1. In 1865, during the American Civil War, Confederate General Robert E. Lee appointed General P.G.T. Beauregard as the commander of Confederate forces in North Carolina.

2. On January 25, 1896, the Supreme Court of North Carolina ruled that the state's mandatory school attendance law was constitutional. This decision paved the way for the establishment of universal public education in the state.

3. In 1971, UNC Chapel Hill basketball player Charlie Scott became the first black athlete to play in a varsity game in the Atlantic Coast Conference. On January 25, he scored 34 points in a game against the University of Virginia.

4. On January 25, 1996, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was officially designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The park, which straddles the border between North Carolina and Tennessee, is known for its biodiversity and cultural significance.

5. In 2016, North Carolina became the first state in the country to enact a law that required individuals to use bathrooms that correspond to the sex listed on their birth certificates in government buildings and schools. The controversial law, known as HB2 or the "bathroom bill," was eventually repealed in 2017.