Virginia Dare is born on Roanoke Island in North Carolina.

The first child of English parents born in America, her parents are part of a settlement party of over 100 led by John White, which had arrived at Roanoke to find no trace of the party that had attempted to settle there the year before. White returns to England for more supplies in 1587, but when he returns in 1590 finds the settlement abandoned and the word “CROATOAN” carved on a post. It is the name of a nearby island where the returned Native American Manteo is said to be chief.