1. In 1899, the first state prohibition law went into effect in West Virginia, banning the sale, production, and transportation of alcoholic beverages. This law was eventually replaced by national prohibition in 1919, which lasted until 1933.

2. On June 7, 1944, the USS West Virginia, a battleship named after the state, was commissioned by the United States Navy. The ship participated in numerous battles in the Pacific during World War II and was eventually decommissioned in 1947.

3. West Virginia became a state on June 20, 1863, but two years earlier on June 7, 1861, the state was created when delegates from western Virginia counties voted to secede from the Confederacy to form a new state loyal to the Union.

4. Astronaut Jon McBride, who was born in Charleston, West Virginia, flew as a mission specialist on the Space Shuttle Challenger STS-41G in 1984. McBride also served as the backup pilot for the ill-fated Challenger STS-51L mission in 1986.

5. On June 7, 1927, Charles Lindbergh made a stop in Charleston, West Virginia, during his historic solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. Lindbergh's flight made him an international celebrity and contributed to the growth of aviation in West Virginia and the United States as a whole.