National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Turquoise color was introduced for Fiestaware

Louis W. Chappell began field recording of folksongs

Garnet was classified as first-class high school

Glenville State College received admission to the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education

"Biggie" Goldberg lead University of Pittsburgh to the national football championship

The Model L Gravely tractor was introduced

Benjamin Gravely retired from the day-to-day management of the company

The National Park Service conducted a survey of the Jefferson County site for the Harpers Ferry National Historic Park

The U.S. Department of Agriculture began purchasing property in Randolph County to reforest the land and reclaim streams to create Holly River State Park

U.S. Army Corp of Engineers constructed a floodwall to protect Huntington from the Ohio

The Huttonsville Correctional Center was founded as part of the West Virginia penitentiary system

Monsignor Thomas Quirk died

Louis Johnson served in the Roosevelt Administration as assistant secretary of war

Kenova experienced a disastrous flood

The State Labor Federation joined the CIO's new West Virginia state organization

Blanche Lazzell returned to Provincetown to study with Hans Hofmann

Pare Lorentz shot and edited The River

Lost River State Park opened

Sam Mallison was hired as head of public relations for the Benedum-Trees Company

The Marshall College centennial brought descendants of John Marshall to the campus for the unveiling of a bust of the chief justice

Walter Martens completed the Riverview Terrace apartments in Charleston

The Appalachian Trail was established

The PSC was given jurisdiction over motor carriers of goods and passengers.

Walter Reuther represented 30,000 workers in 76 shops for the United Auto Workers

The original 440 sites designated by the Commission on Historic and Scenic Highway Markers were erected

The Harrison Rural Electrification Association was established

Recreation facilities were opened to the public in Seneca State Forest

Flood waters rose in the lower section of the Smoot Theater

Sam Snead joined the Professional Golf Association tour

Harley Staggers was elected Mineral County sheriff

The National Labor Relations Board charged Weirton Steel with unfair labor practices

The United Steelworks signed a contract at Wheeling Steel

Joe Stydahar was first named to the All-National Football League team

DuPont's Belle Works began world production of nylon

A large wood mill was built in the Tygart Valley Homesteads

The trade center building in Tygart Valley Homesteads was completed

The women of Friendly seated an all-female municipal government

CCC Camps Seebert and Will Rogers were closed

Volkmar Wentzel became a writer and photographer for National Geographic

Phil Conley sold the West Virginia Review

Harrison Ferrell became dean of West Virginia State College (now University)

West Virginia Pulp & Paper Company built a bleached paperboard mill in South Carolina

Wheeling Downs opened for harness racing

Patty Willis exhibited her work at the Society of International Artists in New York

Carter G. Woodson began the publication of The Negro History Bulletin

Joseph Newman Alderson became the national WPA director

Grote Reber built a telescope with a 31.4-foot diameter parabolic dish in his backyard

Katherine Johnson graduated from West Virginia State College with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and French

Sam Jones won the state marble-shooting championship

167th moved to Martinsburg

Huntington's Memorial Field House hosted the state boys basketball tournament

Bluestone State Park joined state park system

Clarksburg constructed Buffalo Lake

Legislature considered declaring TV cable companies to be public utilities subject to regulation by Public Service Commission

Sutton Dam completed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Cedar Creek State Park joined state park system

Petersburg fish hatchery noticed different color trout in hatchery's rainbow trout

Judge Ben Moore ruled against racial discrimination at Sky Chief Restaurant at Kanawha (now Yeager) Airport

The black bear became the state animal

Croatian Cultural Club founded in Benwood

Mutation of normal-colored rainbow trout was discovered

Lester Hayes Jr. caught a 52.5 inch, 43 pound muskie in the Elk River

Gunner Gatski earned All-Pro honors in football

The Night of the Hunter was adapted to film

Elizabeth Hallanan became a member of the State Board of Education

Storer College was closed

William Hoffman wrote his first novel, The Trumpet Unblown

All institutions of higher learning in West Virginia except Glenville State had enrolled African-American students

Coach Cam Henderson left Marshall College (now University)

Bernard McDonough bought the O. Ames Company in Parkersburg

Logan County surpassed McDowell County as the leading coal producing county in the nation

Mildred Mitchell-Bateman was invited to return to Lakin State Hospital after leaving to further studies

Pardee & Curtin built the first all-electric single-band sawmill in the state at Curtin, Webster County.

Otis Rice served as president of the West Virginia Historical Society

Leonard Riggleman became the Charleston Gazette's West Virginia Man of the Year

West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission adopted its current name

West Virginia State and Bluefield State integrated the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

Sumner School closed after the Brown v. Board of Education decision

William P. Tams retired

Theatre West Virginia was founded as the West Virginia Historical Drama Association

Morris Harvey College (now University of Charleston) built its first dormitory

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations combined as AFL-CIO

Billy Edd Wheeler received a B.A. in English from Berea College

Lawrence R. McHugh, S.J. became president of Wheeling College (now Wheeling University)

George Wolfe was discharged from the army

The 130th Troop Carrier Squadron (130th Airlift Squadron) was formed

The West Virginia Lobotomy Project ended

The Sugar Grove site was selected for a radio telescope

Tunney Hunsaker moved to Fayetteville

Reorganization changed name from AG&E back to Appalachian Power

Leroy Allen became president of Bluefield State College (now University)

Ruby Bradley became a colonel

Elk River Coal & Lumber Company was sold to Clinchfield Coal Company

Clarksburg Park Board developed Buffalo Lake into a public recreation area

Dale Brooks released "The Ambridge Boogie" on Cozy Records

Phyllis Curtin sang Susannah at the Brussels World's Fair

Phyllis Curtin sang with the Charleston Symphony Opera

Ellis Dungan returned to the Ohio Valley, settling in Wheeling

State superintendent of schools became a Board of Education appointee

National Radio Quiet Zone surrounding Green Bank observatory was established by the Federal Communications Commission

Jack Fleming became announcer for the Pittsburgh Steelers

Follansbee rolling and annealing facilities were sold to Wheeling Steel

"Biggie" Goldberg was elected to the NFL Hall of Fame and the West Virginia Sports Writers Hall of Fame

Davis Grubb wrote The Watchman

Alberta Pierson Hannum wrote Paint the Wind

Chuck Howley was drafted by the Chicago Bears

The school year was interrupted by an anti-integration school bombing at Osage near Morgantown

A new dormitory was constructed at Marshall College (now University)

The need for local graduate education was articulated by officials at Union Carbide Corporation and other Kanawha Valley chemical concerns, and Kanawha Valley Graduate Center was founded

John Matheus retired from West Virginia State College (now University)

Jack Maurice won the Sigma Delta Chi award for editorial writing

The McClain Printing Company was incorporated

McClain Printing Company published its first book, Chronicles of Border Warfare by Alexander Scott Withers

Mildred Mitchell-Bateman became superintendent of the Lakin State Hospital

Moncove Public Hunting and Fishing area was purchased by the West Virginia Conservation Commission

Ohio Valley Speedway was built

Marble King Factory moved to Paden City

Jennings Randolph flew from Morgantown to Washington on a plane fueled with gasoline made from West Virginia coal

William Revercomb left U.S. Senate, defeated by Robert C. Byrd

Leonard Riggleman led Morris Harvey to accreditation

Fred Schaus guided WVU's basketball team to a No. 1 national ranking at the end of the regular season

Festus Summers co-authored with Charles Ambler the second edition of West Virginia: The Mountain State

Morris Harvey College (now University of Charleston) was accredited by the North Central Accreditation Agency

Jerry West played on the WVU team that finished No.1 in the nation

Jerry West was a second-team All-American in basketball

West Virginia Yesterday and Today was adopted as a state textbook

The West Virginia turnpike was included in the Interstate highway system

A water ski show moved from Tennessee to Hinton

Aunt Jennie Wilson was discovered by Patrick Gainer

Elizabeth Gilmore helped organize the Charleston chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)

Alderson-Broaddus College (now University) achieved accreditation from the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Three-class format based on school size, each class having eight teams was created for the state high school basketball tournament

Berwind Lake Wildlife Management Area began

J. G. Bradley sold the Widen Mine to Clinchfield Coal Company

Owners of Maryland's Pimlico Race Course bought Charles Town Race Track

Name changed from Barber Sanatorium to Kanawha Valley Memorial Hospital

Goodyear plant built near Apple Grove

There were 47 covered bridges still in existence in West Virginia

Donald Duncan sold the Duncan Parking Meter Corporation

Ellis Dungan Productions produced Wheels to Progress

Medium green was introduced for fiestaware

Hal Greer advanced to the National Basketball Association after graduation from Marshall

Perry Gresham wrote Sage of Bethany

Four Boone County businessmen opened the first Heck's department store in Charleston

Dixie Kilham bought the Hilltop House

William Hoffman wrote Days in the Yellow Leaf

Homer Laughlin China Company began producing restaurant china

John Knowles wrote his first novel, A Separate Peace

John Knowles wrote his first novel, A Separate Peace

Catherine Marshall married Leonard E. LeSourd

Kyle McCormick wrote The New-Kanawha River and the Mine War of West Virginia

Charlie McCoy moved to Nashville

New Mennonite congregation started in Pocahontas County

The Mill Point Prison Camp closed

Moncove Lake was created by the damming of Devil Creek

Size of the Moundsville prison doubled

John Forbes Nash was hospitalized for schizophrenia

The historic Reber Radio Telescope moved to Green Bank

Warden M. Lane outline a proposal for reorganization of the Conservation Commission to correct an overlapping of duties

Lewis Keller, Sr. purchased the Oakhurst Links property from Cary Montague

Don Gardner became the first president of Ohio Valley College (now University)

Rex and Eleanor Parker had a conversion experience and thereafter performed only sacred music

Rebel Records was founded in Maryland

Nat Reese returned to West Virginia to work for the State Road Commission

ABC-TV first aired Lunch with Soupy Sales

WVU basketball team lost 71-70 to California in the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament final

Reported 2,843 schools in West Virginia

Shenandoah Downs opened in Charles Town

Agnes Smith published An Edge of the Forest

Hulett Smith left the state Aeronautics Commission

Blaze Starr met Louisiana Gov. Earl Long while performing in New Orleans

Jerry West was named most valuable player of the NCAA tournament

Jerry West was unanimous All American first-team choice

Patrick Gainer became president of the West Virginia Folklore Society

The Mountaineers went to the national basketball championships

Water ski shows failed to draw a crowd

William F. Troy, S.J. became president of Wheeling College (now Wheeling University)

Katherine Johnson married Lt. Colonel James A. Johnson

Tunney Hunsaker fought Ernie Terrell

The Special Forces (Green Berets) were created in the Army National Guard

Federal Highway Administrator Rex Whitten signed a memo authorizing the extension of I-79 into West Virginia

The Reber Radio Telescope at Green Bank was designated a National Historic Landmark

Reber Radio Telescope at Green Bank was designated a National Historic Landmark

The Middlebourne Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places

Arch A. Moore Jr. was released from prison

Commerce Bank was bought by Huntington Bancshares becoming Huntington Banks

Ohio Valley College absorbed Northeastern Christian Junior College

The Stories of Breece D'J Pancake was published in Great Britain

West Virginia Lottery director Elton "Butch" Bryan and Ed Rebrook, counsel for the Lottery, were convicted of insider trading and sent to prison

Walton High School and Spencer High School were consolidated into Roane County High School

Legislature changed the name of Huntington State Hospital to Huntington Hospital

Ravenswood Aluminum Corporation became part of Century Aluminum

June Kilgore was honored with the Distinguished West Virginian award by Governor Gaston Caperton

Keith Mailard wrote Hazard Zones

Melvin Lentz chopped a 13-inch horizontal yellow poplar in 18.85 seconds and a 12-inch yellow poplar vertical block in 15.97 seconds

Andy Davis began working in antique style with solid core, diachronic, and mica-flake designs glass marbles

The Moundsville State Penitentiary closed

Randy Moss was chosen West Virginia high school football player of the year

The Woodlands Institute changed its name to Mountain Institute

State Parks administration was returned to Natural Resources from the Division of Tourism

Donald Rasmussen was named "Civil Libertarian of the Year" by the West Virginia Civil Liberties Union.