersey was the first in the world to be lit up by Edison's groundbreaking incandescent light. History was made in 1883, and the world just got brighter from then on.

You might have noticed the dino statue in New Jersey's most charming and historic shopping district - but did you know why it was there? Some bones were discovered in 1838 by a Haddonfield man named John Hopkins. Twenty years later, a friend of his noticed the bones and decided to go back to the site and dig more. In 1858, William Parker Foulke uncovered the full skeleton, and it was named the Hadrosaurus foulkii.

New Jersey was at the forefront of the American Revolution. While most of us learned about the larger battles of Monmouth or Princeton, and the Crossing of the Delaware, many people don't realize how many smaller skirmishes occurred right here in the Garden State. Mount Holly still reenacts the Battle of Iron Works Hill, which was one of the reasons that Washington's Christmas Raid was so successful.

This 6-mile boardwalk was built in 1870 and was originally intended to help keep sand out of beachfront buildings, restaurants, and resorts.

You might recognize the name -- he was Napoleon's older brother.

Rutgers beat Princeton and immediately claimed the title of the Birthplace of College Football.

On September 8, 1934, the steamship ran aground and caught fire off of the New Jersey coast, close to Convention Hall. 134 lives were lost, but New Jerseyans flocked to the shoreline to help rescue and treat those who had escaped. The Morro Castle stopped just short of colliding with Convention Hall.