1. On October 12, 1892, the first football game was played between West Virginia University and Bethany College. The game ended in a 10-10 tie.

2. In 1911, four years after the state of West Virginia was admitted to the U.S., the West Virginia Capitol building was completed in Charleston. It features a 292-foot dome and is one of the few capitol buildings to have a gold-leafed dome.

3. In 1923, the Buckhannon-Upshur High School football team defeated Weston High School 235-0, setting the national record for the highest score in a high school football game.

4. On October 12, 1972, a coal mine explosion in Blacksville, WV killed nine miners. It was one of the worst disasters in the state's mining history.

5. In 2016, West Virginia University professor Dr. James Harman and his team discovered a new species of millipede in the state, which they named Illacme tobini. It has more than 400 legs, making it one of the most leggy animals on earth.