New Jersey may be a small state, but we’ve had a big impact on the world. From music to medicine and modern technology, the world wouldn’t be the same without the Garden State.

  1. Where would the world be without one of the most influential musical artists of the 20th century? Born in Hoboken in 1915, Frank Sinatra remains a legend to this day.

Wikipedia/CBS Television/Public Domain

  1. Submarines got their start here. Now used around the world, the modern submarine was invented in 1878 by John Holland, a Paterson school teacher.

Flickr/Dorli Photography

  1. New Jersey has been called the “Pathway of the Revolution.” Over 100 battles were fought on New Jersey soil. Imagine how different things would be if the US was still part of England.

Wikipedia/Public Domain/Battle of Springfield, New Jersey

  1. We brought baseball to the masses. The first recorded baseball game was played in Hoboken on June 19, 1846.

Wikipedia/Library Of Congress

  1. And basketball, too. The first professional basketball game was played in Trenton, NJ in 1896.

Flickr/Seattle Municipal Archives

  1. Radios bring news and music to millions around the world. The Armstrong Tower in Alpine, built in 1938, led to the development of modern FM radio.

Wikipedia/By Wojciech Pysz (http://oldradio.pl) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC BY-SA 2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5-2.0-1.0)]

  1. The modern movie industry got its start here. Motion pictures were invented in New Jersey by Thomas Edison and William Dickson. The world’s first film studio was in West Orange.

Wikipedia/Library Of Congress

  1. We popularized beauty pageants. The first modern beauty pageant was held in Scotland in 1839, but the longest running beauty pageant currently in existence is the Miss America pageant which got its start in Atlantic City in 1921.

Wikipedia/US National Guard

  1. The discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation in Holmdel provided strong evidence for the “Big Bang” theory and changed the way we study cosmology.

Wikipedia/NASA/Holmdel NJ Horn Antenna

  1. Rock n’ roll wouldn’t be the same. Besides being the birthplace of Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi, Les Paul invented the first solid body electric guitar in Mahwah in 1940.

Wikipedia/Craig O’neal

  1. We’re the reason that Coca Cola no longer contains cocaine. A company in New Jersey extracts cocaine from the leaves for medical uses, then ships the remainder to Coke.

Wikipedia/Ben Franske

  1. With more pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in one area than anywhere else in the world, we’ve made numerous medical discoveries. Band-Aids got their start here as did Sirturo, a game changing drug in the fight against Tuberculosis.

WIkipedia/Public Domain/Johnson & Johnson Headquarters

  1. Monopoly wouldn’t be the same without us. The spaces in the popular board game are named after Atlantic City streets.

Flickr/Rich Brooks

  1. New Jersey is paving the way for a brighter future. We have more engineers and scientists per square mile than anywhere else in the world.

Wikipedia/NASA

  1. Our Jersey Fresh tomatoes are famous the world over for being some of the best.

Flickr/Eden, Jaime and Jim

  1. We play a major role in global trade. The largest seaport in the US is located in Elizabeth and nearly 80 percent of what our nation imports comes through New Jersey first.

Wikipedia/Public Domain

And this is only just the beginning! How else would the world be different if it weren’t for New Jersey? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Wikipedia/CBS Television/Public Domain

Flickr/Dorli Photography

Wikipedia/Public Domain/Battle of Springfield, New Jersey

Wikipedia/Library Of Congress

Flickr/Seattle Municipal Archives

Wikipedia/By Wojciech Pysz (http://oldradio.pl) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC BY-SA 2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5-2.0-1.0)]

Wikipedia/US National Guard

Wikipedia/NASA/Holmdel NJ Horn Antenna

Wikipedia/Craig O’neal

Wikipedia/Ben Franske

WIkipedia/Public Domain/Johnson & Johnson Headquarters

Flickr/Rich Brooks

Wikipedia/NASA

Flickr/Eden, Jaime and Jim

Wikipedia/Public Domain

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