- Queen Elizabeth I declared in 1584 that all the British territory in the New World was for Sir Walter Raleigh to establish colonies. Sir Walter named the region "Virginia" in her honour, because she was the "virgin queen".
- The first British settlement in the US was Jamestown, which was also the first of three capitals the state has had. Williamsburg was capital for a while, and today the capital is Richmond. Richmond was also the capital of the Confederate States during the Civil War. The largest city, however, is Virginia Beach.
- Virginia has the largest bridge-tunnel complex in the world - Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, which is 18 miles long, connecting the cities of Cape Charles and Norfolk. It also has the largest office building in the world, at 5,100,000 square feet - it takes at least 10 minutes to walk from one end of this building to the other at a brisk pace, and it has enough telephone cables to stretch from Florida to Washington state more than 22 times. If you're wondering who'd need an office that big, the answer is the US Military. The building is the Pentagon.
- Virginia has seen a lot of battles - over half the battles of the US Civil War were fought in Virginia. Two major wars ended within its boundaries too. The surrenders ending both the American Revolution (Yorktown, hence Virginia has been dubbed "the birthplace of the nation") and the Civil War (Appomattox) happened in Virginia.
- From the end of the Revolution to 1805, Virginia was the most populous state. In 1805, New York overtook it. Today the most populous state is California, but even so, over half the population of the USA lives within a 500 mile radius of Virginia.
- Virginia is nicknamed The Old Dominion and also Mother of Presidents, because eight US presidents including George Washington, were born here, and also six First Ladies. Other famous Virginians include the famous explorers, Lewis and Clark, actors Sandra Bullock, Rob Lowe and Warren Beatty, singers Ella Fitzgerald, Roberta Flack and Patsy Cline, writers Edgar Allen Poe and Barbara Kingsolver, General Robert E Lee and tennis star Arthur Ashe.
- Virginia is the only state where the state flower and state tree are the same. The state tree is the dogwood, and the state flower is its blossom. The state bird is the cardinal, the state dog the American Foxhound, the state butterfly the Tiger Swallowtail, state fish the brook trout, the state beverage is milk and the state shell is the Oyster shell. On the subject of oysters, the world's only oyster museum is on Chincoteague Island.
- Virginia was the first US state to grow Peanuts. Today, it's major crop is tobacco. Colonists originally produced silk, until a blight killed all the mulberry trees which the Silkworms feed on. This prompted people to plant tobacco instead, and they've never looked back.
- Mountain Lake Lodge in Pembroke, Virginia was the filming location for the 1987 film Dirty Dancing.
- By law, school can't start in Virginia before the first Monday in September, after the end of the theme park season. Hens are not allowed to lay Eggs before 8am and after 4pm. You are not allowed to spit on seagulls, tickle a woman, pat her on the bottom or kick your wife out of bed. Trick or treating at Halloween is outlawed and women are not allowed to go to a dance without wearing a corset. Finally, if you go for Coffee with a friend in Richmond and can't agree on who pays the bill, it's illegal to toss a coin to decide who pays.
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