Sandy Hook, low, sandy peninsula, NE N.J., projecting 5 mi (8 km) N toward New York and separating Sandy Hook Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. At the northern end is a Coast Guard station and the former Fort Hancock, which was built to protect New York harbor and was once used as a proving ground for heavy artillery. The Sandy Hook Lighthouse (85 ft/25.9 km high; built 1763) is the oldest in service in the United States. Henry Hudson's team explored this region in 1609. The British held the peninsula during the American Revolution. Sandy Hook is part of Gateway National Recreation Area.

Hook, Sidney, 1902-89, American philosopher, b. New York City, grad. City College (B.S., 1923), Ph.D. Columbia Univ., 1927. He taught at New York Univ. (1927-72) and was long head of its philosophy department (1948-69). Originally a Marxist, he wrote The Meaning of Marx (1934) and From Hegel to Marx (1936). Hook later became disenchanted with Marxism and became active in anti-Communist causes. His opinions on American life were expressed in such works as Heresy Yes, Conspiracy No (1953), Common Sense and the Fifth Amendment (1957), The Place of Religion in a Free Society (1968), and Academic Freedom and Academic Anarchy (1970).

Hook of Holland: see Hoek van Holland.