1. In 1776, the Virginia Convention approved the Virginia Declaration of Rights. The document, which was drafted by George Mason and influenced by Enlightenment philosophy, served as a model for the United States Bill of Rights.

2. In 1862, the Battle of Gaines's Mill was fought near Richmond during the American Civil War. General Robert E. Lee's Confederate forces defeated General George B. McClellan's Union forces, resulting in the highest number of casualties in a single day during the war.

3. In 1926, Harry F. Byrd Sr. was elected governor of Virginia. Byrd went on to serve as a U.S. senator and became a powerful figure in Virginia politics, promoting fiscal conservatism, segregation, and opposition to federal intervention in state affairs.

4. In 1988, a chemical leak at the King's Dominion amusement park in Doswell resulted in the evacuation of thousands of visitors and employees. The leak occurred when a tanker truck delivering hydrochloric acid to the park's water treatment plant overturned.

5. In 2018, Virginia became the first state in the U.S. to recognize June 19 (Juneteenth) as an official holiday. Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States and the date on which news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached Texas in 1865.