Historically speaking, did you know that:
The Transistor: The transistor was the device of the modern information and communications age. It had its birth and early development in New Jersey, almost entirely at the Bell Telephone Laboratory in Murray Hill. John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Shockley invented the first working transistors at Bell Labs in 1947
Transportation: The New Jersey location between the Hudson and Delaware Rivers, and between Colonial America’s two greatest cities, New York and Philadelphia, made it the first transportation network thoroughfare in recorded history. It began with the Native-American trails, to modern highways, railroads, airports, and seaports.
Travel Accounts: Florentine navigator Giovanni da Verrazzano, who sighted the Atlantic coast in 1524, described what was believed to be the New Jersey shore in a letter to his employer, King Francis I of France.
Trenton: Trenton, a 7.5 square mile city in Mercer County, is the state Capital of New Jersey, and was inhabited by the Sanhican tribe of the Lenape Indians as early as 1400.
Trenton War Memorial: The Trenton War Memorial was built between 1930 and 1932 as a tribute to veterans. A. Harry Moore of Jersey City served as the 39th governor of New Jersey during its construction.
U-Boat: Unknown to many New Jersey residents, German submarines frequently visited the Jersey Shore during both World Wars. The waters of New Jersey presented tempting opportunities to sink merchant and military vessels.
Divers: In 1991, New Jersey scuba divers discovered the wreck of an unknown u-boat approximately 60 miles off of the New Jersey coast. It was later identified as U-869.
Joseph Albright’s column appears on Thursdays in The Jersey Journal.
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