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Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The state's capital is Richmond and its most populous city is Virginia Beach, though its most populous subdivision is Fairfax County, part of Northern Virginia, where slightly over a third of Virginia's population of 8.7 million live.

Eastern Virginia is part of the Atlantic Plain, and the Middle Peninsula forms the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Central Virginia lies predominantly in the Piedmont, the foothill region of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which cross the western and southwestern parts of the state. The fertile Shenandoah Valley fosters the state's most productive agricultural counties, while the economy in Northern Virginia is driven by technology companies and U.S. federal government agencies, including the U.S. Department of Defense and Central Intelligence Agency. Hampton Roads is also the site of the region's main seaport and Naval Station Norfolk, the world's largest naval base. (Full article...)

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The 2011 Virginia earthquake occurred on August 23, 2011, at 1:51 pm EDT (17:51 UTC) in the Piedmont region of the US state of Virginia. The epicenter, in Louisa County, was 38 mi (61 km) northwest of Richmond and 5 mi (8 km) south-southwest of the town of Mineral. It was an intraplate earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 and a maximum perceived intensity of VII (very strong) on the Mercalli intensity scale. Several aftershocks, ranging up to 4.5 M_w in magnitude, occurred after the main tremor.

The earthquake, along with a magnitude–5.8 quake on the New York–Ontario border during 1944, is the largest to have occurred in the U.S. east of the Rocky Mountains since an earthquake centered in Giles County in western Virginia occurred during 1897, with an estimated magnitude of 5.8. The quake was felt across more than a dozen U.S. states and in several Canadian provinces, and was felt by more people than any other quake in U.S. history. No deaths and only minor injuries were reported. Minor damage to buildings was widespread and was estimated by one risk-modeling company at $200 million to $300 million, of which about $100 million was insured.

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Pocahontas (born Matoaka, and later known as Rebecca Rolfe, c. 1595 – 1617) was a Virginia Indian notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. Pocahontas was the daughter of Powhatan, the paramount chief of a network of tributary tribal nations in the Tidewater region of Virginia. In a well-known historical anecdote, she is said to have saved the life of an Indian captive, Englishman John Smith, in 1607 by placing her head upon his own when her father raised his war club to execute him.

Pocahontas was captured by the English during Anglo-Indian hostilities in 1613, and held for ransom. During her captivity, she converted to Christianity and took the name Rebecca. When the opportunity arose for her to return to her people, she chose to remain with the English. In April 1614, she married tobacco planter John Rolfe, the first recorded interracial marriage in American history. In 1616, the Rolfes traveled to London, where she became something of a celebrity. When the Rolfes set sail for home, Pocahontas died at Gravesend of unknown causes, where she was buried. Numerous places, landmarks, and products in the United States have been named after Pocahontas. Her story has been romanticized over the years, and she is a subject of art, literature, and film.

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This month in Virginia history

painting of men along a line of artillery — Artillery at the Battle of First Manassas

July 18, 1774: The Fairfax Resolves are adopted in the lead up to the American Revolution.
July 21, 1861: The Battle of First Manassas (pictured), is fought in Northern Virginia, becoming the first major land battle of the American Civil War.
July 30, 1619: The Virginia House of Burgesses (predecessor of the Virginia General Assembly) first meets in Jamestown, marking the beginning of representative government in the future United States.
July 30, 1864: The Battle of the Crater results from an attempt to break the Confederate trenches near Petersburg using an explosives-filled tunnel.

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Credit: Joe Ravi, CC-BY-SA 3.0

George Washington Masonic National Memorial, Alexandria, Virginia, designed after the ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria

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... that five peregrine falcon chicks were released from the roof of an office building in Virginia in an unsuccessful attempt to combat an overpopulation of pigeons?
... that after Lew Dickey Sr. broke into the radio business by buying a station in West Virginia, his son would go on to own Cumulus Media?
... that enrollment at a school for African-American students in Virginia grew from 14 pupils to 1,300 in its first ten years?
... that the Jefferson Scholarship gives scholars more than $293,000 to attend the University of Virginia?
... that a neighborhood in Virginia lost its public park because its city government did not build a fence?
... that the Vulcan Bridge, a bridge in Vulcan, West Virginia, was constructed after the mayor requested financial aid from the Soviet Union?