Demonstrators in Trenton, Toxic Chemicals in Elizabeth

Today in New Jersey history:

April 21, 1936: A group of unemployed people, calling themselves the “Army of Unoccupation,” took over the state capitol building in Trenton in a protest demonstration, demanding that the state relief fund, which had run out of money, be funded. Legislators gathered up their papers and quickly left the building, and by the following day, the group had grown from 20 to 250 people. The demonstrators left the state house peacefully on April 29 but promised that they would be heard from in the next election.

April 21, 1980: On, ironically, the tenth anniversary of the first "Earth Day," over ten thousand drums of highly toxic chemicals caught fire at the site of the Chemical Control Company in Elizabeth. Toxins filled the air, and the Elizabeth River turned red. In the aftermath, the officers of the company were prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to jail. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection cleaned up the immediate damage on the site and introduced long-term remediation measures to complete the job.