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52 unusual facts about Washington, D.C.


1 Pace Plaza

The architect designers of One Pace Plaza were Otto R. Eggers and Daniel P. Higgins firm Eggers & Higgins of New York, architects of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.

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.

22nd Scripps National Spelling Bee

The 22nd Scripps National Spelling Bee was held in Washington, District of Columbia in 1949, by the E.W. Scripps Company.

25th Scripps National Spelling Bee

The 25th Scripps National Spelling Bee was held in Washington, District of Columbia in 1952, 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.

28th Scripps National Spelling Bee

The 28th Scripps National Spelling Bee was held in Washington, District of Columbia in 1955, 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.

34th Scripps National Spelling Bee

The 34th Scripps National Spelling Bee was held in Washington, District of Columbia in 1961, by the E.W. Scripps Company.

ACDI/VOCA

ACDI/VOCA is a private, international development nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C, United States.

Anacostia Park

It is one of Washington, D.C.'s largest and most important recreation areas, with over 1200 acres (4.9 km2) at multiple sites.

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.

It is considered part of the Palisades neighborhood.

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.

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.

The embassy is situated in a compound that is home to both the ambassador's residence and the old and new chanceries.

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.

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.

Discon

Discon is the name given to the two Worldcons held in Washington, D.C..

Edward B. Bunn

In partnership with Dr. Hurst Anderson, president of American University, Bunn developed an pan-institutional program for students in Washington, D.C. to take courses in several schools and allow credits to accumulate toward a degree in any school.

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.

Farm Credit Council

The Farm Credit Council was established in 1983 and is headquartered in Washington, D.C. It is governed by a 23-person board that implements policy positions.

Forsyth Street

On the east side of the block from East Broadway to Canal Street, a number of so-called “Chinatown buses” (operated by different companies) start their routes to cities across the East Coast of the United States, including Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C..

Holston Formation

Among the notable buildings where Tennessee marble is used as a building stone are two in Washington, D.C.: the National Gallery of Art, which uses stone from Knox and Blount counties, and the United States Capitol, which has stairways constructed from Hawkins County marble.

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.

John Mihalowski

He was assigned to the Naval Gun Factory, Washington, D.C., in 1952 and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander in February 1954.

Lafayette Square

Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C., northernmost part of President's Park in 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.

Logan Circle

Logan Circle, Washington, D.C., a traffic circle and neighborhood in Washington, D.C.

Malek Jandali

In July 2011 Jandali performed Watani Ana at a protest in Lafayette Park.

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 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.

Oxon Run Parkway

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

Poughkeepsie Bridge Route

The Poughkeepsie Bridge Route was a passenger train route from Washington, D.C. to Boston, Massachusetts, via Baltimore, Maryland and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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)

Roy Geiger

Geiger spent most of his enlisted time at the Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C. where he was also promoted to Corporal on June 2, 1908.

Rudolph Lennhoff

In 1912 he attended the 15th International Congress on Hygiene and Demography, which opened 23 September 1912, in Washington, D.C..

Sam Boulmetis, Sr.

The winner of numerous important races, Boulmetis won the Arlington Classic twice and the prestigious Washington, D.C. International Stakes and Canadian International Stakes, forerunners to the Breeders' Cup races which drew the best horses to the United States and Canada from around the world.

Tabi Bonney

He was a science teacher at Roosevelt High School in Petworth, Washington, D.C. for two years after college.

The Moving Wall

The Moving Wall is a half-size replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. It was devised by John Devitt after he attended the annual commemoration celebrated in Washington for Vietnam veterans.

Vir2L Studios

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

Virginia Squires

Attendance was no better in Washington than it was in Oakland because the Coliseum was located in the Near Northeast neighborhood, and that was the hood back in the day.

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.

WGMS

WGMS-FM, a now-defunct station in Washington, D.C. that broadcast from 1947 until 2005 at 103.5 FM (and from 2005 to 2007 at 103.9/104.1 FM) with a classical music format.

Wilmington/Newark Line

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

Yadkin River Veterans Memorial Bridge

The bridge was not only a bottleneck for traffic moving between Charlotte and Greensboro (and between the larger metropolitan areas of Atlanta and Washington, D.C.); it was also structurally deficient and in need of replacement.


17th Scripps National Spelling Bee

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

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.

Arvid Pardo

From 1972 to 1975 Pardo was coordinator of the ocean studies program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. From 1975 to 1990 he was on the USC faculty, teaching political science (1975–81) and international relations (1981–90).

Chris Cillizza

Dana Milbank and Chris Cillizza appeared in a series of humor videos called "Mouthpiece Theater" which appeared on the Washington Posts website.

Columbia Bar

The Columbia Bar is part of a set of major marine coastal hazards along the Pacific Northwest coast, including Cape Flattery at the northwest tip of the Olympic Peninsula and Cape Scott, which is at the north tip of Vancouver Island.

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.

Dixie Network

Marston also was elected to the National Association of Broadcasters Board of Directors in 1970 Edward B. Fritts, who began his broadcast career at WENK, Union City, Tennessee, was elected President of The National Association of Broadcasters, Washington, D.C., where he led the national trade association with distinction.

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.

East Washington Avenue Bridge

The East Washington Avenue Bridge was a movable Strauss underneath-counter weight deck-girder bascule bridge in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Edge city

Garreau's classic example of an edge city is the information technology center, Tysons Corner, Virginia, west of Washington, D.C. As recently as the end of World War II, it was a country crossroads, but it now has more office space than downtown Atlanta.

Edith Pfau

Pfau's education ministry included eleven years teaching at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, eleven years at Immaculata Junior College in Washington, D.C., and ten years at Providence University in Shalu, Taichung, Taiwan.

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)

Evangelical and Reformed Church

United States President Theodore Roosevelt attended Washington D.C.'s Grace Reformed Church, an Evangelical and Reformed congregation.

Fort Ellsworth

Over the seven weeks that followed the occupation of northern Virginia, forts were constructed along the banks of the Potomac River and at the approaches to each of the three major bridges (Chain Bridge, Long Bridge, and Aqueduct Bridge) connecting Virginia to Washington and Georgetown.

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..

George W. Littlefield

Works on Littlefield include David B. Gracy, II, George Washington Littlefield: A Biography in Business (Ph.D. dissertation; Texas Tech University, 1971) and J. Evetts Haley's George W. Littlefield, Texan (1943; through the University of Oklahoma Press in Norman, Oklahoma).

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).

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).

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).

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.

Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner

She attended Springhill Lake Elementary (Prince George's County Public Schools) in Greenbelt, Maryland just outside of Washington, D.C. Rowe-Finkbeiner moved to Columbia, Maryland where she attended Oakland Mills Middle School and Oakland Mills High School.

Kurt Schork

After Schork died, as per his personal wishes, upon cremation half of his ashes was buried next to his mother in Washington, D.C., and half at "Groblje LAV" (The Lion Cemetery) in Sarajevo, next to the grave of Boško and Admira, the central figures in Schork's acclaimed story.

Lauren Kessler

She is also author of Washington Post best-seller Clever Girl: Elizabeth Bentley, the Spy Who Ushered in the McCarthy Era, a biography of Elizabeth Bentley, and the Los Angeles Times best-seller and Oregon Book Award finalist The Happy Bottom Riding Club, a biography of aviator Florence Pancho Barnes.

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.

Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation

Washington, DC-based American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) is using a three-year grant from MEAF for its Summer Internship Program.

Mu Sochua

In 2005, she received the Leadership Award in Washington, DC, from the Vital Voices Foundation, co-founded by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

North Admiral, Seattle

North Admiral (or simply the Admiral District) is the oldest neighborhood in West Seattle, Washington.

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.

Phil Graham

The following year the Post/CBS joint venture bought the CBS-affiliated television station in Washington, and changed the call letters to WTOP-TV, and in 1953 the company bought WMBR radio and WMBR-TV in Jacksonville, Florida.

Puyallup

The Washington State Fair, formerly the Puyallup Fair and the Western Washington Fair, held in Puyallup, Washington

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.

Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon

The SunTrust Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon, formerly known as the National Marathon, is an annual marathon and half marathon held in Washington, D.C. It was established in 2006 as an annual event.

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.

SM UB-65

National Archives and Records Service, U.S. General Services Administration, Washington: 1984

The Higher Learning Foundation

The Higher Learning Foundation was a public charity located in Washington, D.C. Its goal was to improve college achievement possibilities for graduates of the District of Columbia Public Schools system (DCPS).

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's 39th legislative district

This urban district is represented by state senator Kirk Pearson and state representatives Dan Kristiansen (pos. 1) and Elizabeth Scott (pos. 2), all Republicans.

Washington's 4th congressional district

In the 2008 election, Hastings easily defeated challenger George Fearing (D-Kennewick).

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.

Western pond turtle

Western pond turtles originally ranged from northern Baja California, Mexico, north to the Puget Sound region of Washington.

William Greaves

Since then, Greaves has produced numerous works, including From These Roots, Nationtime: Gary, Where Dreams Come True, Booker T.Washington: Life and Legacy, Frederick Douglass: An American Life, Black Power in America: Myth or Reality?, The Deep North, and Ida B. Wells: An American Odyssey, which was narrated by Nobel Prize in Literature and Pulitzer Prize winning author Toni Morrison.