Portal:Virginia

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Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. It borders Kentucky to the west, Tennessee to the south-west, North Carolina to the south, West Virginia to the north-west, and Maryland to the north. The state's capital is Richmond and its most populous city is Virginia Beach. With a population of 8.8 million, it is the twelfth-most populous and fifteenth-most densely populated state. More than one-third of Virginia's population lives in Northern Virginia, which includes the most populous jurisdiction in the state, Fairfax County.

Eastern Virginia is part of the Atlantic Plain, and the Middle Peninsula forms the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Central Virginia lies predominantly in the Piedmont, the foothill region of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which cross the western and southwestern parts of the state. The fertile Shenandoah Valley fosters the state's most productive agricultural counties, while the economy in Northern Virginia is driven by technology companies and U.S. federal government agencies. Hampton Roads is also the site of the region's main seaport and Naval Station Norfolk, the world's largest naval base. (Full article...)

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Map showing the intensity of the earthquake

The 2011 Virginia earthquake occurred on August 23, 2011, at 1:51 pm EDT (17:51 UTC) in the Piedmont region of the US state of Virginia. The epicenter, in Louisa County, was 38 mi (61 km) northwest of Richmond and 5 mi (8 km) south-southwest of the town of Mineral. It was an intraplate earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 and a maximum perceived intensity of VII (very strong) on the Mercalli intensity scale. Several aftershocks, ranging up to 4.5 M_w in magnitude, occurred after the main tremor.

The earthquake, along with a magnitude–5.8 quake on the New York–Ontario border during 1944, is the largest to have occurred in the U.S. east of the Rocky Mountains since an earthquake centered in Giles County in western Virginia occurred during 1897, with an estimated magnitude of 5.8. The quake was felt across more than a dozen U.S. states and in several Canadian provinces, and was felt by more people than any other quake in U.S. history. No deaths and only minor injuries were reported. Minor damage to buildings was widespread and was estimated by one risk-modeling company at $200 million to $300 million, of which about $100 million was insured.

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First Lieutenant Charles Bare Gatewood (April 5, 1853 – May 20, 1896) was an American soldier born in Woodstock, Virginia. He served in the United States Army in the 6th Cavalry after graduating from West Point. Upon assignment to the American Southwest, Gatewood led platoons of Apache and Navajo scouts against renegades during the Apache Wars. In 1886 he played a key role in ending the Geronimo Campaign by persuading Geronimo to surrender to the army.

Beset with health problems due to exposure in the Southwest and Dakotas, Gatewood was critically injured in the Johnson County War and retired from the Army in 1895, dying a year later from stomach cancer. Before his retirement he was nominated for the Medal of Honor, but was denied the award. He was portrayed by Jason Patric in the 1993 film Geronimo: An American Legend.

This month in Virginia history

a three-story brick warehouse with a gabled roof — Libby Prison, Richmond

February 3, 1865: The Hampton Roads Conference is held, attempting to end the American Civil War
February 9–10, 1864: Overnight, 109 Union prisoners of war escape from Libby Prison (pictured) in Richmond via a tunnel
February 17, 1882: Gov. Cameron leads an unsuccessful raid against oyster pirates.
February 16, 1961: Satellite Explorer 9 is launched aboard a Scout X-1 rocket at Wallops Island.
February 22, 1732 (N.S.): George Washington is born at a plantation in Westmoreland County; celebrated annually as Washington's Birthday

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Interior of St Andrew's Catholic Church in Roanoke, Virginia

Did you know -

... that Richard L. Morrill, as president of the University of Richmond, was the highest-paid private-school president in Virginia?
... that announcers at a Virginia radio station were warned that playing more than three rap songs an hour could get them fired?
... that when Edgewood was built in Stanleytown, Virginia, its Greek Revival style was unknown to most people in the area?
... that a Virginia TV station had to take out title loans to pay its staff?
... that a 1905 steam-powered pump was assembled on-site in Virginia with its housing constructed around it?
... that three of the four Richmond Theatres were destroyed by fire, of which the 1811 fire was described as "early America's first great disaster"?