American Revolution
Captain William Foreman and a company of Hampshire County militia were ambushed by Native Americans in the "Narrows," south of Wheeling (September 27, 1777)
Elizabeth Zane made a daring run to procure gunpowder for the defenders of Fort Henry, who were besieged by a Native American force (September 12, 1782)
African Americans
Noted educator Booker T. Washington, who spent his childhood years in Malden, was born on (April 5, 1856)
Birth of noted educator Byrd Prillerman (October 19, 1859)
Storer College in Harpers Ferry, the first African-American college in West Virginia, admitted its first students (October 2, 1867)
Roscoe Conklin Harrison, noted physician and founder of Harrison Hospital, was born on (February 19, 1880)
James Arthur Jackson, who served as West Virginia Supreme Court librarian from 1925 to 1965, was born in Coal Valley (January 17, 1885)
Distinguished educator and civil rights leader John Warren Davis was born on (February 11, 1888)
Ground was broken on construction of the first building of West Virginia Colored Institute, now West Virginia State University, in Institute (August 25, 1891)
African- American railroad worker John Hardy was hanged at Welch, McDowell County. Hardy later became the subject of a popular folk song (January 19, 1894)
Prominent educator J. McHenry Jones, whose novel Hearts of Gold was the first published by an African-American in West Virginia, was installed as principal of the West Virginia State Colored Institute on (September 21, 1898)
The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals held in the case of Williams v. Board of Education of Fairfax District that schools could not discriminate against African Americans with regard to length of school term on (November 16, 1898)
The Niagara Movement met at Storer College in Harpers Ferry (August 15, 1906)
The legislature passed an act establishing the West Virginia Colored Orphans' Home near Huntington on (February 22, 1911)
Dr. Leon Sullivan born in Charleston (October 16, 1922)
Christopher H. Payne, a Monroe County native who was the first African-American elected to the West Virginia legislature, died on (December 5, 1925)
Three African American residents of Kanawha County were refused admittance to the Charleston Public Library on (March 13, 1928)
William H. Davis, long-time educator, who was Booker T. Washington's first teacher, died in Charleston on (March 24, 1938)
Carter G. Woodson, who is known as the "Father of Black History," died in Washington, D. C. on (April 3, 1950)
A group of students at Matoaka High School walked out in protest over school integration (September 30, 1957)
Minneapolis Lakers basketball star Elgin Baylor boycotted a game in Charleston to protest a local hotel's refusal to accommodate the team's African American players (January 16, 1959)
Civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached at Charleston's First Baptist Church (January 24, 1960)
Leon P. Miller of McDowell County became the first African-American judge elected to office in West Virginia on (November 5, 1968)
The John Henry statue at Talcott, commemorating the "steel drivin' man" who participated in the construction of the Big Bend railroad tunnel, was erected on (December 28, 1972)
African-American educator Fannie Cobb Carter died at the age of 100 on (March 29, 1973)
Arts and Entertainment
David Hunter Strother, the artist and author known as "Porte Crayon," died in Charles Town on (March 8, 1888)
The Virginia Theater in Wheeling opened (January 20, 1908)
Author Rebecca Harding Davis died (September 29, 1910)
Movie star Gloria Swanson was in New Martinsville filming Stage Struck (August 20, 1925)
WMMN radio station in Fairmont began broadcasting on (December 22, 1928)
The Pocahontas Theater in Welch opened on (December 25, 1928)
A horse racing track opened at Charles Town on (December 2, 1933)
Noted singer Susanne Fisher, a native of Sutton, made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera on (December 26, 1935)
West Virginia native Pearl S. Buck was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for her book The Good Earth on (December 10, 1938)
Appointment of Roy Lee Harmon of Raleigh County as poet laureate of West Virginia (October 11, 1946)
Harry Brawley, Charleston historian and the first executive director of the West Virginia Educational Broadcasting Authority, died on (March 25, 1992)
Business and Industry
Kanawha Valley salt manufacturers formed the Kanawha Salt Company, the nation's first business trust, on (November 10, 1817)
Industrialist Johnson Newlon Camden, who served as United States senator from 1881 to 1887, and 1893 to 1895, was born in Lewis County on (March 6, 1828)
Rufus Maxwell of Lewis County was issued a patent for his improvement in churns (August 24, 1852)
The first Baltimore & Ohio train arrived in Wheeling from Baltimore, connecting the Atlantic with the Ohio River (January 1, 1853)
The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway was completed from Huntington, West Virginia, to Richmond, Virginia (January 29, 1873)
The Snow Hill Salt Company of Charleston was incorporated on (December 30, 1876)
Mordicai Levi of Charleston, who is credited with inventing the first brick pavement in the United States, was granted a patent for the process on (April 23, 1889)
One of the biggest gas wells ever drilled was completed on Moses Spencer's farm on Indian Creek, Tyler County (September 6, 1894)
A labor strike at the Tyler Window Glass Company in Sistersville ended on (December 24, 1903)
The Virginia Theater in Wheeling opened (January 20, 1908)
A subsidiary of the C & O Railroad, purchased the resort at White Sulphur Springs now known as the Greenbrier on (February 1, 1910)
Struggle for control over Wetzel Times (August 8, 1912)
Official groundbreaking ceremonies for the explosives plant at Nitro were held on (January 2, 1918)
Bank run at The Citizens Bank of Weston (October 3, 1932)
Charleston Daily Mail owner and editor Walter Eli Clark died on (February 4, 1950)
Workers at Kaiser Aluminum in Ravenswood produced the first aluminum in West Virginia's Ohio Valley on (November 17, 1957)
Fire destroyed the Cameron Clay Products plant in Cameron on (November 15, 1964)
U. S. District Judge Charles Haden issued a ten-day restraining order to the FMC Corporation to cease operation of the South Charleston plant's carbon tetrachloride unit on (March 9, 1977)
Representatives of Snowshoe and Silver Creek resorts announced a preliminary agreement to merge operations (September 25, 1992)
Civil War
On (April 17, 1861), delegates of the Richmond Convention approved an ordinance of secession, leading to the withdrawal of Virginia from the Union
On (April 18, 1861), United States troops destroyed the United States Armory and Arsenal at Harpers Ferry shortly before the town was captured by Confederate troops
Battle of Carnifex Ferry, (September 10, 1861)
Confederate troops of the Army of the Northwest, led by Colonel Edward Johnson, repulsed an attack by a Union force under the command of General Robert Milroy at the Battle of Allegheny Mountain on (December 13, 1861)
The town of Sutton was burned by Confederate raiders on (December 29, 1861)
Union troops destroyed the Mercer Salt Works in present-day Summers County (August 10, 1862)
Joseph Snider of Monongalia County appointed colonel of the 7th (West) Virginia Infantry (August 22, 1862)
Union General Jesse Lee Reno killed at the Battle of South Mountain (September 14, 1862)
A detachment of the 13th West Virginia Infantry repelled a Confederate attack led by General Albert Gallatin Jenkins at Hurricane Bridge on (March 28, 1863)
On (April 29, 1863), Confederate troops under General William Jones captured the town of Fairmont
Battle of White Sulphur Springs (August 26-27, 1863)
Battle of Bulltown (October 13, 1863)
Battle of Droop Mountain on (November 6, 1863)
On the evening of (February 2, 1864), Confederate troops under Major James H. Nounnan launched a raid that resulted in the capture of Union General E. P. Scammon and the steamer B. C. Levi at Red House early on the following morning.
The West Virginia Legislature passed an act abolishing slavery in the state on (February 3, 1865)
The West Virginia constitutional convention adopted the Willey Amendment, providing for gradual emancipation on (February 17, 1863)
Jefferson County native John Yates Beall was executed at Governor's Island, New York, as a Confederate spy on (February 24, 1865)
West Virginia Division of Confederate veterans held their annual reunion in Moorefield (October 9, 1912)
General John McCausland of Mason County died (January 21, 1927)
Coal Mining
William E. Eubank, who commanded the National Guard force at the Battle of Blair Mountain, was born on (December 12, 1880)
A coal mine explosion at Century in Barbour County killed 23 miners on (March 22, 1906)
A meeting called by Governor William Dawson to discuss immigration to West Virginia was quickly adjourned amidst speculation that its termination was due to the presence of UMWA president John Mitchell (September 19, 1907)
The worst mining disaster in American history occurred when an underground explosion at Monongah in Marion County killed 362 miners on (December 6, 1907)
On (April 11, 1908), coal operator Samuel Dixon and six other men were indicted by a federal grand jury sitting in Huntington on charges of peonage and conspiracy
On (February 7, 1913), mine guards, operator Quinn Morton, and Kanawha County Sheriff Bonner Hill boarded an armored train known as the "Bull Moose Special." That evening, they attacked a miners' tent colony at Holly Grove on Paint Creek.
Twenty-two coal miners were killed in an explosion at a New River Company mine at Carlisle, Fayette County, on (February 6, 1915)
An explosion at Layland in Fayette County killed 112 coal miners on (March 2, 1915)
The Battle of Blair Mountain, the culmination of the largest armed insurrection in the United States since the Civil War, ended (September 4, 1921)
Arnold Miller, who served as president of the United Mine Workers of America from 1972 to 1979, was born in Leewood on (April 25, 1923)
On (April 28, 1924), 119 miners were killed in an explosion at the Benwood mine of the Wheeling Steel Corporation
On the night of (March 17, 1925), an explosion in the Bethlehem Mine No. 41 at Barrackville killed 33 coal miners.
A fire in the Pursglove No. 15 coal mine on Scott's Run, Monongalia County, killed 13. Six months earlier, an explosion at the No. 2 mine, pictured above, killed twenty miners (January 8, 1943)
Explosion at Oglebay Norton's Burton coal mine in Nicholas County (October 28, 1958)
The Consolidated Coal Company's Number 9 Mine was sealed, ten days after an explosion that resulted in the deaths of 78 miners on (November 30, 1968)
UMW coal miners went on strike to protest the absence of black lung benefits on (February 18, 1969)
A Buffalo Mining Company impoundment dam collapsed, killing 125 people and leaving thousands homeless on (February 26, 1972)
Dedication of Mine Health and Safety Academy in Beckley (August 17, 1976)
Crime and Punishment
Harman Blennerhassett was released from prison after being found "not guilty" of treason for his role in the Aaron Burr conspiracy (January 4, 1808)
The Virginia General Assembly passed an act compensating $1,500 to state attorney Andrew Hunter of Charles Town, Jefferson County, for his legal services in prosecuting John Brown and his raiders (January 7, 1860)
Jefferson County native John Yates Beall was executed at Governor's Island, New York, as a Confederate spy on (February 24, 1865)
Ellison Hatfield mortally wounded at election day gathering in Kentucky (August 7, 1882)
The last public hanging in West Virginia occurred on (December 16, 1897), in Ripley.
A Federal judge sentenced ten persons to prison for conspiring to defraud the federal government in a Lincoln County bankruptcy case on (December 11, 1907)
On (April 11, 1908), coal operator Samuel Dixon and six other men were indicted by a federal grand jury sitting in Huntington on charges of peonage and conspiracy
Jail sentences for a gang of counterfeiters from Mercer County were announced in a federal court sitting in Huntington (September 22, 1911)
Elias and Troy Hatfield, sons of Devil Anse Hatfield, killed in shootout at Harewood (October 17, 1911)
On (March 31, 1919), Governor John J. Cornwell signed legislation creating the Department of Public Safety, commonly known as the West Virginia State Police. Colonel Jackson Arnold of Weston was appointed the first superintendent.
Convicted murderer Harry F. Powers, the "Bluebeard of Quiet Dell," was hanged at the West Virginia Penitentiary at Moundsville on (March 18, 1932)
Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield died of pneumonia in Logan County (January 6, 1921)
Confession to planning kidnapping of Bloch Brothers heiress Betty Bloch of Wheeling (October 4, 1934)
On (February 10, 1949), a bill favoring the electric chair over hanging was introduced in the House of Delegates. The legislation was approved on March 12.
Federal trial of former Governor W. W. Barron began in Charleston (August 12, 1968)
Inmates staged a riot at the West Virginia Penitentiary in Moundsville on (March 20, 1973)
Senate President Larry Tucker resigned from office (September 7, 1989)
Disasters
Wreck of C & O train near Hinton (October 23, 1890)
A coal mine explosion at Century in Barbour County killed 23 miners on (March 22, 1906)
Fire destroyed much of the business section of Oceana on (November 20, 1907)
The worst mining disaster in American history occurred when an underground explosion at Monongah in Marion County killed 362 miners on (December 6, 1907)
The steamer H. K. Bedford sank in the Ohio River near Waverly on the night of (February 27, 1912)
Twenty-two coal miners were killed in an explosion at a New River Company mine at Carlisle, Fayette County, on (February 6, 1915)
An explosion at Layland in Fayette County killed 112 coal miners on (March 2, 1915)
The State Capitol in Charleston was destroyed by fire (January 3, 1921)
Explosion at Pure Oil Company plant at Cabin Creek (October 26, 1923)
On (April 28, 1924), 119 miners were killed in an explosion at the Benwood mine of the Wheeling Steel Corporation
On the night of (March 17, 1925), an explosion in the Bethlehem Mine No. 41 at Barrackville killed 33 coal miners.
A boiler in a locomotive hauling mine workers at McDunn in Fayette County exploded, resulting in the death of eighteen miners on (December 27, 1934)
A fire in the Pursglove No. 15 coal mine on Scott's Run, Monongalia County, killed 13. Six months earlier, an explosion at the No. 2 mine, pictured above, killed twenty miners (January 8, 1943)
Explosion at Oglebay Norton's Burton coal mine in Nicholas County (October 28, 1958)
Fire destroyed the Cameron Clay Products plant in Cameron on (November 15, 1964)
The Silver Bridge in Point Pleasant collapsed, resulting in the deaths of 46 persons on (December 15, 1967)
A bomb exploded in the Physical Education at Bluefield State College on (November 21, 1968)
The Consolidated Coal Company's Number 9 Mine was sealed, ten days after an explosion that resulted in the deaths of 78 miners on (November 30, 1968)
A chartered plane carrying the Marshall University football team and supporters of the program crashed near Huntington, killing 75 people on (November 14, 1970)
A Buffalo Mining Company impoundment dam collapsed, killing 125 people and leaving thousands homeless on (February 26, 1972)
President Ronald Reagan declared eight West Virginia counties a disaster area as a result of devastating flooding in the region on (November 7, 1985)
A telethon to benefit West Virginia flood victims was held at the Cultural Center in Charleston on (December 8, 1985)
President Clinton declared all of West Virginia part of federal drought disaster area (August 2, 1999)
Education
Joseph Ray, the author of widely-used mathematics textbooks, was born near Wheeling on (November 25, 1807)
On (March 23, 1831), the Virginia General Assembly passed an act authorizing the Monongalia Academy to establish a separate academy for female students, which opened in 1833 and was called the Morgantown Female Academy.
Noted educator Booker T. Washington, who spent his childhood years in Malden, was born on (April 5, 1856)
Lewisburg Female Institute was originally incorporated by an act of the Virginia General Assembly on (April 7, 1858), but it is unclear whether this school ever opened. In 1874 renewed efforts by Lewisburg citizens resulted in the creation of the Lewisburg Female Institute, which later became Greenbrier College for Women
Alexander Campbell, the founder of the Disciples of Christ and Bethany College, died in Bethany on (March 4, 1866)
Birth of noted educator Byrd Prillerman (October 19, 1859)
The West Virginia Agricultural College, later named West Virginia University, began its first term (September 2, 1867)
Storer College in Harpers Ferry, the first African-American college in West Virginia, admitted its first students (October 2, 1867)
The legislature passed an act to establish a state normal school at Concord on (February 28, 1872)
Glenville Normal School opened with T. Marcellus Marshall as acting principal. It later became Glenville State College (January 14, 1873)
W. W. Trent, who served as West Virginia State Superintendent of Schools from 1933 to 1957, was born in Nicholas County (January 31, 1878)
Distinguished educator and civil rights leader John Warren Davis was born on (February 11, 1888)
Prominent educator J. McHenry Jones, whose novel Hearts of Gold was the first published by an African-American in West Virginia, was installed as principal of the West Virginia State Colored Institute (September 21, 1898)
Alderson Academy opened (September 18, 1901)
William H. Davis, long-time educator, who was Booker T. Washington's first teacher, died in Charleston on (March 24, 1938)
The State Board of Education adopted a resolution mandating the salute to the flag as a regular part of school activities for teachers and students. The following year, the law requiring such a salute was found unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court (January 9, 1942)
The Freedom Train stopped in Bluefield (September 28, 1948)
Carter G. Woodson, who is known as the "Father of Black History," died in Washington, D. C. on (April 3, 1950)
A group of students at Matoaka High School walked out in protest over school integration (September 30, 1957)
Chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) formed at Marshall University (October 31, 1968)
Kanawha County schools were closed in the wake of violence in the county's textbook controversy (September 13, 1974)
About one-fourth of the state's teachers walked off the job in a one-day protest over the legislature's failure to approve a larger increase in salary on (March 21, 1980)
Harry Brawley, Charleston historian and the first executive director of the West Virginia Educational Broadcasting Authority, died on (March 25, 1992)
State Board of Education took control of Logan County schools (August 5, 1992)
Exploration and Settlement
A party led by Virginia Lieutenant Governor Alexander Spotswood, exploring lands in western Virginia, reached the crest of the Appalachian Mountains on (September 5, 1716)
French explorer Celeron de Blainville planted lead plate at present-day Point Pleasant (August 18, 1749)
King George III issued Proclamation of 1763 (October 7, 1763
Battle of Point Pleasant ()October 10, 1774
Greenbrier Baptist Church in Alderson was founded on (November 24, 1781)
Elizabeth Zane made a daring run to procure gunpowder for the defenders of Fort Henry, who were besieged by a Native American force (September 12, 1782)
Frontiersman Daniel Boone ran his last survey in the Kanawha Valley (September 8, 1798)
Meriwether Lewis departed from Wheeling on the first leg of the Corps of Discovery's expedition to explore western lands purchased from France (September 9, 1803)
The Cabell County community of Guyandotte was established on (January 5, 1810)
Anne Bailey, frontier heroine of the Kanawha Valley, died on (November 22, 1825)
The Virginia General Assembly passed an act establishing the town of Suttonsville, now Sutton (January 27, 1826)
The Grave Creek Mound, a Native American burial mound located in present-day Moundsville, was opened on (March 19, 1838), by Jesse Tomlinson.
The Virginia General Assembly created Wayne County from part of Cabell County (January 18, 1842)
The first Baltimore & Ohio train arrived in Wheeling from Baltimore, connecting the Atlantic with the Ohio River (January 1, 1853)
On (March 26, 1858), the Virginia General Assembly passed an act authorizing the governor to appoint a commissioner to negotiate a boundary line between Maryland and Virginia from the mouth of the Potomac River at the Atlantic Ocean to the Fairfax Stone. The boundary dispute, later between Maryland and West Virginia, was not settled until 1910.
Fairs and Festivals
First Mountain State Forest Festival ()October 30, 1930
First Spud and Splinter Festival held in Richwood (August 26, 1937)
West Virginia Day at the New York World’s Fair (August 3, 1940)
First West Virginia Italian Heritage Festival held in Clarksburg (August 31, 1979)
First Masonic Heritage Day Celebration held in Charleston (August 21, 1993)
French and Indian War
George Washington appointed colonel of the Virginia Regiment (August 14, 1755)
Government and Politics
Two prominent Shepherdstown residents wrote to President George Washington to recommend that the capital of the United States be located in Shepherdstown on (December 1, 1790)
On (March 3, 1791), Congress passed a federal excise tax on whiskey, which led to the Whiskey Rebellion.
President George Washington wrote Secretary of War Timothy Pickering proposing that the federal government establish an armory and arsenal at Harpers Ferry (September 16, 1795)
The Cabell County community of Guyandotte was established on (January 5, 1810)
Francis Pierpont, who served as Governor of the Reorganized Government of Virginia and is known as the "Father of West Virginia," was born in Monongalia County (January 25, 1814)
Daniel Duane Tompkins Farnsworth, who served as governor of West Virginia for seven days in 1869, was born on (December 23, 1819)
Citizens of Greenbrier County held a public dinner in honor of United States Secretary of State Henry Clay (August 30, 1826)
Industrialist Johnson Newlon Camden, who served as United States senator from 1881 to 1887, and 1893 to 1895, was born in Lewis County on (March 6, 1828)
Second Virginia constitutional convention opened in Richmond (October 5, 1829)
On (March 23, 1831), the Virginia General Assembly passed an act authorizing the Monongalia Academy to establish a separate academy for female students, which opened in 1833 and was called the Morgantown Female Academy.
The Virginia General Assembly passed an act to provide for the construction of a turnpike road from Staunton to Parkersburg on (March 16, 1838)
The Virginia General Assembly passed an act incorporating the town of Buffalo on (April 2, 1839)
The Virginia General Assembly created Wayne County from part of Cabell County (January 18, 1842)
Nathan Bay Scott, who served as United States senator from West Virginia from 1899 to 1911, was born on (December 18, 1842)
Virginia Governor William Smith issued a proclamation calling for the formation of a regiment for service in the Mexican War on (November 18, 1846)
Governor Arthur I. Boreman re-elected (October 25, 1866)
William Hope “Coin” Harvey, who ran for president in 1932, was born in Buffalo, Putnam County (August 16, 1851)
On (April 14, 1856), the first Calhoun County Court met at the home of Joseph Burson near Bigbend
On (March 26, 1858), the Virginia General Assembly passed an act authorizing the governor to appoint a commissioner to negotiate a boundary line between Maryland and Virginia from the mouth of the Potomac River at the Atlantic Ocean to the Fairfax Stone. The boundary dispute, later between Maryland and West Virginia, was not settled until 1910.
President James Buchanan appointed Democrat Charles Faulkner of Berkeley County as American Minister to France. Faulkner had been recently defeated in the election to retain his seat in the United States House of Representatives (January 10, 1859)
At a mass meeting held at the Greenbrier County Courthouse, Samuel Price was elected delegate to the Richmond Convention (January 28, 1861)
On (April 17, 1861), delegates of the Richmond Convention approved an ordinance of secession, leading to the withdrawal of Virginia from the Union
A constitutional convention for the proposed state of Kanawha opened on (November 26, 1861)
Henry Ruffner, minister, educator and author of the anti-slavery publication Address to the People of West Virginia, died in Malden on (December 17, 1861)
President Abraham Lincoln signed the West Virginia statehood bill on (December 31, 1862)
The West Virginia constitutional convention adopted the Willey Amendment, providing for gradual emancipation on (February 17, 1863)
The U. S. Congress recognized and consented to the transfer of Berkeley and Jefferson counties from Virginia to West Virginia on (March 7, 1866)
Governor Arthur I. Boreman re-elected (October 25, 1866)
The West Virginia legislature adopted a joint resolution authorizing the appointment of commissioners to confer with the state of Virginia and report on West Virginia's portion of the Virginia debt on (February 15, 1871)
On (April 27, 1871), West Virginia voters approved the Flick Amendment, which restored voting rights to former Confederate supporters
The legislature passed an act to establish a state normal school at Concord on (February 28, 1872)
John W. Davis, the Democratic nominee for President in 1924, was born in Clarksburg on (April 13, 1873)
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia met for first time in Charlestown (August 6, 1873)
Matthew Mansfield Neely, who served as congressman, governor and United States senator, was born in a log cabin in Doddridge County on (November 9, 1874)
Sobieski Brady of Wheeling was appointed state treasurer, replacing John Burdett, who was impeached (January 30, 1876)
W. W. Trent, who served as West Virginia State Superintendent of Schools from 1933 to 1957, was born in Nicholas County (January 31, 1878)
West Virginia University president William Lyne Wilson was nominated as the Democratic candidate for the United States House of Representatives from the Second District (September 20, 1882)
William Erskine Stevenson, who served as governor of West Virginia from 1869 to 1871, died in Parkersburg on (November 29, 1883)
James Arthur Jackson, who served as West Virginia Supreme Court librarian from 1925 to 1965, was born in Coal Valley (January 17, 1885)
The West Virginia Immigration Convention met at the Opera House in Wheeling on (February 29, 1888)
David Hunter Strother, the artist and author known as "Porte Crayon," died in Charles Town on (March 8, 1888)
An act establishing the West Virginia National Guard was approved on (February 25, 1889)
An extra session of the West Virginia Legislature convened in Charleston to determine the winner of the disputed 1888 gubernatorial election between Democrat Aretas B. Fleming and Republican Nathan Goff (January 15, 1890)
On (March 14, 1891), the Legislature passed an act establishing a commission to organize the West Virginia exhibit at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893.
United States Senator John E. Kenna of West Virginia died in Washington at the age of 44 (January 11, 1893)
Forcible removal of county seat of Tucker County from St. George to Parsons (August 1, 1893)
Arthur Ingram Boreman, the first governor of West Virginia, died on (April 19, 1896)
Homer Adams Holt, who served as governor of West Virginia from 1937 to 1941, was born on (March 1, 1898), in Lewisburg.
W. E. Stathers, superintendent of Weston Hospital for the Insane, found not guilty of charges of improper relations with female employees (August 19, 1899)
Former congressman Jacob Beeson Blair, who was instrumental in convincing President Abraham Lincoln to sign the West Virginia statehood bill, died on (February 12, 1901)
The West Virginia Legislature adopted a joint resolution declaring the rhododendron, also known as the big laurel, to be the state flower (January 23, 1903)
State legislature passed act providing for reassessment of all real estate in state (August 11, 1904)
Joseph H. Diss Debar, legislator, Commissioner of Immigration, and designer of the State Seal, died in Philadelphia (January 13, 1905)
The legislature passed an act establishing the West Virginia Colored Orphans' Home near Huntington on (February 22, 1911)
Businessman and former U.S. Senator from West Virginia Henry Gassaway Davis died in Washington on (March 11, 1916)
The West Virginia House of Delegates passed a joint resolution endorsing President Woodrow Wilson's decision to break off diplomatic relations with Germany on (February 5, 1917)
The West Virginia Colored Tuberculosis Sanitarium was established on (February 16, 1917). The West Virginia Board of Control purchased 185 acres of land and several buildings at Denmar in Pocahontas County, and the facility opened in January 1919.
John J. Cornwell of Hampshire County was inaugurated as governor of West Virginia on (March 5, 1917)
Cyrus R. Vance, who served as United States Secretary of State from 1977 to 1980, was born in Clarksburg on (March 27, 1917)
The State Capitol in Charleston was destroyed by fire (January 3, 1921)
Arch A. Moore, Jr., who served three terms as governor of West Virginia, was born in Moundsville on (April 16, 1923)
Virginia Mae Brown, West Virginia's first woman insurance commissioner and the first woman to serve in the Interstate Commerce Commission, was born in Putnam County on (November 13, 1923)
Former Governor William Ellsworth Glasscock died in Morgantown on (April 12, 1925)
Christopher H. Payne, a Monroe County native who was the first African-American elected to the West Virginia legislature, died on (December 5, 1925)
West Virginia State Auditor John C. Bond resigned from office after being impeached on (March 15, 1927)
Congressman Frank L. Bowman announced that a federal fish hatchery would be located at Leetown in Jefferson County on (December 20, 1930)
Federal Relief Administration field representative Howard O. Hunter, speaking to a joint session of the West Virginia legislature, informed lawmakers that federal aid to the state would be stopped unless the state provided more funding for relief in West Virginia on (December 14, 1933)
On (April 26, 1937), the first highway historical marker, "State Capitol," was installed and dedicated in Charleston
Former West Virginia Governor Gaston Caperton was born in Charleston on (February 21, 1940)
Death of former Governor William G. Conley (October 21, 1940)
Doddridge County native Matthew Neely resigned from the United States Senate to become governor of West Virginia (January 12, 1941)
The State Board of Education adopted a resolution mandating the salute to the flag as a regular part of school activities for teachers and students. The following year, the law requiring such a salute was found unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court (January 9, 1942)
A fire in the Pursglove No. 15 coal mine on Scott's Run, Monongalia County, killed 13. Six months earlier, an explosion at the No. 2 mine, pictured above, killed twenty miners (January 8, 1943)
On (April 6, 1948), West Virginians celebrated Army Day, a national observance honoring the United States Armed Forces
On (February 10, 1949), a bill favoring the electric chair over hanging was introduced in the House of Delegates. The legislation was approved on March 12.
U. S. Senator Joe McCarthy launched his anti-communist crusade in Wheeling on (February 9, 1950)
Republican presidential candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower and vice-presidential candidate Richard M. Nixon met in Wheeling to determine whether Nixon would remain on the ticket (September 24, 1952)
Governor William Marland addressed the West Virginia legislature to plead for the passage of his severance tax bill on (February 23, 1953)
Helen Holt was sworn in as secretary of state, the first woman to hold the position on (December 4, 1957)
Jennings Randolph was elected to his first term in the United States Senate on (November 4, 1958)
Herman Guy Kump, who served as governor of West Virginia from 1933 to 1937, died on (February 14, 1962)
President Lyndon Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson spoke at the dedication of the Summersville Reservoir (September 3, 1966)
Leon P. Miller of McDowell County became the first African-American judge elected to office in West Virginia on (November 5, 1968)
Presidential candidate George McGovern campaigned in Huntington (September 17, 1972)
U. S. District Judge Charles Haden issued a ten-day restraining order to the FMC Corporation to cease operation of the South Charleston plant's carbon tetrachloride unit on (March 9, 1977)
Death of former United States Senator Chapman Revercomb (October 6, 1979)
President Ronald Reagan made campaign stop in Parkersburg (October 6, 1979)
About one-fourth of the state's teachers walked off the job in a one-day protest over the legislature's failure to approve a larger increase in salary on (March 21, 1980)
Governor Gaston Caperton announced creation of West Virginia Streams Restoration Program (August 13, 1992)
The West Virginia State Senate adopted a resolution designating the Golden Delicious as the official state fruit on (February 20, 1995)
Highway Historical Markers
On (April 26, 1937), the first highway historical marker, "State Capitol," was installed and dedicated in Charleston
John Brown
Marines stormed the armory engine house at Harpers Ferry, capturing John Brown and his men (October 18, 1859)
The Virginia General Assembly passed an act compensating $1,500 to state attorney Andrew Hunter of Charles Town, Jefferson County, for his legal services in prosecuting John Brown and his raiders (January 7, 1860)
Labor
William E. Eubank, who commanded the National Guard force at the Battle of Blair Mountain, was born on (December 12, 1880)
A labor strike at the Tyler Window Glass Company in Sistersville ended on (December 24, 1903)
Labor leader Walter Reuther born in Wheeling (September 1, 1907)
On (February 7, 1913), mine guards, operator Quinn Morton, and Kanawha County Sheriff Bonner Hill boarded an armored train known as the "Bull Moose Special." That evening, they attacked a miners' tent colony at Holly Grove on Paint Creek.
A meeting called by Governor William Dawson to discuss immigration to West Virginia was quickly adjourned amidst speculation that its termination was due to the presence of UMWA president John Mitchell (September 19, 1907)
Labor leader Mary Harris "Mother" Jones was arrested in Charleston for inciting to riot and conspiracy on (February 13, 1913)
The Battle of Blair Mountain, the culmination of the largest armed insurrection in the United States since the Civil War, ended (September 4, 1921)
Arnold Miller, who served as president of the United Mine Workers of America from 1972 to 1979, was born in Leewood on (April 25, 1923)
United Mine Workers of America strike at Widen, 1952 (October 1, 1952)
Former Logan County sheriff Don Chafin died in Huntington (August 9, 1954)
UMW coal miners went on strike to protest the absence of black lung benefits on (February 18, 1969)
Memorials and Monuments
Confederate monument unveiled at Union (August 29, 1901)
Herbert J. Thomas Memorial Hospital in South Charleston, named for the World War II Congressional Medal of Honor winner, opened on (December 9, 1946)
A chartered plane carrying the Marshall University football team and supporters of the program crashed near Huntington, killing 75 people on (November 14, 1970)
The West Virginia Veterans Memorial was dedicated on (November 11, 1995)
Military and Wartime
On the evening of (April 30, 1774), white settlers in present-day Hancock County murdered a group of Native Americans, including several relatives of Chief Logan, in what was known as the Yellow Creek Massacre
Battle of Point Pleasant (October 10, 1774)
Northwestern Brigade of Virginia militia depart from Point Pleasant, War of 1812 (October 20, 1812)
Virginia Governor William Smith issued a proclamation calling for the formation of a regiment for service in the Mexican War on (November 18, 1846)
Major William H. Powell was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions at Sinking Creek on (November 23, 1862)
Newton Diehl Baker, who served as secretary of war during World War I, was born in Martinsburg on (December 3, 1871)
The West Virginia Legislature adopted a joint resolution honoring Spanish- American War hero and West Virginia native Captain Andrew S. Rowan (January 22, 1901)
The West Virginia House of Delegates passed a joint resolution endorsing President Woodrow Wilson's decision to break off diplomatic relations with Germany on (February 5, 1917)
General John McCausland of Mason County died (January 21, 1927)
A Japanese attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor initiated American entry into World War II. One of the ships sunk on that day was the USS West Virginia on (December 7, 1941)
Start of production at West Virginia Ordnance Works (October 12, 1942)
Sinking of Arisan Maru, Japanese cargo ship carrying American prisoners of war (October 24, 1944)
On (April 6, 1948), West Virginians celebrated Army Day, a national observance honoring the United States Armed Forces
Parks and Recreation
The West Virginia Legislature adopted a joint resolution declaring the rhododendron, also known as the big laurel, to be the state flower (January 23, 1903)
Congressman Frank L. Bowman announced that a federal fish hatchery would be located at Leetown in Jefferson County on (December 20, 1930)
The Mingo Oak, estimated to date before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas, was cut down (September 23, 1938)
The John Henry statue at Talcott, commemorating the "steel drivin' man" who participated in the construction of the Big Bend railroad tunnel, was erected on (December 28, 1972)
Religion
Greenbrier Baptist Church in Alderson was founded on (November 24, 1781)
Alexander Campbell, the founder of the Disciples of Christ and Bethany College, died in Bethany on (March 4, 1866)
On (November 19, 1928), Presbyterian mission worker Mary Behner arrived in Scotts Run, where she would serve until 1937
Monsignor Thomas Acquinas Quirk died in Lewis County (September 15, 1937)
Civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached at Charleston's First Baptist Church (January 24, 1960)
Science and Technology
Renowned geologist Israel Charles White was born in Monongalia County on (November 1, 1848)
Wheeling Hospital was incorporated on (March 12, 1850)
The West Virginia Academy of Science was organized in Morgantown on (November 28, 1924)
WMMN radio station in Fairmont began broadcasting on (December 22, 1928)
Lincoln County native Chuck Yeager breaks the sound barrier (October 14, 1947)
Sports
WVU football player Rudolph Munk was fatally injured during the state championship game with Bethany College on (November 12, 1910)
Cincinnati Reds play baseball in McDowell County (October 8, 1924)
A horse racing track opened at Charles Town on (December 2, 1933)
Minneapolis Lakers basketball star Elgin Baylor boycotted a game in Charleston to protest a local hotel's refusal to accommodate the team's African American players (January 16, 1959)
Burnsville High School basketball star Danny Heater set a national record by scoring 135 points in a game against Widen High School (January 26, 1960)
A chartered plane carrying the Marshall University football team and supporters of the program crashed near Huntington, killing 75 people on (November 14, 1970)
Georgeann Wells of West Virginia University became the first woman to dunk a basketball in a college game on (December 21, 1984)
Statehood
Francis Pierpont, who served as Governor of the Reorganized Government of Virginia and is known as the "Father of West Virginia," was born in Monongalia County (January 25, 1814)
Daniel Duane Tompkins Farnsworth, who served as governor of West Virginia for seven days in 1869, was born on (December 23, 1819)
A constitutional convention for the proposed state of Kanawha opened on (November 26, 1861)
President Abraham Lincoln signed the West Virginia statehood bill on (December 31, 1862)
The West Virginia constitutional convention adopted the Willey Amendment, providing for gradual emancipation on (February 17, 1863)
The West Virginia Legislature passed an act abolishing slavery in the state on (February 3, 1865)
The U. S. Congress recognized and consented to the transfer of Berkeley and Jefferson counties from Virginia to West Virginia on (March 7, 1866)
The West Virginia legislature adopted a joint resolution authorizing the appointment of commissioners to confer with the state of Virginia and report on West Virginia's portion of the Virginia debt on (February 15, 1871)
William Erskine Stevenson, who served as governor of West Virginia from 1869 to 1871, died in Parkersburg on (November 29, 1883)
Chester D. Hubbard of Wheeling, one of the founding fathers of West Virginia, died in Wheeling (August 23, 1891)
Former congressman Jacob Beeson Blair, who was instrumental in convincing President Abraham Lincoln to sign the West Virginia statehood bill, died on (February 12, 1901)
Joseph H. Diss Debar, legislator, Commissioner of Immigration, and designer of the State Seal, died in Philadelphia (January 13, 1905)
Transportation
The first Baltimore & Ohio train arrived in Wheeling from Baltimore, connecting the Atlantic with the Ohio River (January 1, 1853)
The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway was completed from Huntington, West Virginia, to Richmond, Virginia (January 29, 1873)
Workers completed track-laying in St. Marys for the Ohio River Railroad on (November 27, 1883)
Mordicai Levi of Charleston, who is credited with inventing the first brick pavement in the United States, was granted a patent for the process on (April 23, 1889)
Voters in Webster County approved an appropriation to aid in the construction of a railroad from Palmer Junction in Braxton County to Addison, present-day Webster Springs on (December 19, 1899)
Wreck of C & O train near Hinton (October 23, 1890)
A subsidiary of the C & O Railroad, purchased the resort at White Sulphur Springs now known as the Greenbrier on (February 1, 1910)
The steamer H. K. Bedford sank in the Ohio River near Waverly on the night of (February 27, 1912)
West Virginia voters passed the Good Roads Amendment on (November 2, 1920)
Charles Lindbergh landed the Spirit of St. Louis at Langin Field in Moundsville (August 4, 1927)
Centennial celebration of construction of Philippi Covered Bridge (August 28, 1952)
The Terra Alta-Kingwood Road, now part of State Route 7, was officially opened (September 11, 1924)
Truck driver Ray Tenney of Buckhannon was killed when his gasoline truck broke through the floor of a covered bridge in Upshur County (September 26, 1928)
Ground was broken at Gauley Junction to begin construction of the Hawks Nest tunnel and dam on (March 30, 1930)
A boiler in a locomotive hauling mine workers at McDunn in Fayette County exploded, resulting in the death of eighteen miners on (December 27, 1934)
The Kanawha Airport in Charleston, now known as Yeager Airport, was dedicated on (November 3, 1947)
The Freedom Train stopped in Bluefield (September 28, 1948)
The Silver Bridge in Point Pleasant collapsed, resulting in the deaths of 46 persons on (December 15, 1967)
New bridge replaces Brinkley Bridge at Wayne (October 15, 1971)
Dedication of New River Gorge Bridge (October 22, 1977)
Women
On March 10, 1920, the West Virginia Legislature passed a joint resolution ratifying the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution giving women the right to vote.
Elizabeth Zane made a daring run to procure gunpowder for the defenders of Fort Henry, who were besieged by a Native American force (September 12, 1782)
Anne Bailey, frontier heroine of the Kanawha Valley, died on (November 22, 1825)
Lewisburg Female Institute was originally incorporated by an act of the Virginia General Assembly on (April 7, 1858), but it is unclear whether this school ever opened. In 1874 renewed efforts by Lewisburg citizens resulted in the creation of the Lewisburg Female Institute, which later became Greenbrier College for Women
On (April 22, 1904), representatives of 15 women's clubs gathered in Wheeling to form the West Virginia Federation of Women's Clubs
Labor leader Mary Harris "Mother" Jones was arrested in Charleston for inciting to riot and conspiracy on (February 13, 1913)
The West Virginia Legislature passed a joint resolution ratifying the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution giving women the right to vote on (March 10, 1920)
Virginia Mae Brown, West Virginia's first woman insurance commissioner and the first woman to serve in the Interstate Commerce Commission, was born in Putnam County on (November 13, 1923)
On (November 19, 1928), Presbyterian mission worker Mary Behner arrived in Scotts Run, where she would serve until 1937.
Noted singer Susanne Fisher, a native of Sutton, made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera on (December 26, 1935)
Lydia Kimble Graham of Pendleton County, the last surviving widow of a War of 1812 veteran, died on (April 1, 1936)
Death of newspaper editor Livia Nye Simpson Poffenbarger (October 27, 1937)
West Virginia native Pearl S. Buck was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for her book The Good Earth on (December 10, 1938)
Helen Holt was sworn in as secretary of state, the first woman to hold the position on (December 4, 1957)
African-American educator Fannie Cobb Carter died at the age of 100 on (March 29, 1973)
Irene Drukker Broh, Huntington suffragist and civic leader, died on (February 8, 1978)
Georgeann Wells of West Virginia University became the first woman to dunk a basketball in a college game on (December 21, 1984)