West Virginia: Timeline

1861   American Civil War American Civil War

The American Civil War was a sectional conflict in the United States of America [i] between the federal ... 

: West Virginia secedes from Virginia Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia is one of the original thirteen colonies [i] of the United States [i] ... 

.

1862   American Civil War American Civil War

The American Civil War was a sectional conflict in the United States of America [i] between the federal ... 

: Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln , sometimes called Abe Lincoln and nicknamed Honest Abe, the Rail Splitte... 

 signs an act that admits West Virginia to the Union (thus dividing Virginia in two); meanwhile, the Battle of Stones River is fought near Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

1863   West Virginia is admitted as the 35th U.S. state U.S. state

A state of the United States is any one of the fifty subnational entities referred to as a state [i] ... 

.

1897   Elva Zona Heaster found dead in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. The resulting murder trial of her husband was perhaps the only case in United States history where the testimony of a ghost helped secure a conviction.

1900   A coal mine explosion in West Virginia traps 50 coal miners.

1960   On the campaign trail in West Virginia, Senator John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy

John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also referred to as John F.... 

 says, in reply to a question about his Roman Catholic faith, "I don't think that my religion is anyone's business."

1970   A fatal airplane accident in Wayne County, West Virginia, claims the lives of all 75 onboard, including 37 players and five coaches from the Marshall University football American football

American football, known in the United States [i] and Canada [i] simply as football, is a competit ... 

 team.

1974   Daredevil Bob Gill fails a world-record attempt to jump Appalachia Lake in West Virginia.