 1607: Jamestown established as the first permanent English settlement in
America
1612: Tobacco is introduced, and would soon become a major export to
England
1624: Virginia is declared a royal colony by King James I
1693: College of William and Mary is founded
1699: Capital moves to Williamsburg
1765: Patrick Henry and other, discontent over high taxes, push the Stamp
Act Resolves
1776: Virginia declares itself independent
1780: Richmond becomes the capital
1781: Lord Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown, and the Revolutionary War
ends
1788: Virginia becomes the 10th U.S. State
1789: George Washington becomes the first U.S. President, and begins a
long succession of Virginians who would become President
1819: Thomas Jefferson founds the University of Virginia
1861: Virginia secedes from the Union, and Richmond becomes the capital
of the Confederacy
1865: The Civil War ends when Robert E. Lee surrenders at the Appomatox
Courthouse
1870: Virginia rejoins the Union
1940s: 185 ships built in the Newport News Shipyard for deployment in
World War II
1959: Public school integration begins in Virginia
1964: Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel is completed
1989: L. Douglas Wilder becomes the first black governor of a U.S. State
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