Republican Bastille

August 31, 2015 - The Watergate Complex in Washington was a favorite of Republicans both before and after the incident that led to the dow...
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G-Girls

August 30, 2015 - Women poured into Washington during both world wars, taking the jobs of men while they were away. Lodging was especially...
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Happy Birthday, Nuclear Arms Race

August 29, 2015 - On August 29, 1949, the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb. Not only did it start a race for newer and better n...
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The First Circus

August 28, 2015 - Politics and the circus began about the same time in the United States. President Washington, a skilled equestrian, went...
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She Had Hope

August 27, 2015 - Evalyn McLean, rich and beautiful, also had a tragic series of events in her life. Was it because she owned the Hope Dia...
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Newsboy News

August 26, 2015 - The sight of young street urchins selling newspapers was common and unremarkable in Washington and other cities well int...
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What's in a Name

August 25, 2015 - Washingtonopolis, TC: Commissioners of the new federal city considered calling it Washingtonopolis, before they settled...
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Historic Parking Lots

August 24, 2015 - When the Park and Shop strip mall opened on Connecticut Avenue in 1930, it was a first in the city, and among the first...
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Open Rebellion

August 23, 2015 - Is August 23, 1775 the day the Revolutionary War really began, when King George III declared the colonies to be in open...
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The Godfather of Go-Go

August 22, 2015 - Chuck Brown, the Godfather of Go-Go music, was born on August 22 in 1936. Go-Go is one of the rare legacies of Washingto...
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Consolation Prize

August 21, 2015 - The vice presidency used to go to whoever came in second place in the election for president. That changed after Aaron B...
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King of Creatures

August 20, 2015 - The beasts flanking the entrance to the former Acacia Insurance Building (now occupied by the Jones Day law firm) combin...
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Wilson and Whiskey

August 19, 2015 - Woodrow Wilson, running for President in 1912, used a slogan associated with a whiskey brand as a campaign song. A bold...
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One Sculptor, Two Scandals

August 18, 2015 - Nudity in public was shocking in 1923 Washington, even when covered in shiny gold, as sculptor Carl Paul Jennewein disco...
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Lincoln's Frienemy

August 17, 2015 - General George McClellan has a magnificent military monument in Washington, despite the fact that Lincoln fired him duri...
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Still A Bargain

August 16, 2015 - In 1868, the US wrote Russia a check for $7.2 million to buy Alaska. The territory was called Seward's Icebox, after the...
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Hot in Washington

August 15, 2015 - A cold root beer on a hot day in Washington. That was the idea that started a global business. In 1927, J.W. Marriott op...
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Three Tafts in Town

August 14, 2015 - William Howard Taft, who was a Cabinet member, President, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, gets an existing bridg...
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War Bird

August 13, 2015 - Although it's not true he championed the turkey as national bird, Ben Franklin liked the turkey more than the bald eagle...
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The Tip Top

August 12, 2015 - in 1884, a precious metal, aluminum, topped the Washington Monument. At the time an ounce of aluminum cost as much as si...
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Homeless in History

August 11, 2015 - Franklin Square, near Washington's city center, was not part of L'Enfant's original plan. The swampy site became valuabl...
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The First Conspiracy Theory

August 10, 2015 - Andrew Jackson, despite enormous popularity, inspired vehement opposition, so much so that a new party sprang up. There...
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The Reds and the Blues

August 09, 2015 - In the 20th century, if you were Red, you were an anathema to the right. Red was the color of communism, the fear of whi...
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Political Animals

August 08, 2015 - Neither Democrats nor Republicans initially chose their animal symbol. Andrew Jackson, when called a jackass during his...
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Heads of the World

August 07, 2015 - The Beaux Arts - the beautiful arts - found their grandest expression in the ornate Jefferson Building of the Library of...
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A Gay Place

August 06, 2015 - The fiction series, A Gay Place, has nothing to do with homosexuality - it is a critically acclaimed tale of Texas polit...
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President's Palace

August 05, 2015 - Although few changes to the White House are visible on the outside, every administration puts its stamp on the house. It...
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The President's Day

August 04, 2015 - What is Obama going to get for his birthday today? The White House receives gifts all year. Presidents can keep whatever...
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The Broken Diamond

August 03, 2015 - The District of Columbia is not a state and isn't allowed to act like one. DC has no vote on matters before Congress. Al...
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A Couple of Hookers

August 02, 2015 - Civil War General Joseph Hooker, whose headquarters were once described as combination bar and brothel, lent his name to...
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Tingey's Ghost

August 01, 2015 - The Navy Yard area is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city, beginning about the same time the Federal government...
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