April 16, 1863: Former Governor Charles Olden was elected president of the Loyal National League of New Jersey, an organization that supported the Union effort in the Civil War.
April 16, 1930: The New Jersey legislature passed Chapter 149, laws of 1930, authorizing the “authorization and equipment of a battalion of Negro infantry” at state expense, a response to the refusal of the federal government to establish an African American National Guard unit in the state within the context of an overall segregated military. The resultant unit was the “First Separate Battalion,” which began organizing in Newark and Atlantic City the following year.
April 16, 1941: A Jersey cow named “You’ll Do Lobelia,” who became a media sensation by appearing as Borden’s cartoon character “Elsie the Cow” at the New York World’s Fair, was fatally injured and had to be euthanized when her custom eighteen-wheeler “Cowdillac” was hit from behind by another truck in Rahway.
