1. In 1972, the Washington State Legislature passed the state's first bottle bill, which required a deposit on beverage containers in an effort to reduce waste and encourage recycling.

2. On January 24, 1986, the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument was established by President Ronald Reagan to protect the area around the volcano, which had erupted in 1980 and caused widespread destruction.

3. In 1991, the Seattle Seahawks played in their first ever conference championship game, but lost to the eventual Super Bowl champions, the New York Giants.

4. On January 24, 1999, a 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck the Olympic Peninsula, causing damage to several buildings and infrastructure, but no major injuries.

5. In 2019, Washington became the first state to legalize human composting, allowing human remains to be turned into soil as an alternative to traditional burial or cremation methods. The law went into effect on May 1, 2020.