1. In 1935, New Jersey Governor Harry Moore signed into law the nation's first state automobile-registration law. The law required all motorists in the state to register their vehicles and display license plates.

2. On January 24, 1781, British forces under the command of General Charles Cornwallis raided the town of Elizabeth, New Jersey. The British burned several homes and buildings, but were eventually driven back by local militiamen and Continental Army soldiers.

3. In 1848, the first public high school in New Jersey opened in Newark. The school, known as the Newark Academy, was established to provide young men with a rigorous academic program and prepare them for college.

4. On January 24, 1936, a group of employees from the New Jersey Bell Telephone Company made the first transatlantic telephone call from the United States to Europe. The call was made from the company's headquarters in Newark to London, England.

5. In 1972, the first female African American member of the New Jersey State Assembly, Shirley Turner, was born in Georgia. Turner started her career in politics as a member of the Trenton City Council and was later elected to the State Assembly in 1998.