The first college fraternity, Phi Beta Kappa, began at William and Mary on December 5, 1776. Thirty years later at Washington College (now Washington and Lee), the first college streaker exposed his naked self. He was George William Crump who was suspended from the college for a semester. He was later elected to the House of Delegates and the US Congress. Gotta love Virginia politics!
Many of us think of Virginia as the center of the world and that’s almost true. Half of the people in the US live within a day’s drive, 500 miles, of Virginia.
Map by AmericanXplorer13 / Wikimedia Commons
Virginia has 10% of all vanity license plates in the nation.
The hub of the internet is Ashburn Virginia, 70% of internet data passes through Ashburn.
If you’ve driven through western Loudoun or Fauquier county you’ve seen quarter horses. They began in Virginia in the 1700’s, a cross breed of Spanish Horses and English thoroughbreds. They are called quarter horses because of their speed in a quarter mile race.
The most famous horse, Secretariat, was born in Doswell, Virgina in 1970.
From Secretariat.com, at the Belmont.
Half of all the major battles of the Civil War took place in Virginia.
Dr. Charles Browne Fleet of Lynchburg invented Chap Stick, laxatives and enemas. Go figure.
See all 21 interesting things about Virginia here.