X-Nico

49 unusual facts about Washington, D.C.


17th Scripps National Spelling Bee

The 17th Scripps National Spelling Bee was held in Washington, District of Columbia in 1941.

18th Scripps National Spelling Bee

The 18th Scripps National Spelling Bee was held in Washington, District of Columbia in 1942, by the E.W. Scripps Company, the last National Spelling Bee before the outbreak of World War II.

19th Scripps National Spelling Bee

The 19th Scripps National Spelling Bee was held in Washington, District of Columbia in 1946, by the E.W. Scripps Company, the first National Spelling Bee after the outbreak of World War II.

20th Scripps National Spelling Bee

The 20th Scripps National Spelling Bee was held in Washington, District of Columbia in 1947, by the E.W. Scripps Company.

21st Scripps National Spelling Bee

The 21st Scripps National Spelling Bee was held in Washington, District of Columbia in 1948, by the E.W. Scripps Company.

24th Scripps National Spelling Bee

The 24th Scripps National Spelling Bee was held in Washington, District of Columbia in 1951, by the E.W. Scripps Company.

27th Scripps National Spelling Bee

The 27th Scripps National Spelling Bee was held in Washington, District of Columbia in 1954, by the E.W. Scripps Company.

32nd Scripps National Spelling Bee

The 32nd Scripps National Spelling Bee was held in Washington, District of Columbia in 1959, by the E.W. Scripps Company.

33rd Scripps National Spelling Bee

The 33rd Scripps National Spelling Bee was held in Washington, District of Columbia in 1960, by the E.W. Scripps Company.

Battery Kemble Park

Battery Kemble was completed during the Autumn of 1861, as part of the Civil War Defenses of Washington, also known as the Fort Circle.

Black and rufous elephant shrew

Two black and rufous elephant shrew males were born on February 4, 2007, at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. They are now kept at the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University.

Bomb Queen

This pleased politicians in Washington, D.C., due to the lowered crime rates in other states.

Braj Kumar Nehru

Nehru worked as Executive Director in the World Bank (1949) and was Economic Minister at the Indian Embassy in Washington (1954).

British Embassy, Washington

It is located at 3100 Massachusetts Avenue, NW in Washington, D.C.

Charles Arthur Conant

He was descended from one of the earliest New England settlers (Roger Conant) and was born in Winchester, Massachusetts, studied in public schools and with private tutors, and from 1889 to 1901 was correspondent in Washington, D.C. for the New York Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin.

Chris Cleary

Chris Cleary (born August 2, 1979 in Washington, D.C.) is a retired American soccer player whose professional career had been played entirely in Europe.

Christylez Bacon

Christylez Bacon (pronounced: chris-styles) is a Grammy Nominated Progressive Hip-Hop artist and multi-instrumentalist from Southeast, Washington, D.C. As a performer, Christylez multi-tasks between various instruments such as the West African djembe drum, acoustic guitar, and the human beat-box (oral percussion), all while continuing the oral tradition of storytelling through his lyrics.

Crystal Heights

Crystal Heights or Crystal City was a proposal by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright for a hotel, apartment, and shopping complex in Washington, D.C., USA, at the corner of Florida and Connecticut Avenues N.W., in the vicinity of Dupont Circle.

District of Columbia Organic Act

The District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801, an act by the United States Congress, which incorporated the District of Columbia and placed it under the exclusive control of Congress

Edgar T. Wherry

He lived in Washington, D.C. from 1912 to 1930, part of this time working as an assistant curator of mineralogy for the U. S. National Museum, and also for the Bureau of Chemistry of the United States Department of Agriculture.

Erechim

City planners were inspired by urban concepts used in the design of Washington, D.C. (1791) and Paris (1850).

Ethel Armes

Born in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Col. George Augustus Armes and Lucy Hamilton Kerr, Ethel was brought up in Washington, D.C. where she attended private schools.

Florence Fleming Noyes

In 1912 she opened her first dance studio in Carnegie Hall and in 1913 she dressed as Liberty at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. as part of a living tableaux to bring publicity for the cause of women's right to vote.

Frank Rusch

Collaborators in the Alliance included the National Transition Network at Minnesota, the Academy for Educational Development in Washington, D.C., the National Alliance for Business, the National Council of Chief State School Officers, and the National Association of State Directors of Special Education.

Frederick Gutheim

He is noted for writing The Potomac, a history of the Potomac River and the 40th volume in the Rivers of America Series, and Worthy of a Nation a history of the development of Washington, D.C..

Ingrid Lukas

In May 2013 she was selected by the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Estonian Embassy to participate in the European Month of Culture in Washington, D.C..

Internet Association

Michael Beckerman is the President and CEO of The Internet Association, a Washington, D.C.-based trade association representing global Internet companies.

Jean McKenzie

In 1941, when New Zealand decided to establish a diplomatic post in Washington, McKenzie was transferred, becoming the post's Second Secretary soon after it opened.

Jerome Liebling

His photographs are in the permanent collections of many museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Fogg Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., The Jewish Museum in New York, and the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.

L'Enfant

Pierre Charles L'Enfant, an architect and civil engineer credited with planning the city of Washington, D.C.

Lewis Grandison Alexander

Lewis Grandison Alexander (July 4, 1900 - 1945) was an American poet, actor, playwright, and costume designer who lived in Washington, D.C. and had strong ties to the Harlem Renaissance period in New York.

Louis Dalton Porter

At the beginning of World War II he went to the Washington, D.C. area to train at Fort Belvoir and Fort Meade, and after the war he settled in Prince Georges County.

Lynn Montross

From 1950 to 1961 he was a historical writer for the United States Marine Corps and lived in the Washington, D.C. area.

Medicine in the American Civil War

After the Battle of Bull Run, the United States government took possession of several private hospitals in Washington, D.C., Alexandria, Virginia, and surrounding towns.

Mirza Khazar

In October 1985, he was invited to Washington, D.C. to be editor-in-chief of the Azerbaijani Service of Radio Voice of America.

National Business Aviation Association

National Business Aviation Association or NBAA, is a non-profit and nonpartisan 501(c)6 corporation based in Washington, DC, United States.

National Monuments Foundation

The National Monuments Foundation is also consulting with the Adams Presidential Library and Memorial Foundation for a memorial to commemorate the second and sixth presidents of the United States and their wives as well as winning the National Civic Art Society’s competition for a memorial to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, both in Washington, D.C.

Oxon Run Parkway

The Oxon Run Parkway, is a roadway and small park in the Washington Highlands neighborhood of Washington, D.C..

Pierre Bellocq

By 1954, Bellocq's work had achieved international recognition and he was contracted by Laurel Park owner John D. Schapiro to do drawings for the inaugural running of the Washington, D.C. International Stakes.

Presidential memorials in the United States

Located in a wing of the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C., the Wilson Center has a small exhibit concerning President Wilson's life and work, but it is best known for its work to unite the world of ideas with the world of policy by supporting scholarship linked to issues of contemporary importance.

Robert Collet

Washington, D.C. International (1987)

In 1987, Collet achieved the extraordinary feat of winning three Group one races on three different continents with the same horse when Le Glorieux captured the Deutschland-Preis in Europe, the Washington, D.C. International in North America and the Japan Cup in Asia.

ShmooCon

ShmooCon IX was held at the Hyatt Regency Washington in Washington, D.C..

Steven Waterhouse

He holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Dallas Theological Seminary, a Master of Theology in Hebrew and Greek from Capital Bible Seminary near Washington, D.C., and undergraduate degrees in social sciences from Spring Arbor University and Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The Orioles

Sonny Til (born Earlington Carl Tilghman, 18 August 1928, Baltimore, Maryland — died 9 December 1981, Washington, D.C.) (lead tenor)

Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society

On 10 April 1967, a meeting was held in Washington, D.C. to introduce the charter membership and elect the Society officers and Executive committee.

Vir2L Studios

Vir2L Studios, was a video game developer headquartered in Washington, D.C..

Washingtonian

Washingtonian is used to refer to people from the state of Washington (see List of people from Washington) or the greater metropolitan area of Washington, D.C. (see List of people from Washington, D.C.), in the United States.

Wilmington/Newark Line

Electrified operation was extended to Newark and beyond to Washington, D.C. on February 10, 1935.


32nd meridian west from Washington

The 32nd meridian of longitude west from Washington is a line of longitude approximately 109°02′48″ west of the Prime Meridian of Greenwich.

Any Bonds Today?

Barry Wood introduced the song (along with another Berlin composition called "Arms for the Love of America") on Arsenal Day, June 10, 1941, at the War College in Washington, D.C.; he also recorded the song in the same week for RCA Victor.

Ardeshir Zahedi

In the mid-1970s, Zahedi became known as a companion of the American movie star Elizabeth Taylor, with the two being dubbed "the hottest couple" in Washington D.C., according to the writer Barbara Howar.

Cary Sherman

He is an officer of the board of the Levine School of Music in Washington, D.C., and has also served in advisory roles for the Anti-Defamation League, BNA’s Patent, Trademark and Copyright Journal, the Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts, The Computer Law Association, the Copyright Society, and The Computer Lawyer.

Charles Fickert

A 1919 grand jury exonerated Fickert from charges made by John B. Densmore, investigator from Washington, Director General of Employment, in the framing of Mooney and Billings and for his having conspired with Pete McDonough in the freeing of wealthy defendants.

Dean Richmond

In 1861, as President-Elect Abraham Lincoln made his way to Washington, D.C., the engine that pulled the train was The Dean Richmond.

Doug Swift

Swift's blitz late in the second quarter of Super Bowl VII forced Washington Redskins quarterback Billy Kilmer to make a hurried throw, which Nick Buoniconti intercepted and returned into Washington territory to set up the Dolphins' second touchdown in a 14-7 victory, cementing Miami's 17-0 season.

Ellsworthite

Bulletin of the National Research Council, Number 77, Physics of the Earth - I Volcanology, By the Subsidiary Committee on Volcanology, Published by the National Research Council of The National Academy of Sciences Washington, D.C., (1931)

Embassy Row

The first purpose-designed embassy building in Washington appears to have been the embassy of the Kingdom of Siam, now the Consular Services of the Embassy of Thailand on 2300 Kalorama Road NW, built in the 1920s.

Felix Grundy McConnell

Mcconnell was elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-eighth and Twenty-ninth Congresses and served from March 4, 1843, until his death in Washington, D.C., September 10, 1846.

Frankie Jaxon

In 1941 he retired from show business and worked at The Pentagon in Washington, D.C. He was transferred to Los Angeles, California.

George J. Walker

He served tours in France, Germany, Korea and Vietnam as well as stateside assignments at Seneca Army Depot, Romulus, New York; Fort Holabird, Maryland; Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; Fort Huachuca, Arizona; Fort Hood, Texas; Washington, DC; and Fort McPherson, Georgia.

Got Live If You Want It

Got Live If You Want It is the third album of Washington, D.C. based band Dead Meadow.

Green Fire

The author of the novel Green Fire, on which the film was based, was Major Peter William Rainier 1890-1946, a South African whose great-great-grand-uncle was the person that Mount Rainier, Washington was named after (by the explorer George Vancouver).

Hechinger

Their sponsorship of the 11:00 p.m. newscast at T.V. station WTOP in Washington, D.C., was a first, according to Walter Cronkite (an anchor of those broadcasts) in his autobiography A Reporter's Life.

Henk van den Breemen

The “Gang of five”, as they were called when the pamphlet was presented in Washington DC (January 2008), consisted of General (ret.) John Shalikashvili (USA), General (ret.) Dr. Klaus Naumann (Germany), Admiral (ret.) Jacques Lanxade and Field Marshal the Lord Inge (UK).

In the News

Three new one-minute segments were produced each week, narrated by CBS Radio News Washington Correspondent Dan Raviv.

Inclusive capitalism

Allen Hammond is Vice President of Special Projects and Innovation at the World Resources Institute: a Washington, DC-based, non-profit, environmental, think tank created in 1982 through a $15 million donation by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation of Chicago (World Resources Institute website 2008).

Isa Genzken

Genzken's work is included in the collections of many institutions internationally, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; the Generali Foundation, Vienna; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; the Kemper Art Museum, St. Louis; the Museum Ludwig, Cologne; the Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden; and the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven.

Japheth J. Omojuwa

Omojuwa has graced speaking platforms on universities and in cities across Nigeria and around the world from Washington to London, Lagos, Accra, Cape Town, Abuja, Rio de Janeiro, Berlin, New York, Cologne, Dortmund and other cities.

Jeffrey Gedmin

He earned his Masters degree in German Area Studies (Literature concentration) from American University in Washington, D.C. He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from American University and also studied musicology for a year at the University of Salzburg in Austria.

Jewish Life Television

Its spotlight on Israel and Jewish life is facilitated by broadcast studios in Los Angeles, New York City and Toronto as well as bureaus in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Washington, D.C., Miami, London and Moscow.

Jhoon Goo Rhee

Rhee is well known in the Washington, D.C. area for a television commercial that has a jingle by Nils Lofgren and features the catch phrase, "Nobody bothers me," followed by "Nobody bothers me, either."

Katherine Washington

Katherine Washington is a former American women's basketball player, who played on the first two U.S. women's national teams, earning world championships in 1953 and 1957.

KHCV

KFFV, a television station (channel 44) licensed to serve Seattle, Washington, United States, which held the call sign KHCV from 1999 to 2009

Maryland Route 231

Before reaching the river, the state highway passes to the north of the village of Benedict, which was the site of the landing of British troops to march toward Washington prior to the Battle of Bladensburg during the War of 1812.

Mauri S. Pelto

Mauri Pelto has been studying the glaciers in the North Cascades located in the U.S. state of Washington since 1984.

Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision

Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision is a 1994 documentary film made by Freida Lee Mock about the life of American artist Maya Lin, whose best-known work is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Michael Brunson

In 1973, Brunson became ITN Washington Correspondent, where he remained until 1977, covering Watergate and the 1976 US Presidential election between Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford.

Mrs. Washington

"Mrs. Washington" is a song written and performed by Gigolo Aunts and the title song from their 1993 and 1994 singles.

National Capital Parks-East

National Capital Parks-East (NCPE) is an administrative grouping of a number of National Park Service sites generally east of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., but also nearby in Maryland.

Old Lyme, Connecticut

John McCurdy (b.1724), whose home was the resting place for George Washington on April 10, 1776 while traveling to New York City to take on the British Army and Navy (source: Papers of George Washington, Connecticut State Library); grandfather of Connecticut Supreme Court judge Charles McCurdy

Olin Kreutz

It was also the second consecutive year in which the Bears selected an offensive lineman from Washington, after Bob Sapp in 1997.

Ozette

Ozette, Washington, an unincorporated community in Clallam County, Washington, United States

Ozette Lake, a lake in the state of Washington in the United States

Pat Goss

Goss is the master technician on the television program MotorWeek, where he hosts a segment called Goss' Garage, and hosts a weekend radio show about cars on WJFK-FM in Washington, DC.

Paul Schenck

The Schenck brothers work side by side on Capitol Hill in Washington where Robert is president of Faith and Action, an ecumenical mission, and Paul is chairman of the National Pro-Life Center.

Peter Daniel Young

At the age of nine, he moved to Mercer Island, Washington, near Seattle, where he graduated from Mercer Island High School.

Quillayute

Quillayute Airport, formerly known as Quillayute State Airport, a public airport in Clallam County, Washington, United States

Richard Urquhart Goode

In 1889, he was appointed a geographer with the Survey and was placed in charge of surveys of the Pacific Coast States - California, Oregon, and Washington.

Robert Stewart Sparks

In 1925, the 5th District was bounded by Washington Street on the north, the city limits on the east, Exposition Boulevard on the south and Vermont Avenue on the west.

Sara Little Turnbull

Later, when Turnbull became executive vice president of National Forest Products Assn, they moved to Washington, D.C., with an apartment at the Watergate complex.

Stanley Allen Bastian

On September 19, 2013, President Obama nominated Bastian to serve as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, to the seat vacated by Judge Edward F. Shea, who took senior status on June 7, 2012.

Track of the Cat

The outdoor scenes were filmed on Mount Rainier, Washington and Mitchum regarded shooting in the deep snow and cold as the worst filming conditions he had ever experienced.

Tractorcade

Tractorcade was a protest in Washington, D.C. by the American Agriculture Movement.

Ulysses S. Grant as peacetime general, 1865–1869

In May 1865, the Union League of Philadelphia purchased the Grants a house in that city, but Grant's work was in Washington.

Washington State Legislature

The Washington State Legislature traces its ancestry to the creation of the Washington Territory in 1853, following successful arguments from settlers north of the Columbia River to the U.S. federal government to legally separate from the Oregon Territory.

WDAZ-TV

Owned by Forum Communications of Fargo, which also owns the Grand Forks Herald, WDAZ has facilities on South Washington Street in Grand Forks near Kmart and a news bureau and sales office on U.S. Highway 2 in Devils Lake.