History of New Jersey awarded to those groups under the original New Jersey State Constitution of 1776. Some important components of the second State Constitution include the separation of the powers of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The new constitution also provided a bill of rights. Underneath the constitution, the people had the right to elect the governor. The famous inventor Thomas Edison was born in 1847. Edison worked in Menlo Park, and was known as "the Wizard of Menlo Park" for his many inventions; over the course of his life, he was granted 1,093 patents. His most famous inventions included the phonograph,
Menlo College faculty members. In 1956 Florence Moore made a historic gift to Menlo in financing the construction of the Florence Moore Science and Engineering Building, housing math and science facilities as well as an auditorium. Construction of a new student union, post office and dormitory was completed in 1958, and Menlo opened a new dining commons in 1962. The old dining commons was converted to the Bowman Library. 1969 brought to Menlo a new building for the School of Business Administration and the two-year school that included classrooms, faculty and staff offices, a theater and a computer center. This building, now