1. In 1861, the First Battle of Manassas, also known as the First Battle of Bull Run, took place in Virginia. The Confederate Army, led by General Thomas J. Jackson, won a significant victory against the Union Army.

2. In 1923, the Virginia General Assembly passed the Racial Integrity Act, which defined a person as White or Colored and forbade interracial marriage.

3. In 1964, the Virginia Association for Biological Farming was founded in Virginia. It is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting sustainable agriculture and organic farming practices in the region.

4. In 1976, the first Virginia Wine Festival was held in Charlottesville, Virginia. Since then, Virginia has become known for its excellent wineries and vineyards.

5. In 2015, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft made its closest approach to Pluto, after traveling for more than nine years. The spacecraft was built and operated by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, which is near the Virginia border.