Encyclopedia Virginia, The Blog
We Can't Make This Stuff Up
On this day in 1607, Christopher Newport and a small company of men began exploring the upper reaches of the James River, where they were feasted by the Indian weroance Ashuaquid. Two years later, a feast would have tasted even better,… Read More»
On this day in 1897, William Cuthbert Falkner, known as William Faulkner, was born in New Albany, Mississippi, to Murry Cuthbert Falkner, a railroad worker, and Maud Butler, a housewife. New… Read More»
On this day in 1789, twelve amendments to the still-new United States Constitution were sent to the states, including Virginia, for ratification. That’s right: the Bill of Rights originally had… Read More»
On this day 150 years ago, at about 10 o’clock in the morning, give or take, a Union corporal named Barton W. Mitchell, of the 27th Indiana, found a stray… Read More»
On this day in 1920 James Farmer was born. The civil rights activist hailed from Texas but later lived in Virginia and, from 1985 to 1998, taught history at Mary Washington, in… Read More»
On this day in 1832, a member of the General Assembly stood up and gave a long speech in favor of abolishing slavery in Virginia. He did this just five… Read More»
Today is Twelfth Night—an occasion that may remind you of a Shakespeare play and, of course, a really annoying Christmas carol. It happens to flash on our radar here because it… Read More»
On this day in 1781, St. George Tucker began keeping a meticulous diary of the Siege of Yorktown. His opening line declared that “the present Campaign will probably be more important… Read More»
On this day in 1893, the Richmond Dispatch published a short note called “Lynch Law and Barbarism.” Please don’t assume, though, that just because the paper linked those two things in a headline… Read More»
On this day in 1885, Ulysses S. Grant, that prolific smoker of cigars, died of throat cancer. In the years since, he has often been called one of America’s worst… Read More»
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