Virginia Trivia & Tidbits - Page 17

Looking for Virginia trivia? Try our list Virginia little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

Six of our country’s first ladies were born in Virginia: Martha Washington, Martha Jefferson, Rachel Jackson, Letitia Tyler, Ellen Arthur, and Edith Wilson.

first appeared: 1/14/2001

In 1797, William Black donated 38 acres of land to settlers. A year later, the town of Blacksburg was incorporated with little more than two dozen families. Today, its population is 34,900.

first appeared: 1/7/2001

The wild ponies of Chincoteague Island (pop. 1,607) actually are small horses just larger than a Shetland pony. They are thought to be descended from horses that swam ashore from a wrecked Spanish galleon, their stunted growth caused by generations of marsh-grass diet.

first appeared: 12/31/2000

Galax (pop. 6,524), settled in 1904, is named for the evergreen with heart-shaped leaves which grows in the mountainous regions around the town and is sold throughout the United States.

first appeared: 12/24/2000

The Patrick Henry National Memorial, near Brookneal (pop. 1,454), is the site of the last home and burial place of Patrick Henry, one of our nation’s Founding Fathers. His family cottage, smokehouse, and stable have been restored for visitors.

first appeared: 12/17/2000

Warrenton (pop.4,830), the seat of Fauquier County, was named for Gen. Joseph Warren, who fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill (Mass.) in the Revolutionary War.

first appeared: 12/10/2000

Tobacco once reigned supreme, but government employment, especially the Federal government and military, has replaced tobacco as the state's largest industry.

first appeared: 12/3/2000

In March 1863, Texas regiments fighting in the Civil War found themselves in a snowball fight in Richmond. The soldiers took a break from the real war to take advantage of the rare 8-inch snowfall.

first appeared: 11/26/2000

Historic Williamsburg (pop. 11,530) restricts its Christmas decorations to items that settlers would have used during Colonial times.

first appeared: 11/19/2000

American writer Willa Cather was born Dec. 7, 1873, in her grandmother's house in the town of Gore. In Sapphira, the only book Cather wrote about her memories of Virginia, she described the high hills "which shut the winter sun." Cather moved to Nebraska at age 9.

first appeared: 11/12/2000

Union Gen. Daniel Butterfield composed the bugle call “Taps” in 1862 while camped at Berkley Plantation following a battle. The haunting melody, once played to signal “lights out” at military bases, now usually is played at military burials.

first appeared: 11/5/2000

Woodrow Wilson, who was born in Staunton, is the only U.S. president to hold a Ph.D. He earned this degree in history from Johns Hopkins University.

first appeared: 10/22/2000

The “stalacpipe organ” of Luray Caverns in Luray (pop. 4,405) is touted as the world’s largest musical instrument. Stalactites covering three-and-a-half acres of the cavern produce the musical tones when tapped electronically by rubber-tipped mallets. Leland Sprinkle of Springfield invented the “organ” in 1954.

first appeared: 10/8/2000

Virginia is one of four states technically designated as commonwealths. The others are Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky.

first appeared: 9/24/2000

They’re mighty resourceful. Mount Trashmore in Virginia Beach is a city park built over a landfill.

first appeared: 9/10/2000

So-called blue laws, which prohibit certain activities on Sunday such as liquor sales in some communities, originated in Virginia in the 1600s. The laws reportedly were printed on blue paper.

first appeared: 8/27/2000

Civil War hero Sgt. William H. Carney, born in Norfolk, was the first black person to earn the Medal of Honor—awarded for his courage when his regiment, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, charged Fort Wagner near Charleston, S.C.

first appeared: 8/13/2000

Virginia often is called the Mother of Presidents because eight U.S. presidents were born there. They are George Washington (1789-1797), Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809), James Madison (1809-1817), James Monroe (1817-1825), William H. Harrison (1841), John Tyler (1841-1845), Zachary Taylor (1849-1850), and Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921).

first appeared: 7/30/2000

More Civil War battles were fought in Virginia than in any other state. More than half of the war’s approximately 4,000 battles occurred there.

first appeared: 7/16/2000

VIRGINIA IS HOME TO 11 PRESIDENTS; eight for the United States and three for Liberia. The latter were free blacks from Virginia who served as president of the African nation during its first decades of independence. The men were Joseph Jenkins Roberts (1848-56 and 1872-76), James Spriggs Payne (1868-70 and 1876-78), and Anthony William Gardiner (1878-83).

first appeared: 7/2/2000

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