1. In 1861, the First Battle of Bull Run took place in Virginia, marking the first major land battle of the American Civil War. The Confederate Army, led by General Thomas J. Jackson, defeated the Union Army led by General Irvin McDowell.

2. In 1923, the Virginia State Corporation Commission granted a charter to the Virginia Electric and Power Company (now known as Dominion Energy), a major utility company serving Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic region.

3. In 1951, the University of Virginia School of Law admitted its first African American student, Gregory Swanson. Swanson went on to become a successful civil rights attorney and judge.

4. In 1957, the Virginia General Assembly passed the Stanley plan, which sought to resist the desegregation of public schools in the wake of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision. The plan ultimately failed to prevent desegregation and led to a period of tension and conflict in Virginia.

5. In 2019, the Virginia Military Institute announced that it would begin admitting female cadets starting the following year, ending a long-standing policy of gender segregation at the school. The decision was widely praised as a landmark moment for gender equity in Virginia and the United States.