Golden Horseshoe

Robert C. Byrd

longest-serving United States senator in history, from his election in 1958 until his death in 2010, at age 92, until his record was broken on June 7, 2013, by Congressman John Dingell, a Democrat from Michigan.

General Thomas Maley Harris

rose to prominence after the Civil War, when he served on the military commission that tried conspirators who acted with John Wilkes Booth in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.

Town of Ripley

1832: The town of Ripley received its charter. It was probably named for Harry Ripley, a popular, circuit-riding Methodist minister who drowned in Mill Creek in 1830.

Boxing world championship

1880: The bare-knuckle prize fight for the championship of the world was held in the Brooke County town of Colliers, between defending champion Joe Goss and challenger Paddy Ryan. Boxing was illegal in every state, and matches were often held in railroad villages to avoid big city police.

John Brown

Abolitionist born May 9, 1800 in Torrington, Connecticut. His 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry galvanized the nation, further alienating the North and South.

Fort Randolph, Point Pleasant

About 300 Wyandot and Mingo Indians attacked on May 16, 1778. Unable to take the fort, the Indians proceeded up the Kanawha River toward other settlements.

Theodore Crawford "Ted" Cassidy

Actor known as Lurch on the Addams Family. Raised in Philippi.

Clark Kessinger

Among the most prolific and influential fiddlers of the 20th century, and one of West Virginia's most important traditional musicians.

Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church

Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1992, one of only 16 in the state. The first Mother's Day observance took place at the church on May 10, 1908.

Elmer Forrest Jacobs

Architect born in Preston County. His work is seen particularly in downtown Morgantown, in residential South Park, and on the West Virginia University campus. Most of his Morgantown buildings are now on the National Register of Historic Places.

Scotts Run

Area near Morgantown where there were coal camps. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt brought poor miners from there to live in Arthurdale.

George Spencer "Spanky" Roberts

1918: George Spencer ''Spanky'' Roberts was born in London, Kanawha County. He entered aviation cadet training with the first class of Tuskegee Airmen and became the first African-American military pilot from West Virginia.

Artemus Ward Cox

Artemus Ward Cox was born on a farm at Red Knob, Roane County in 1885. In 1914, Cox bought the George Ort Department Store on Capitol Street in Charleston. That store became the first in a chain of 21 A. W. Cox stores in West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky.

Annie Virginia Latham Bartlett

Artist Annie Virginia Latham Bartlett was born in Grafton. Her clay sculptures included conventional busts as well as figurines interpreting West Virginia's historic and cultural past, with such titles as 'The Moonshiner.''

June Kilgore

Artist June Kilgore was born in Huntington in 1927. She was an abstract expressionist painter who spent 30 years as an art professor at Marshall University.

Jon Andrew McBride

Astronaut born in Charleston. McBride became an astronaut in 1979 and piloted the space shuttle Challenger on an eight-day mission in 1984.

Chuck Howley

Athlete Charles Louis ''Chuck'' Howley was born in Wheeling. Howley played linebacker for 12 seasons for the Dallas Cowboys. He was named All-Pro six times and named to six Pro Bowls.

Clinton Cyrus Thomas

Athlete Clinton Cyrus Thomas was a star in the Negro Leagues, during the days of racial segregation in major league baseball. Thomas settled in Charleston after his playing days and made a long career in West Virginia state government.

John Wesley ''Jack'' Glasscock

Athlete born in Wheeling. Glasscock, who played bare-handed (no glove), became one of baseball's premier shortstops in the 19th century.

Ira Errett ''Rat'' Rodgers

Athlete from Bethany was among the greatest Mountaineer football players, lettering in 1915-17 and 1919.

Battle of White Sulphur Springs

Aug. 26, 1863: Union and Confederate forces collided in what became known as the Battle of White Sulphur Springs. The next morning, with ammunition nearly depleted, Union Gen. William Averell decided to retreat to his base without accomplishing any of his objectives.

Catherine Marshall

Author Catherine Marshall was born in Johnson City, Tennessee in 1914. Her family moved to West Virginia and lived in Keyser during the late 1920s and the 1930s. Her best-loved novel, Christy (1967), was based on her mother's girlhood in the southern mountains.

Pearl S. Buck

Author Pearl Buck was born June 26, 1892 in Hillsboro in the home of her maternal grandparents. She received the Nobel Prize for Literature for "The Good Earth."

Ambrose Bierce

Author born in 1842, Bierce found the setting for some of his famous short stories in the mountains of Civil War-era West Virginia.

Stephen Coonts

Author born in Morgantown. After graduating from West Virginia University and serving in the navy during the Vietnam War, Coonts became a best-selling action and adventure novelist with the 1986 publication of Flight of the Intruder.

Matewan Massacre

Baldwin-Felts detective came to Matewan to evict striking miners and their families, but Police Chief Sid Hatfield tried to stop the evictions as being unauthorized by law. Ten people were killed.

Jerry West

Basketball player born on Cabin Creek, Kanawha County, West rewrote the record book at WVU, played his entire professional career for the LA Lakers, holds the NBA record for the highest points per game average in a playoff series with 46.3

Hal Greer

Basketball star Harold Everett ''Hal'' Greer was born in Huntington. Greer was the first African-American athlete to play at Marshall College (now University). During his three-year college career, Greer scored 1,377 points and averaged 19.4 points per game. In the NBA draft in 1958, Philadelphia 76ers took him as the 13th pick in Round 2. His Position: Point guard, Shooting guard

Second Wheeling Convention

Began June 13, 1861 in the federal courtroom of the Wheeling Custom House. This convention declared the Confederate state government in Richmond illegal; created a Reorganized Government of Virginia loyal to the United States; elected Francis Harrison Pierpont governor of Virginia; and called for the western counties to be formed into a new state.

Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson

Best known Confederate general after Robert E. Lee. He died May 10, 1863 after uttering the words: ''Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees.'' He is buried in the cemetery bearing his name in Lexington, Virginia.

Don Knotts

Born July24, 1924 in Morgantown. Knotts will be forever remembered as Barney Fife on the "Andy Griffith Show." They are unveiling a statue of him in Morgantown on July 23, 2016, for his birthday. His daughter Karen performed a standup comedy show at the statue.

Mary McClain

Born Mary Smith in Huntington, McClain was a blues legend who performed at the White House in Washington DC and Carnegie Hall , the Apollo Theatre and the Cotton Club - all in New York City.

Judge ''R. D.'' Bailey

Born at Baileysville, Wyoming County, Bailey was the judge of the Matewan Massacre trial in 1921.

Nick Joe Rahall II

Born in Beckley May 20, 1949, when Rahall entered Congress in 1977, he was its youngest member.

William Hope ''Coin'' Harvey

Born in Buffalo, Putnam County. Harvey, a social reformer, was nominated for president of the United States by the Liberty Party in 1932.

William ''Bill'' Blizzard

Born in Cabin Creek, Kanawha County. Blizzard became one of West Virginia's most influential and controversial labor leaders of the 20th century.

George Wesley Atkinson

Born in Charleston. In 1896, Atkinson was elected governor in an upset victory over Cornelius C. Watts of Charleston which ended 26 years of Democratic rule.

General Frank Kendall ''Pete'' Everest Jr.

Born in Fairmont Everest was a military aviator and a pioneer in U.S. rocket plane flying. In 1956, he flew the X-2 at Mach 3, exceeding 1,900 miles per hour and breaking the record of Chuck Yeager, his rival and close contemporary.

Henry Schmulbach

Born in Germany, a leading businessman in Wheeling, buying Nail City Brewery in 1882 and becoming president of the German Bank, now WesBanco.

Walter Aegerter

Born in Helvetia, a small village near Buckhannon, he was an amateur photographer. He built both a studio and darkroom on his farm and photographed portraits, families, celebrations and everyday scenes of the German Swiss settlement. The glass plate negatives survive today in several archived collections.

Harley Orrin Staggers Sr.

Born in Keyser Staggers served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 32 years.

Sheriff Don Chafin

Born in Logan County, Chafin was a bitter foe of union organizers and, with financial support from coal companies, used his many deputies to keep labor organizers out of Logan County.

Statesman Charles James Faulkner

Born in Martinsburg, Faulkner served in the West Virginia legislature, U.S. Congress (1851-59), and as U.S. minister to France.

Historian Virgil A. Lewis

Born in Mason County, Governor Dawson appointed Lewis as the first director of the Bureau of Archives and History in 1905.

Samuel Ivan Taylor

Born in Mercer County. Taylor was the first member of the West Virginia state police. He was part of the force that faced off against union miners during the 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain in Logan County

Christopher Harrison Payne

Born in Monroe County. In 1896, Payne became the state's first black legislator when he was elected to the House of Delegates from Fayette County.

Rod Thorn

Born in Princeton, WVU All-American guard, who had an extended and distinguished basketball career in the NBA

T.D. Jakes

Born in South Charleston. As a boy, he preached to imaginary congregations and carried a Bible to school, which earned him the nickname ''Bible Boy.'' He is the senior pastor at the Potter's House, a nondenominational church in Dallas, Texas.

Roman Catholic Bishop John Joseph Kain

Born near Martinsburg, as bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling, he worked to meet the needs of the newly arrived immigrants who came to labor in West Virginia's mines and factories.

John Jay Jackson Jr.

Born near Parkersburg Jackson was a prominent judge who became notorious among those trying to organize labor unions in West Virginia. He blocked an effort by Mother Jones and United Mine Workers leaders to organize the miners of northern West Virginia.

Ken Hechler

Born on Long Island, New York. Hechler served 18 years in the U.S. Congress and four terms as West Virginia's secretary of state. He's still alive.

Louise McNeill

Born on the family farm in Pocahontas County, she was appointed poet laureate by Governor Jay Rockefeller in 1979, holding that title until her death in 1993.

Elizabeth Ann ''Betty'' Bartholomew

Botanist born in Wheeling. Bartholomew was instrumental in building the dried plant collection at West Virginia University from 30,000 to 140,000 specimens, and she initiated a 2,000-plant seed collection.

Lemuel Chenoweth

Bridge builder Lemuel Chenoweth was born near Beverly, (near Elkins) in Randolph County. His many bridges also included the earliest covered bridge at Beverly and the famous Philippi covered bridge. The photo is the Barrackville Covered Bridge.

Shoney's Restaurant

Businessman Alex Schoenbaum was born in Richmond, Va. and settled in Charleston in 1943, where he went into the restaurant business. His restaurants were named Shoney's when Schoenbaum's nickname was selected in an employee contest.

Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency

Came to Matewan to evict striking miners and their families, but Police Chief Sid Hatfield tried to stop the evictions as being unauthorized by law.Ten people were killed in what became known as the Matewan Massacre.

Kendall Vintroux

Cartoonist born at Fraziers Bottom. He began his career with the Charleston Gazette when he submitted a cartoon about the town of Poca's first paved road. Many of his drawings are now in the collection of the University of Charleston.

Soupy Sales

Comedian Soupy Sales was born Milton Supman. Raised in Huntington and graduating from Marshall College (now Marshall University), he achieved fame as a wacky television personality.

General Harry Hill Bandholtz

Commander of the federal troops that intervened to end the West Virginia Mine Wars in 1921.

Robert Drasnin

Composer and performer Robert Drasnin was born in Charleston in 1927. He performed with classic combos and big bands such as Tommy Dorsey and Les Brown, and scored music for movies and television.

Belle Boyd

Confederate spy born May 9, 1843 in Martinsburg. On July 4, 1861, she shot a Yankee soldier and started her spy career.

New River Gorge Bridge

Construction of the New River Gorge Bridge was completed Oct. 22, 1977 after three years of work. The New River Gorge Bridge in Fayette County is one of West Virginia's best-known landmarks. It is the third-highest bridge in the United States.

Albert Sidney ''Sid'' Hatfield

Controversial police chief of Matewan and martyred hero to union coal miners. Tried to stop Baldwin-Felts detectives from evicting striking miners and their families in Matewan as being unauthorized by law. Ten people were killed in Matewan Massacre.

Kathy Mattea

Country musician who was born inSouth Charleston but grew up in nearby Cross Lanes. In junior high school she learned to play the guitar, and in high school she practiced her vocal skills singing classical music in choir class.

Parsons

County seat of Tucker County. Parsons was named for Ward Parsons, a prominent resident and the largest landholder.

David Hunter Strother

David Hunter Strother was born in Martinsburg in 1816. He was an artist and an author who used the pen name "Porte Crayon." He wrote for the magazine Harper's Monthly. One series was ''The Mountains'' which introduced America to the rural character and folkways of West Virginia. Another piece was about hunting in Canaan Valley.

John S. Gallaher

Dec. 1, 1797: Journalist and politician John S. Gallaher was born in Martinsburg. He owned or managed several Whig newspapers and was instrumental in establishing the free school system in Virginia. He played a prominent role in having early railroads routed through the Eastern Panhandle.

State Police Academy

Dec. 10, 1949: The first class of 20 cadets graduated from the West Virginia State Police Academy in Institute. The State Police purchased property for the academy on a hilltop overlooking Institute from Kanawha County for about $3,200. Construction began in 1948, and the building was completed the next year.

Battle of Allegheny Mountain

Dec. 13, 1861: The Battle of Allegheny Mountain, one of the bloodiest conflicts of the Civil War's first year, took place in Pocahontas County.

WWVA-AM

Dec. 13, 1926: Wheeling radio station WWVA-AM began broadcasting. The 50-watt station operated from the basement of John Stroebel's house for most of its first year. Stroebel was a physics teacher and wireless pioneer.

Justus Collins

Dec. 14, 1857: Coal operator Justus Collins was born. He owned coal mines at Glen Jean and Whipple, and the octagonal Whipple company store survives today as a local landmark.

Billy Richardson's Last Ride

Dec. 14, 1910: The accidental death of a Chesapeake & Ohio engineer near St. Albans led to the popular train song, "Billy Richardson's Last Ride."

Silver Bridge Collapse

Dec. 15, 1967: The Silver Bridge at Point Pleasant collapsed, killing 46 people. The Silver Bridge was built by the American Bridge Company of Pittsburgh and opened to traffic on May 19, 1928. The accident led to the passage of legislation for a national bridge inspection and safety program.Dec. 15, 1967: The Silver Bridge at Point Pleasant collapsed, killing 46 people. The Silver Bridge was built by the American Bridge Company of Pittsburgh and opened to traffic on May 19, 1928. The accident led to the passage of legislation for a national bridge inspection and safety program.

Browns Island

Dec. 15, 1972: An explosion at a Weirton Steel coke plant on Browns Island killed 19 men and injured 10 others. It was the worst industrial accident in Weirton's history.

J.L. Stifel & Sons Calico Plant

Dec. 17, 1957: The J. L. Stifel & Sons calico plant at Wheeling closed. For most of its history Stifel & Sons produced indigo-dyed prints and drills for clothing manufacturers. At its peak, the plant produced 3.5 million yards of cloth per month.

Charleston and George Clendenin

Dec. 19, 1794: A 40-acre tract of George Clendenin's land was selected as the site of Charlestown, later renamed Charleston. Clendenin, born in Augusta County, Virginia, in 1746, was one of the first settlers in the Kanawha Valley. Through Clendenin's influence the Virginia Assembly authorized the formation of Kanawha County from parts of Greenbrier and Montgomery counties in 1789.

John Brown's hanging

Dec. 2, 1859: John Brown was hanged at Charles Town in Jefferson County. Maj. Thomas J. Jackson, later nicknamed ''Stonewall,'' was among those commanding the Virginia forces standing guard at the execution of the abolitionist who led the raid at Harpers Ferry.

Charles Town Race Track

Dec. 2, 1933: The Charles Town Race Track opened shortly after West Virginia legalized racing and parimutuel betting. The Jefferson County complex contained 22 buildings and included 12 stables.

WMMN

Dec. 22, 1928: Radio station WMMN of Fairmont began operations as one of West Virginia's pioneer stations. For nearly two decades beginning in 1935, WMMN was an important outlet for country and western music performers. The highlight of this era was the "Sagebrush Roundup," a Saturday-night live-audience show which began in December 1938 and was broadcast weekly for nearly ten years. The station covered the major portion of WV, Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania plus Eastern Ohio. Pictured is Hank the Cowhand, co-founder of the Sagebrush Roundup.

Lynette Squeaky Fromme

Dec. 23, 1987: Lynette ''Squeaky'' Fromme escaped from the Federal Prison Camp in Alderson. Fromme, who was serving a life sentence for trying to kill President Gerald Ford, was captured two days later near the prison.

Rosby's Rock

Dec. 24, 1852: The last spike was driven on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad between Baltimore and the Ohio River. The event occurred at Rosbys Rock near Moundsville. To mark the spot where the final spike was driven the following words were carved upon the rock: Rosbbys [sic] Rock Track Closed Christmas Eve 1852.

Jehovah's Witnesses

Dec. 24, 1942: The Committee on Fair Employment Practices ordered that Jehovah's Witnesses be reinstated to their jobs at Pittsburgh Plate Glass in Clarksburg. The workers had been fired for refusing to participate in union-sponsored flag-salute ceremonies at the plant.

Greenbrier Division trains

Dec. 28, 1978: The last trains ran on the Greenbrier Division, a branch line of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway. Unlike most C&O branches in West Virginia, the Greenbrier Division was not a coal-hauling line but served the valley's timber industry.

Sutton burned

Dec. 29, 1861: Confederate soldiers burned most of downtown Sutton. The town slowly rebuilt but remained small until the local timber industry boomed.

John Denver

Dec. 29, 1970: John Denver and two friends completed the song, "Take Me Home, Country Roads." Denver performed ''Country Roads'' in West Virginia on several occasions, notably for the opening of the new Mountaineer Stadium in Morgantown in 1980.

James Rumsey

Dec. 3, 1787: James Rumsey demonstrated the steam engine he invented on the Potomac River near Shepherdstown. This was 20 years before Robert Fulton's boat, though the Fulton design was more practical, and it is Fulton who is honored today as the inventor of the steamboat.

Phyllis Smith Curtin

Dec. 3, 1921: Operatic soprano Phyllis (Smith) Curtin was born in Clarksburg. She made her debut with the New York City Opera in 1953, where she sang both classical and modern repertoire.

WSAZ-TV

Dec. 3, 1949: WSAZ-TV provided the first telecast of a Marshall College (now University) basketball game. The television station, the 72nd in the nation and the first in West Virginia, was an affiliate of WSAZ radio station.

37 degrees below zero

Dec. 30, 1917: The temperature in Lewisburg dropped to 37 degrees below zero. It is the coldest official temperature on record for the state.

Sara Jane Moore

Dec. 31, 2007: Sara Jane Moore was released from prison after serving 32 years for trying to kill President Ford. Moore grew up in Charleston and later moved to California, where she joined left-wing groups and became an FBI informant. She spent part of her incarceration at the Federal Prison Camp in Alderson.

WAJR-AM

Dec. 7, 1940: Radio station WAJR-AM in Morgantown began broadcasting. In 1949, it became the flagship station for a statewide network (now the Mountaineer Sports Network) distributing broadcasts of West Virginia University football and basketball games.

USS West Virginia (old)

Dec. 7, 1941: The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The USS West Virginia suffered massive damage from torpedoes and bombs. Two officers, including the captain, and 103 crew members died.

John F. Kennedy

Defeated Hubert Humphrey in the West Virginia primary on May 10, 1960, dispelling the widely held belief that being a Roman Catholic was a crippling handicap for a presidential candidate.

Louis Bennett Jr.

Died Aug. 24, 1918 of injuries sustained when his plane was shot down by German anti-aircraft fire. Bennett, with 12 combat kills, was West Virginia's only World War I fighter ace. And his picture is on an angel in a stained glass window in Westminster Abbey. His mother paid for it. It also has the state seal in it. He was from Weston.

Droop Mountain Battlefield

Droop Mountain was the site of one of the most important Civil War battles fought on West Virginia soil. There's a State Park there now. Nov. 6, 1863: Confederate troops led by Brig. Gen. John Echols were defeated at Droop Mountain by a larger federal force led by Brig. Gen. William W. Averell. This was one of the most important Civil War battles fought on West Virginia soil. Averell is in the picture.

Staff Sergeant Stanley Bender

Earned the Medal of Honor in southern France. Bender rushed through intense machine gun fire and grenades, and knocked out two German machine guns with rifle fire. His actions inspired the rest of the company to take out a German roadblock, kill 37 enemy soldiers, and take 26 prisoners. (He didn't die in war; he was in his '80s.)

Elsie Clapp

Educator. Under her direction the community school at Arthurdale stressed education for real-life situations and revived traditional music to strengthen reading and writing skills.

Food Stamps

In 1961, Elderson Muncie in McDowell County received the first food stamps in the nation. After observing malnutrition and poverty during his campaign, President John Kennedy directed the government to establish a pilot food stamp program.

Margaret "Peggy" Workman

In the election of November 1988, she became the first woman on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals and the first woman to be elected to statewide office in West Virginia.

The Berkeley County Riflemen

June 10, 1775: were organized by Capt. Hugh Stephenson of Shepherdstown, in response to a call for Revolutionary War soldiers by Gen. George Washington.

Margaret Blennerhassett died

June 16, 1842: Margaret Agnew Blennerhassett, wife of Harman Blennerhassett, died in poverty in New York City. She and her son, Harman Jr., were reburied on Blennerhassett Island, Parkersburg, in 1996.

Jay Rockefeller

June 18, 1937: Jay Rockefeller was born in New York City. He became West Virginia's 29th governor in 1977, and in 1984, he was elected to the U.S. Senate.

President John F. Kennedy

June 20, 1963: On the 100th birthday of West Virginia, President John F. Kennedy made his last appearance in West Virginia. Speaking in Charleston in a pouring rain, he said "The sun does not always shine in West Virginia, but the people always do."

Wheeling Steel Corp.

June 21, 1920: Wheeling Steel Corporation was organized when La Belle Iron Works, Whitaker-Glessner Company, and Wheeling Steel and Iron Works combined. In the 1920s, Wheeling Steel employed more than 17,000 workers and ranked as the nation's third-largest steelmaker.

Shinnston tornado

June 23, 1944: A tornado struck Shinnston and the surrounding area, killing 103 people and injuring hundreds more.

Derecho

June 29, 2012: A violent storm called a derecho raced across West Virginia, leaving downed trees and damaged homes in its wake. About 688,000 homes and businesses lost power for a week during a widespread heat wave. (Remember we were swimming at Herrington and raced to get home.)

Strawberry Festival

June 3, 1936: The first Strawberry Festival was held in Buckhannon. More than 6,000 spectators attended the festivities, which also included a parade of 30 princesses down Main Street.

Prohibition

June 30, 1914: Statewide prohibition became law years before it became law for the whole nation. Jan. 8, 1919 The West Virginia legislature ratified the U.S. constitution's 18th Amendment by a Senate vote of 26-0 and a House vote of 81-3. West Virginia became the 21st state to ratify the prohibition amendment. National prohibition became effective under the Volstead Act on January 16, 1920.

Buckwheat

June 5, 1859: A great frost killed crops in the Preston County fields. The fields were replanted with hardy buckwheat, which was successful and became a staple crop, celebrated in the annual Buckwheat Festival in Kingwood.

Pittston Strike

June 6, 1989: During the Pittston strike, about 60 miners embarked on a four-day march from Logan County to Charleston, retracing the path of the 1921 Armed March on Logan.

Sand mining

June 7, 1926: An explosion at a sand mining operation in Morgan County killed six men. Their deaths were the inspiration for the ballad ''The Miner's Doom.''

Sarah Mother Blizzard

Labor activist Sarah ''Mother'' Blizzard died at the age of 90 in 1955. Blizzard was deeply involved in the United Mine Workers of America, from the organization's early beginnings in the late 19th century.

Cecil Roberts

Labor leader Cecil Edward Roberts Jr. is a sixth-generation coal miner and a fiery orator, Roberts has served as president of the United Mine Workers of America since 1995.

Bill Blizzard

Labor leader charged with treason following the Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921 but he was acquitted.

Daniel Vincent Maroney

Labor leader from Kanawha County served as the international president of the Amalgamated Transit Union from 1973 to 1981.

Gen. John B. Floyd

Led Confederate troops across the Gauley River at Carnifex Ferry, Nicholas County, and began to entrench their position. It was the beginning of what became known as the Battle of Keslers Cross Lanes.

Sam Snead

Legendary golfer ... when The Greenbrier reopened as a resort after World War II, Snead returned as the golf pro.

Lewis County namesake

Lewis County was formed Dec. 18. 1816. It was named for Colonel Charles Lewis, killed at the Battle of Point Pleasant.

"Uncle Dyke" Garrett

Logan County preacher "Uncle Dyke" Garrett's greatest fame was for converting and baptizing Devil Anse Hatfield in Main Island Creek in 1911.

Lord Thomas Fairfax

Lord Thomas Fairfax was born in Kent, England in 1693. He inherited five million acres in Virginia, land that included much of the present Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.

John Forbes Nash Jr.

Mathematician born in Bluefield. In 1994, Nash was honored with the Nobel Prize in Economics. He was the subject of a best-selling biography, "A Beautiful Mind," which was later made into a movie.

Katherine Johnson

Mathematician born in White Sulphur Springs. For 33 years, Johnson worked for NASA doing calculations for manned space flight, including the Apollo 11 moon landing. In 2015, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She is in the movie "Hidden Figures" coming out Jan. 6, 2016.

Mother's Day

May 10, 1908: The first official observance was held at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton and simultaneously in Philadelphia. The holiday resulted from a vigorous campaign by Anna Jarvis who wanted to commemorate the spirit of her mother's work as a social activist.

Ellis Dungan

May 11, 1909: Filmmaker born on this day. After years of working in the feature film industry in India, he settled in Wheeling, where he shot documentaries and produced films for the state and the region.

John C. Norman

May 11, 1930: Physician born in Charleston. A noted thoracic and cardiovascular surgeon and researcher, he was best known for his work toward creating an artificial heart.

Battle of the Tug

May 12-14, 1921: Bullets peppered down on about a dozen mining towns in the Matewan-Williamson area, and nonunion miners fired back. Three people were shot and killed.

Henry Payne

May 13, 1962: Editorial cartoonist born in Charleston. In 1989, was the first editorial cartoonist in the country to make his work available via computer.

Rufus Red Ribble

May 14, 1878: Photographer born in Blacksburg,Virginia. For nearly 40 years he traveled the coalfields making panoramic photographs of miners, towns, family reunions, church congregations and school groups.

Mary Behner

May 14, 1906: Social reformer born in Xenia, Ohio. From 1928 until 1937, she worked in the coal camps along Scotts Run near Morgantown, fighting poverty and creating social and educational outlets for families.

the Battle of Lewisburg

May 23, 1862 Union troops repelled a Confederate advance, killing 38 and wounding 66, while losing only 13 men.

Luna Park

May 5, 1923: A fire started by welders working on a new swimming pool destroyed most of Luna Park, an amusement park in Charleston. Although Luna's owners announced that they would rebuild, the park never reopened.

Martin Robison Delany

May 6, 1812: Activist and physician Martin Robison Delany was born in Charles Town. In February 1865, he was commissioned as a major in the U.S. Colored Troops. He was the only African-American Civil War officer to be given a field command.

Keith Albee Theater

May 7, 1928: The Keith-Albee Theater opened in Huntington. The opening program featured a comedy called ''Good Morning, Judge,'' a newsreel, and five stage acts. But the theater itself, with its elaborate interior, clearly was the star of the evening.

Burning Springs, Wirt County

May 9, 1863: Confederate raiders arrived and they set fire to 150,000 barrels of oil, oil tanks, engines for pumping, engine houses, wagons, and oil-laden boats.

Woody Williams

Medal of Honor recipient Woody Williams was born in Fairmont in 1923. During World War II, Williams neutralized seven concrete pillboxes at the Battle of Iwo Jima.

Francis Asbury

Methodist bishop arrived in West Virginia outside of Berkeley Springs. He worked extensively in what is now the Eastern Panhandle, preaching and lecturing almost every day, before continuing farther into western Virginia.

Newton Diehl Baker

Newton Diehl Baker was born in Martinsburg. Appointed by President Woodrow Wilson, Baker served as secretary of war from 1916 to 1921. Baker oversaw U.S. involvement in World War I.

Chief Cornstalk

Nov. 10, 1777: Cornstalk, his son Elinipsico, and the sub-chief Red Hawk were murdered in captivity by enraged whites who blamed them for the recent killing of two white men. Cornstalk, a Shawnee leader who lived in what is today southeastern Ohio, commanded Indian forces at the Battle of Point Pleasant.

New River Gorge National River

Nov. 10, 1978: The New River Gorge National River was established by Congress. It is one of only three national rivers administered by the National Park Service.

Marshall plane crash

Nov. 14: 1970: A chartered plane slammed into a hillside just short of Huntington's Tri-State Airport near Ceredo, killing all 75 of the passengers and crew. The victims included nearly the entire Marshall University football team, all but one of their coaches, and several fans. Subject of the movie "We Are Marshall".

Lincoln County Courthouse fire

Nov. 19, 1909: The Lincoln County courthouse was burned. With coal, oil and gas, and timber booming, the arson was suspected to have been done to destroy land records and confuse titles.

Colliers coal mine disaster

Nov. 20, 1894: Eight men were killed in a coal mine disaster near Colliers, Brooke County. They were using a dangerous method called ''shooting from the solid,'' meaning that they blasted the coal loose without first undercutting it.

Farmington Mine Disaster

Nov. 20, 1968: An explosion at Consolidation Coal Company's No. 9 mine near Farmington in Marion County killed 78 men. The disaster brought national attention to the issue of mine safety.

Selva Lewis "Lew" Burdette Jr.

Nov. 22, 1926: Selva Lewis ''Lew'' Burdette Jr. was born in Nitro. Burdette was an outstanding major league baseball player who spent most of his career with the Milwaukee Braves.

Constitutional Convention

Nov. 26, 1861: The Constitutional Convention of 1861-63 was convened in Wheeling. The convention provided the foundation for state government in preparation for statehood.

Huntington Hospital fire

Nov. 26, 1952: A fire on the evening before Thanksgiving at the Huntington State Hospital killed 14 patients, with three more patients later dying from their injuries. Huntington State Hospital is known today as the Mildred Mitchell-Bateman Hospital.

Flood of 1985

Nov. 4-5 Heavy rains led to devastating floods in parts of West Virginia. Forty-seven people were killed, and several towns were severely damaged.

Forks-of-Cheat Baptist Church

Nov. 7, 1775: The historic Forks-of-Cheat Baptist Church was organized about six miles north of Morgantown. It is the oldest church with continuous records west of the Alleghenies in West Virginia.

Huntington Museum of Art

Nov. 9, 1952: The Huntington Museum of Art opened as Huntington Galleries. The museum is located on more than 50 acres in the Park Hills section of Huntington.

Davis Grubb

Novelist born in Moundsville. His renown came with his first novel, Night of the Hunter (1953), a gripping suspense story adapted to film in 1955 and for television in 1991.

Morris Harvey College

Now called the University of Charleston. In 1947 it moved to its current location on the south side of the Kanawha River.

Oak Park

Oak Park, an amusement park in Preston County, Masontown actually, opened June 19, 1909. The park was an easy ride from Morgantown, and helped to fill up trains on weekends and holidays. On one summer day in 1909, 14 trains brought more than 4,000 people to the park. (I think there were certain days black people were allowed in when no one else was there.)

Braxton County Monster

Sept. 12, 1952: A group of local youths were startled from a game of football by a fireball streaking across the sky. The fireball fell to earth just beyond a hillside at Flatwoods. This sighting led to the legend of the Braxton County Monster.

Kanawha County Textbook Controversy

Sept. 12, 1974: Kanawha County schools were closed for four days because of an escalation in violence during the Kanawha County Textbook Controversy. Throughout October and November, sporadic violence continued as protesters demanded the resignation of pro-textbook board members and the superintendent of schools. Read more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanawha_County_textbook_controversy It's interesting! Somebody was shot.

J.R. Clifford

Sept. 13, 1848: Attorney ''J. R.'' Clifford was born in present Grant County. In 1887, Clifford became the first African-American admitted to practice law before the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. He was one of the first lawyers in the nation to challenge segregated schools.

Leon "Chu" Berry

Sept. 13, 1910: Musician Leon ''Chu'' Berry was born in Wheeling. He was one of the most highly regarded saxophonists of the Swing Era.

Okey Patteson

Sept. 14, 1898: Okey L. Patteson was born in Mingo County. Patteson, called the ''Great Persuader,'' tackled difficult decisions as West Virginia's 23rd governor from 1949 to 1953.

Spy Rock

Sept. 15, 1861: In the aftermath of the Battle of Carnifex Ferry, Union forces under the command of Gen. Jacob Cox occupied the area of Spy Rock. Spy Rock is a natural landmark located on U.S. 60, 18 miles east of Hawks Nest.

Largest capture of federal troops

Sept. 15, 1862: Confederate Gen. Thomas J. ''Stonewall'' Jackson forced the surrender of a large Union garrison inside the town of Harpers Ferry. The 12,500 prisoners taken by Jackson was the largest capitulation of federal troops in the war.

Henry Hatfield

Sept. 15, 1875: Henry Hatfield was born near Matewan, Mingo County. As a doctor in the coal camps, he helped secure funding to establish three miners hospitals for the southern part of the state. In 1912, he was elected the state's 14th governor.

Jack Rollins

Sept. 15, 1906: Songwriter Jack Rollins was born in Keyser. Rollins wrote the lyrics to ''Here Comes Peter Cottontail'' and ''Frosty the Snow Man,'' two of America's most popular songs.

John Knowles

Sept. 16, 1926: Writer John Knowles was born in Fairmont. He attained literary fame in 1959 with his first novel, A Separate Peace.

Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Sept. 16, 1950: Scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. was born in Keyser. Gates is one of the leading African-American intellectuals in the United States and has written several books, including Colored People: A Memoir, which describes his experiences growing up in Mineral County.

Lily Irene Jackson

Sept. 17, 1848: Artist Lily Irene Jackson was born in Parkersburg. Jackson was best known as a painter of animal portraits and floral arrangements, and as an advocate for the arts.

Mingo Oak

Sept. 23, 1938: The Mingo Oak was cut down after succumbing to the fumes of a burning coal refuse pile. The Mingo Oak, which stood near the Logan-Mingo county line, was more than 500 years old and may have been the largest white oak in the world.

Gale Catlett

West Virginia University basketball player and coach, was born in Hedgesville. Catlett coached WVU to 13 20-win seasons before he retired in 2002.

June 20, 1863

West Virginia became the 35th state. Arthur Boreman was the state's first governor.

Charleston

West Virginia voters in 1877 chose Charleston as the state capital over Clarksburg and Martinsburg.

Cecil Underwood

West Virginia's 25th and 32nd governor, served as the state's youngest and oldest chief executive.

Wally Barron

West Virginia's 26th governor achieved a remarkable record of legislative success during his term, but his accomplishments were overshadowed by the fact that he was the first governor in state history to be indicted or convicted of a major crime.

Congresswoman Elizabeth Kee

West Virginia's first female member of Congress in 1951.

Breece D'J Pancake

Writer born in South Charleston on June 29, 1952. He grew up in Milton, Cabell County. Many of Pancake's stories are set in Milton, fictionalized as ''Rock Camp.''

Dick Pointer

a slave, helped save about 60 settlers who were attacked by Indians at Fort Donnally near Lewisburg in 1778.

DeSales Heights

boarding school for young women in Parkersburg started by the Sisters of the Visitation of Holy Mary

"Pare" Lorentz

"Pare'' Lorentz, known as "FDR's filmmaker," was born in Clarksburg. In 1933, Lorentz created The Roosevelt Year: 1933, a pictorial review of FDR's first year in the White House.

Brinkley Bridge

A Wayne County bridge was named in honor of TV newsman David Brinkley in 1961. The condition of the bridge had become a news item during the 1960 presidential primary; state officials closed the bridge, repaired it, and invited Brinkley to return for the ceremony to officially name it the "Brinkley Bridge." It collapsed Sept. 22, 1970 under the weight of an overloaded truck.

Pursglove No. 2 Mine

A coal mine at Scotts Run near Morgantown had three fatal accidents in eight months including an explosion on July 9, 1942 that killed 20 men.

Logan Wildcats

A company of Confederate soldiers created at the Logan Courthouse in 1861(same day as first land battle of Civil War). The company, consisting of about 85 men, first saw action at the Battle of Scary Creek.

It's Wheeling Steel

A half-hour musical variety radio program that drew upon talented Wheeling Steel employees and families, the show ran eight years and was broadcast nationally. Debuted on WWVA on Nov. 8, 1936. Last program aired June 18, 1944.

Oldest statue in West Virginia

A nine-foot wood carving of Patrick Henry, was dedicated at the Monongalia county courthouse in Morgantown in 1851.

William H. "Teepi" Kendrick

A pioneer in West Virginia's 4-H program. He broadened the program to emphasize more than just agriculture, and he was primarily responsible for establishing the state 4-H camp at Jackson's Mill.

Clarence Wayland Watson

A prominent coal baron born May 8, 1864 in Fairmont and served in the U.S. Senate from 1911 to 1913.

Francis Pierpont

Elected June 20, 1861, Governor of the Reorganized Government of Virginia, on July 1, 1861 (2 years before we got statehood) called the legislature into session. The general assembly re-established governmental functions, provided for the raising of military units, and elected new U.S. senators and representatives. The Reorganized State of Virginia sat at Wheeling until West Virginia entered the Union two years later.

Ada Beatrice Queen Victoria Louise Virginia ''Bricktop'' Smith

Entertainer born at Alderson. She performed in Paris in the 1920s and opened her own club, called the Music Box, in 1926.

Donald F. Duncan

Entrepreneur who founded the Duncan Yo-Yo Company and the Duncan Parking Meter Corporation.

Curly Ray Cline

Fiddler born in Logan County, Cline was a member of the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers and Ralph Stanley's Clinch Mountain Boys. Died in 1997. He was one of the most significant bluegrass fiddlers from West Virginia from 1938 until his retirement in 1993.

Fools' Parade

Filming began Sept. 21, 1970 in Moundsville on the movie Fools' Parade, based on the novel by Davis Grubb. The filming concluded one month later when Grubb came to Moundsville for a dinner, accompanied by his dog, making the $750 round trip from New York City in a taxi.

Isaac Thomas Mann

Financier and industrialist born in Greenbrier County. As president of the Bank of Bramwell and president of the Pocahontas Fuel Company for three decades, ''Ike'' Mann held vast holdings in coal, timber, and especially financial institutions.

Franklin Cleckley

First African-American to serve on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. In 2001, the Supreme Court referred to Cleckley's handbooks on evidence and criminal procedure as ''the bible for West Virginia's judges and attorneys.''

Minnie Buckingham Harper

First African-American woman to serve as a member of a state legislative body in the United States. She was appointed by Governor Howard Gore on January 10, 1928, to fill the unexpired term of her husband, E. Howard Harper.

Honey in the Rock

First performed June 27, 1961at Grandview State Park, near Beckley, this play by Kermit Hunter depicts the founding of the Mountain State in 1863.

Gray Barker

Flying saucer investigator Gray Barker was born in Riffle, Braxton County. Barker became interested in unidentified flying objects in the 1950s after investigating the sightings of the Flatwoods Monster.

State constitution

Following the Constitutional Convention of 1872, the West Virginia electorate ratified a new state constitution by a vote of 42,344 to 37,777. In the same election, the voters rejected a controversial convention proposition that would have restricted office-holding to whites.

Israel Charles White

From Mon County, West Virginia's first state geologist, appointed in 1897 and serving until his death in 1927, working without pay for all but two of those years.

Morgan Morgan

From Wales Morgan is traditionally considered the first white settler of West Virginia. He settled in the Bunker Hill area in 1731, building a log house that still remains.

Army Private Kenneth Shadrick

From Wyoming County, he was the first U.S. serviceman killed in action in the Korean War.

William Crawford

Frontiersman was tortured and burned at the stake. Crawford had been captured by the Delaware, who mistakenly blamed him for the treacherous murder of about 100 Moravian Christian Indians.

Wheeling Symphony Orchestra

Gave its first concert at Oglebay Park (where we see Christmas lights) on June 30, 1929.

George Smith Patton

George Smith Patton was killed at the Battle of Winchester in 1864. Patton, a Charleston lawyer, had organized the Kanawha Riflemen, a Virginia militia company. He was the grandfather of Gen. George S. Patton of World War II.

Bill Campbell

Golfer, one of the first two inductees into the West Virginia Golf Hall of Fame in 2009. The other is Sam Snead. Campbell was born in Huntington. He won more than 30 championships over a seven-decade career and is considered one of the best amateur players in history.

Reber Telescope

Grote Reber died in 2002. In 1937, Reber built the world's first parabolic radio telescope in his backyard. The Reber Telescope was moved to the National Radio Observatory at Green Bank in the 1960s and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989.

George Brett

Hall of Fame third baseman for the Kansas City Royals, was born in Glen Dale in Marshall County. He is one of only four players in baseball history to accumulate 3,000 hits, 300 home runs and a career batting average of .300.

Earl Oglebay

He was one of West Virginia's most successful industrialists and a generous benefactor.

Minnie Kendall Lowther

Historian and journalist born in Ritchie County, she was one of the first West Virginia women to become a newspaper editor.

Hulett Smith

Hulett Smith was born in Beckley. In the 1964 gubernatorial primary Smith carried 53 of the state's 55 counties, receiving more votes than his three opponents combined.

Harold M. Hayslett

Instrument maker Harold M. Hayslett was born in Putnam County. Hayslett's violins, violas and cellos have received awards for tone and workmanship, and are cherished by collectors and players alike.

Pond Creek No. 1 Mine

Jan. 10, 1940: The Pond Creek No. 1 mine at Bartley in McDowell County exploded. The blast killed 91 miners, with another 47 escaping. Rescue teams worked five days to retrieve the bodies, but found no additional miners alive.

Beverly Covered Bridge

Jan. 11, 1865: Confederate forces under General Rosser burned the covered bridge at Beverly. Bridge builder Lemuel Chenoweth rebuilt the damaged span in 1872-73.

Joseph H. Diss Debar

Jan. 13, 1905: Joseph H. Diss Debar died in Philadelphia. A supporter of the movement to create West Virginia, Diss Debar was commissioned in 1863 to design the Great Seal of West Virginia.

Lottery tickets

Jan. 9, 1986: The first instant "scratch" lottery tickets were sold in West Virginia. Voters had approved the lottery amendment to the state constitution two years before.

Water crisis 2014/Elk River chemical spill

Jan. 9, 2014: Hazardous chemicals were discovered leaking into the Elk River, contaminating the water supply for a nine-county region. Resulted in new laws about above-ground storage tanks.

Elizabeth Virginia Hallanan

Judge Elizabeth Virginia Hallanan was born in Charleston. She was West Virginia's first female federal court judge.

Battle of Rich Mountain

July 11, 1861: The Battle of Rich Mountain was fought in Randolph County. Union troops under the command of General George McClellan defeated Confederate forces.

WV Culture Center

July 11, 1976: Gov. Arch Moore dedicated the West Virginia Culture Center. The structure was built to showcase the Mountain State's artistic, cultural, and historic heritage.

Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences

July 12, 2003: The Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences in downtown Charleston opened to the public. More than 50,000 schoolchildren from 50 West Virginia counties and 21 counties in surrounding states visit the center each year.

Battle of Corricks Ford

July 13, 1861: The Battle of Corricks Ford took place in Tucker County. Confederate Gen. Robert S. Garnett was killed. He was the first Confederate general killed in the Civil War.

Battle of Barboursville

July 14, 1861: Union troops under Gen. Jacob Cox drove Confederate militia and cavalry out of Barboursville during the Battle of Barboursville. Union forces remained in control of Barboursville for the remainder of the war.

Interstate 64

July 15, 1988: Interstate 64 was completed when the final section between Sam Black Church and the West Virginia Turnpike was opened to traffic.

Cliftonville Mine Battle

July 17, 1922: The Cliftonville Mine Battle took place east of Wellsburg, Brooke County. The gun battle between striking miners and sheriff's forces left at least nine people dead.

Buffington Island

July 19, 1863: A Confederate raid led by Gen. John Morgan came to an end on Buffington Island, near Ravenswood. The Confederates were overtaken by federal troops, local militia, and three U.S. Navy gunboats.

Carte Goodwin

July 20, 2010: Carte Goodwin became the nation's youngest senator when he took the oath of office. Goodwin was appointed to fill Robert C. Byrd's seat in the U.S. Senate following Byrd's death.

Gettysburg

July 3, 1863: At Gettysburg, Union troopers in the 1st West Virginia Cavalry took part in a fruitless cavalry charge against Confederate infantrymen during the waning moments of that great battle.

Scioto and John Lomas

July 4, 1882: Steamboats that collided on the Ohio River as they were returning from holiday excursions. The Scioto sank almost instantly, and 70 people drowned.

Modern warfare indirect fire

Milton Humphreys was born in Greenbrier County. During the Civil War, he enlisted in the Confederate service as a sergeant. At the battle of Fayetteville, Humphreys fired his cannon at Union artillery from behind an intervening forest. This demonstration set a precedent for modern warfare by the use of indirect fire.

Madonna of the Trail

Monument was dedicated in Wheeling in 1928. It is one of the 12 such statues erected along the National Road to honor America's pioneering women.

Joanne Dru

Movie and television actress Joanne Dru died Sept. 10, 1996 in Los Angeles. Dru was born Joan Letitia Lacock in Logan, West Virginia. Her movie career included more than 40 films.

Michael W. Smith

Musician Michael W. Smith was born in Kenova in 1957. He has recorded 22 Christian music albums and written 10 books.

Maceo Pinkard

Musician born in Bluefield. Pinkard became one of the most successful songwriters of the 1920s Jazz Era.

Hazel Dickens

Musician born in Mercer County, the eighth of 11 children. She was a pioneering old-time and bluegrass musician, known for preserving the traditional vocal styles of West Virginia.

Blind Alfred Reed

Musician born in Virginia, who spent most of his life in West Virginia. He composed and recorded some of the most creative topical country songs on Victor Records between 1927 and 1929.

Bill Withers Jr.

Musician born into a miner's family of 13 children in Slab Fork, Raleigh County. In 1971, Withers released his first album, Just As I Am, including his first Grammy-winning song, "Ain't No Sunshine." In 2015 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

William Jennings ''Billy'' Cox

Musician born near Charleston. Cox, known as the ''Dixie Songbird,'' ranked as one of West Virginia's premier country music vocalists and songwriters during the 1930s.

Tommy Thompson

Musician bornin1937 in St. Albans, Kanawha County. Through his group the Red Clay Ramblers and a career that spanned four decades, Thompson played a major role in keeping old-time music alive.

Otis Rice

Named West Virginia's first Historian Laureate in 2003.

Ice Mountain

National Natural Landmark in Hampshire County

John S. Knight

Newspaper publisher and Pulitzer Prize winner born in Bluefield. After serving in World War I, he became a reporter with the Beacon Journal and took over as editor when his father died September 26, 1933. He built the Knight-Ridder Newspapers chain, which had 3.2 million readers at the time of his death and owned some of the nation's most powerful newspapers including the Miami Herald, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Detroit Free Press. He was a conservative Republican but was noted for his bitter opposition to the Vietnam War. Based in part on his long record of service and also for his columns expressing opposition to American involvement in Vietnam, he received the Pulitzer Prize on May 6, 1968.

Rural Free Delivery

Oct. 1, 1896: Rural Free Delivery began in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle. Before this, there was no rural mail delivery, although more than half the country's citizens lived in rural areas. This is how mail is delivered. U.S. Postmaster General William Lyne Wilson was born in Smithfield, Jefferson County. Wilson joined President Cleveland's cabinet as postmaster general in 1895. In the following year, he introduced Rural Free Delivery in Jefferson County, an experiment which was quickly instituted nationwide.

Battle of Point Pleasant

Oct. 10, 1774: Shawnee warriors led by Cornstalk were defeated at the Battle of Point Pleasant. It was the only major engagement of Dunmore's War and the most important battle ever fought in present West Virginia.

Blanche Lazzell

Oct. 10, 1878: Blanche Lazzell was born in Maidsville, Monongalia County. She was one of West Virginia's most notable artists and is recognized as one of America's leading abstract painters and printmakers.

Chuck Yeager

Oct. 10, 1948: During a boat-racing event in Charleston, Chuck Yeager flew a Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star up the river and under the South Side Bridge, surprising boaters, audience and news media at the event. Yeager was a United States Air Force officer and record-setting test pilot. On Oct. 14, 1947: In a Bell X-1 rocket airplane dropped from a B-29 bomber, Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier by flying 700 miles per hour. He set another speed record on December 12, 1953, by flying two-and- a-half times the speed of sound in a Bell X-1A. In 1985 Kanawha Airport was named in honor of him.

Battle of Bulltown

Oct. 13, 1863: The Battle of Bulltown took place. The location was valuable during the Civil War because the Weston and Gauley Bridge Turnpike crossed the Little Kanawha River on a covered bridge at this site.

Raid at Harpers Ferry

Oct. 16, 1859: John Brown and his raiders captured the arsenal at Harpers Ferry, but they were soon besieged by the local militia and federal troops. The raid galvanized the nation, further alienating North and South and drastically reducing any possible middle ground for compromise.

Sullivan Principles

Oct. 16, 1922: The Rev. Leon Sullivan was born in Charleston. In 1977, Sullivan initiated the original Sullivan Principles, a code of conduct for companies operating in South Africa. The Principles were among the most effective efforts to end the system of apartheid.

Heyward Shepherd

Oct. 17, 1859: Heyward Shepherd, an African-American, was killed by John Brown's raiders at Harpers Ferry. Shepherd was a porter at the local railroad station and a property owner in nearby Winchester, Virginia.

Billy Cox

Oct. 18, 1941: William "Billy" Cox was born in Wheeling. He is one of two bassists to have played regularly with legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix.

Daniel Boone

Oct. 22, 1734: Frontiersman Daniel Boone was born in Pennsylvania. In 1788, Boone and his family settled near the mouth of the Kanawha River. He represented Kanawha County in the Virginia General Assembly in 1791.

Weston Hospital Fire

Oct. 3 1935: A patient at Weston State Hospital started a fire in the main building that destroyed six men's wards and caused a cupola to fall through the roof. The building was repaired, and the hospital remained in service for nearly 60 more years.

Peter Godwin Van Winkle

One of the first two U.S. senators from the new state of West Virginia.

Glen Rogers Coal Mine

Opened in 1921 in Wyoming County, it became one of the state's largest mines. Nov. 6, 1923: A methane gas explosion killed 27 men. A total of 160 fatalities occurred at the mine before it was closed.

Smoke Hole Caverns

Opened in 1940 in Grant County for tours. The cave is beautifully decorated with stalactites hanging in rows along the ceiling; the main room is called the "Room of a Million Stalactites."

National Mine Health and Safety Academy

Opened in 1976 at Beaver, near Beckley. The academy, located on an 80-acre campus, is the world's largest educational institution devoted solely to safety and health in mining.

Watoga State Park

Opened to the public in 1937, the park in Pocahontas County is the largest of the state parks and among the oldest.

Niagara Movement

Organization founded in 1905 by a group of African-American intellectuals, including W.E.B. DuBois. It began a five-day meeting at Storer College in Harpers Ferry in 1906.

Benedum

Philanthropist Michael Late Benedum was born July 16, 1869 in Bridgeport. He made a fortune in the oil and gas business, but he is best remembered for the establishment of the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation.

Arnout ''Sonny'' Hyde Jr.

Photographer born in Bluefield. His images of nature and people have appeared in magazines, books, and calendars throughout the U.S. and Europe.

C-section birth

Physician Jesse Bennet performed the first successful caesarian section in America in 1794, on his own wife and without proper equipment and with no antiseptics. He later established a large practice in Mason County and served as an Army surgeon in the War of 1812.

First telephone exchange

Placed in service in Wheeling with about 25 subscribers on May 15, 1880.

Maryat Lee

Playwright who established Eco Theater in Summers County as an indigenous mountain theater, using Summers County people as actors. Died in 1989.

Roy Lee Harmon

Poet Roy Lee Harmon was born in Boone County in 1900. He was the founder of the West Virginia Poetry Society and served as the state's poet laureate for 38 years.

Danske Dandridge

Poet born in Copenhagen, Denmark. The daughter of an American ambassador, she lived in Shepherdstown from age 19, where her work was published in Harper's and The Century. Both of her homes, The Bower and Rosebrake, are Jefferson County landmarks.

Muriel Miller Dressler

Poet born in Kanawha County. Her poem ''Appalachia,'' published in 1970, was her signature piece.

Henry Gassaway Davis

Politician and industrialist known in the early 20th century as West Virginia's ''Grand Old Man." He was a senator.

Richard V. Whelan

Pope Pius IX established the Diocese of Wheeling on July 19, 1850 naming Richard V. Whelan as its first bishop.

Alexander Polk Donaghho

Potter and businessman born in 1829. He began a pottery operation in Parkersburg, creating hand-thrown, salt-glazed crocks, jars and other pottery that are avidly collected today.

Collis Potter Huntington

Railroad mogul and founder of Huntington. Raised in poverty, Huntington went west when gold was discovered in California. There he became rich, not from mining but by selling supplies to miners. Oct. 22, 1821: Collis P. Huntington was born in Harwinton, Connecticut. In 1869, Huntington purchased the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway and set about extending its tracks from Richmond across southern West Virginia to the Ohio River. There, in 1871, he Booestablished a new city bearing his name.

Works Progress Administration

Ritter Park in Huntington opened in September 11, 1913. Much of the roads and stonework around the 75-acre municipal park were constructed as part of the Works Progress Administration project during the Great Depression. Other projects built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (an effort by the government to put people to work) include Coopers Rock.

Johnnie Johnson

Rock 'n' roll pioneer was born in Fairmont in 1924. Johnson collaborated with Chuck Berry on songs such as ''Roll Over, Beethoven.'' Berry's hit ''Johnny B. Goode'' was written as a tribute to Johnson.

Sam Huff

Sam Huff was born near Morgantown in 1934. Huff was part of a fearsome defense that led West Virginia University to a 38-7 record between 1952 and 1955, including three consecutive wins over rival Penn State.

Gladys Tuke

Sculptor born in Linwood, Pocahontas County. Tuke was a member of the original artist colony at The Greenbrier; during World War II she taught at Ashford General Hospital, and later established a pottery and sculpture studio in White Sulphur Springs.

Senator Rush Dew Holt

Senator Rush Dew Holt was born in 1905 in Weston. At 29, Holt was the youngest person ever elected to the U.S. Senate, earning him the nickname ''Boy Senator.'' Since the Constitution sets 30 as the minimum age for senators, Holt had to wait until his birthday in June 1935 to take his seat, nearly six months into the 74th Congress.

Jennings Randolph

Senator who died May 8, 1998 at the age of 96. He was first elected to Congress in 1932 and served for 40 years.

Betty Zane

Sept. 10, 1782: Frontier heroine Betty Zane is credited with saving Fort Henry in Wheeling during an attack by the British and Indians. According to one account, Zane sprinted across a field to retrieve gunpowder from the Zane family cabin.

Battle of Carnifex Ferry

Sept. 10, 1861: The Battle of Carnifex Ferry took place on the Gauley River. Union General William Rosecrans sent in brigades one at a time as they arrived at the battlefield, allowing the outnumbered Confederates to repulse the piecemeal attacks. During the night, the Confederates decided to retreat before they could be defeated in the morning.

Battle of Cheat Mountain

Sept. 12, 1861: The Battle of Cheat Mountain was fought near the Randolph-Pocahontas County line. Gen. Robert E. Lee came into western Virginia to give support to Gen. William W. Loring, commander of the Army of Northwestern Virginia, but the battle ended in a defeat for the Confederacy.

Great Bend Tunnel

Sept. 12, 1872: The Great Bend Tunnel was completed. The tunnel, also known as Big Bend Tunnel, is the place where John Henry defeated the steam drill, becoming one of the world's great folk heroes.

Wheeling-LaBelle Nail Company

Sept. 30, 2010: Facing an economic downturn and foreign competition, Wheeling-La Belle Nail Company closed. The company was founded in 1852 as LaBelle Ironworks. By 1875, the city was known as the Nail City, and La Belle was Wheeling's leading nail producer. The Wheeling hockey team -- the Nailers -- gets their name from the nail-making history.

Ohio River Civil War

Sept. 4, 1862: General Albert G. Jenkins and his men crossed the Ohio River and became the first to raise the Confederate flag on Ohio soil.

Sutton in the Civil War

Sept. 5, 1861: Sutton was occupied by 5,000 Union troops. Later in 1861, General Rosecrans bivouacked 10,000 Union troops there, including a future president, William McKinley.

Bank of Huntington Robbery

Sept. 6, 1875: Members of the notorious James Gang robbed the Bank of Huntington and got away on horseback. The robbery spawned a host of legends, including stories about outlaw Frank James - brother of Jesse James -- hiding out in Wayne County.

Mountaineer Field

Sept. 6, 1980: The new Mountaineer Field opened in Morgantown with a 41-27 win over Cincinnati. It was the first game of new coach Don Nehlen, who would become the most successful coach in West Virginia University history.

Barboursville Civil War

Sept. 8, 1862: Raiders led by Confederate Gen. Albert G. Jenkins, a Cabell County native, rode into Barboursville. They skirmished with the enemy, then rode into Wayne, Logan, and Raleigh counties.

Eleanor Steber

Singer born in Wheeling. She made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera in 1940.

Stella Fuller

Social reformer Stella Fuller was born Stella Lawrence Cremeans in Point Pleasant. In the 1940s, Fuller opened a relief operation on Huntington's Washington Avenue. Eventually, the Stella Fuller Settlement expanded into the area's largest haven for the disadvantaged and homeless.

Billy Edd Wheeler

Songwriter, musician, playwright, humorist, and poet Billy Edd Wheeler was born in Whitesville.

Susanne Fisher

Soprano born in Sutton, the first West Virginian to sing at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City

Spencer State Hospital

Spencer State Hospital openedin1893. With its connected brick buildings, a quarter-mile in length, the hospital was sometimes referred to as the longest continuous brick building in America. Spencer State Hospital remained in operation until June 1989.

Hatfield-McCoy Feud

Started in 1878 when Randolph McCoy in Logan County accused a cousin of Anderson ''Devil Anse'' Hatfield of stealing a hog.

A. James Manchin

State Treasurer who resigned after being impeached. With a stock market downturn in 1987, Manchin bore much of the blame when the state lost nearly $300 million in investments for which he was responsible. He was from Farmington in Marion County.

Waitman Willey

State founder Waitman Willey is remembered for the Willey Amendment, which provided for the emancipation of slaves as a precondition for the creation of West Virginia.

Waitman T. Willey

State founder and U.S. Senator Waitman Thomas Willey was born near Farmington in 1811. Willey proposed the West Virginia Statehood Bill in the Senate and saw to its passage and later signing by President Lincoln. He was then elected as one of West Virginia's first two U.S. senators and served from 1863 to 1871.

Sutton Dam

Sutton Dam was dedicated by Governor Wally Barron in 1961. The Army Corps of Engineers operates the dam for purposes of flood control, low-flow augmentation, and recreation.

Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge

The 500th refuge in the National Wildlife Refuge system. It is one of the largest and most diverse freshwater wetland areas in central and southern Appalachia.

The Battle of Scary Creek

The Battle of Scary Creek took place July 17, 1861 in Putnam County. It was one of the earliest battles of the Civil War and one of the first Confederate victories.

June 15, 1963

The Cass Scenic Railroad took its first passenger trip during the state's Centennial celebration.

Children's Home Society

The Children's Home Society was formed by a group of Charleston ministers at the YMCA in 1896. Their goal was to place orphaned and neglected children with caring families rather than crowd them into county poorhouses.

Memorial Arch

The Memorial Arch was dedicated on Armistice Day (Nov. 11/Veterans Day) in 1929 in Huntington. The Memorial Arch stands at the intersection of 11th Avenue and Memorial Boulevard in Huntington. The arch pays tribute to Cabell County soldiers who fought in World War I.

The Rev. Bernard Coffindaffer

The Rev. Bernard Coffindaffer died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 1993. Starting in 1984, Coffindaffer began erecting clusters of three crosses in West Virginia and other states. He was buried in Nicholas County, just across the highway from a set of his crosses.

Green Bank Telescope

The Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope was dedicated in 2000. It is the world's largest fully steerable radio telescope.

Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel strike

The Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel strike ended in 1997 when 79 percent of the workers approved a new contract. A 10-month walkout by steelworkers at Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel was the longest steel manufacturing strike on record when it concluded.

Dagmar

The actress Dagmar was born Virginia Ruth Egnor in Logan County in 1921. Her acting career took off in 1950 when she was hired to be on NBC's "Broadway Open House," the network's first late-night television show.

Fairmont Branch Normal School

The cornerstone for the first building of the Fairmont Branch Normal School was laid at the corner of Adams and Quincy streets in the heart of town on Aug. 15, 1867. The first class of students occupied the new building in April 1869. That school evolved into Fairmont State University.

USS West Virginia (current)

The current USS West Virginia was commissioned Oct. 20, 1990. The USS West Virginia is an Ohio Class Trident ballistic missile submarine that is 560 feet long, 42 feet wide, and displaces 18,750 tons when submerged.

WCFC

The first FM radio station in the state, WCFC of Beckley, began regular programming Aug. 15, 1946

June 3, 1861

The first land battle of the Civil War took place in Philippi. About 3,000 federal troops drove about 800 Confederates from the town.

WMUL-FM

The first non-commercial radio station in West Virginia, WMUL-FM at Marshall University, began broadcasting in 1961.

Harriet B. Jones

The first woman licensed to practice medicine in West Virginia, she attended the Wheeling Female College and graduating from the Women's Medical College of Baltimore, she opened a private practice in Wheeling.

West Virginia capitol

The present Capitol took eight years to complete at a cost of just under $10 million. It was constructed in three stages. The west wing was built in 1924-25; the east wing was constructed in 1926-27; and the rotunda connecting the wings was completed in 1930-32. CASS GILBERT was the architect. 293-foot gold dome which tops the structure is five feet higher than the dome of the U.S. Capitol. The entire dome is gilded in 23 ½ karat gold leaf applied to the copper and lead roof in tiny 3 3/8 inch squares.

Karl Dewey Myers

The state's second poet laureate named by Governor Howard Mason Gore. Myers held the post for 10 years.

Battle of Pigeon Roost

Took place May 17, 1862 in Princeton during the Civil War. Union soldiers were noisily approaching Princeton from the southeast, unaware that the Confederates were lying in ambush. The attack left an estimated 18 federal troops killed and 38 wounded.

first land battle of the Civil War

Took place in Philippi on June 3, 1861. About 3,000 federal troops drove about 800 Confederates from the town.

The Artists' Excursion

Train trip left Baltimore on its way to Wheeling in 1858. A Baltimore & Ohio (B&O RR) executive planned the rail trip to promote tourism. About 50 passengers were on board, including artist and writer David Hunter Strother, who described the experience in an article for Harpers magazine.

Nathan B. Scott

U. S. Senator who became one of West Virginia's four richest and most powerful men by 1900.

Alan Mollohan

U.S. Congressman born May 14, 1943 in Fairmont. He served in the U.S. Congress from 1982 to 2010.

Brig. Gen. William Woods Averell

Union cavalry under Brig. Gen. William Woods Averell destroyed the Confederate saltpeter works near Franklin on Aug. 19, 1863.

Battle of Moorefield

Union troops under Gen. William W. Averell attacked the headquarters of Gen. Bradley Johnson. The Confederates were routed and fled south into the town; the Union captured 500 men and 400 horses.

Mary Harris Mother Jones

United Mine Workers of America union activist Read about her here: http://www.biography.com/people/mother-jones-9357488

Arthur Boreman

first governor of the new state of West Virginia elected May 28, 1863

Alexander Martin

first president of the Agricultural College of West Virginia, which was renamed West Virginia University at his recommendation in 1868.