1. In 1751, the city of Alexandria, Virginia was officially established by the Virginia General Assembly. The town was named after John Alexander, a Scottish merchant who owned the land on which it was built.

2. During the Civil War, the Battle of Kelly’s Ford took place on March 16, 1863 in Culpeper County, Virginia. It was one of the first cavalry battles of the war and resulted in a Union victory.

3. On March 16, 1926, the first commercial radio broadcast in Virginia was made from station WNAC in Norfolk. The station was owned by the Norfolk and Western Railway and broadcast news, music, and other programming.

4. The Virginia State Capitol building in Richmond was designated as a National Historic Landmark on March 16, 1987. The Capitol, designed by Thomas Jefferson, has been the seat of Virginia’s government since 1788.

5. In 2013, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles began offering a special license plate to honor the state’s Native American tribes. The plate features the state bird, flower, and tree, as well as the symbol of the Virginia Indian Tribal Alliance. It was first issued on March 16, 2013.