Portal:Virginia

The Virginia Central Railroad was an early railroad in the U.S. state of Virginia that operated between 1850 and 1868 from Richmond westward for nearly 200 miles (320 km) to Covington. Chartered in 1836 as the Louisa Railroad by the Virginia General Assembly, the railroad began near the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad's line and expanded westward, reaching Gordonsville by 1840, and the base of the Blue Ridge in 1852. Renamed the Virginia Central Railroad, the railroad used a temporary track built over Rockfish Gap until the completion of the Blue Ridge Tunnel, connecting it with the Shenandoah Valley.

The railroad faced significant action against it during the American Civil War as a prime target for raids by Union Cavalry Although the war left the railroad with only a fraction of its line left operable, the railroad was running over its entire pre-war length by July 1865. In 1868, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad was formed from the merger of the Virginia Central Railroad and the Covington and Ohio Railroad, expanding westward to the Ohio River by 1873. Today, CSX, Amtrak, and the Buckingham Branch Railroad still use portions of the old Virginia Central line for freight and passenger rail service.

Patrick Henry (May 29, 1736 – June 6, 1799) was an American attorney, planter, and orator best known for his declaration to the Second Virginia Convention (1775): "Give me liberty or give me death!" A Founding Father, he served as the first and sixth post-colonial Governor of Virginia, from 1776 to 1779 and from 1784 to 1786.

Henry was born in Hanover County, Virginia, and became a lawyer through self-study. Beginning his practice in 1760, he soon became prominent through his victory in the Parson's Cause against the Anglican clergy. Henry was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses, where he quickly became notable for his inflammatory rhetoric against the Stamp Act of 1765.

In 1774 and 1775, Henry served as a delegate to the First and Second Continental Congresses, but did not prove particularly influential. He gained further popularity among the people of Virginia, both through his oratory at the convention and by marching troops towards the colonial capital of Williamsburg after the Gunpowder Incident until the munitions seized by the royal government were paid for. Henry urged independence, and when the Fifth Virginia Convention endorsed this in 1776, served on the committee charged with drafting the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the original Virginia Constitution. Henry was promptly elected governor under the new charter, and served a total of five one-year terms.

After leaving the governorship in 1779, Henry served in the Virginia House of Delegates until he began his last two terms as governor in 1784. The actions of the national government under the Articles of Confederation made Henry fear a strong federal government and he declined appointment as a delegate to the 1787 Constitutional Convention. He actively opposed the ratification of the Constitution, a fight which has marred his historical image. He returned to the practice of law in his final years, declining several offices under the federal government. Henry is remembered for his oratory, and as an enthusiastic promoter of the fight for independence.

• March 8–9, 1862: The Battle of Hampton Roads pits the USS Monitor against the CSS Virginia (formerly the USS Merrimack) in the world's first battle between ironclad warships (pictured).
• March 12, 1719: The 14 surviving members of Blackbeard's crew are tried for piracy in Williamsburg. 12 are convicted and later executed there.
• March 22, 1622: The entire Colony of Virginia is attacked by forces led by Chief Opchanacanough in what became known as the Indian massacre of 1622. Forewarned, Jamestown is one of the only settlements to survive.

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An Antares rocket carrying Orb-D1 launches from Pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, Wallops Island, Virginia on September 18, 2013

• ... that enrollment at a school for African-American students in Virginia grew from 14 pupils to 1,300 in its first ten years?
• ... that James Dillon Armstrong was a Virginia state senator, a delegate to West Virginia's constitutional convention, and a circuit court judge while serving for more than 43 years as a Presbyterian church elder?
• ... that when Edgewood was built in Stanleytown, Virginia, its Greek Revival style was unknown to most people in the area?
• ... that Virginia voters are scheduled to decide in 2026 whether to formally legalize same-sex marriage?
• ... that a Virginia TV station had to take out title loans to pay its staff?
• ... that professor Ruth Ann Davis made the largest-ever single contribution to Potomac State College of West Virginia University to support nursing scholarships in memory of her mother?

• Capital: Richmond, Virginia
• Total area: 110,862 sq.mi
• Highest elevation: 5,729 ft (Mount Rogers)
• Population (2010 census) 8,001,024
• Date Virginia joined the United States: June 25, 1788

• Flower:Dogwood
• Motto:Sic semper tyrannis (Thus always to tyrants)
• Slogan:Virginia is for Lovers
• Nicknames:"Old Dominion", "Mother of Presidents", "Mother of States"
• Dance:Square dance
• Bird:Cardinal
• Fish:Brook trout
• Domestic Mammal:American Foxhound
• Fossil:Chesapecten jeffersonius

• Governor: Abigail Spanberger (D)
• Lieutenant Governor: Ghazala Hashmi (D)
• Attorney General: Jay Jones (D)
• Senators: Tim Kaine (D), Mark Warner (D)
• Representatives: Rob Wittman (R-1st), Jen Kiggans (R-2nd), Bobby Scott (D-3rd), Jennifer McClellan (D-4th), John McGuire (R-5th), Ben Cline (R-6th), Eugene Vindman (D-7th), Don Beyer (D-8th), Morgan Griffith (R-9th), Suhas Subramanyam (D-10th), James Walkinshaw (D-11th)