The history of the Garden State is filled with well-known events and
forgotten happenings. German Americans opened the nation's first
kindergarten in Hoboken on February 11, 1861. Prohibition brought more
than two hundred bootleggers together in Sea Bright on August 15, 1924,
to discuss a fixed price on their product. As America fought World War I
and desperately needed ammunition, the T.A. Gillespie Shell plant
exploded in Sayreville on October 4, 1918, killing at least one hundred
people. From military feats and shady politics to the extraordinary
episodes in the lives of everyday people, explore an entire year of
events from New Jersey's history. Local historians Joseph Bilby, James
Madden and Harry Ziegler chronicle the state's most intriguing and
monumental moments--one for each date on the calendar.