For what is Virginia Dare best known?

Virginia Dare (born August 18, 1587 in Roanoke Colony, date of death unknown) was the first English child born in a New World English overseas possession. Roanoke Island was the site of the Roanoke Colony, an English settlement initially established in 1585 by Sir Walter Raleigh. A group of about 120 men, women and children arrived in 1587. Shortly after arriving in this New World, colonist Eleanor Dare, daughter of Governor John White, gave birth to Virginia Dare.

Governor White returned to England later in 1587 for supplies. Due to impending war with Spain, White was unable to return to Roanoke Island until 1590. When he arrived, the colony had vanished. All the houses and fortifications had been dismantled, suggesting that the departure of the colonists had not been hurried. The fate of those first colonists remains a mystery to this day and is one of America's most intriguing unsolved mysteries.

During the past four hundred years, Virginia Dare has become a prominent figure in American myth and folklore, symbolizing different things to different groups of people. She has been featured as a main character in books, poems, songs, comic books, television programs, and films. Her name has been used to sell different types of goods, from vanilla products to soft drinks, as well as wine and spirits. Many places in North Carolina and elsewhere in the Southern United States have been named in her honour.