An Explosion and the Arrival of a "Jersey Boy"

May 3, 1915: An explosion at the Anderson Chemical Plant in Wallington killed three people. Even though the United States was not yet actively involved in World War I, the allies bought large amounts of ammunition from American makers, and the increase in production resulted in a series of ammunition and chemical plant explosions around the country, many of them in the highly industrialized state of New Jersey.

May 3, 1934: Frankie Valli, the popular singer most famous as front man for the Four Seasons, was born Francesco Stephen Castelluccio in the First Ward of Newark. Valli scored twenty-nine Top Forty hits with the Four Seasons, including “Sherry” and “Walk Like a Man.”