Advanced search

Thomas A. Edison was born on February 11, 1847 in Milan, Ohio, USA as Thomas Alva Edison. He was a producer and director, known for silent movies such as, The Trick Cyclist (1901), The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1914) and Bicycle Trick Riding, No. 2 (1899). He also produced the first American film version of Frankenstein in 1910. That was of course, twenty years before Universal Studios introduced the monster with Boris Karloff. This paved the way for modern day horror as we now know it. Edison is however, perhaps better known as an inventor of many conveniences like the light bulb. He of course produced many other inventions like, among others, the phonograph, power stations, the carbon switch microphone, and motion picture cameras. These advancements gave him a firm place in the history of American Greatness as well as American film production.

He was married to Mina Miller and Mary Stilwell. He died on October 18, 1931 in West Orange, New Jersey, USA.

Phil Rizzuto was the NY Yankees star shortstop for 13 seasons between 1941 and 1956. A Hall of Famer, Rizzuto was the American League Most Valuable Player in 1950. After his playing career, Rizzuto was a popular long-time TV/radio announcer for the Yankees. He called the action for 40 seasons from 1957 to 1996, and was known for his "Holy Cow". Career peaked during the years with partners Bill White and Frank Messer. Non-Baseball fans remember him for his years as spokesperson for The Money Store.

Frederick Paul Ott was a skilled machinist and key employee of Thomas A. Edison's laboratories. He began working with Edison in 1874 (at age 14) and became one of the inventor's most valued employees and closest friends. His likeness appears in two of the earliest surviving motion pictures - the well-known Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze (1894) (a.k.a. Fred Ott's Sneeze) and the little-seen Fred Ott Holding a Bird (1894) - both from 1894. Alongside his brother John Ott, he worked with Edison on many inventions, retiring shortly after the nearly-simultaneous deaths of Edison and John Ott in 1931. Fred died at his home in West Orange, New Jersey, on October 24, 1936.

Abner "Longy" Zwillman was an organized crime boss, known as "the Al Capone of New Jersey", and a member of the "Big Six" Mafia Ruling Commission.

Born in 1899 to a poor family in Newark, NJ, Zwillman had to leave school after his father died in 1918 to contribute to the support of his family. After a series of low-paying jobs in a restaurant and selling fruits and vegetables in his neighborhood from a rented horse and wagon, he hit on a moneymaker--selling lottery tickets (aka the "numbers" racket) to housewives in the upper-scale neighborhood of Clinton Hill. He soon realized how much money could be made in the numbers game, and it wasn't long before he--with the help of some hired muscle--was running the numbers racket in Newark all by himself.

When Prohibition began, Zwillman--always on the lookout for new opportunities--began smuggling whiskey into the US from Canada, using several Army-surplus armored trucks he bought. This proved so profitable that he was able to expand into other criminal activities, such as gambling, prostitution and labor racketeering, in addition to buying into--whether the owners wanted to or not--legitimate businesses such as restaurants and nightclubs. New Jersey authorities estimated that by the late 1920s Zwillman was raking in approximately $2 million a year.

In 1929 Zwillman helped organize what became known as the Cleveland Conference, which was one of the first meetings between Italian and Jewish organized-crime gangs. He also helped to establish the Mafia's Ruling Commission and eventually aided in putting together the National Crime Syndicate, and in fact was admitted to the commission in 1930.

When mobster Dutch Schultz was murdered in Newark in 1935, Zwillman took over his territory and operations, and it was then that he was given the name "The Al Capone of New Jersey" by local crime reporters. Zwillman was probably one of the earliest gangsters to recognize the value of good publicity--he offered a reward for the return of the kidnapped baby of aviator Charles A. Lindbergh and contributed $250,000 to a project to clean out the Newark slums. He started to gain political power, and would became a force to be reckoned with in New Jersey politics for the next 20 years.

In 1959 the McClellan Senate Committee investigating organized crime subpoenaed Zwillman to testify before them about his activities in organized crime and politics in New Jersey. However, not long before he was to appear in front of Congress, Zwillman was found hanged in his home in West Orange, NJ, on Feb. 2, 1959. Although police ruled it a suicide, there were some major discrepancies--for example, a series of unexplained bruises on his wrists--that led some to think he had been killed by the mob to prevent him from testifying and/or becoming a government informant.

Kenneth Gibson was born on 15 May 1932 in Enterprise, Alabama, USA. He was married to Camille Savoca, Muriel Cook and ?'. He died on 29 March 2019 in West Orange, New Jersey, USA.

Clay Warnick was born on 14 December 1915 in Tacoma, Washington, USA. Clay was a composer, known for Your Show of Shows (1950), Max Liebman Spectaculars (1954) and The Adventures of Marco Polo (1956). Clay died on 8 February 1995 in West Orange, New Jersey, USA.

Alexander Gordon was born on 31 January 1922 in Bergedorf, Germany. He died on 30 May 2011 in West Orange, New Jersey, USA.

Peter Rodino was born on 7 June 1909 in Newark, New Jersey, USA. He was married to Marianna Stango and Joy Judelson. He died on 7 May 2005 in West Orange, New Jersey, USA.

Horace Ashenfelter was born on 23 January 1923 in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, USA. He was married to Lilian Wright. He died on 6 January 2018 in West Orange, New Jersey, USA.

Ralph Peda was born on 13 February 1920 in Newark, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor. He died on 18 August 1998 in West Orange, New Jersey, USA.