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Who Was Molly Pitcher?

November 30, 2015 - There was no one named Molly Pitcher, but there were women who carried water into battle for the fighting men of the Rev...

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Nixon's Cheerleaders

November 29, 2015 - Nixon never got to be a cool guy, but he tried. As he was running for president in 1960 and governor in 1962, the pop cu...

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The Suburban Dream

November 28, 2015 - Before the Civil War, the Navy Yard area was one a few crowded areas of a District that was still mostly countryside. So...

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Franksgiving and the First Black Friday

November 27, 2015 - Thanksgiving as the start of the Christmas shopping season goes back at least to the depression days of 1939, when Frank...

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The Fashion for Full Plates

November 26, 2015 - Thanksgiving was a tradition, but not yet a national holiday, when one woman asked President Lincoln to make it official...

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Gilded Lead

November 25, 2015 - King George III in the form of a statue of himself on a horse, made of lead and gilded with gold, was installed in a par...

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Ben Franklin Changes HIs Mind

November 24, 2015 - Benjamin Franklin was an outstanding man of his times. A man of his day owned slaves, and so did he. He also changed wit...

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Who Pardoned the Turkey?

November 23, 2015 - A White House turkey was first spared death in 1863. Tad Lincoln had named their Christmas turkey Jack and made it his c...

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No Ordinary Men

November 22, 2015 - Jack Lewis was no ordinary man, in part because he believed there were no ordinary men. Better known as author C.S. Lewi...

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Room Number Eight

November 21, 2015 - Visit St. Paul's Cemetery in Old Town Alexandria, you will see a tombstone carved in 1816, holding the remains of a woma...

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Washington's Whiskey

November 20, 2015 - In Washington's view "the moderate use of strong liquor" was a benefit known to all armies and could not be disputed. It...

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Broken Promises

November 19, 2015 - The difference between what a politician says to gain office and what he does after he wins can be dramatic, like Woodro...

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The Year of the Spy

November 18, 2015 - 1985 is called "the year of the spy" because of the significance of the American spies arrested for betraying the United...

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The Fall of Albert Fall

November 17, 2015 - Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall almost got away with selling the right to exploit federal government oil reserves...

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John Paul Jones and a Barrel of Rum

November 16, 2015 - Today, Revolutionary War hero John Paul Jones lies in a magnificent sarcophagus in a place of honor at the Naval Academy...

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Sex Kittens and a Forgotten Famous Robot

November 15, 2015 - Elektro the Robot became famous during the 1939 World's Fair in New York. He could talk, smoke and blow up balloons. His...

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The Last Whig President

November 14, 2015 - Millard Fillmore was the last Whig President, but not by election. He got the top job when President Zachary Taylor died...

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The Traitor's Traitor

November 13, 2015 - As an aide to Revolutionary War General Horatio Gates, James Wilkinson had revealed that his boss was associating with m...

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The Man Who Made Jefferson President

November 12, 2015 - The ultimate cliffhanger in politics ushered in President Thomas Jefferson by one vote. After nearly a week of stand-off...

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The First Third Party

November 11, 2015 - The first third party in the United States formed to battle the influence of the Freemasons, a club to which many of the...

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Winning Vietnam

November 10, 2015 - The winner was young, Asian, female, and still a student. The prize: a commission to build the memorial to service membe...

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Don't Eat Emily Spinach

November 09, 2015 - Emily Spinach was a garter snake who lived in the White House. Teddy Roosevelt's mischievous daughter Alice would enjoy...

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Andrew Jackson, Slave Master

November 08, 2015 - As a wealthy southern plantation owner, Andrew Jackson owned and traded as many as 300 people over the course of his lif...

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The Madness of Mary Lincoln

November 07, 2015 - At the instigation of her eldest son, Mary Todd Lincoln was judged insane. It was 10 years after the assassination, but...

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Does the City of Washington Exist?

November 06, 2015 - When the new federal district was created in 1790, municipalities named Washington and Georgetown were within the Distri...

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The Ballooning Civil War

November 05, 2015 - Days after the Civil War began, inventor Thaddeus Lowe landed a balloon in South Carolina on a test flight. Alarmed sout...

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A Congressman's Lonely Crusade

November 04, 2015 - John Quincy Adams, elected to Congress in 1830, was thrilled to be back in the game. He had been President a few years e...

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Battles of the Confederate Flag

November 03, 2015 - The Confederate Flag as we know it now was not the national flag of the Confederate States of America. The first officia...

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The Man to See

November 02, 2015 - Before he became known as the Civil War photographer, he was "Brady of Broadway." If you were anybody in New York City,...

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How Baseball Became American

November 01, 2015 - Abner Doubleday fired the first Union shot of the Civil War and led a heroic battle at Gettysburg, but is better remembe...

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