What Happened On This Day In Monmouth County History?

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Photo of Oscar Hammerstein mansion. Creator, date of creation, publisher and date of publication unknown. Image courtesy Ralph Bitter and Middletown Township Historical Society, used with permission.

March 23, 1933

Gangster Al Lillien’s Unsolved Murder in Middletown Ends his Criminal Organization

On March 23, 1933, Alexander (Al) Lillien Jr. (born February 28, 1897), a "master liquor-runner,” was found murdered in his Middletown mansion. Lillien, 36, along with his brother William, controlled a bootlegging gang that extended from Montreal down to Virginia,...

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Featured Monmouth County History Timelines & Stories

Original painting of Monmouth Boat Club by E. J. Bilderback, 2009. Image credit: Monmouth Boat Club, used with permission.

March 20, 1883

Monmouth Boat Club – An Endangered National Historic Site

Original illustration of Vito and Anna Genovese by Scott Zelazny, commissioned by MonmouthTimeline.org.

December 8, 1952

Anna Genovese vs. Vito Genovese

John R. Barrows

Original illustration of Anna Genovese conferring with her attorney Irwin Silber in family court. Original art commissioned by Monmouth Timeline by Scott Zelazny, ©2025.

March 3, 1953

On Day Two of the Trial, Vito’s Witnesses Testify

John R. Barrows

Photo credit: Phil Stanziola, World Telegram staff photographer. New York World-Telegram & Sun Collection. No copyright restriction known. Staff photographer reproduction rights transferred to Library of Congress through Instrument of Gift. Public Domain Created: January 1959

March 4, 1953

Vito Genovese’s Enemies Prevail In New Jersey Court

John R. Barrows

Samual-Johnson-Project-FINAL-1000

March 5, 1886

Samuel Johnson, Victim of a Lynching

By Gary Saretzky

Thomas Edison and his original dynamo, Edison Works, Orange, N.J. b&w film copy neg. of half stereo by H.C. White Co., created / published c1906. Library of Congress image, public domain.

March 7, 1917

A Brief Timeline of Thomas Alva Edison in Monmouth County

Photo of Joel Barr (left) and Alfred Sarant in Greenwich Village, New York, in 1944. Photo from Barr's personal papers. Photo credit: Usdin, Steven T. (2007). Tracking Julius Rosenberg’s Lesser Known Associates: Famous Espionage Cases. Central Intelligence Agency Library, April 15, 2007.

March 12, 1979

The Legacy of the Soviet Spies at Fort Monmouth

by John R. Barrows

Official Hess Corporation photo of founder Leon Hess. Image credit: Hess Corporation.

March 14, 1914

Leon Hess of Asbury Park

Cropped screen capture of Bruce Springsteen at the 1994 Academy Awards, courtesy Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

March 21, 1994

Bruce Springsteen Wins the Oscar for Best Original Song

Photo of Oscar Hammerstein mansion. Creator, date of creation, publisher and date of publication unknown. Image courtesy Ralph Bitter and Middletown Township Historical Society, used with permission.

March 23, 1933

Gangster Al Lillien’s Unsolved Murder in Middletown Ends his Criminal Organization

Bronze tablet commemorating the capture of Joshua Huddy at the block house at Toms River.

March 24, 1782

Joshua Huddy is Captured Again; No Escape This Time

Photo of Red Bank Airport Air Taxi pilots and planes posed in front of their hangar. Image credit: Dorn's Classic Images, John R. Barrows personal collection.

March 24, 1930

Red Bank Airport – An Aviation Hub for Monmouth County

by Randall Gabrielan