1. In 1695, the Virginia House of Burgesses passed an act to establish the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg. It became the second-oldest institution of higher education in the United States after Harvard University.

2. On September 5, 1774, the First Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia, to discuss the grievances against British rule that led to the American Revolution, including taxation without representation and the Intolerable Acts.

3. The Battle of Williamsburg, one of the largest and bloodiest battles of the Civil War in Virginia, was fought on September 5, 1862. It was part of the Peninsula Campaign, launched by Union forces to capture Richmond, the Confederate capital.

4. The Virginia State Capitol, designed by Thomas Jefferson in 1785, was completed on September 5, 1792. It is the oldest continuously used state capitol in the United States.

5. On September 5, 1969, Virginia's Princess Anne County became the independent city of Virginia Beach, with a population of over 250,000. It is now one of the largest cities in Virginia and a popular tourist destination.