Image courtesy Valentine Richmond History Center
It all started right here: Master these "did you knows" and even the greenest newcomer could pass themselves off as someone who has been here since the dawn of penicillin.
Hospital in the New World
Alternately known as "the guest house for sick people," a hospital called Mount Malady was built by residents at the English settlement Henricus circa 1613.
Electric Street Car System
This is something Richmond should still be known for, but city fathers decided to dismantle the first system of its kind in the world and burn the last car in 1949. Frank Sprague developed the technology here in 1888.
Canned Beer
In 1935, Richmond was the test market for a New Jersey brewery that was afraid to test its Krueger's ale in tin-plated steel cans too close to home.
Banking Pioneer
Maggie L. Walker founded the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank in 1903. Walker served as the bank's first president, which earned her the distinction of being the first African-American woman to charter a bank in the United States.
Religious Freedom
The Bill of Rights' first article, which guarantees religious freedom, was based on the Virginia statute for religious freedom, adopted by the Virginia General Assembly in Richmond in 1786. —Susan J. Winiecki