0_Wizard
I live in the state of Virginia - some people call it "Old Dominion" 
Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" due to its status as the first English colonial possession established in mainland North America, and "Mother of Presidents" because eight U.S. presidents were born there, more than any other state.
chosen_Virginia_0
Virginia
chosen_topic_0_Virginia
Old Dominion University
Old Dominion University, also known as ODU, is a public, co-educational research university located in Norfolk, Virginia, United States, with two satellite campuses in the Hampton Roads area. It was established in 1930 as the Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary and is now one of the largest universities in Virginia with an enrollment of 24,670 students for the 2014-2015 academic year. Its campus covers over straddling the city neighborhoods of Larchmont, Highland Park, and Lambert's Point, approximately from Downtown Norfolk. Old Dominion University is classified as a Carnegie Doctoral, Higher Research Activity University.
Old Dominion Monarchs basketball
The Old Dominion Monarchs basketball team represents Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, United States in NCAA Division I men's competition. (The women's team, which has traditionally had a considerably higher national profile, is known as the Lady Monarchs.) The school's team currently competes in the Conference USA. They were the Division II national champions in 1975, champions of the inaugural CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament in 2009, and champions of the inaugural Vegas 16 in 2016. The team last played in the Division I NCAA Tournament in 2011. The Monarchs are currently coached by Jeff Jones.
Old Dominion Monarchs baseball, 2010–19
Old Dominion Monarchs baseball represents Old Dominion University in college baseball at the NCAA Division I level. The 2010 Old Dominion Monarchs baseball team represents Old Dominion University in the 2010 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Monarchs play their home games at Bud Metheny Baseball Complex, which was named for former coach Bud Metheny. 2010 was the last season under Head Coach Jerry Meyers after six years. During the 2010 season the Monarchs finished sixth in the conference, their third straight losing season under Meyers. After the season Coach Meyers left ODU to return to South Carolina to take back his old job of pitching coach.
Washington and Old Dominion Railroad
The Washington and Old Dominion Railroad (colloquially referred to as the W&OD), the successor to the bankrupt Washington and Old Dominion Railway, was an intrastate short-line railroad located in Northern Virginia. Its oldest line extended from Alexandria on the Potomac River northwest to Bluemont at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Snickers Gap, not far from the boundary line between Virginia and West Virginia. The railroad's route largely paralleled the routes of the Potomac River and the present Virginia State Route 7 (VA Route 7). The line followed the winding course of Four Mile Run upstream from Alexandria through Arlington to Falls Church.
Old Dominion Monarchs baseball
The Old Dominion Monarchs baseball team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. The team is a member of the Conference USA, which is part of NCAA Division I and just landed the number 1 left-handed pitching prospect in New Jersey, Joey Dechiaro. Old Dominion's first baseball team was fielded in 1931 as the William and Mary College – Norfolk Division Braves. ODU joined Division I in 1977. The team plays its home games at Bud Metheny Baseball Complex in Norfolk, Virginia where it has played since 1982. ODU has won 4 conference tournament titles and have been to the NCAA Tournament eight times.
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk ( , ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. At the 2010 census, the population was 242,803; in 2015, the population was estimated to be 247,189 making it the second-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Beach. Norfolk is located at the core of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, named for the large natural harbor of the same name located at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. It is one of nine cities and seven counties that constitute the Hampton Roads metro area, officially known as the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA.
Louisiana Tigers
Louisiana Tigers was the common nickname for certain infantry troops from the State of Louisiana in the Confederate army during the American Civil War. Originally applied to a specific company, the nickname expanded to a battalion, then to a brigade, and eventually to all Louisiana troops within the Army of Northern Virginia. Although the exact composition of the Louisiana Tigers changed as the war progressed, they developed a reputation as fearless, hard-fighting shock troops. The origin of the term came from the "Tiger Rifles," a volunteer company raised in the New Orleans area as part of Major Chatham Roberdeau Wheat's 1st Special Battalion, Louisiana Volunteer Infantry (2nd Louisiana Battalion).
1_Apprentice
I live pretty close. Do you know anything cool about Virginia?
0_Wizard
Interestingly, it's the first English colonial possession that was established in North America!
Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" due to its status as the first English colonial possession established in mainland North America, and "Mother of Presidents" because eight U.S. presidents were born there, more than any other state.
chosen_Virginia_0
Virginia
chosen_topic_0_Virginia
Colonial history of the United States
The colonial history of the United States covers the history of European settlements from the start of colonization in the early 16th century until their incorporation into the United States of America. In the late 16th century, England, France, Spain, and the Netherlands launched major colonization programs in eastern North America. Small early attempts sometimes disappeared, such as the English Lost Colony of Roanoke. Everywhere, the death rate was very high among the first arrivals. Nevertheless, successful colonies were established within several decades. European settlers came from a variety of social and religious groups, including adventurers, soldiers, farmers, and tradesmen, and some from the aristocracy.
Virginia
Virginia (; officially the Commonwealth of Virginia) is a state in the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States located between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" due to its status as the first English colonial possession established in mainland North America, and "Mother of Presidents" because eight U.S. presidents were born there, more than any other state. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are shaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay, which provide habitat for much of its flora and fauna. The capital of the Commonwealth is Richmond; Virginia Beach is the most populous city, and Fairfax County is the most populous political subdivision.
English overseas possessions
The English overseas possessions, also known as the English colonial empire, comprised a variety of overseas territories that were colonized, conquered, or otherwise acquired by the former Kingdom of England during the centuries before the Acts of Union of 1707 between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland created the Kingdom of Great Britain. The many English possessions then became the foundation of the British Empire and its fast-growing naval and mercantile power, which until then had yet to overtake those of the Dutch Republic, the Kingdom of Portugal, and the Kingdom of Spain.
French colonial empire
The French colonial empire constituted the overseas colonies, protectorates and mandate territories that came under French rule from the 16th century onward. A distinction is generally made between the "first colonial empire", that existed until 1814, by which time most of it had been lost, and the "second colonial empire", which began with the conquest of Algiers in 1830. The second empire came to an end after the loss of bitter wars in Vietnam (1954) and Algeria (1962), and relatively peaceful decolonizations elsewhere after 1960. Competing with Spain, Portugal, the Dutch United Provinces and later England, France began to establish colonies in North America, the Caribbean and India in the 17th century.
Ó hAnluain
The Ó h-Anluain (anglicised as O'Hanlon) family was an agnatic extended family comprising one of a string of dynasts along the Ulster-Leinster border. Depending on the advantage to the sept, the named leader—The O'Hanlon—supported either the Earl of Tyrone or authorities within the English Pale. During the 15th century, ties were close with the famed Earls of Kildare. Frequently, members of the sept would be on either side of a rebellion. Some would be outlawed; others pardoned; some ending up on the winning side. They were second in the borderland line, east to west, comprising the followers of The Macgennis, The O'Hanlon, The O'Neill of the Fews, The MacMahon, The O'Reilly and The O'Rourke.
Territorial evolution of the British Empire
The territorial evolution of the British Empire is considered to have begun with the foundation of the English colonial empire in the late 16th century. Since then, many territories around the world have been under the control of the United Kingdom or its predecessor states. When the Kingdom of Great Britain was formed in 1707 by the union of the Kingdom of Scotland with the Kingdom of England, the latter country's colonial possessions passed to the new state. Similarly, when Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland in 1801 to form the United Kingdom, control over its colonial possessions passed to the latter state.
History of United States prison systems
Imprisonment as a form of criminal punishment only became widespread in the United States just before the American Revolution, though penal incarceration efforts had been ongoing in England since as early as the 1500s, and prisons in the form of dungeons and various detention facilities had existed since long before then. Prison building efforts in the United States came in three major waves. The first began during the Jacksonian Era and led to widespread use of imprisonment and rehabilitative labor as the primary penalty for most crimes in nearly all states by the time of the American world war one.
1_Apprentice
That's pretty neat. Do you know how many people live in Virginia?
0_Wizard
Over 8 million people live there!  Its climate is shaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains
The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are shaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay, which provide habitat for much of its flora and fauna.
self_Virginia_2
Virginia
self_1_Virginia
Blue Ridge Mountains
The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southernmost portion in Georgia, then ending northward in Pennsylvania. To the west of the Blue Ridge, between it and the bulk of the Appalachians, lies the Great Appalachian Valley, bordered on the west by the Ridge and Valley province of the Appalachian range. The Blue Ridge Mountains are noted for having a bluish color when seen from a distance.
USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19)
USS "Blue Ridge" (LCC-19) is the lead ship of the two "Blue Ridge"–class command ships of the United States Navy, and is the command ship of the United States Seventh Fleet. Her primary role is to provide command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence (C4I) support to the commander and staff of the United States Seventh Fleet. She is currently forward-deployed to U.S. Navy Fleet Activities, Yokosuka in Japan, and is the third Navy ship named after the Blue Ridge Mountains, a range of mountains in the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States. "Blue Ridge" is the oldest deployable warship of the U.S. Navy, following the decommissioning of in Pearl Harbor on 14 August 2014.
Blue Ridge School District
The Blue Ridge School District is a small, rural, public school district located in Susquehanna County in northeastern Pennsylvania. It serves the Boroughs of Great Bend, Hallstead and New Milford and Great Bend Township, Jackson Township and New Milford Township. The district encompasses approximately . According to the 2000 federal census data, it served a resident population of 7,331. By 2010, the district's population increased to 7,730 people. The educational attainment levels for the Blue Ridge School District population (25 years old and over) were 89.6% high school graduates and 13.5% college graduates.
Roanoke, Virginia
Roanoke is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 97,032. It is located in the Roanoke Valley of the Roanoke Region of Virginia. Roanoke is the largest municipality in Southwest Virginia, and is the principal municipality of the Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which had a 2010 population of 308,707. It is composed of the independent cities of Roanoke and Salem, and Botetourt, Craig, Franklin, and Roanoke counties. Bisected by the Roanoke River, Roanoke is the commercial and cultural hub of much of Southwest Virginia and portions of Southern West Virginia.
Skyline Drive
Skyline Drive is a road that runs the entire length of the National Park Service's Shenandoah National Park in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, generally along the ridge of the mountains. The drive's northern terminus is at an intersection with U.S. Route 340 (US 340) near Front Royal, and the southern terminus is at an interchange with US 250 near Interstate 64 (I-64) in Rockfish Gap, where the road continues south as the Blue Ridge Parkway. The road has intermediate interchanges with US 211 in Thornton Gap and US 33 in Swift Run Gap. A park entrance fee is charged at the four access points to the drive.
Shenandoah National Park
Shenandoah National Park (often ) is a national park that encompasses part of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the U.S. state of Virginia. The park is long and narrow, with the broad Shenandoah River and Valley on the west side, and the rolling hills of the Virginia Piedmont on the east. Although the scenic Skyline Drive is likely the most prominent feature of the park, almost 40% of the land area has been designated as wilderness and is protected as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. The highest peak is Hawksbill Mountain at . The park encompasses parts of eight counties. On the west side of Skyline Drive they are, from northeast to southwest, Warren, Page, Rockingham, and Augusta counties.
Blue Ridge Tunnel
The Blue Ridge Tunnel (also known as the Crozet Tunnel) is a historic railroad tunnel built during the construction of the Blue Ridge Railroad in the 1850s. The tunnel was the westernmost and longest of four tunnels engineered by Claudius Crozet to cross the Blue Ridge Mountains at Rockfish Gap in central Virginia. At in length, the tunnel was the longest tunnel in the United States at the time of its completion in 1858. The tunnel was used by the Virginia Central Railroad from its opening to 1868, when the line was reorganized as the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad (renamed Chesapeake and Ohio Railway in 1878).
1_Apprentice
Wow that's a lot of people. Can you tell me more about the Blue Ridge Mountains?