The area suffered extensive damage by a major hurricane in 1995.
virginal or virginals Small rect¬ angular harpsichord with a single set of strings and a single manual. The derivation of its name is uncertain.
The virginal’s strings run parallel to the keyboard, which occupies only a portion of the longer side. Combina¬ tion virginals include a smaller por¬ table virginal that can be placed on top of the larger keyboard to create a two-manual instrument. The vir-
English virginal (with jack rail removed) made by Robert Hatley, Lon¬ don, 1664; in the Benton-Fletcher Col¬ lection, the National Trust, Hampstead, London
FROM THE BENTON-FLETCHER COLLECTION AT THE NATIONAL TRUST PROPERTY, FENTON HOUSE, HAMPSTEAD, LONDON
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Virginia ► virtue ethics I 2009
ginal was particularly popular in 16th-17th-century England, where much music was written for it by William Byrd, Thomas Morley, Thomas Weelkes, and others.
Virginia State (pop., 2000: 7,078,515), southeastern U.S. It is bordered by Maryland to the northeast. North Carolina and Tennessee to the south, Kentucky to the west, West Virginia to the northwest, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Located on the central Atlantic seaboard, it covers an area of 40,600 sq mi (105,154 sq km); its capital is Richmond. The coastal plain, also known as the Tidewater, lies in the east; the Piedmont prov¬ ince, a region of rolling hills, is in the middle of the state; and the Blue Ridge and Appalachian mountains lie to the west. The Potomac, Shenan¬ doah, James, and Roanoke rivers flow through the state. Virginia was inhabited by American Indians when England’s first American colony was founded there in 1607 at Jamestown. Virginia’s citizens were among the leaders of the American Revolution, and the state later contributed four of the country’s first five presidents. In 1788 it became the 10th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. Slavery was an important part of Virginia’s economy; Nat Turner’s slave insurrection occurred there in 1831. In 1861, soon after the start of the American Civil War, Virginia seceded from the Union. Richmond became the capital of the Confederacy (see Confeder¬ ate States of America), and Virginia was the chief battleground through¬ out the war. The western part of the state refused to secede; it split off to become West Virginia in 1863. Virginia was readmitted to the Union in 1870. Strife over state debt took over political life for the next decades, but after World War I the state’s prosperity increased. World War II brought thousands to Virginia’s military camps and caused the Norfolk area to experience rapid growth. The federal government is the state’s largest employer, while manufacturing is the second largest. Hampton Roads is one of the nation’s leading ports. Tourism is important; Virgin¬ ia’s many historical sites include Colonial Williamsburg, George Wash¬ ington’s Mount Vernon, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, Civil War battlefields, and Gen. Robert E. Lee’s house, located within the grounds of what is now Arlington National Cemetery. The College of William and Mary (founded 1693) is the country’s second oldest college; the Univer¬ sity of Virginia was largely the creation of Thomas Jefferson.
Virginia, University of U.S. public university founded in Char¬ lottesville by Thomas Jefferson. It was chartered in 1819 and opened in 1825. Jefferson designed its beautiful campus and buildings, planned the curriculum, and selected the faculty. By the time of the Civil War, the university was second only to Harvard in size of faculty and student body. It first admitted women in 1970. In addition to its college of arts and sci¬ ences, it has schools of architecture, education, engineering and applied sciences, and nursing, as well as a business school, a graduate school, and schools of law and medicine.
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions (1788-89) Measures passed by the legislatures of Virginia and Kentucky as a protest against the Alien and Sedition Acts. Drafted by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson (though their role went unknown for 25 years), the resolutions protested limita¬ tions on civil liberties and declared the right of states to decide on the constitutionality of federal legislation. Though their authors applied the resolutions to the specific issues of the day. Southern states later used the measures to support the theories of nullification and secession.
Virginia Beach City (pop., 2000: 425,257), southeastern Virginia. It is situated on the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay. Founded in 1887, it developed as a resort after a railroad was built linking it with Norfolk. After World War I it became an important base in the national coastal defense system. In 1963 it and the former Princess Anne county merged to become the City of Virginia Beach. Its economy is based on tourism and military installations. Cape Henry Memorial is in the city and the Cape Henry Lighthouse (1791) is nearby.
Virginia Company English trading company chartered by James I in 1606 to colonize the eastern coast of North America. Its shareholders were residents of London. Approximately 105 colonists in three ships reached Virginia in 1607 and founded Jamestown. The company expanded its ter¬ ritory with new charters (1609, 1612) and authorized a two-house legis¬ lature (1619), including a House of Burgesses. The colony survived many hardships, but the company was divided by internecine disputes and was dissolved in 1624, whereupon Virginia became a royal colony. See also Plymouth Company.
Virginia Declaration of Rights Measure adopted by the colony of Virginia (June 12, 1776). Drafted by George Mason, it stated that “all
men are by nature equally free and independent and have certain inher¬ ent rights” and specified such civil liberties as freedom of the press and freedom of religion. It became a model for the Bill of Rights.
Virginia deer See white-tailed deer
Virgo \'v9r-go\ Latin "Virgin" or "Maiden" In astronomy, the constellation lying between Leo and Libra; in astrology, the sixth sign of the zodiac, governing approximately the period August 23-September 22. Its symbol is a maiden carrying a sheaf of wheat. She has been identified with fertility goddesses such as Ishtar or with Persephone.
Virgo cluster Closest large cluster of galaxies at a distance of about 50 million light-years in the direction of the constellation Virgo. About 200 bright galaxies and thousands of faint ones reside in the cluster. In turn, the Virgo cluster lies at the approximate centre of a larger gravitationally bound structure, called the Local Supercluster, which also includes the Local Group of galaxies, to which the Milky Way Galaxy belongs. Near the centre of the Virgo cluster is the giant elliptical galaxy M87 (or Virgo A), one of the strongest radio sources in the sky and also a powerful X-ray source. Images of M87s active galactic nucleus, obtained in 1994, revealed gas orbiting at such high speeds that astronomers believe a supermassive black hole must be present.
virion \'vl-re-,an\ Entire virus particle, consisting of an outer protein shell (called a capsid) and an inner core of nucleic acid (either RNA or DNA). The core gives the virus infectivity, and the capsid provides specificity (i.e., determines which organisms the virus can infect). In virions whose capsids are further encased by a fatty membrane, the virion can be inactivated by exposure to a solvent such as ether or chloroform. Many virions have capsids with 20 triangular faces and the nucleic acid densely coiled within; others have capsids consisting of surface spikes, with the nucleic acid loosely coiled within. Virions of most plant viruses are rod-shaped.