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�鶹��Ƶ researcher Jenefir Isbister was awarded the university's first patent on August 27, 1996, for her invention of a test for microbial contamination.

�鶹��Ƶ’s Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), known as “The Patriot Battalion,” began in 1982 and frequently conducts training with other universities throughout the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia.

�鶹��Ƶ alumni John Whalan, Elaine "Chipper" Petersen, and Bob Veenstra built the university's first telescope and observatory with $200 in start-up funds from the Physics Department.

Did you know that up until the 2004 Commencement �鶹��Ƶ graduation gowns were black? The university moved to green gowns in 2004, thanks to the work of a Traditions Committee.

On May 21, 1983, �鶹��Ƶ awarded its first doctoral degree, a doctor of arts in education, to Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda, a teacher at nearby West Springfield High School.

On Nov. 24, 1985, �鶹��Ƶ women's soccer defeated North Carolina 2-0 to claim the first-ever NCAA National Championship at �鶹��Ƶ.

The first �鶹��Ƶ Day took place four years before the university’s first Commencement, and it’s been the event to look forward to ever since.

On June 10, 2010, �鶹��Ƶ opened the Biomedical Research Laboratory (BRL) on the Science and Technology Campus in Prince William County. Here, �鶹��Ƶ researchers have been able to advance their groundbreaking work on the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of infectious diseases.

On April 21, 2015, �鶹��Ƶ held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Presidents Park Hydroponic Greenhouse and served greenhouse-grown food as a part of the celebration.

On February 14, 2009, �鶹��Ƶ student Ryan Allen, competing under his drag queen persona of Reann Ballslee, was crowned Ms. �鶹��Ƶ at the Homecoming basketball game in front of a near sold-out crowd.