The following events happened on these dates in West Virginia history. To read more, go to e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia at www.wvencyclopedia.org.
May 18, 1955: While pitching for the Chicago Cubs, Monongah native Sam Jones became the first Black pitcher in Major League Baseball history to toss a no-hitter.
May 18, 1987: Science communicator, writer, and TV host Emily Calandrelli was born in Morgantown. Since graduating from WVU and MIT, she’s hosted her own science children’s show and been a regular on Bill Nye’s program. In 2024, she became the 100th woman in history to venture into space.
May 18, 2012: Ice Mountain in Hampshire County was named a National Natural Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior at a ceremony to mark the 50th anniversary of the program.
May 19, 1920: Ten people were killed in a shootout sometimes referred to as the Matewan Massacre. The episode started when Baldwin-Felts detectives came to Matewan to evict striking miners and their families from their homes. Police Chief Sid Hatfield tried to stop the evictions as being unauthorized by law, and the gunfight broke out.
May 20, 1949: Nick Joe Rahall II was born in Beckley. When Rahall first entered Congress in 1977, he was its youngest member. He served until 2015.
May 21, 1853: William M. O. Dawson was born in Bloomington, Maryland, just across the Potomac River from what is now the Eastern Panhandle. In 1905, he became West Virginia’s 12th governor.
May 22, 1947: Supreme Court Justice Margaret “Peggy” Workman was born in Charleston. In November 1988, she became the first woman elected to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals and to statewide office in West Virginia.
May 23, 1862: In what became known as the Battle of Lewisburg, Union troops repelled a Confederate advance, killing 38 and wounding 66, while losing only 13 men. Following the battle, Confederate dead lay in the sanctuary of the Old Stone Presbyterian Church.
May 23, 1941: Rod Thorn was born in Princeton. Declared by the legislature a state “natural resource,” Thorn attended West Virginia University, where he was an All-American guard. Thorn had a distinguished NBA career as a player and executive, which included drafting Michael Jordan.
May 24, 1896: Confederate General John Echols died in Staunton, Virginia. Echols served in the Kanawha Valley in 1862 and commanded Confederate forces at their defeat at the Battle of Droop Mountain in November 1863.
e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia is a project of the West Virginia Humanities Council. For more information contact the West Virginia Humanities Council, 1310 Kanawha Blvd. E., Charleston, WV 25301; (304) 346-8500; or visit e-WV at www.wvencyclopedia.org.
