Virginia Geographic Calendar

Virginia Geographic Calendar - December

December 1: - In 2020, the "Beyond Hello" medical marijuana facility first opened in Prince William County.
December 2: - Major Pierre Charles L'Enfant purchased Government Island so Aquia sandstone could be quarried for public buildings in Washington, DC.
December 3: - In 1867, Judge John C. Underwood opened the convention in Richmond that created what became the 1870 state constitution.
December 4: - In 1619, what Virginia tourism officials claim to be the "First Thanksgiving" was held at Berkeley Plantation - but no turkeys were involved.
December 5: - In the 1781 Battle of the Capes, the French fleet forced the British fleet to return to New York and leave Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown without the planned British reinforcements.
December 6: - In 1861, the Secession Convention reconvened in Richmond and drafted a new state constitution (which voters ulimately rejected).
December 7: - General Assembly creates County of Kentucky in 1776, incorporated territory as a part of the new State of Virginia and rejecting the Transylvania Company claims (The Struggle over the Political Birth of Kentucky)
December 8: - In 1904, Samuel Langley made his last attempt at manned flight.
December 9: - In 1775, defeat at the Battle of Great Bridge led to the British abandoning Norfolk.
December 10: - In 2019, the Marinsville City Council voted 5-0 for the city to revert to town status.
December 11: - In 1811, the New Madrid earthquake woke Thomas Jefferson at Monticello
December 12: - Norfolk Southern Railroad announced officially in 2018 that it would move its corporate headquarters from Norfolk to Atlanta, and paid back subsidies that Virginia and Norfolk had provided in 2015 to relocate jobs from Roanoke to Norfolk
December 13: - In 1990, Buddy Earl Justus became the last person to be electrocuted at the Virginia State Penitentiary.
December 14: - In 1736, William Mayo and Robert Brooke were hired by the colonial officials in Williamsburg, and Benjamin Winslow and John Savage were hired by Lord Fairfax, to determine the "headspring" of the Potomac River. On December 14, 1736, they scarred trees to define the western edge of The Fairfax Grant, the spot where the first Fairfax Stone was marked in 1746.
December 15: - Bill of Rights Day, designated in the Title 2.2, Section 33 of the Code of Virginia: "The fifteenth day of December of each year shall be designated and known as the Bill of Rights Day in recognition of the ratification of the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution"
December 16: - In 1606, the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery sailed from London, bringing colonists ultimately to Jamestown.
December 17: - In 2022, the Omni Homesead Resort reopened the Warm Springs Pools in Bath County to the public after a $4.6 million restoration.
December 18: - In 1789, the General Assembly passed An act concerning the erection of the district of Kentuckey into an independent state.
December 19: - In 1791. Maryland transferred jurisdiction over its portion of the new District of Columbia to the Federal government, changing ownership of the Potomac River next to Alexandria.
December 20: - In 1770, Lord Botetourt directs Col. Andrew Lewis and Dr. Thomas Walker to advocate in Treaty of Lochaber negotiations that the Cherokee cede additional lands from the mouth of the Kanawha River to the mouh of the "Cherokee" (Tennessee) River, matching the cession made in the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix by the Iroquois.
December 21: - the climate is shaped by differential heating, and every year the winter solstice marks the day with the least amount of daylight in Virginia.
December 22: - In 1875, one of the biggest earthquakes to be documented in Virginia struck just before midnight in Goochland/Powhatan counties, in the Central Virginia Seismic Zone. That 4.5 magnitude earthquake was felt as far north as Baltimore.
December 23: - In 1762, the General Assembly chartered the towns of Romney and Shepherdstown, so one of them is the oldest town in West Virginia.
December 24: - In 2022, Dominion Energy set a winter peak and all-time record of 22,189 MW demand for electricity.
December 25: - In 1856, workers digging from separate directions on the Blue Ridge Tunnel met in the middle when they "holed through" on Christmas Day.
December 26: - In 1811, Gov. George William Smith died in the Richmond Theater Fire.
December 27: - In 2004, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) ruled that the King William Reservoir planned by Newport News complied with Virginia's Coastal Resources Management Program. The project was later blocked by the refusal of the US Army Corps of Engineers to issue a Section 404 permit that was required by the Clean Water Act.
December 28: - In 2020, White's Ferry crossing the Potomac River abruptly closed after operating for over 200 years, due to a property dispute rgarding use of the landing on the Virginia side.
December 29: - In 1971, the chair of the State Board of Elections reached into a silver cup to break a tie vote in the race for the House of Delegates 19th District. Both the winning and losing candidate agreed "There should have been a runoff to let the people decide."
December 30: - In 1780, General Benedict Arnold sailed into the Chesapeake Bay, arriving from New York with almost 30 ships and 1,500 troops.
December 31: - In 1862, Abraham Lincoln signed the bill to admit West Virginia as a new state into the Union.

Virginia Calendar
Virginia Places