Bedford was originally known as Liberty, "named after the Colonial victory over Cornwallis at Yorktown.

[6] In November 1923, the town was the site of an accidental mass poisoning in which nine men were killed after drinking apple cider served at the Elks National Home.

Bedford lost more residents per capita in the Normandy landings than any other American community.

Its status as an independent city was ended on July 1, 2013, returning to a town within Bedford County.

Central Virginia Community College operates a branch campus in Bedford.

Until the late 1960s, there were three different Southern Railway/Norfolk & Western Railroad trains operating daily at Bedford station.

[23] Amtrak service to Roanoke travels through, but there were plans to build a new station stop in Bedford.

One sister city, Trévières, France, sent Bedford an exact replica of its own World War I memorial statue.

The face of the statue was damaged in World War II by artillery fire from US forces retaking the town.

The Bedford statue also bears these wounds and is erected on the grounds of the National D-Day Memorial.