The Powhatan and Rappahannock are believed to be the first settlers of Virginia.
May 13, 1607, is the date when the first English settlers landed at Jamestown, thus officially establishing Virginia.
Virginia's first (true) governor was Edward Maria Wingfield, in 1607.
The first Thanksgiving feasts by the English were actually held in Virginia as early as 1607, with a definite date in 1610.
The first Africans to arrive at Virginia's coast most likely originated from Ndongo/Angola.
The first Angolans to arrive in Virginia were skilled in fishing and metalworking.
The first settlers of Virginia's Shenandoah Valley of European ancestry were the Scots-Irish and Germans from PA, in the 1730s.
The Virginia Declaration of Rights was the first protection of individual rights, which influenced the Declaration of Independence and US Constitution.
Virginia's first governor during/after declaring independence on May 15, 1776, was Edmund Pendleton (August 16, 1775 – July 5, 1776).
The first Virginia governor to be a member of any political party was Henry Lee III (1791 – 1794), a Federalist; the only Federalist governor of Virginia.
Richmond, Virginia's first steam boat operation was established in 1815 on the James River; a mere 4 years after their 1st voyage in 1811.
Winchester, Virginia, is said to be the first city south of the Potomac River to install electric lighting.
On March 9, 1862, the CSS Virginia and the USS Monitor engaged at Hampton Roads, VA; the world's first ironclad naval battle.
One of the very first examples of modern military submarines was put in commission in the James River in Virginia by the Confederacy.
The first successful electric street rail operation was established in Richmond, Virginia, in 1888.
The Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel in Virginia is the world's first bridge-tunnel, first opened in 1957.
