1. Virginia became a colony: On April 18, 1607, the Virginia Company of London arrived in Virginia to establish the first permanent English settlement in the New World. The settlement was named Jamestown after King James I.

2. American Revolution: On April 18, 1775, Virginian Colonel Lewis was ordered to Lexington to await enemy movements. Paul Revere rode from Boston that day, warning colonists that “The British are coming!” This marked the beginning of the American Revolution.

3. Confederate capture of Gosport Navy Yard: The Gosport Navy Yard, located in Portsmouth, Virginia, was seized by the Confederate forces on April 18, 1861. This was an important victory for the Confederacy as it allowed them to acquire valuable war material.

4. First Virginia-class submarine launched: On April 18, 1998, the first Virginia-class submarine was launched at the General Dynamics Electric Boat shipyard in Groton, Connecticut. The USS Virginia (SSN-774) was commissioned on October 23, 2004.

5. Virginia Tech shooting: On April 18, 2007, a mass shooting occurred on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. A lone gunman, Seung-Hui Cho, killed 32 people and injured 17 others in the deadliest shooting incident by a single gunman in U.S. history at that time.