Timeline Washington DC
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Washington DC is about 1/6 the size of Hong Kong.
(SSFC, 10/9/05, Par p.27)
1754Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug
2, Pierre Charles L'Enfant, French engineer who designed the layout
of Washington, D.C., was born.
   (HN, 8/2/98)
1787-1788Â Â Â The Thomas Mallon historical novel "Two
Moons," published in 2000, was set in Washington DC at this time.
   (SFEC, 4/30/00, BR p.6)
1788Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 23, Maryland voted to
cede a 100-square-mile area for the seat of the national government;
about two-thirds of the area became the District of Columbia.
   (AP, 12/23/97)
1789Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 23, Georgetown
University was established by Jesuits in present-day Washington,
D.C., as the 1st US Catholic college.
   (AP, 1/23/98)(MC, 1/23/02)
1790Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 16, The District of
Columbia was established as the seat of the United States
government.
   (AP, 7/16/97)
1790Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 26, US Congress passed
Alexander Hamilton’s Assumption plan making it responsible for state
debts. Virginia had withdrawn its opposition in return for having
the nation’s new capital located on its borders.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Report_on_the_Public_Credit)(Econ,
12/17/11, p.132)
1791Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 29, Pres. George
Washington and French architect Pierre Charles L’Enfant examined the
site along the Potomac River that would become the US capital.
Maryland and Virginia had ceded land to the federal government to
form the District of Columbia. Chosen as the permanent site for the
capital of the United States by Congress in 1790, President
Washington was given the power by Congress to select the exact
site—an area ten-miles square, made up of land given by Virginia and
Maryland. Washington became the official federal capital in 1800. In
2008 Fergus Bordewich authored “Washington: The Making of the
American Capital.”
   (HNQ, 8/13/00)(HN, 8/2/98)(WSJ, 8/8/08, p.A13)
1791Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 15, Surveyor General
Andrew Ellicott consecrated the southern tip of the triangular
District of Columbia at Jones Point.
   (WSJ, 7/25/00, p.A20)
1792Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 14, Pres. George
Washington appointed David Rittenhouse, the foremost scientist of
America, the first director of the US Mint at a salary of $2000 per
annum. Rittenhouse was then in feeble health and lived at the
northwest corner of Seventh and Arch Streets, then one of the high
places of Old Philadelphia, where he had an observatory and where he
later died and was first buried.
   (http://tinyurl.com/per3q6f)
1792Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 31, The
foundation-stone was laid for the US Mint by David Rittenhouse, Esq.
The property was paid for and deeded to the United States of America
for a consideration of $4266.67 on July 18, 1792. The money for the
Mint was the first money appropriated by Congress for a building to
be used for a public purpose.
   (http://tinyurl.com/per3q6f)
1792Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 13, The cornerstone of
the executive mansion, later known as the White House, was laid
during a ceremony in the District of Columbia.
   (AP, 10/13/97)(HN, 10/13/98)
1793Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 18, President George
Washington laid the foundation stone for the U.S. Capitol on Jenkins
Hill.
   (AP, 9/18/97)(SFC, 7/18/98, p.A15)(HN, 9/18/98)
1800Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 4, The White House was
completed and President & Mrs. John Adams moved in. [see Nov 1]
   (MC, 6/4/02)
1800Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 1, John and Abigail
Adams moved into "the President’s House" in Washington DC. It became
known as the White House during the Roosevelt administration.
   (SFEC, 5/7/00, p.T8)(MC, 11/1/01)
1800Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 17, The Sixth Congress
(2nd session) convened for the first time in Washington, DC, in the
partially completed Capitol building. Previously, the federal
capital had briefly been in other cities, including New York,
Philadelphia, and Annapolis, Maryland. George Washington- a surveyor
by profession- had been assigned to find a site for a capital city
somewhere along the upper Potomac River, which flows between
Maryland and Virginia. Apparently expecting to become president,
Washington sited the capital at the southernmost possible point, the
closest commute from Mount Vernon, despite the fact that this placed
the city in a swamp called Foggy Bottom.
   (HN, 11/17/98)(AP, 11/17/07)
1800Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 12, Washington DC was
established as the capital of US.
   (MC, 12/12/01)
1801Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 27, The District of
Columbia was placed under the jurisdiction of Congress. The Organic
Act officially established Washington DC as a district separate from
its adjacent states.
   (https://tinyurl.com/y6ocwq93)(AP, 2/27/98)
1801Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 4, Thomas Jefferson
was the first President to be inaugurated in Washington, D.C.
   (HN, 3/4/98)
1802Â Â Â Â Â Â May 3, Washington, D.C.,
was incorporated as a city, with the mayor appointed by the
president and the council elected by property owners.
   (AP, 5/3/97)
1814Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 24, 5,000 British
troops under the command of General Robert Ross marched into
Washington, D.C., after defeating an American force at Bladensburg,
Maryland. It was in retaliation for the American burning of the
parliament building in York (Toronto), the capital of Upper Canada.
Meeting no resistance from the disorganized American forces, the
British burned the White House, the Capitol and almost every public
building in the city before a downpour extinguished the fires.
President James Madison and his wife fled from the advancing enemy,
but not before Dolly Madison saved the famous Gilbert Stuart
portrait of George Washington. This wood engraving of Washington in
flames was printed in London weeks after the event to celebrate the
British victory.
   (AP, 8/24/97)(HNPD,
8/24/98)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bladensburg)
1814Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 25, British forces
destroyed the Library of Congress, containing some 3,000 books.
   (MC, 8/25/02)
1815Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 30, The burned Library
of Congress was reestablished with Jefferson's 6,500 volumes.
   (MC, 1/30/02)
1815Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb, Congress appropriated
funds for the restoration of the White House and hired James Hoban,
the original designer and builder, to do the work.
   (SFEC, 7/4/99, Par p.5)
Â
1817Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct, Pres. and Mrs. James
Monroe moved back into the restored White House.
   (SFEC, 7/4/99, Par p.5)
1818Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 1, An official
reopening of the White House took place after being repaired from
burning by British during War of 1812.
   (SFEC, 7/4/99, Par
p.5)(http://tinyurl.com/7uewdhv)
1829Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 4, An unruly crowd
mobbed the White House during the inaugural reception for President
Jackson, the 7th US President. The event was later depicted by
artist Louis S. Glanzman in his painting “Andrew Jackson’s
Inauguration” (1970).
   (AP, 3/4/98)(WSJ, 1/17/08, p.W5)
1833Â Â Â Â Â Â The Washington Monument
Association was formed to build a monument to honor George
Washington.
   (ON, 3/00, p.9)
1835Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 31, Richard Lawrence
misfired at President Andrew Jackson (aka 'Old Hickory') at the
White House. Lawrence fired 2 pistols at Pres. Andrew Jackson during
funeral services for Rep. Warren Davis. Jackson wasn’t hit and
Lawrence, who thought he was the king of England and that Jackson
owed him money, was found to be insane.
   (SFC, 7/25/98, p.A6)(HN, 1/31/99)(SFC, 2/5/00,
p.B3)
1838Â Â Â Â Â Â Maryland’s Jesuits sold
272 slaves to pay off debts for Georgetown Univ. located in
Washington DC. In 2016 the school introduced a set of measures that
included an initiative offering preferential admission status to
descendants of those held in slavery by the university.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgetown_University)
1839Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 20, Congress
prohibited dueling in the District of Columbia.
   (AP, 2/20/98)
1839Â Â Â Â Â Â Construction began on the
Gen’l. Post Office Building. It was completed in 1847 under
architect Robert Mills and later became known as the Tariff
Building. In 1998 it was leased by the Kimpton Hotel and Restaurant
Group for conversion into a 172-room luxury hotel.
   (SFC, 4/14/98, p.B2)(SFC, 5/20/02, p.F10)
1842Â Â Â Â Â Â The 14-room Anderson
Cottage was built. It was used as a home by Pres. Lincoln for 3
summers from 1862-1864.
   (SFC, 5/20/02, p.F10)
1844Â Â Â Â Â Â May 1, Samuel Morse
(1791-1872) sent the 1st telegraphic message as a demonstration
between Washington, DC, and Baltimore [see Jan 6, 1838]. The line
officially opened on May 24, 1844.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Morse)
1844Â Â Â Â Â Â May 24, Samuel F.B. Morse,
before a crowd of dignitaries in the chambers of the Supreme Court,
tapped out the message, "What hath God wrought?" to his partner in
Baltimore, Alfred Vail. Congress had appropriated $30,000 for the
experimental line built by Ezra Cornell between Washington and
Baltimore. American portrait artist Samuel F.B. Morse developed the
technology for electrical telegraphy in the 1830s, the first
instantaneous form of communication. Using a key to hold open an
electrical circuit for longer or shorter periods, an operator would
tap out a message in a code composed of dots and dashes. Public
demonstrations of the equipment were made in February 1838, but it
was necessary for Morse to secure financial backing to build the
first telegraph line to carry the signal over distance. In 1843,
Congress appropriated the funds for a 37-mile line between Baltimore
and Washington, D.C. After underground telegraph wires proved
unsuccessful, Morse switched to pole wires.
   (AP, 5/24/97)(HN, 5/24/98)(HNPD, 2/6/99)(HNQ,
5/27/00)
1846Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 10, President James
Polk signed a measure establishing the Smithsonian Institution. The
US Congress chartered the Smithsonian Institution, named after
English scientist James Smithson (1765-1836), whose bequest of
$500,000 made it possible. The Smithsonian Institute was born and
Joseph Henry became its first secretary.
   (SFEC, 8/25/96, p.T6)(AP, 8/10/07)
1847Â Â Â Â Â Â May 1, The cornerstone of
the Smithsonian Institute was laid in Washington, DC. The building
was designed by James Renwick Jr.
   (ON, 2/06, p.6)
1848Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, The Cornerstone of
the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. was laid by President
Polk. Each state of the union was invited to donate a memorial
stone. The white marble obelisk, which is 555 feet tall and 55 fee
square at the base, was not completed until 1884. The public was
admitted to the monument on October 9, 1888. Architect Robert Mills
(1781-1855) designed the monument.
   (ON, 3/00, p.9)(WSJ, 2/16/08, p.W18)
1849Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 29, Gas light was
installed in the White House.
   (HN, 12/29/98)
1850Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr, During the debate on
the Compromise of 1850, Senator Henry Foote, a unionist and
supporter of the compromise, drew a pistol on Senator Thomas Hart
Benton, an opponent of the deal. Other senators intervened before
Foote could fire.
   (SFC, 7/25/98, p.A6)
1850Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 20, The slave trade in
Washington, D.C., was abolished as a provision of Henry Clay's
Compromise of 1850. Because each state had its own slavery code when
the District of Columbia was founded in 1800, Washington had adopted
Maryland's laws. Although the 1850 legislation made the slave trade
illegal, slavery itself was still legal. Nevertheless, Washington
became a haven for free blacks. By 1860, free blacks outnumbered
slaves almost four-to-one. President Abraham Lincoln put an end to
Washington's slavery altogether in 1862, freeing about 2,989 African
Americans who were then slaves according to the slavery code.
   (HNPD, 9/20/98)(HN, 9/20/98)
1850Â Â Â Â Â Â The Willard family
acquired a 4-story hotel in Washington DC and turned it into the
100-room Willard Hotel at 1401 Pennsylvania Ave. In 1901 it was
replaced by an opulent 389-room Beaux-Arts building. In 1968 it was
closed and scheduled for demolition. In 1986 it re-opened following
a $73 million restoration.
   (SFC, 1/5/06, p.E4)
1851Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 24, Fire devastated
the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., destroying about 35,000
volumes.
   (AP, 12/24/97)
1853Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 8, 1st US bronze
equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson was unveiled in Wash. DC. [see
Mar 8]
   (MC, 1/8/02)
1853Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 8, The first bronze
statue of Andrew Jackson was unveiled in Washington, D.C. [see Jan
8]
   (HN, 3/8/98)
1854Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar, A slab of marble,
donated by Pope Pius IX, was stolen from the Washington Monument. It
had once belonged to the Temple of Concord in Rome. Members of the
Know-Nothing Party, an anti-Catholic political movement, reportedly
heaved it into the Potomac River.
    (ON, 3/00, p.9)(Econ, 7/25/15, p.25)
1854Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 6, The king of
American march music, John Philip Sousa, was born in Washington,
D.C.
   (AP, 11/6/97)
1855Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 22, The Know-Nothing
Party seized control of the Washington Monument Association and kept
control for 3 years.
   (ON, 3/00, p.10)
1856Â Â Â Â Â Â Representative Preston
Brooks, a pro-slavery Democrat from South Carolina, used a cane to
attack Senator Charles Sumner, a Republican abolitionist from Mass.
Sumner was beaten unconscious and was unable to resume duties for 3
years. Brooks resigned from his seat but was re-elected.
   (SFC, 7/25/98, p.A6)
1858Â Â Â Â Â Â The original board of the
Washington Monument regained control after the Know-Nothing Party
disbanded due to a split between pro- and anti-slavery factions.
   (ON, 3/00, p.10)
1859Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 19, Daniel E. Sickles,
NY congressman, was acquitted of murder on grounds of temporary
insanity. This was the 1st time this defense was successfully used.
Sickles had shot and killed Philip Barton Key, son of Francis Scott
Key, author of "Star Spangled Banner." He shot Lee, the DC district
attorney, in Lafayette Square for having an affair with his wife.
Sickles pleaded temporary insanity and the sanctity of a man’s home
and beat the murder rap.
   (WSJ, 3/29/02, p.W10)(MC, 2/19/02)
1959Â Â Â Â Â Â Northern and Southern
leaders socialized together for the last time at the Napier Ball in
the Willard Hotel before the start of the US Civil War.
   (SFC, 1/5/06, p.E4)
1860Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 25, The first Japanese
ambassador to the US, Niimi Buzennokami, and his 74-man staff
arrived in Washington to present their credentials to Pres. James
Buchanan.
   (www.trivia-library.com/b/world-history-1860.htm)
1861Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 4, Winfield Scott, US
general-in-chief, decided to relieve Lt. Col. Robert E. Lee as
commander of federal forces in Texas and bring him to Washington DC
where Lee could take command of forces guarding DC.
   (ON, 12/05, p.11)
1861Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 4, The US Government
Printing Office, created by Congressional Joint Resolution 25 of
June 23, 1860, began operations.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Government_Printing_Office)
1861Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 18, The Kansas
Frontier Guards drilled and set up camp in the East Room of the
White House with the mission to protect President Lincoln from a
feared Rebel attack on Washington. The collection of Kansans in
Washington, many office seekers and politicians, were organized and
led by the state's first senator, James Henry Lane, a friend of the
president and former leader of the Free State movement in Kansas.
With Virginia's secession from the Union on April 17, rumors spread
of an impending rebel strike on Washington. Lane organized the force
of 50 men and offered their service to the War Department, arriving
in the White House in the evening of April 18. As additional Union
troops entered the city, the Frontier Guard was dismissed from the
White House on April 19. The unofficial unit was assigned various
positions in the city during the following week and, in a ceremony
attended by the president, was disbanded on April 25.
   (HNQ, 1/7/99)
1861Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 23, Union intelligence
chief Allan Pinkerton placed Rose O’Neal Greenhow (1813/1814-1864)
under house arrest for working as a southern spy working in
Washington DC. She was sent to the Old Capitol Prison and then was
banished to Richmond, Va., in May, 1963. She had supplied Gen.
P.G.T. Beauregard with a warning that Union General Irvin McDowell
was planning an attack on Manassas in July 1861. Greenhow, a
44-year-old widow with four daughters, was recruited in 1861 to be
the operating head of the Confederacy’s first spy ring. A Washington
socialite with many friends in high government circles, Rose was
perfectly placed to gather intelligence about Federal troop
strengths and movements. She drowned in a shipwreck on September 30,
1864.
   (ON, 12/10,
p.10)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_O%27Neal_Greenhow)
1861Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 23, President Abraham
Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus in Washington, D.C. for
all military-related cases.
   (HN, 10/23/98)
1861-1865Â Â Â The National Museum of Health and
Medicine (NHMH) was founded in Washington DC to advance medical care
during the Civil War.
   (SFEC, 6/29/97, p.T10)
1862Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 6, Pres. Lincoln
proposed to Congress a revised plan of compensated emancipation for
slave-owners in the District of Columbia and the border states.
   (ON, 6/10, p.1)
1862Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 3, A bill was passed
to abolish slavery in Washington, D.C. [see Apr 16]
   (HN, 4/3/98)
1862Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 13, In the Washington
area volunteers led by Sarah J. Evans paid homage to the graves of
Civil War soldiers. Villagers in Waterloo, NY, held their 1st
Memorial Day service on May 5, 1866. In 1966 Pres. Johnson gave
Waterloo, NY, the distinction of holding the 1st Memorial Day.
   (SFC, 5/26/03, p.A2)
1862Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 16, President Lincoln
signed a bill, passed on April 3, ending slavery in the District of
Columbia.
   (HN, 4/16/98)(AP, 4/16/08)
1862Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 29, Confederate spy
Belle Boyd (1844-1900) was arrested and confined at Old Capital
Prison in Washington, DC.
   (AH, 6/03,
p.14)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belle_Boyd)
1862Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 29, Confederate spy
Belle Boyd was released from Old Capital Prison in Washington, DC.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belle_Boyd)
1862Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 17, Union General
Burnside marched north out of Washington, D.C. to begin the
Fredericksburg Campaign.
   (HN, 11/17/98)
1862Â Â Â Â Â Â The Washington DC bordello
of Mary Ann Hall at 349 Maryland Ave. was rated at the top of a list
of 450 brothels catalogued by the office of the federal provost
marshal. The city had an estimated 5,000 prostitutes, 18 of whom
resided at the 3-story brick Hall house.
   (SFEC, 4/18/99, p.A24)
1863Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 2, Mrs. Lincoln was
thrown from her carriage and spent weeks recovering at the Anderson
Cottage. The seat assembly may have been sabotaged.
   (SFC, 5/20/02, p.F10)
1863Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 1, Belle Boyd, a
Confederate spy, was released from prison in Washington.
   (HN, 12/1/98)
1864Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 2, Statuary Hall in US
Capitol was established.
   (SC, 7/2/02)
1864Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 11, Confederate
General Jubal Early's army arrived in Silver Spring, Maryland, on
the outskirts of Washington, D.C., and began to probe the Union
line. Confederate forces led by Gen. Jubal Early began an invasion
of Washington, D.C., turning back the next day.
   (HT, 3/97, p.66)(AP, 7/11/97)(HN, 7/11/98)
1864Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 12, President Abraham
Lincoln became the first standing president to witness a battle as
Union forces repelled Jubal Early's army on the outskirts of
Washington, D.C.
   (HN, 7/12/98)
1864Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 13, Gen Jubal Early
retreated from the outskirts of Washington back to Shenandoah
Valley.
   (MC, 7/13/02)
1865Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 4, President Lincoln
was inaugurated for his 2nd term as President. It was held at the
Patent Office, the site of a military hospital. Four companies of
African-American troops and lodges of African-American Masons and
African-American Odd-Fellows joined the procession to the Capitol.
   (WSJ, 2/12/04, p.D12)(SSFC, 1/20/13, Par p.4)
1865Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 6, President Lincoln's
2nd Inaugural Ball was held.
   (MC, 3/6/02)
1865Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 14, On the evening of
Good Friday, just after 10 p.m., Pres. Lincoln was shot and mortally
wounded by John Wilkes Booth while attending the comedy "Our
American Cousin" at Ford's Theater in Washington DC. Southern
sympathizer John Wilkes Booth burst into the presidential box and
shot Lincoln behind the ear. Booth shouted out “sic semper tyrannis”
(thus always to tyrants), Virginia’s state motto, after shooting
Pres. Lincoln. He leaped to the stage, breaking his left leg on
impact, and escaped through a side door. Lincoln was carried to a
nearby house where he remained unconscious until his death at 7:22
the following morning. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, who had
kept vigil at Lincoln's bedside, said, "Now he belongs to the ages."
As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This
expresses my idea of democracy.”
   (V.D.-H.K.p.277)(AP, 4/14/97)(AP, 4/14/98)(HNPD,
4/14/00)(WSJ, 10/13/06, p.W13)
1865Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 14, A 2nd assassin
stabbed the Sec. of State 5 times. George Atzerodt, a 3rd assassin
for the vice president, got cold feet.
   (SSFC, 4/8/01, Par p.12)(WSJ, 2/2/05, p.B1)
1865Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 15, President Lincoln
died, several hours after he was shot at Ford’s Theater in
Washington by John Wilkes Booth. Andrew Johnson, Vice-President
under Lincoln, became the 17th President (1865-1869) of the US upon
the assassination. The first Mourning Stamp was issued after his
assassination, a 15-cent black commemorative. In 1999 Allen C.
Guelzo authored "Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President," an
intellectual biography. In 2002 William Lee Miller authored
"Lincoln’s Virtues: An Ethical Biography." In 2004 Ronald C. White
Jr. authored “The Eloquent President.” In 2005 Doris Kearns Goodwin
authored “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.”
   (SFEC, 5/31/98, Z1 p.8)(WSJ, 12/29/99,
p.A16)(WSJ, 2/8/02, p.W9)(WSJ, 1/20/05,
p.D9)(http://condor.stcloudstate.edu/~brixr01/NYTAPR151865.html)(SSFC,
11/27/05, p.M3)
1865Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 21, Abraham Lincoln's
funeral train left Washington.
   (HN, 4/21/98)
1865Â Â Â Â Â Â May 23, The American flag
was flown at full staff over White House for the 1st time since
Lincoln was shot. Union Army's Grand Review began in Washington DC.
   (MC, 5/23/02)
1865Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 30, Eight alleged
conspirators in assassination of Lincoln were found guilty after
kangaroo court-martial and brutal treatment by military officers.
   (MC, 6/30/02)
1865Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 5, The US Secret
Service began operating under the Treasury Department. The Secret
Service Division began in Washington, D.C., to suppress counterfeit
currency. Chief William P. Wood was sworn in by Secretary of the
Treasury Hugh McCulloch.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secret_Service)
1865Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 7, The trap doors of
the scaffold in the yard of Washington’s Old Penitentiary were
sprung, and Mary Surratt, Lewis Paine, David Herold and George
Atzerodt dropped to their deaths. The four had been convicted of
"treasonable conspiracy" in the assassination of President Abraham
Lincoln, and had learned that they were to be hanged only a day
before their execution. Shortly after 1 p.m. the prisoners were led
onto the scaffold and prepared for execution. The props supporting
the platform were knocked away at about 2 p.m. Assassin John Wilkes
Booth had been killed on April 26, 12 days after Lincoln’s
assassination. Other convicted conspirators—Edman Spangler, Dr.
Samuel Mudd, Samuel Arnold and Michael O’Laughlin—were imprisoned.
   (AP, 7/7/97)(HNPD, 7/7/98)
1866Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 18, Both Houses of the
US Congress passed the 14th Amendment. The Radical Republicans were
satisfied that they had secured civil rights for blacks, but were
disappointed that the amendment would not also secure political
rights for blacks; in particular, the right to vote. Secretary of
State William H. Seward issued an unconditional certificate of
ratification, dated July 28, 1868, declaring the Fourteenth
Amendment to have been duly ratified by the requisite three-fourths
of the states.
   (http://tinyurl.com/77terl3)
1867Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 8, Legislation gave
suffrage to DC blacks, despite Pres. Johnson's veto.
   (MC, 1/8/02)
1867Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 2, Howard University,
Washington DC, was incorporated. General Oliver Otis Howard, Union
Civil War commander, co-founded Howard Univ.
  Â
(http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/nov20.html)(ON, 4/07, p.8)
1867Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 29, Congress approved
Lincoln Memorial.
   (MC, 3/29/02)
1867Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 25, Congress created
the 1st all black university, Howard Univ. in Wash DC.
   (MC, 9/25/01)
1870Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 9, Washington: Pres
Grant met with Sioux chief Red Cloud.
   (MC, 6/9/02)
1873Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 4, Pres. Ulysses S.
Grant accepted the oath of office, administered by Chief Justice
Salmon Chase, for his 2nd term. At the inauguration ceremony 150
canaries, whose chirping was to amuse guests, froze to death in
their cages.
   (SFC, 1/20/09,
p.A7)(www.bartleby.com/124/pres34.html)
1874 Â Â Â Â Â Â Secret Service
headquarters returned to Washington, D.C. after 4 years in NYC.
   (http://www.ustreas.gov/usss/history.shtml)
1876Â Â Â Â Â Â President Ulysses S. Grant
authorized the funds to complete the construction of the Washington
Monument, but without the ornate building and classical statue.
   (ON, 3/00, p.10)
1877Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 6, The Washington Post
published its 1st edition. It was founded by independent-minded
Democrat Stilson Hutchins.
   (www.washpostco.com/history-history-1875.htm)
1879Â Â Â Â Â Â Pres. Rutherford B. Hayes
had the first White House telephone installed.
   (SFC, 2/3/97, p.D1)
1881Â Â Â Â Â Â May 17, Frederick Douglass
was appointed recorder of deeds for Washington, D.C.
   (HN, 5/17/98)
1884Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 13, US Congress
adopted Eastern Standard Time for the District of Columbia.
   (AP, 3/13/07)
1884Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 13, Greenwich was
established as the universal time meridian of longitude. 41
delegates from 25 nations met in Washington, D.C. for the
International Meridian Conference. This conference selected the
Greenwich Meridian as the official Prime Meridian due to its
popularity. However, France abstained from the vote and French maps
continued to use the Paris Meridian for several decades.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Meridian)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_13)
1884Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 6, The Washington
Monument was completed by Army engineers 101 years after George
Washington himself approved the location halfway between the
proposed sites of the Capitol and the White House. Construction did
not begin on the 555-foot Egyptian obelisk until July 4, 1848, when
a private citizens' group, the Washington National Monument Society,
raised enough money to begin the project. The original design called
for the familiar obelisk surrounded by a large building with a
statue of Washington driving a Roman chariot on top. Construction
was halted in 1854 when the money ran out and for 22 years the
monument stood embarrassingly unfinished, looking, as Mark Twain put
it, like "a factory chimney with the top broken off." In 1876,
President Ulysses S. Grant authorized the funds to complete the
construction--but without the ornate building and classical statue.
When the final capstone and 9-inch aluminum pyramid were set in
place in 1884, the Washington Monument was the tallest structure in
the world.
   (AP, 12/6/97)(HNPD, 12/6/98)(ON, 3/00, p.10)
1885Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 21, The Washington
Monument was dedicated by Pres. Chester A. Arthur.
   (HN, 2/21/98)(AP, 2/21/98)(ON, 3/00, p.10)
1885Â Â Â Â Â Â The National Aquarium
first opened to visitors in Washington DC. On Sep 30, 2013, it
closed its operations at the US Dept. of Commerce building due to
renovations.
   (SFC, 9/30/13, p.A4)
1887Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 7, Monotype
type-casting machine was patented by Tolbert Lanston in Wash., DC.
   (SC, 6/7/02)
1887Â Â Â Â Â Â Gen. Montgomery C. Meigs,
architect, oversaw the completion of his Pension Building. The
Pension Bureau oversaw the benefits of the nation’s ex-soldiers.
   (AH, 10/01, HT p.28)
1887Â Â Â Â Â Â The American Graphaphone
Co. was founded in Washington DC. They made a sound producing
machine that was peddle operated and based on work by Alexander Bell
that used a cardboard cylinder coated with a waxy material to hold
sounds.
   (SFC,11/19/97, Z1 p.7)
1888Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 27, National
Geographic Society was founded in Washington, DC. It 1st magazine
was published Oct 1, 1888. In 2004 Robert M. Poole authored
“Explorers House: National Geographic and the World it Made.”
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Geographic_Society)(Econ,
10/16/04, p.81)
1888Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 9, The
Washington Monument, designed by Robert Mills, was completed and the
public was first admitted. Steam powered elevators carried visitors
to the top in 12 minutes. It underwent a $1.5 million renovation in
1998. In 1903 Frederick L. Harvey authored "History of the
Washington National Monument and Washington National Monument
Association." In 1995 Craig and Katherine Doherty authored "The
Washington Monument."
   (SFC, 5/23/98, p.A3)(ON, 3/00, p.10)(HN, 10/9/00)
1890Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb, Charles E. Kincaid,
correspondent for the Louisville Times, shot former Representative
William Taulbee, a democrat from Kentucky, at the Capital during an
argument over a scandal involving the lawmaker. Taulbee died ten
days later.
   (SFC, 7/25/98, p.A6)
1890Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 14, The First
International Conference of American States met in Washington, where
delegates agreed to form the International Union of American
Republics, a forerunner of the Organization of American States.
   (AP, 4/14/08)
1890Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 8, Daughters of
American Revolution (DAR) organized. [see Oct 11]
   (MC, 8/8/02)
1890Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 11, The Daughters of
the American Revolution (DAR) was founded in Washington, D.C.
   (AP, 10/11/97)
1893Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 9, Frances Cleveland,
wife of President Cleveland, gave birth to a daughter, Esther, in
the White House. It was the first time a president's child was born
in the executive mansion.
   (AP, 9/9/97)
1894Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 29, The Commonweal of
Christ, called Coxey's Army, arrived in Wash, DC, 500 strong to
protest unemployment; Coxey was arrested for trespassing at Capitol.
   (MC, 4/29/02)
1895Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 11, Georgetown became
part of Wash, DC.
   (MC, 2/11/02)
1895Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 20, Abolitionist
Frederick Douglass died in Washington, D.C.
   (AP, 2/20/98)
1895Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 17, Anti-Saloon League
of America was formed in Washington, DC.
   (MC, 12/17/01)
1895Â Â Â Â Â Â Charles Crittenton, a
businessman and philanthropist, and Dr. Kate Waller Barrett founded
the Florence Crittenton mission for young women in Washington, DC.
It was named in memory of Crittenton’s daughter. The Florence
Crittenton Mission sought to support and empower unwed mothers and
provide for the health of their infant children.
   (www.fcaknox.org/cms/History/41.html)
1896Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 21, Mary Church
Terrell founded the National Association of Colored Women in
Washington, D.C.
   (HN, 7/21/98)
1897Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 17, The US National
Congress of Mothers was founded in Washington, D.C. It later became
the National congress of Parents and Teachers known as the PTA
(Parent Teachers Association).
   (USAT, 2/14/97, p.13D)(SFC, 2/22/96, p.A20)(AP,
2/17/98)
1897Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 27, Grant's Tomb was
dedicated.
   (MC, 4/27/02)
1897Â Â Â Â Â Â American Telephone &
Telegraph Co. began to use wooden poles when it put up a
communication line from Washington DC to Norfolk, Va.
   (WSJ, 3/2/00, p.A1)
1899Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 29, Edward Kennedy
"Duke" Ellington (d.1975), jazz composer and musician was born in
Washington D.C. A major influence in jazz, especially the big band
sound, Ellington orchestrated over 1,000 pieces of music during his
prolific career. Although some tunes most associated with Duke
Ellington and ‘His Famous Orchestra‘ were written by others (Billy
Strayhorn wrote "Take the A Train"), Ellington capitalized on his
outstanding ensemble by writing pieces emphasizing the talents of
individual performers such as Johnny Hodges and Jimmy Blanton. In
addition to big band pieces, he also wrote for film, ballet and
opera.
   (HN, 4/4/98)(SFEC, 2/21/99, DB p.32)(AP,
4/29/99)(HNQ, 11/10/00)
1901Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 28, Byron Bancroft
Johnson announced that the American League would play the 1901
baseball season as a major league and would not renew its membership
in the National Agreement. The new league would include Baltimore
and Washington, DC, recently abandoned by the National League. The
league would also invade 4 cities where National League teams
existed: Boston, Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia. The 8 charter
teams included: the Baltimore Orioles, Boston Americans, Chicago
White Stockings, Cleveland Blues, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers,
Philadelphia Athletics, and Washington Senators.
   (ON, 6/09,
p.11)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_League)
1901Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 12, Theodore Roosevelt
renamed the "Executive Mansion," to “The White House."
   (HNQ, 6/28/00)(MC, 10/12/01)
1901Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 28, Race riots,
sparked by Booker T. Washington's visit to the White House, killed
34.
   (HN, 10/28/98)
1901Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 27, The Army War
College was established in Washington, D.C.
   (AP, 11/27/97)
1901Â Â Â Â Â Â A statue of Albert Pike,
Confederate brigadier general, was unveiled at 3rd and D Streets NW.
It was erected by the Masons to commemorate Pike's work for
Freemasonry. He is the only Confederate officer to have a statue in
Washington, D.C. The conduct of Indian troops under his command at
the Battle of Pea Ridge eventually led to his forced resignation
   (HNQ, 11/12/98)
1901Â Â Â Â Â Â President Theodore
Roosevelt officially named the Executive Mansion the White House.
   (HNQ, 6/28/00)
1902Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 28, The Carnegie
Institute was established in Washington, D.C.
   (AP, 1/28/98)
1902Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 22, A fistfight broke
out in the US Senate. Senator Benjamin Tillman, a white supremacist,
suffered a bloody nose for accusing his fellow South Carolina
Senator John McLaurin of bias on the Philippine tariff issue.
   (HN, 2/22/98)(Econ, 6/30/12, p.35)
1902Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 2, The Pan American
Health Organization (PAHO) began life as the International Sanitary
Bureau, created by the representatives of 11 countries who met at
the First General International Sanitary Convention of the American
Republics at a conference in Washington DC. In 1949, PAHO and WHO
signed an agreement making PAHO the American Regional Office (AMRO)
of WHOÂ to improve health and living standards of the people of
the Americas.
   (https://tinyurl.com/ycsmx8e9)(Econ, 4/11/20,
p.23)
1903Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 21, The cornerstone
laid for US army war college in Washington, DC.
   (MC, 2/21/02)
1906Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 17, Alice Lee
Roosevelt, President Theodore Roosevelt's irrepressible eldest
daughter, married Congressman Nicholas Longworth of Ohio in an
elaborate White House ceremony. Heedless of social convention,
Alice's behavior routinely shocked her family and friends. Once the
president, when confronted with another of Alice's escapades,
remarked, "I can do one of two things, I can run the country or
control Alice. I cannot do both." Nevertheless, the world public was
captivated with the first daughter, who seemed to embody the ideal
Gay Nineties woman. In spite of its promising beginning, Alice's
25-year marriage to Longworth was not a happy one, but Alice reigned
as the grande dame of Washington, D.C. society for another 50 years.
   (HNPD, 2/16/99)
1906Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 17, President Theodore
Roosevelt first likened crusading journalists to a man with "the
muckrake in his hand" in a speech to the Gridiron Club in
Washington, DC, as he criticized what he saw as the excesses of
investigative journalism.
   (AP, 3/17/06)(AP, 3/17/08)
1907Â Â Â Â Â Â May 1, Kate Smith
(d.1986), singer, was born in Washington, DC.
   (AP,
5/1/07)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Smith)
1907Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 29, The foundation
stone was laid for Washington National Cathedral, which wasn't fully
completed until 1990.
   (AP, 9/29/07)
1907Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 27, Union Station in
Washington, D.C., opened.
   (AP, 10/27/07)
1903Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 8, Samuel P. Langley’s
man-carrying Great Aerodrome collapsed right after takeoff from a
houseboat on the Potomac River.
  Â
(www.nasm.si.edu/research/arch/findaids/langley/langley_sec_6.html)
1909Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 8, Hinton Rowan Helper
(b.1829) of North Carolina, writer and former US consul in Buenos
Aires (1861-1866), blocked the door of his Washington, DC., rooming
house, turned on the gas and asphyxiated himself.
   (SFC, 6/20/15, p.C2)
1909Â Â Â Â Â Â May 1, Walter Reed
Hospital opened in Washington DC as an 80-bed Army medical center.
It closed in 2011 and operations were moved to facilities in
Maryland and Virginia.
   (SFC, 8/26/05, p.A13)(SFC, 7/28/11, p.A4)
1909Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 1, Pres. William
Howard Taft touched a key in Washington, DC, sending a signal to
Seattle, opening the Alaska-Yukon Pacific Expo at the Seattle
World’s Fair, as well as a signal to NYC initialing the New York to
Seattle Automobile Race.
   (AH, 6/03, p.18)
1912Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 27, The first cherry
blossom trees, a gift from Japan, were planted in Washington, D.C.
First Lady Helen Herron Taft and the Viscountess Chinda, wife of the
Japanese ambassador, planted two Yoshina cherry trees on the
northern bank of the Potomac Tidal Basin, near the Jefferson
Memorial. The event was held in celebration of a gift, by the
Japanese government, of 3,020 trees to the US government for
planting along Washington's Potomac River.
   (HN, 3/27/98)
1912Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 22, At the urging of
Pres. Taft the Chamber of Commerce of the USA was established at a
Washington hotel by a gathering of 700 delegates from 44 states. The
represented 324 voluntary organizations.
   (Econ, 4/21/12, p.77)
1912Â Â Â Â Â Â Services began in
Bethlehem Chapel of the unfinished National Cathedral in Washington
DC, fulfilling the vision of DC planner Pierre L’Enfant, who had
called for a church for national purposes. Construction had begun in
1907 and continued for 83 years.
   (AH, 4/07,
p.31)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_National_Cathedral)
1913Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 3, Ida B.
Wells-Barnett demonstrated for female suffrage in Washington DC.
   (SC, 3/3/02)
1913Â Â Â Â Â Â May 14, Walter Johnson
(1887-1946), Washington Senators baseball ace, ended his
record-breaking streak of 56 scoreless innings against the St. Louis
Browns. Johnson’s scoreless inning streak began on April 10, 1913,
and lasted 55 and 2/3 innings pitched. He threw six shutouts in a
row before finally being scored on by the Browns. The Big Trains
streak of 55 2/3 scoreless innings surpassed the Philadelphia
Athletics' Jack Coombs record of 53 scoreless innings achieved in
1910. It would take 55 years before Johnson's streak was broken by
the Los Angeles Dodgers' Don Drysdale.
  Â
(www.nationalsdailynews.com/columnists/archive.cfm?blog=mark&tag=The%20Big%20Train)
1914Â Â Â Â Â Â Houses of prostitution
were banned.
   (SFEC, 4/18/99, p.A24)
1915Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 12, The cornerstone
for the Lincoln Memorial was laid in Washington, D.C., a year to the
day after groundbreaking.
   (AP, 2/12/08)
1915Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul, A homemade bomb
exploded in the Senate Reception Room. It was placed by Erich
Muenter, a former Harvard professor, who was upset by the private
sales of US munitions to the allies in WW I.
   (SFC, 7/25/98, p.A6)
1916Â Â Â Â Â Â Anton Dilger (1884-1918),
an American educated as a surgeon in Germany, set up a basement
laboratory in Washington DC for cultivating anthrax bacteria and
Pseudomonas mallei to infect horses and cattle destined to supply
Allied armies. German saboteurs disseminated the bacteria. Dilger
later moved to Mexico to help goad Mexico into attacking the US. He
died of the Spanish flu in Madrid. In 2007 Robert Koenig authored
“The Fourth Horseman: One Man’s Mission to Wage the Great War in
America.”
   (SSFC, 1/14/07, p.M2)
1918Â Â Â Â Â Â May 14, Sunday baseball
became legal in Wash, DC.
   (MC, 5/14/02)
1918Â Â Â Â Â Â May 15, The U.S. Post
Office and the U.S. Army began regularly scheduled airmail service
between Washington and New York through Philadelphia.
   (AP, 5/15/97)(HNPD, 6/15/99)(HNQ, 4/24/01)
1918Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 22, The cities of
Baltimore and Washington run out of coffins during the "Spanish
Influenza" epidemic.
   (HN, 10/22/00)
1919Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 2, There were
coordinated bombings in Washington, DC, and 6 other cities. Militant
followers of anarchist Luigi Galleani were blamed. A campaign this
month involved 8 bombs that killed several people including an
anarchist.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1919_United_States_anarchist_bombings)(Econ,
11/6/10, p.74)
1919Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 7, The U.S. Army’s
First Transcontinental Motor Train left Washington, D.C., bound for
San Francisco. The 62-day journey crossed 3,250 miles. In 2002 Peter
Davies authored "American Road," an account of the trip.
   (HN, 3/7/01)(WSJ, 7/19/02, p.W9)
1919Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 19-1919 Jul 22, In
Washington DC, white mobs — many made up of members of the military
— rampaged over the weekend, beating any black they could find after
false rumors of a white woman being assaulted by black men spread.
   (AP, 7/23/19)
1919Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 24, A race riot in
Washington, DC, left 6 killed and 100 wounded.
   (MC, 7/24/02)
1919Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 17, The US saluted
Gen. John J. Pershing and soldiers returning from WWI in a parade up
Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington DC.
   (AH, 10/04, p.14)
1921-1924Â Â Â Woodrow Wilson, who left office in 1921,
lived at 2340 S. St. NW, Washington DC, until his death in 1924. His
house, built in 1915, is now open to the public.
   (HNQ, 9/12/00)
1922Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 8, President Harding
had a radio installed in the White House.
   (AP, 2/8/99)
1922Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 23, 1st airplane
landed at the US Capitol in Washington DC.
   (SS, 3/23/02)
1922Â Â Â Â Â Â May 30, The Lincoln
Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C., by Chief Justice William
Howard Taft and Robert Todd Lincoln. The Memorial has 48 sculptured
festoons above the columns representing the number of states at the
time of dedication. The 36 Doric columns in the Lincoln Memorial
represent the number of states in the Union at the time of Lincoln’s
death in 1865. The limestone and marble edifice, which is situated
at the western end of the Mall, was designed by Henry Bacon of North
Carolina in the style of a Greek temple. Daniel Chester French
co-designed the memorial with Bacon.
   (HNQ, 2/12/00)(WSJ, 5/24/08, p.W12)(AP, 5/30/08)
1922Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 27, George Walker,
composer (In Praise of Lillies), was born in Washington, DC.
   (SC, 6/27/02)
1922Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 12, The home of
Frederick Douglass in Washington, D.C. was dedicated as a memorial.
   (HN, 8/12/98)
1922Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 3, The 1st facsimile
photo (fax) was sent over city telephone lines in Washington, DC.
   (MC, 10/3/01)
1922Â Â Â Â Â Â The second largest
equestrian statue in the world, located in Washington, D.C., is of
General and later President Ulysses S. Grant. The statue of Grant,
sculpted by Henry Merwin Shrady and dedicated in 1922, stands at
head of the reflecting pool in front of the U.S. Capitol Building.
The only equestrian statue larger is of Victor Emmanuel in Italy.
   (HNQ, 11/21/98)
1923Â Â Â Â Â Â The Freer Gallery in
Washington was established as the nation’s national museum of Asian
art. The center of the collection was amassed by Charles Lang Freer
(1854-1919), a self-made railroad magnate living in Detroit.
   (WSJ, 1/13/98, p.A20)(WSJ, 11/6/98, p.W10)(WSJ,
12/14/06, p.D6)
1923Â Â Â Â Â Â The Shriners, the
fraternal Ancient Order of the Mystic Shrine, made a pilgrimage to
Washington DC.
   (WSJ, 8/11/00, p.W6)
1924Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 3, The 28th president
of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, died in Washington at age 68.
   (AP, 2/3/97)
1924Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 22, Calvin Coolidge
delivered the first presidential radio broadcast from the White
House as he addressed the country over 42 stations.
   (AP, 2/22/08)
1924Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 23, The U.S. Senate
passed a Soldiers Bonus Bill, but deferred payments to some 4
million veterans to 1945. Pres. Coolidge vetoed the bill, but
Congress overrode him.
   (HN, 4/23/99)(WSJ, 11/7/05, p.B1)
1925Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 8, The Ku Klux Klan
held its first national march, in Washington, D.C. Between 25,000
and 40,000 marchers took to the streets.
   (http://mallhistory.org/items/show/175)
1925-1926Â Â Â Edward Christopher Williams (1871-1929),
black playwright, teacher and librarian, published "When Washington
Was in Vogue," a serialized novel in The Messenger, a socialist
magazine.
   (WSJ, 1/23/04, p.W5)
1927Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 7, Secretary of
Commerce Herbert Hoover was on hand for the first inter-city (DC to
Manhattan) transmission by telephone of video imagery. Hoover’s
image and voice were transmitted across telephone lines.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1927_in_television)(AH, 4/07, p.14)
1927Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 17, A tornado hit
Washington DC.
   (MC, 11/17/01)
1927Â Â Â Â Â Â The Washington Airport
opened in DC next to Hoover field, which had opened a year earlier.
The two merged in 1930 to form the Washington-Hoover Airport.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan_Washington_National_Airport)
1928Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 28, Smokey the Bear
was created.
   (MC, 2/28/02)
1929Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 23, The 1st telephone
installed in White House.
   (SS, 3/23/02)
1930Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 24, The 1st radar
detection of planes was made at Anacostia, DC.
   (MC, 6/24/02)
1930-1950Â Â Â The NKVD and KGB infiltration in
Washington during this period was documented in the 1998 book "The
Haunted Wood" by Allen Weinstein and Alexander Vassiliev.
   (WSJ, 1/5/98, p.A20)
1932Â Â Â Â Â Â May 29, World War I
veterans began arriving in Washington DC to demand cash bonuses they
weren’t scheduled to receive for another 13 years. 17,000 veterans,
calling themselves the Bonus Expeditionary Force, marched on
Washington demanding cash for their bonus certificates. They were
led by Walter Waters, a former sergeant from Portland, Ore.
  Â
   (TMC, 1994, p.1932)(AP, 5/29/97)(WSJ, 11/7/05,
p.B1)
1932Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 7, Over 7,000 war
veterans marched on Washington, D.C. demanding their bonuses for
service in WW I.
   (HN, 6/7/98)
1932Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 14, Representative
Edward Eslick died on the floor of the House of Representatives
while pleading for the passage of the bonus bill for US veterans.
   (HN, 6/14/98)
1932Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 17, The U.S. Senate
defeated a cash-now bonus bill as some 10,000 veterans massed around
the Capitol.
   (HN, 6/17/98)(WSJ, 11/7/05, p.B1)
1932Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 28, Under orders from
Pres. Hoover shacks built in the shadow of the nation’s Capitol by
World War I veteran demonstrators were burned. In 1924 Congress had
enacted a law that provided compensation to veterans—those entitled
to more than $50 would receive certificates maturing in 1945.
However, because of the Depression, Congress proposed in 1932 that
the certificates be redeemable immediately, as a bonus. Veterans
groups began to gather in Washington, D.C., to march for their
cause. When the bill was defeated, the veterans (nicknamed the Bonus
Expeditionary Force (BEF), "Bonus Army") refused to leave. Hoover
resorted to using U.S. troops to force them to evacuate. One veteran
was killed and 50 veterans and police were injured in the melee. In
May 1933, newly elected President Franklin Roosevelt also opposed
the bill, but he issued an executive order allowing 25,000 veterans
to enroll in the Citizens’ Conservation Corps in lieu of getting
bonuses. In 1971 Roger Daniels authored “The Bonus March.” In 1994
Donald J. Lisio authored “The President and Protest.”
   (AP, 7/28/97)(HNPD, 7/28/98)(WSJ, 11/7/05, p.B1)
1932Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec, Marlin R.M. Kemmerer
drew a revolver in the Capital House gallery. Rep. Melvin Maas, a
republican from Minn., convinced the man to drop the gun.
   (SFC, 7/25/98, p.A6)
1933Â Â Â Â Â Â Agnes and Eugene Meyer
purchased the Washington Post at a bankruptcy auction.
   (USAT, 2/13/97, p.5D)(SFC, 7/18/01, p.A6)
1934Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 21, Moe Berg, Senators
catcher (and later US spy), played an AL record 117th consecutive,
errorless game.
   (MC, 4/21/02)
1935Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 22, All plane flights
over the White House were barred because they disturbed President
Roosevelt's sleep.
   (HN, 2/22/98)
1935Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 7, The US Supreme
court held its 1st session in its new building designed by Cass
Gilbert. It was built on the site of an old Civil War prison. A new
marble frieze at the Supreme Court included an image of Mohammed. In
1997 a Muslim group complained because Islamic tradition forbids
images of the prophet.
   (WSJ, 3/13/97,
p.A1)(www.supremecourthistory.org)(WSJ, 8/27/03, p.B4)
1936Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 6, Marion S. Barry,
(Mayor-D-Wash DC), was born.
   (MC, 3/6/02)
c1937Â Â Â Â Â Â The painting "Dangers of
the Mail" was created by Frank Albert Mechau of Colorado for the
display in the Ariel Rios building of the Federal Triangle complex.
The painting depicted the slaughter of Western settlers by native
Indians and was later claimed as racist.
   (SFC, 12/4/00, p.A3)
1938Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 15, Groundbreaking
ceremonies for the Jefferson Memorial took place in Washington, D.C.
   (AP, 12/15/97)
1939Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 2, Marvin P. Gaye Jr,
singer (Sexual Healing), was born in Wash, DC.
   (MC, 4/2/02)
1939      Apr 9,  Â
Singer Marian Anderson performed at the Lincoln Memorial in
Washington, D.C., after she was denied the use of Constitution Hall
by the Daughters of the American Revolution.
   (AP, 4/9/97)
1939Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 17, Frank Capra's
comedy-drama "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" premiered in the
nation's capital.
   (AP, 10/17/99)
1939Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 15, President
Roosevelt laid the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial in
Washington, D.C.
   (AP, 11/15/97)
1940Â Â Â Â Â Â In Washington DC the
Dumbarton Oaks mansion was donated to Harvard Univ.
   (SFEC, 6/29/97, p.T10)
1940Â Â Â Â Â Â Britain’s PM Winston
Churchill sent a handful of young British officers to Washington,
DC, to ingratiate themselves on the social scene and advance the
British cause through good manners. They included Roald Dahl, Ian
Fleming and David Ogilvy. In 2008 Jennet Conant authored “The
Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime
Washington.
(WSJ, 9/11/08, p.A13)
1941Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 17, The National
Gallery of Art opened in Washington, D.C.
   (AP, 3/17/97)(HN, 3/17/98)
1941Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 16, The new Washington
National Airport opened southwest of DC. In 1945, Congress passed a
law that established the airport was legally within Virginia but
under the jurisdiction of the federal government. In 1998 it was
renamed Ronald Reagan National Airport.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan_Washington_National_Airport)
1941Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 5, Former US Supreme
Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis (b.1856), the first Jewish member of
the nation's highest court (1916-39), died in Washington at age 84.
In 2009 Melvin Urofsky authored “Louis D. Brandeis: A Life.” In 2016
Jeffrey Rosen authored “Louis D. Brandeis: American Prophet.”
   (AP, 10/5/99)(Econ, 9/26/09, p.97)(Econ, 5/14/16,
p.24)
1941Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec, David Ben-Gurion
(1886-1973), Israeli leader, traveled to Washington to speak with
Pres. F.D. Roosevelt regarding a Jewish state. He waited for 10
weeks at the Ambassador Hotel but was refused a meeting.
   (http://tinyurl.com/kkvdh)(Econ, 8/5/06, p.28)
1942Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 21, President
Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill met in Washington, DC.
   (MC, 6/21/02)
1943Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 13, President
Roosevelt dedicated the Jefferson Memorial. It was designed by John
Russell Pope.
   (AP, 4/13/97)(HN, 4/13/98)(WSJ, 9/21/00, p.A26)
1943Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 21, Edward Herrmann,
actor (Day of the Dolphin, Reds), was born in Wash., DC.
   (MC, 7/21/02)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 20, The US Congress
chartered the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
   (MC, 6/20/02)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 21, The US, Britain,
the Soviet Union and China opened the Dumbarton Oaks conference in
Washington, D.C. It laid the foundation for the establishment of the
UN.
   (SFEC, 6/29/97, p.T10)(AP, 8/21/07)
1945Â Â Â Â Â Â With the war over 16
million GIs began reentry to civilian life. Some 406,000 Americans
died in WW II. In 1987 a national war memorial was proposed and in
1993 Congress approved funding to build it on the Mall in Washington
DC. www.wwiimemorial.com
   (TMC, 1994, p.1945)(SFEC, 5/30/99, Par p.16)
1946Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 20, Connie Chung
(Yu-Hwa) journalist: CBS Evening News, was born in Washington, DC.
   (Internet)
1946Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 2, The Protocol to the
International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) was
signed was signed in Washington, DC. The International Whaling
Commission (IWC), formed in 1948, prohibited the hunting of gray
whales worldwide when their numbers were down to the thousands.
Scientific studies and the commercial reality of fewer whales led to
the implementation of bans on hunting many whale species such as the
humpback whale in 1963 followed in 1965 by a hunting ban on the blue
whale (the largest creature known to have ever existed). The IWC
adopted a moratorium on whaling in 1982. Although the IWC attempted
to ban all commercial whaling in 1986, some countries refused to
agree.
   (SFEM, 5/7/00,
p.9)(www.iwcoffice.org/commission/convention.htm)(Econ, 5/26/07,
p.65)
1947Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul, Senator John Bricker,
a republican from Ohio, was shot at twice as he entered the Senate
subway. William L. Kaiser, a former Capital police officer, missed 2
times. He had lost money when an Ohio building and loan firm was
liquidated.
   (SFC, 7/25/98, p.A6)
1947Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 20, Hollywood came
under scrutiny as the House Un-American Activities Committee
re-convened in Washington and opened hearings into alleged Communist
influence and infiltration within the motion picture industry.
   (SFEC, 5/18/97, DB p.64)(AP, 10/20/97)
1948Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 28, Georgia Engel,
actress (Georgette-Mary Tyler Moore Show), was born in Wash DC.
   (SC, 7/28/02)
1948Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 10, Mildred Gillars,
accused of being Nazi wartime radio broadcaster "Axis Sally," was
indicted in Washington, D.C., on treason charges. She was later
convicted, and served 12 years in prison.
   (AP, 9/10/04)
1950Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 27, Charles Fleischer,
comedian (Roger Rabbit), was born in Wash, DC.
   (www.hollywood.com/celebs/fulldetail/id/188514)
1950Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 1, Two members of a
Puerto Rican nationalist movement tried to force their way into
Blair House in Washington to assassinate President Truman. The
attempt failed, and one of the pair was killed.
   (AP, 11/1/97)(HN, 11/1/98)
1950Â Â Â Â Â Â A rally in Washington DC
was organized to protest racial injustice. The rally led to the
formation of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights by Arnold
Aronson, A. Philip Randolph, and Roy Wilkins.
   (SFC, 2/20/98, p.A23)
1951Â Â Â Â Â Â May 24, Racial segregation
in Washington D.C. restaurants was ruled illegal.
   (HN, 5/24/98)
1953Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 14, In Washington DC
the Pennsylvania Railroad's Federal, the overnight train from
Boston, crashed into the Union Station. Remarkably, no one was
killed.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Station_%28Washington,_D.C.%29)
1953Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 17, Mickey Mantle hit
a home run in Washington's Griffith Stadium off the Senator's Chuck
Stobbs that was entered in the Guinness Book of World Records as
measuring 565 feet. The distance was later said to have been padded.
   (WSJ, 7/9/03, p.A1)
1953Â Â Â Â Â Â The Washington National
Cathedral installed stained-glass windows that paid tribute to Gen.
Stonewall Jackson and Gen. Robert E. Lee of the Confederate Army.
The Confederate flags depicted in the windows were scheduled for
removal in 2016.
   (SFC, 6/10/16, p.A10)
1954Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 1, Puerto Rican
nationalists opened fire from the gallery of the U.S. House of
Representatives, wounding five congressmen. In 1998 the
granddaughter of one of the nationalists published a family memoir.
   (WUD, 1994, p.1685)(AP, 3/1/98)(NPR, 2/28/98)
1954Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 7-8, Integration of
public schools began in Washington DC and Baltimore, Md.
   (HN,
9/7/98)(www.courtinfo.ca.gov/presscenter/timeline.htm)
1954Â Â Â Â Â Â The US Supreme Court in
Berman v Parker approved a slum clearance plan of the government of
Washington DC over the objections of a local department store owner.
   (Econ, 2/19/05, p.32)
1954Â Â Â Â Â Â A World War II memorial to
US Marines was dedicated next to Arlington National Cemetery. It was
based on the Iwo Jima flag raising by 6 Marines, which was captured
by AP photographer Joseph Rosenthal. The photo inspired the
sculpture by Felix de Weldon (1907-2003).
   (AP, 2/23/98)(SFC, 9/21/00, p.C6)(SFC, 6/14/03,
p.A21)
1955Â Â Â Â Â Â Herbert Haft (1920-2004),
pharmacist, opened his 1st Dart Drugs in Washington, DC. Over the
next 30 years it grew to a chain of 77 stores and then expanded
creating Trak Auto, Crown Books, Shoppers Food Warehouse and Total
Beverage. In 1997 Dart accepted $50 million in exchange for leaving
the business.
   (SFC, 9/3/04, p.B6)
1956 Â Â Â Â Â Â June 9, In Washington,
DC, President Eisenhower underwent surgery for an intestinal
blockage. The operation was a success and doctors assured the nation
that the president will make a full recovery.
   (NYT, 6/9/1956, p.1)
1957Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 15, The musical "West
Side Story," composed by Leonard Bernstein and based on a concept by
Jerome Robbins, first opened in Washington D.C. The story was by
Arthur Laurents and the lyrics were by Stephen Sondheim.
   (SFEM, 5/23/99, p.18)
1957Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 17, Britain's Queen
Elizabeth and Prince Philip visited the White House.
   (MC, 10/17/01)
1958Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun, Richard Loving, a
white man, and Mildred Jeter, of African American and American
Indian ancestry, traveled from Caroline County, Va., to marry in
Washington, DC. Upon returning home they were arrested for violating
the state’s 1924 Racial Integrity Act. Their one year sentenced was
suspended on condition that they leave the state. The case was
appealed in 1963. In 1967 The US Supreme Court under Earl Warren
ruled unanimously in their favor.
   (SFC, 2/14/12, p.E4)
1959Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 8, The Inter-American
Development Bank (IDB) was formally founded when the Organization of
American States drafted the Articles of Agreement establishing the
IDB. The bank is headquartered in Washington, DC.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter-American_Development_Bank)
1959Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 14, The Taft Memorial
Bell Tower was dedicated in Washington, D.C.
   (HN, 4/14/98)
1959Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, A 49-star flag was
raised for the first time at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., in
honor of Alaska which had become the 49th state in the Union on July
7, 1958.
   (IB, Internet, 12/7/98)
1960Â Â Â Â Â Â The Washington Senators, a
baseball team in the American League, moved from Washington, D.C.,
to Minnesota at the end of 1960 and became the Minnesota Twins. The
next year, an expansion team, also called the Washington Senators,
came to the nation’s capital. After the 1971 season, those Senators
moved to Texas and became the Texas Rangers. In the 30 years since
then, Washington, D.C., has not had the Senators or any other Major
League baseball team.
   (HNQ, 6/29/01)
1961Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 29, The 23rd
amendment, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to vote for
president, was ratified.
   (HN, 3/29/98)
1961      May 4,   A
group of 13 CORE civil rights activists, dubbed "Freedom Riders"
left Washington, D.C., for New Orleans to challenge racial
segregation on buses and in bus terminals.
   (AP, 5/4/97)(HN, 5/4/98)(MC, 5/4/02)
1961Â Â Â Â Â Â Erving Goffman wrote
"Asylums," which asserted that the abnormal behavior of psychiatric
patients was mostly a consequence of hospitalization. It was based
on a year of working incognito at St. Elizabeths in Washington, DC.
   (WSJ, 7/18/97, p.A14)(Econ, 7/11/15, SR p.7)
1961Â Â Â Â Â Â Dorothy Butler Gilliam
(23) made history by becoming the first black female reporter for
The Washington Post. Gilliam later co-founded the Institute for
Journalism Education, now renamed the Maynard Institute. She also
guided the National Association of Black Journalists as a vice
president and president. Her autobiography "Trailblazer: A
Pioneering Journalist's Fight to Make the Media Look More Like
America" was published in 2019.
   {DC, USA, Black History, Journalism, Women}
   (AP, 3/5/20)
1961Â Â Â Â Â Â Calvin Griffith moved his
baseball team to Minnesota from Washington D.C. In 1978, in a speech
to a Waseca Lions club, he said he decided to do so “when I found
out you only had 15,000 blacks here.” In 2020 the Minnesota Twins
removed the statue of ex-owner Calvin Griffith.
   (AP, 6/18/20)
1962Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 16, Todd Gitlin
(b.1943), Harvard activist, helped organize a national anti-war
rally in Washington, DC. Some 8,000 students turned up. Boston SANE
& the fledgling SDS organized the first anti-nuclear march.
  Â
(www.peacebuttons.info/new/E-News/peacehistoryfebruary.htm#february16)(Econ,
2/18/12, p.15)
1962Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 9, JFK threw out the
1st ball at Washington's new DC Stadium.
   (MC, 4/9/02)
1962Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun, In 2012 Mimi Alford
(69), a grandmother and retired church administrator said she began
a relationship with Pres. John F. Kennedy while she was a
19-year-old intern in the White House press office. According to a
New York Post, which obtained a copy of the memoir, the affair began
in the summer of 1962, on the fourth day of Alford's internship,
when they had an encounter in the White House swimming pool. That
night, Alford says, she lost her virginity to the president in First
Lady Jacqueline Kennedy's bedroom. The affair was first revealed in
2003, when Kennedy biographer Robert Dallek wrote in "An Unfinished
Life" about an unnamed intern who allegedly had a relationship with
the late president. Alford’s "Once Upon a Secret: My Affair with
President John F. Kennedy and Its Aftermath" was released on Feb 8,
2012.     Â
   (http://tinyurl.com/7shp9j3)
1962Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 17, Washington's
Dulles International Airport was dedicated by President Kennedy.
   (AP, 11/17/97)
1963Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 3, Phil Graham,
publisher of the Washington Post, committed suicide. His wife,
Katharine Graham (1917-2001), took over as publisher. She published
her autobiography in 1997: "Personal History."
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katharine_Graham)(SFEC, 2/9/97, BR
p.1)
1963Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 28, The civil rights
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom drew 200-250,000
demonstrators and was the occasion for King’s "I Have a Dream"
speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial. It was organized by Bayard
Rustin (1912-1987). In 1997 a biography of Rustin by Jervis Anderson
was published: "Bayard Rustin: The Troubles I’ve Seen." The 1997
play "Civil Sex" by Brian Freeman was based on Rustin’s life. Rev.
Thomas Kilgore Jr. (d.1998 at 84) helped organize the march on
Washington. Martin Luther King led marches on Washington and Selma,
Alabama. His chief lieutenant was Andrew Young who in 1996 wrote:
"An Easy Burden: The Civil Rights Movement and the Transformation of
America." Activist and later congressman John Lewis (1940-2020) was
the youngest speaker.
   (WSJ, 11/6/96, p.A21)(SFEC, 1/26/97 BR, p.4)(WSJ,
1/30/97, p.A14)(AP, 8/28/97)(SFC, 2/7/98, p.21)(HN, 8/28/98)(Econ.,
7/25/20, p.74)
1963Â Â Â Â Â Â Marcus Raskin and Richard
Barnet co-founded the DC-based liberal Institute for Policy Studies
think tank.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_for_Policy_Studies)(SFC,
12/28/17, p.D5)
1964Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 11, The Beatles 1st
live appearance in US was in the Washington, DC Coliseum.
   (MC, 2/11/02)
1964Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 24, Residents of Wash
DC were permitted to vote for the 1st time since 1800.
   (MC, 11/24/01)
1965Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 17, Students for a
Democratic Society (SDS) held its 1st anti-Vietnam war protest rally
in Washington DC. Daniel Ellsburg helped Patricia Marx tape the
event for public radio.
   (SSFC, 10/20/02, p.M1)
1965Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 27, 15-25,000
demonstrated in Wash DC against the war in Vietnam.
   (MC, 11/27/01)
1965Â Â Â Â Â Â Blues Alley, a Georgetown
legend, began business and in 1998 was the oldest continuously
operating jazz supper club.
   (BS, 5/3/98, p.7R)
1966Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 29, The National
Organization for Women was formally organized during a conference in
Washington, D.C.Â
   (AP, 10/29/07)
1966Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 9, The statue of
Winston Churchill was dedicated at the British Embassy in
Washington, D.C.
   (HN, 4/9/99)
1967Â Â Â Â Â Â May 20, A 2-day Spring
Mobilization Conference opened in Washington D.C. The gathering of
700 antiwar activists was called to evaluate the antiwar
demonstrations that had taken place on April 15, 1967 in New York
City and San Francisco. The conference set another antiwar action
for the fall of 1967 and created an administrative committee to plan
it. That committee was the National Mobilization Committee to End
the War in Vietnam (MOBE).
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Mobilization_Committee_to_End_the_War_in_Vietnam)
1967Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 28, Walter E.
Washington (d.2003) took office as the first mayor of the District
of Columbia. He had been appointed mayor-commissioner by Pres.
Lyndon B. Johnson and won by election in 1974.
   (AP, 9/28/97)(SFC, 11/1/03, p.A20)
1967Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 21, Tens of thousands
of Vietnam War protesters marched in Washington, D.C. 35,000 people
assembled outside the Pentagon to protest the war in Vietnam.
   (TMC, 1994, p.1967)(AP, 10/21/97)
1967Â Â Â Â Â Â The Watergate (Swissotel
Washington) commercial and residential complex was built.
   (SSFC, 6/9/02, p.C1)
1968Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 2, The Poor Peoples'
March on Washington, envisioned by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as a
means of dramatizing the plight of the poor of all races, got under
way.
   {USA, Black History}
   (www.project1968.com/in-the-news-may-2-1968.html)
1968Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 19, Howard University
students in Washington DC staged rallies, protests and a 5-day
sit-in, laying siege to the administration building, shutting down
the university in protest over its ROTC program, and demanding a
more Afrocentric curriculum.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968)
1968Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 23, Reverend Walter
Fauntroy became the 1st non-voting congressional delegate from
Washington DC, since Reconstruction.
  Â
(www.thehistorymakers.com/timeline/index.asp?string=1968)
1968Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 4, Five days of race
riots erupted in Washington, D.C. following assassination of Martin
Luther King, Jr. Civil unrest affected at least 110 U.S. cities;
Washington, along with Chicago and Baltimore, were among the most
affected.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Washington,_D.C._riots)
1968Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 29, Dr. Ralph
Abernathy led The Poor People's Campaign in Washington D.C., less
than a month after the assassination of King. It concluded on June
23. The campaign was for reforms in welfare, employment and housing
policies. Abernathy was the successor to Rev. Martin Luther King as
head of the Southern Christian Leadership conference.
   (HNQ, 1/19/99)
1968Â Â Â Â Â Â May 12, "March of Poor"
under Rev. Abernathy reached Washington, DC.
   (MC, 5/12/02)
1968Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 2, The influential
science-fiction film "2001: A Space Odyssey," produced and directed
by Stanley Kubrick, had its world premiere in Washington.
   (AP, 4/2/08)
1968Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 19, Some 50,000
marched on Washington, DC, to support the Poor People's Campaign.
Rev. Jesse Jackson preached “I Am Somebody” at Resurrection City, a
tent city set up in front of the White House. In 1971 he turned the
speech into a poem for Sesame Street.
  Â
(http://cheyannescampsite.blogspot.com/2008_06_15_archive.html)(SFC,
7/5/96, BR, p.6)(HN, 6/19/98)
1968Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 24, "Resurrection
City," a shantytown constructed as part of the Poor People's March
on Washington, D.C., was closed by authorities.
   (AP, 6/24/97)
1968Â Â Â Â Â Â The Library of Congress
finished its Machine Readable Cataloguing (Marc) pilot project,
which was under the direction of Henriette D. Avram (1919-2006). In
1969 bibliographic records were sent on magnetic tape to libraries
around the country. In 1971 Marc became the national standard fro
electronic cataloguing.
   (SFC, 5/4/06, p.B7)
1969Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 15, Peace
demonstrators staged activities across the country, including a
candlelight march around the White House, as part of a moratorium
against the Vietnam War.
   (AP, 10/15/97)
1969Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 15, A quarter of a
million protesters staged a peaceful demonstration in Washington,
D.C., against the Vietnam War.
   (AP, 11/15/97)(HN, 11/15/98)
1969Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 21, Vince Lombardi
(1913-1970), head coach of the Washington Redskins, coached his last
football game and lost.
  Â
(www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/was/1969.htm)
1970Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar, Several dozen leading
US journalists met in Washington and formed the Reporters Committee
for Freedom of the Press. The meeting was spearheaded by CBS
journalist Murray Fromson (1929-2018) and New York Times reporter J.
Anthony Lukas.
   (SFC, 6/14/18, p.D2)
1970Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 1, Dr. Hugh Scott of
Washington, D.C., became the first African-American superintendent
of schools in a major U.S. city.
   (HN, 9/1/99)
1970Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 3, Vince Lombardi
(57), one of Fordham University‘s stalwart linemen known as the
"Seven Blocks of Granite" during his college days, succumbed to
cancer in Washington, D.C. He had recently coached the Washington
Redskins to their first winning season in 14 years. Lombardi had
previously coached the Green Bay Packers to five NFL championships
and victories in the first two Super Bowls. He went to the
Washington Redskins in 1969 as head coach, general manager, and part
owner. The team wound up with a 7-5-2 record for the season. In 1999
David Maraniss authored "When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince
Lombardi."
   (AP, 9/3/97)(WSJ, 10/7/99, p.A28)
1970Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 22, President Richard
M. Nixon signed a bill giving the District of Columbia
representation in the U.S. Congress. Pres Nixon requested 1,000 new
FBI agents for college campuses.
   (HN, 9/22/98)(http://tinyurl.com/5qrct8)
1971Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 1, The Weather
Underground bombed the US Capitol building claiming it to be in
protest of US involvement in Laos. The bomb exploded in a Capitol
restroom 30 minutes after a telephone warning. Some $200,000 in
damage was caused with no injuries.
   (HNQ,
7/30/98)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Capitol)(SFC,
7/25/98, p.A6)
1971Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 23, In the final event
of Operation Dewey Canyon III, nearly 1,000 Vietnam War veterans
threw their combat ribbons, helmets, and uniforms on the Capitol
steps.
  Â
(www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryapril.htm)
1971      May 3,  Â
Anti-war protesters calling themselves the Mayday Tribe began four
days of demonstrations in Washington aimed at shutting down the
nation's capital. 13,000 anti-war protesters were arrested in 3
days.
   (AP, 5/3/97)(MC, 5/3/02)
1971Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, A July 4th concert
on the West Lawn of the White House was held and began an annual
tradition.
   (SSFC, 6/30/02, Par p.30)
1971Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 8, The Kennedy Center,
begun in 1964, officially opened in Washington, DC. A performance of
Leonard Bernstein’s Mass was held there three days earlier. The $71
million structure was designed by Edward Durell. The cultural center
was promoted at Kennedy’s request by Roger L. Stevens (1910-1998).
Congress had designated it a national monument to Pres. Kennedy
following his assassination.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennedy_Center_for_the_Performing_Arts)(SFC,
8/27/01, p.E4)
1971Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 20, The American
League Ok'd the Washington Senator move to Arlington, where they
became the Texas Rangers.
   (WSJ, 4/7/99,
p.B1)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_Washington_Senators_season)
1971Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 30, The Washington
Senators baseball team played their last game before leaving DC for
Texas.
   (WSJ, 4/7/99,
p.B1)(www.sportsecyclopedia.com/al/wastex/senators61.html)
Â
1972Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 1, Kathy Boudin and
Bernardine Dohrn, members of the Weathermen, set explosives in the
1st-floor ladies room of the US Capitol building. [See Oct 20, 1981]
   (WSJ, 11/26/03,
p.A1)(http://hnn.us/articles/1155.html)
1972Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 16, The Republic of
China presented to Pandas to the US National Zoo: Hsing-Hsing
(d.1999) and Ling-Ling. Ling-Ling died Sep 30, 1992.
   (SFC, 4/16/97, p.C14)(HN, 4/16/98)
1972Â Â Â Â Â Â May 28, Operatives working
for the Committee to Re-elect the President (CRP) burglarized the
Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Washington, DC,
Watergate office complex.
   (http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/museum)
1972Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 17, President Nixon's
eventual downfall began when five men were arrested for breaking
into the Democratic National Committee offices at the Watergate
hotel at 1:52 a.m. Carl Schloffler (1945-1996), undercover police
officer, made the arrest. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy ran the
break-in from a nearby hotel room. Within hours of the bust Liddy
attempted to shred all related documents. After the arrests of the
burglars, White House Counsel John Dean took custody of evidence and
money from the White House safe of E. Howard Hunt, Jr., who had been
supervising the burglaries, and later destroyed some of the evidence
before it could be found by investigators The five burglars, led by
former CIA agent James McCord Jr. (1924-2019), were soon linked to
Nixon's Committee for the Re-election of the President (CREEP) and,
as suspicion grew, Nixon conspired to obstruct an FBI investigation
of the incident. Nixon's conversations about the obstruction and
subsequent cover-up had been tape-recorded as part of a secret
tape-recording system revealed to investigators by Nixon's schedule
keeper. Jeb Magruder later wrote "An American Life." The book has
been described as the most accurate description of what happened.
Stanley I. Kutler later authored "The Wars of Watergate." Liddy
later asserted that John Dean was really after a brochure of
call-girl pictures kept by DNC secretary Ida Wells that included a
picture of Dean’s girlfriend, Maureen Biner.
   (SFC, 4/13/96, p.A-2)(TMC, 1994, p.1972)(SFC,
7/16/96, p.A14)(SFC, 2/1/99, p.A3) (HNPD, 6/17/99)(SFC, 2/4/00,
p.D9)(SFC, 1/31/01, p.A2)(SSFC, 4/21/19, p.C9)
1972Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 19, Two days after the
botched Watergate break-in, FBI official W. Mark Felt secretly
assured Bob Woodward that The Washington Post could safely make a
connection between the burglars and a former CIA agent linked to the
White House, E. Howard Hunt. Woodward’s secret source for
information became known as Deep Throat, and Felt’s name was not
made public until 2005. In 2006 Mark Felt and John O’Connor authored
“A G-Man’s Life: The FBI, Being “Deep Throat,” and the Struggle for
Honor in Washington.”
   (http://tinyurl.com/cva26)(SSFC, 5/21/06, p.M3)
1972Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 20, Pres. Nixon
recorded on tape information relating to the Jun 16 Watergate
break-in. Sections of the tape were later erased, allegedly
accidentally by sec. Rose Mary Woods. A panel of experts examined
the tape to see if the 18-minute gap was intentional. Richard H.
Bolt (d.2002 at 90), acoustic expert at Bolt, Beranek and Newman,
later said that if it was an accident than it was committed at least
5 time in the 18 minutes.
   (SFC, 2/4/02, p.B5)
1972Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 11, There was an
attempted prison escape at the Washington DC jail. In 1975
Appellants Frank Gorham, Jr., and Otis D. Wilkerson were indicted,
along with co-defendants Meltonia Fields and Linda Ewing, on counts
of conspiracy, introducing contraband into a penal institution,
armed kidnapping, and armed robbery, and both appellants were
indicted individually on counts of attempted escape and escape from
custody. The charges grew out of appellants' abortive attempt to
escape from the D.C. jail on October 11, 1972, and their successful
escape two weeks later.
  Â
(http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F2/523/523.F2d.1088.74-1613.74-1611.html)
1972Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 26, The Washington
Post first disclosed that Attorney General of the United States,
John Mitchell, personally controlled a secret fund to finance
intelligence operations against Democrats during the Nixon
administration. The money financed spying and sabotaging Democratic
primary campaigns in 1972 and included activity such as forgery of
correspondence, release of false leaks to the press and seizure of
confidential campaign files.
  Â
(www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a102672macgregorfund)
1972Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 9, The "Trail of
Broken Treaties" caravan, an Indian protest, ended in vandalism and
chaos at the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C. The story
is told in the 1996 book "Like A Hurricane, The Indian Movement From
Alcatraz to Wounded Knee" by Paul Chaat Smith and Robert Allen
Warrior.
   (SFEC, 1/5/97, BR
p.8)(http://siouxme.com/lodge/treaties.html)
1972Â Â Â Â Â Â Katharine Graham
(1917-2001) became the CEO of the Washington Post company and the
first female CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
   (Econ., 4/18/15, SR p.7)
1973Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 8, The trial of
Watergate burglars began in Washington, DC. In 2006 Andreas Killen
authored “1973 Nervous Breakdown: Watergate, Warhol and the Birth of
Post-Sixties America.”
   (www.watergate.info/chronology/1973.shtml)(SSFC,
4/16/06, p.M3)
1973Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 15, Four of six
remaining Watergate defendants pleaded guilty.
   (HN, 1/15/99)
1973Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 30, A jury found
Watergate defendants Liddy & McCord guilty on all counts.
   (www.watergate.info/chronology/1973.shtml)
1973Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 16, The Heritage
Foundation, a conservative public policy think tank, was founded in
Washington, DC, by Paul Weyrich, Edwin Feulner, and Joseph Coors.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Heritage_Foundation)(SFC,
12/28/17, p.D5)
1973Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 21, Dean told Nixon:
"There is a cancer growing on the Presidency."
  Â
(http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byform/mailing-lists/amia-l/2000/01/msg00043.html)
1973Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 24, The US Congress
passed the Home rule Act, which allowed residents of Washington DC
to elect a mayor. Walter Washington was elected in 1974.
   (WSJ, 10/28/03, p.A1)(Econ, 9/16/06,
p.41)(www.abfa.com/ogc/hrtall.htm)
1973Â Â Â Â Â Â The Washington DC Eastern
Market was started in a pair of buildings abandoned by the
transportation dept.
   (BS, 5/3/98, p.7R)
1973Â Â Â Â Â Â The reorganized Washington
Metropolitan Area Transit Authority took over D.C. Transit. The
Washington, Virginia and Maryland Coach Company, the AB&W
Transit Company, and the WMA Transit Company), whose assets were
sold to WMATA.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Metropolitan_Area_Transit_Authority)
1974Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 17, Henry Kulbaski
(d.2007), White House Secret Service agent, ordered service agents
to shoot down a stolen helicopter that was flying around the White
House. Robert K. Preston (b.1954), a US Army private, suffered
superficial pellet wounds and was taken into custody.
   (SSFC, 7/15/07,
p.B7)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_K._Preston)
1974Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 22, Samuel Joseph Byck
(1930–1974), an unemployed former tire salesman, attempted to hijack
a plane flying out of Baltimore-Washington International Airport. He
intended to crash into the White House in hopes of killing US
President Richard M. Nixon. Byck killed pilot Fred Jones and a
aviation officer George Neal Ramsburg before he was shot and wounded
by gunfire through the door of a Delta DC-9 airplane. Byck then shot
himself in the head.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Byck)
1974Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 1, A grand jury in
Washington, DC, concluded that President Nixon was indeed involved
in the Watergate cover-up. 7 people, including former Nixon
White House aides H.R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman, former
Attorney General John Mitchell and former assistant Attorney General
Robert Mardian, were indicted on charges of conspiring to obstruct
justice in connection with the Watergate break-in. They were
convicted the following January, although Mardian's conviction was
later reversed. In 2005 Vanity Fair Magazine revealed that W. Mark
Felt (91), former FBI official, was the Watergate whistleblower Deep
Throat, who helped bring down Pres. Nixon.
   (HN, 3/1/98)(AP, 3/1/99)(AP, 6/1/05)
1974      Jul 9, Earl Warren
(83), former California governor and US Chief Justice (1953-68) died
in Washington D.C. In 1997 Ed Cray authored the Warren biography
"Chief Justice."
   (AP, 7/9/99)(SFC, 2/28/01, p.A18)
1974Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 20, Gail A. Cobb (24),
a member of the Metropolitan Police Force of Washington, D.C.,
became the first female police officer to be killed in the line of
duty. Cobb was murdered by a robbery suspect in an underground
garage in downtown Washington.
  Â
(http://mpdc.dc.gov/mpdc/cwp/view,a,1231,q,538639.asp)
1974Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 5, Walter Washington
(1915-2003) was elected mayor of Washington DC, the 1st black mayor
there in 104 years. He had been appointed mayor-commissioner in
1967.
   (WSJ, 10/28/03,
p.A1)(www.narpac.org/ITXDCHIS.HTM)
1974Â Â Â Â Â Â The Hirshborn Museum and
Sculpture Garden in Washington opened.
   (SFC, 12/30/99, p.E1)
1975Â Â Â Â Â Â May 25, The Golden Gate
Warriors won the NBA title in a 4-game sweep over the Washington
Bullets.
   (SFC, 4/26/10,
p.A8)(www.nba.com/history/finals/19741975.html)
1976Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 27, In Washington DC
the first 4.6 miles of track for the Washington Metro was completed.
The Gallery Place metro station opened. Harry Weese (d.1998)
Associates of Chicago did the design work. By 2012 Metrorail had
106.3 miles of track.
   (SFC, 11/4/98, p.C7)(WSJ, 12/16/98,
p.B12)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Metro)
1976Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 21, Chilean exile
Orlando Letelier, one time foreign minister to Chilean President
Salvador Allende, was killed when a bomb exploded in his car in
Washington D.C. He was assassinated by order from Chile by Gen’l.
Manuel Contreras, head of the secret police known as DINA. Ronni
Moffitt (24), an American colleague of Letelier, was also killed.
Contreras was convicted of the order in 1993 and sentenced to a
7-year prison term. In 2000 Gen. Pinochet was linked to the killing.
In 2015 declassified US documents relating to the assassination
reportedly pointed to Pinochet's role in ordering the murder.
   (SFC, 6/27/97, p.A14)(SFC, 7/1/99, p.C3)(SFEC,
5/28/00, p.A7)(AP, 9/21/01)(Reuters, 10/8/15)
1976Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 9, Smokey the Bear
(26) died at the Washington DC National Zoo.
   (www.capitanlibrary.org/research/smokey-bear.htm)
1976Â Â Â Â Â Â The Smithsonian National
Air and Space Museum opened in Washington, DC.
   (SFC, 11/26/99, p.A5)
1977Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 7, Israeli PM Yitzhak
Rabin met with Pres. Carter in Washington.
  Â
(www.jimmycarterlibrary.org/documents/campdavid25/campdavid25_photos.phtml)
1977Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 9, About a dozen armed
Hanafi Muslims invaded three buildings in Washington D.C., killing
one person and taking more than 130 hostages. The siege ended two
days later.
   (AP, 3/9/98)
1977Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 11, More than 130
hostages held in Washington, D.C., by Hanafi Muslims were freed
after ambassadors from three Islamic nations joined the
negotiations.
   (AP, 3/11/98)
1977Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 6, The Washington Post
reported that the US had developed a neutron bomb.
   (http://piurl.com/5B)
1977Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 23, A jury in
Washington, D.C., convicted 12 Hanafi Muslims of charges stemming
from the hostage siege at three buildings the previous March.
   (AP, 7/23/98)
1979Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 19, The U.S. House of
Representatives began televising its day-to-day business. Brian Lamb
launched C-Span, a TV public service broadcasting medium that
focused on public affairs without comment or analysis. He came up
with the idea while working the Washington bureau chief for
Cablevision magazine.
   (AP, 3/19/97)(SSFC, 3/27/05, Par p.14)(Econ,
3/24/12, p.34)
1978Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 9, Nearly 100,000
demonstrators marched on Wash DC for ERA.
   (www.now.org/issues/economic/cea/history.html)
1979Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 3, Mustafa Barzani
(b.1903), Iranian Kurd leader (KDP), died in Washington, DC. He was
succeeded by his son Massoud.
   (SFC, 9/4/96, A7)(WSJ, 12/20/02,
p.A14)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustafa_Barzani)
1979Â Â Â Â Â Â May 7, An estimated
125,000 people rallied against nuclear power in Washington, DC.
   (SFC, 5/7/04, p.F2)
1979Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 7, Pope John Paul II
concluded a week-long tour of the United States with a Mass on the
Mall in Washington, DC.
   (AP, 10/7/99)
1979Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 14, In Washington, DC,
some 100,000 gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and supporters marched in
celebration of gay pride and demanded equal rights for homosexuals
under the law.
   (SFC, 10/15/04, p.F13)
1979-1985Â Â Â Victor Cherkashin served as the KGB
chief at the Soviet embassy in Washington. In 2004 he authored “Spy
Handler: The True Story of the Man Who Recruited Robert Hanssen and
Aldrich Ames.”
   (WSJ, 12/30/04, p.D8)
1979-1999Â Â Â Meg Greenfield (d.1999) served as the
editorial-page editor of the Washington Post. In 2001 her book
"Washington" was published.
   (WSJ, 5/3/01, p.A16)
1980Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 17, WHHM Television in
Washington, D.C. became the first African American
public-broadcasting television station.
   (HN, 11/17/98)
1981Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 2, Howard Stern began
broadcasting on WWDC in Washington DC.
   (SC, 3/2/02)
1981Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 30, John W. Hinckley
Jr. shot and wounded Pres. Ronald Reagan outside a Washington, D.C.,
hotel. Press Sec. James Brady took a bullet as did Secret Service
agent Tim McCarthy and District of Columbia police officer Thomas
Delahanty.
   (SFC, 7/14/96, Par p.2)(HN, 3/30/02)(AP, 3/30/08)
1981Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 13, Washington Post
reporter Janet Cooke received a Pulitzer Prize for her feature about
an 8-year-old heroin addict named "Jimmy." Cooke relinquished the
prize two days later, admitting she had fabricated the story.
   (AP,
4/13/00)(www.museumofhoaxes.com/day/04_17_2001.html)
1981Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 15, Janet Cooke said
her Pulitzer award 8-year-old heroin addict story was a lie. The
Washington Post relinquished the Pulitzer Prize over the fabricated
story.
   (www.museumofhoaxes.com/day/04_17_2001.html)
1981Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 23, The body of
Catherine Schilling (21), a Georgetown law student, was found raped
and murdered in Rock Creek Park. She was shot in the head five times
after taking a shortcut home through the park after working late at
her job as a paralegal at a DC law firm. In September 1982, a D.C.
jury convicted Donald Eugene Gates of killing and raping Schilling.
In 2009 Gates (58) was released from prison based on DNA evidence.
   (http://tinyurl.com/y8smuur)(SFC, 12/15/09, p.A9)
1981Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug, Oliver North (b.1943)
was assigned to White House duty as Chief Middle East arms-sales
adviser to Secretary of Defense Casper W. Weinberger. He was fired
on November 25, 1986, for selling arms to Iran, and diverting Iran
arms sales proceeds to the contras.
   (www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/chap_02.htm)
1981Â Â Â Â Â Â Bill Strauss (1947-2007),
Elaina Newport and Jim Aidala founded Capitol Steps, a singing,
satirical troupe in Washington DC. By 2007 the group had recorded 29
albums including “Sixteen Scandals” (1997).
   (SFC, 12/26/07, p.B4)
1981Â Â Â Â Â Â Joseph Rivers (d.1989)
founded the Orphan Foundation of America (OFA) in Washington DC to
improve the quality of life of young people who had been in foster
care.
   (SFEC,12/14/97, Par p.14)
1981Â Â Â Â Â Â Metal detectors were
installed at the White House.
   (SFC, 11/28/98, p.E4)
1982Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 13, An Air Florida 737
crashed into the capital's 14th Street Bridge after takeoff and fell
into the Potomac River, killing 78 people.
   (AP, 1/13/98)
1982Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 26, Ground was broken
in Washington D.C. for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial designed by
Maya Lin of Yale. It was dedicated Nov 13.
   (NG, May 1985, p.554, 557)(AP, 3/26/97)(HN,
3/25/98)
1982Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 10, The newly finished
Vietnam Veterans Memorial was opened to its first visitors in
Washington, D.C.
   (AP, 11/10/97)
1982Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 13, The Vietnam
Veterans Memorial was dedicated after the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Fund had chosen Maya Ying Lin's design. Lin was an architecture
student at Yale University when she submitted her proposal for the
memorial, to be built in Washington D.C.'s Constitution Gardens as a
tribute to those who served in the Vietnam War. In her proposal,
shown above, Lin described "a long, polished, black stone wall,
emerging from and receding into the earth," which would include the
names of all the military personnel who had died or remained
missing. According to Lin, "these names, seemingly infinite in
number, [would] convey the sense of overwhelming numbers, while
unifying these individuals into a whole.  Â
   (AP, 11/13/97)(HNPD, 11/13/98)
1982Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 16, A replica of the
original 1854 "Pope’s Stone," donated by the Vatican, was dedicated
at the Washington Monument. The original from Pope Pius IX, arrived
in October 1853. It was taken by force in 1854 by unknown men. The
common idea is that the men were part of a group called the
Know-Nothings.
   (www.nps.gov/archive/wamo/memstone_564.htm)
1982Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 8, A man demanding an
end to nuclear weapons held the Washington Monument hostage,
threatening to blow it up with explosives he claimed were inside a
van. After a 10-hour standoff, Norman D. Mayer was shot dead by
police; it turned out there were no explosives.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Mayer)(AP,
12/8/07)
1982Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 9, The Washington,
D.C., police shot and killed Norman Mayer (b.1916), an American
anti-nuclear weapons activist, 10 hours after he threatened to blow
up the Washington Monument. Police found he had no explosives.
   (HN,
12/8/98)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Mayer)
1982Â Â Â Â Â Â The Washington Times was
founded by Sun Myung Moon, leader of the Unification Church and the
Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, to be a
conservative alternative to the larger Washington Post. The Times is
widely perceived as maintaining a right-leaning editorial stance. By
2002, the Unification Church had spent about $1.7 billion in
subsidies for the Times.
   (SFC, 12/9/09, p.A6)(http://tinyurl.com/y9r9xd7)
1983Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 7, A bomb exploded on
the 2nd floor of the Capitol, causing heavy damage but no injuries.
A caller said the bomb was an action against US aggression in
Grenada and Lebanon.
   (SFC, 7/25/98,
p.A6)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_United_States_Senate_bombing)
1984Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 9, The Vietnam
Veterans statue, “Three Soldiers” by Frederick Hart (d.1999 at 56),
was unveiled in Washington DC on Veterans Day.
  Â
(http://www.440.com/twtd/archives/nov09.html)(SFC, 8/18/99, p.C4)
1986Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 23, Tip O'Neill
refused to let Reagan address the House.
  Â
(http://www-tech.mit.edu/archives/VOL_106/TECH_V106_S0437_P003.txt)
1987Â Â Â Â Â Â May 3, The Miami Herald
said its reporters had observed a young woman, later identified as
Donna Rice, spending "Friday night and most of Saturday" at a
Washington, D.C., townhouse belonging to Democratic presidential
candidate Gary Hart.
   (AP, 5/3/97)(SFEC, 12/19/99, p.C12)
1987Â Â Â Â Â Â May 26, Dr. Arthur M.
Sackler (b.1913), physician and philanthropist, died. He donated a
large collection of Asian art housed in the National Museum Sackler
Gallery, which adjoins the Freer in Washington DC.
   (WSJ, 11/6/98,
p.W10)(www.britannica.com/eb/article-9001219)
1987Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 11, Some 200,000
homosexual rights activists marched through Washington DC to demand
protection from discrimination and more federal money for AIDS
research and treatment. The AIDS Memorial Quilt had its inaugural
presentation. In 2000 Cleve Jones and Jeff Dawson authored
"Stitching a Revolution, The making of an AIDS Activist."
   (AP, 10/11/97)(SFEC, 6/18/00, BR p.5)
1987Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 12, Heavy snow closed
schools from DC to Maine.
  Â
(http://weather.intellicast.com/Almanac/Northeast/November/)
1987Â Â Â Â Â Â The National Museum of
Women in the Arts was founded in Washington DC. It was the idea of
Wilhelmina Holladay. In 1997 a new $1 million wing was added.
   (SFEC,11/9/97, p.A12)
1987Â Â Â Â Â Â The Carlyle Group was
founded in Washington DC. It had interests with military contractors
and ties to elite DC circles.
   (SFC, 3/27/03, p.B1)
1988Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 16, Jimmy "The Greek"
Snyder was fired as a CBS Sports commentator one day after telling a
TV station in Washington, D.C., that, during the era of slavery,
blacks had been bred to produce stronger offspring. He was fired
because he claimed blacks were superior to whites in athletics, and
he traced it back to how blacks were bred. To make matters worse, he
also said "if blacks take over coaching like everybody wants them
to, there is not going to be anything left for the white people."
   (AP,
1/16/98)(http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/almanac/video/1988/)
1988Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 6, The board of
trustees at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., a liberal arts
college for the deaf, selected Elisabeth Zinser, a hearing woman, to
be school president. Outraged students shut down the campus, forcing
the selection of a deaf president, I. King Jordan, instead.
   (AP, 3/6/08)
1988Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 13, Yielding to
student protests, the board of trustees of Gallaudet University in
Washington, D.C., a liberal arts college for the hearing-impaired,
chose I. King Jordan to become the school's first deaf president,
replacing Elisabeth Ann Zinser, a hearing woman.
   (AP, 3/13/98)
1988Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 4, US Congress voted
$20,000 to each Japanese-American interned during WW II.
   (MC, 8/4/02)
1988Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 9, John N. Mitchell
(b.1913), former Attorney General under Pres. Nixon, died in
Washington. He was a major figure in the Watergate scandal and
served 19 months at a federal prison in Alabama (1977-1979) for his
role in the scandal. In 2008 James Rosen authored “The Strong Man:
John Mitchell and the Secrets of Watergate.”
   (AP, 1/19/98)(AP, 11/9/02)(WSJ, 5/24/08, p.W8)
1988Â Â Â Â Â Â McDonald's opened its
10,000th restaurant in a suburb of DC.
   (WSJ, 5/13/99, p.B13)
1989Â Â Â Â Â Â May 31, US House Speaker
Jim Wright, dogged by questions about his ethics, announced he would
resign. Thomas Foley succeeded him.
   (AP, 5/31/99)
1989Â Â Â Â Â Â May 31, Charles A.
Hufnagel (b.1917), artificial heart valve pioneer, died at his home
in Washington, DC.
   (http://tinyurl.com/f5wdx)
1989Â Â Â Â Â Â May, In Washington DC a
7-year-old boy was raped, stabbed and castrated by a repeat sex
offender. The event gave rise to the nation’s first civil commitment
law for sex offenders.
   (SFEC, 6/29/97, p.A8)
1989Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 6, In Washington, DC,
Thomas Foley was elected the 49th speaker of the House of
Representatives.
   (AP, 6/6/99)
1989Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 2, The House of
Representatives voted against including abortion curbs in a spending
bill for the District of Columbia.
   (AP, 8/2/99)
1989Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 12, Abortion rights
advocates rallied in cities across the country, including
Washington, D.C.
   (AP, 11/12/99)
1989Â Â Â Â Â Â The Save Outdoor Sculpture
(SOS), organization was founded as a non-profit and largely
volunteer organization. It is housed in Washington at the National
Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Property (NIC). The SOS
has 15,000 works entered into its Inventory of American Sculpture.
   (Smith., 4/1995, p.140)(http://tinyurl.com/hrt5r)
1990Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 18, In an FBI sting,
Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry was arrested for drug
possession. Barry was arrested while smoking crack cocaine and
fondling a woman who was not his wife. He was later convicted of a
misdemeanor.
   (AP, 1/18/00)(SFC, 11/24/14, p.A6)
1990Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 28, Anti-abortion
demonstrators marched in Washington D.C.; authorities put the number
of protesters at 200,000, but organizers claimed a turnout of about
700,000.
   (AP, 4/28/00)
1990Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 19, Opening statements
were presented in the drug and perjury trial of Washington DC Mayor
Marion S. Barry Junior. Barry was later convicted of a single count
of misdemeanor drug possession, and sentenced to six months in
prison.
   (AP, 6/19/00)
1990Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 28, Jurors in the drug
and perjury trial of Washington DC Mayor Marion S. Barry Jr. viewed
a videotape showing Barry smoking crack cocaine during an FBI
hotel-room sting operation. Barry was later convicted of a single
count of misdemeanor drug possession.
   (AP, 6/28/00)
1990Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 10, Washington DC
Mayor Marion Barry was convicted of a single misdemeanor drug charge
and acquitted on another; the judge declared a mistrial on 12 other
counts.
   (AP, 8/10/00)
1990Â Â Â Â Â Â John Williamson (b.1937)
wrote an article that pinned down the features of the “Washington
Consensus.” It described a framework for policy in emerging
countries that was accepted by most mainstream practitioners in the
field.
   (Econ, 10/7/06,
p.63)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Consensus)
1990Â Â Â Â Â Â In Washington DC the Rev.
George A. Stallings Jr. and his breakaway African-American Catholic
Congregation, which encouraged the ordination of women and the use
of birth control and abortion, were excommunicated for breaking ties
with the Vatican.
   (AP, 5/5/06)
1991Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 2, Sharon Pratt Dixon
was sworn in as mayor of Washington, D.C., becoming the first black
woman to head a city of Washington's size and prominence.
   (AP, 1/2/98)
1991Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 28, The quotable
former District of Columbia Mayor Marion Barry was sentenced to six
months in prison for possession of crack (a crystalline form of
cocaine).
   (http://tinyurl.com/ky3hv)
1991Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 26, Former Washington,
D.C., Mayor Marion Barry arrived at a federal correctional
institution in Petersburg, Va., to begin serving a six-month
sentence for cocaine possession.
   (AP, 10/26/01)
1991Â Â Â Â Â Â The Int’l. Campaign to Ban
Land Mines (ICBL) was formed by Jody Williams and fellow activists
during a Thanksgiving dinner. The organization won the 1997
Nobel Peace.
   (SFC, 10/11/97, p.A9)
1991Â Â Â Â Â Â The number of murders in
Washington, DC, peaked at 482 this year.
   (Econ, 1/14/17, p.75)
1992Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 26, The Washington
Redskins won Super Bowl XXVI, defeating the Buffalo Bills 37-24.
   (AP, 1/26/02)
1992Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 23, Marion Berry,
former mayor of Wash DC, was let out of prison.
  Â
(www.washtimes.com/metro/20040613-111808-1902r.htm)
1992Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun, Latrena Denise
Pixley, annoyed with the wailing of her 6-week-old 3rd child,
smothered her with a blanket and tossed her in the trash.
   (WSJ, 1/2/98, p.8)
1992Â Â Â Â Â Â The Shakespeare Theater
moved to 7th and E streets from its longtime Capital Hill site.
   (WSJ, 12/16/98, p.B12)
1992Â Â Â Â Â Â The TEC-9 semiautomatic
pistol made by Navegar was renamed the TEC-DC9 after DC adopted a
law making gun manufacturers liable for gun deaths.
   (SFEC, 5/2/99, p.A11)
1993Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 25, Hundreds of
thousands of gay rights activists and their supporters marched in
Washington, D.C., demanding equal rights and freedom from
discrimination.
   (AP, 4/25/98)
1994Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 15, Israel and Jordan
agreed to talks in Wash., DC, on July 25th.
   (MC, 7/15/02)
1994Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 12, A stolen,
single-engine Cessna crashed into the South Lawn of the White House,
coming to rest against the executive mansion; the pilot, Frank
Corder, was killed.
   (AP, 9/12/99)
1994Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct, The Clintons
inaugurated a sculpture garden at the White House.
   (WSJ, 12/1/98, p.A20)
1994Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 22, A gunman opened
fire inside the District of Columbia's police headquarters; the
ensuing gun battle left two FBI agents, a city detective and the
gunman dead.
   (AP, 11/22/99)
1994Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 22, Serb fighters in
northwest Bosnia set villages ablaze in response to a retaliatory
air strike by NATO.
   (AP, 11/22/99)
1994Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 17, Six shots were
fired at the White House by an unidentified gunman.
   (AP, 12/17/99)
1994Â Â Â Â Â Â WritersCorps began as an
AmeriCorps program, thus the name, in San Francisco, the Bronx, and
DC.
   (SFC, 10/20/10, p.C2)(http://tinyurl.com/256lvpv)
1994Â Â Â Â Â Â The US allowed the PLO to
open a mission in Washington, a move that required Pres. Bill
Clinton to waive a law that said the Palestinians couldn't have an
office.
   (AP, 9/10/18)
1995Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 25, Warren E. Burger,
the 15th chief justice of the United States (1969-86), died in
Washington, D.C., of congestive heart failure at age 87.
   (AP, 6/25/97)
1995Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 27, The Korean War
Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington by President Clinton
and South Korean President Kim Young-sam.
   (AP, 7/27/98)
1995Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 16, A vast throng of
black men gathered in Washington D.C. for the "Million Man March,"
"A Day of Atonement," led by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
Over 800,000 black men attended.
   (AP, 10/16/97)(HN, 10/16/98)(MC, 10/16/01)
1995Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 28, An 18-wheel truck
plunged over an embankment outside Washington DC and spilled 100
gallons of sulfuric acid onto I-95. The driver, Tom Billings, had
fallen asleep.
   (WSJ, 5/6/96, p.B-1)
1995Â Â Â Â Â Â The Weekly Standard, a
Washington DC opinion magazine, began operations. In 2005 it
published a 1-year sampling of its work.
   (WSJ, 9/2/05, p.W10)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 1, Placido Domingo
became artistic director of Washington National Opera (f.1956).
  Â
(www.dc-opera.org/aboutcompany/placidodomingo.asp)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 6, Jack Kent Cooke
(84), owner of the Washington Redskins, died. Settlement of his will
took 7 years and cost $64 million in professional fees.
   (AP, 4/6/98)(WSJ, 7/9/04, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 30, President Clinton
reopened the newly renovated Thomas Jefferson Building of the
Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.
   (AP, 4/30/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â May 8, In Washington DC
Jacqueline Thompson (32) gave birth to sextuplets. One was
stillborn. No fertility drugs were used but both she and her husband
Linden had a family history of multiple births.
   (SFEC,11/23/97, p.A7)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 6, Mary Mahoney (25),
Emory Evans (25) and Aaron Goodrich (18) were murdered in an
apparent botched robbery at Starbuck's coffee shop in the Georgetown
neighborhood. In 1999 Carl Derek Havord Cooper (29) was charged with
the murders.
   (SFC, 3/6/99, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 25, Police Chief Larry
D. Soulsby resigned just hours before a police lieutenant roommate
was charged with extorting money from married men who frequented gay
bars. The chief and his lieutenant shared a cut-rate luxury
apartment obtained under false premises.
   (SFC,11/26/97, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 4, In Washington DC
Eric Butera (31) was robbed and beaten to death while assisting
police in an undercover investigation of a triple murder. In 1999 a
court ruled that the DC police dept. and 4 officers pay Butera's
mother $98 million in damages.
   (SFC, 10/21/99, p.A3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â The MCI Center, a sports
arena for the NBA Wizards and NHL Capitals, was completed for $260
million.
   (SFC, 5/21/01, p.A3)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan, The US Chemical
Safety Board (CSB) was formed with headquarters in Washington, DC,
as an independent federal agency charged with investigating
industrial chemical accidents.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Chemical_Safety_and_Hazard_Investigation_Board)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 5, Democratic
fundraiser Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie pleaded innocent in Washington to
charges he'd raised illegal donations to buy influence in high
places. Trie pleaded guilty in May 1999 to a felony count and a
misdemeanor and was sentenced later that year to four months' home
detention and three years' probation.
   (AP, 2/5/03)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 27, A Pentagon panel
said remains of the Vietnam veteran in the Tomb of the Unknowns in
Arlington National Cemetery should be exhumed to determine whether
they belonged to Air Force 1st Lt. Michael J. Blassie, as his family
believed. The remains were later positively identified as Blassie's.
   (AP, 4/27/03)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â May 5, The $816 million,
3.1 million-sq.-ft. Ronald Reagan Federal Building in
Washington DC was dedicated.
   (USAT, 5/6/98, p.3A)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â May 15, Latia Robinson (7)
took control of a Honda Accord after her father passed out and drove
him safely to a hospital at the beginning of rush hour.
   (SFC, 6/20/98, p.A6)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 24, A gunman burst
past a metal detector at the US Capital and killed 2 policemen,
officers Jacob Chestnut and John Gibson, and wounded a visitor.
Russell Eugene Weston Jr. (41) was captured after being shot.
   (SFC, 7/25/98, p.A1)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 25, The US Capitol was
reopened, a day after a gunman killed two police officers; a wounded
suspect, Russell E. Weston Junior, was charged with murder. Weston
was later found unfit to stand trial because of paranoid
schizophrenia. Weston refused to take any medications voluntarily.
In May 2001, a federal judge authorized doctors to treat Weston
involuntarily. A panel from a federal appeals court ruled in July
2001 that Weston could be forced to take the drugs which he was
forced to do for 120 days. He remains incarcerated in a psychiatric
center in the federal prison in Butner, North Carolina.
   (AP,
7/25/99)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Capitol_shooting_incident_(1998)#The_suspect)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 1, Gordon and Betty
Moore, announced a $35 million contribution to Conservation Int’l.,
an environmental group for biodiversity. The funds would be used for
a new Washington DC Center for Applied Biodiversity Science. Moore
was a co-founder and former chairman of Intel Corp. He donated $12.5
million to Cambridge Univ. for the most advanced science and
technology library in Europe.
   (SFC, 10/2/98, p.B6,D1)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 7, Robert McDonough
(76) donated $30 million to Georgetown Univ. He made his fortune in
the temporary employment business.
   (SFC, 10/8/98, p.A3)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov, A measure on medical
marijuana was voted upon. Congress held up the ballot count until
Sep 1999, when results showed a 69% approval.
   (WSJ, 9/21/99, p.B8)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â The Washington National
Airport was renamed Ronald Reagan National Airport.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan_Washington_National_Airport)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 2, Anthony A. Williams
was inaugurated as mayor of Washington DC and given authority to run
the daily operations of the city.
   (SFC, 12/21/98, p.A2)(Econ, 3/4/06, p.31)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 13, The beaver "Big
Daddy" was relocated. He was the 3rd of a family that was removed
for snacking on the Japanese cherry trees in the capital.
   (SFC, 4/14/99, p.A3)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr, A 32-foot sculpture
by Roy Lichtenstein, "Brushstroke Group," was to be erected in front
of the Corcoran Gallery at 17th St. and New York Ave.
   (SFC, 3/8/99, p.A8)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â May 22, The 6-acre
National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden at 7th Ave and Constitution
was opened to the public.
   (WSJ, 5/21/99, p.W2)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â May, Daniel Snyder
(b.1964), founder of Snyder Communications, bought the Washington
Redskins football team.
   (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Snyder)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 5, Some 3,000
protestors demonstrated outside the Pentagon against the NATO
bombing in Yugoslavia.
   (SFEC, 6/6/99, p.A4)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 5, In Washington DC
Nancy Richards-Akers, a popular romance novelist, was shot and
killed by her husband in front of their 2 children. Jeremy R. Akers
then killed himself.
   (SFC, 6/7/99, p.A2)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun, Cheryl L. Johnson
(1950-2007), a nurse at the Univ. of Michigan, and Susan
Bianchi-Sand were among the co-founders of the United American
Nurses union (UAN). During the week of June 17-20, ANA's House of
Delegates (HOD) voted in Washington, DC, to create the United
American Nurses (UAN), a labor entity within ANA that will further
strengthen its labor activities.
   (WSJ, 11/10/07, p.A8)(http://tinyurl.com/2tvqo9)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 28, In Washington DC
Hsing Hsing (28) the giant panda died.
   (SFC, 11/29/99, p.A2)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Jemal’s Chinatown, a
100,000 square-foot complex of adjoining low-rise Victorian style
buildings, was scheduled for completion. Ethnic restaurants and
specialty shops were to be featured.
   (WSJ, 12/16/98, p.B12)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â George Washington Univ.
purchased the Howard Johnson Hotel on Virginia Ave. for student
housing.
   (SSFC, 6/9/02, p.C5)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â The Weston A. Price
Foundation was established in Washington DC to promote traditional
foods such as grass-fed beef and unpasteurized milk.
   (WSJ, 9/11/03, p.A1)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 22, Over 200 truckers
gathered in Washington DC to protest high diesel prices.
   (SFC, 2/23/00, p.A3)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 29, Doris Haddock
(90), known as "Granny D." completed a 3,200 mile trek to Washington
DC from California to urge Congress to enact reforms. Haddock
(d.2010) had began walking on Jan 1, 1999, and arrived in DC to draw
attention to the need for campaign finance reform.
   (SFC, 2/29/00, p.A3)(AP, 8/3/19)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb, The three most common
first names for U.S. presidents have been James, John and William.
Six presidents have been named James: Madison, Monroe, Polk,
Buchanan and Garfield, Carter. Four Johns (Adams, Quincy Adams,
Tyler and Kennedy) and four Williams (McKinley, Harrison, Taft,
Clinton) have occupied the White House.
   (HNQ, 2/21/00)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 20, Some 2,000
farmers, ranchers and rural businessmen converged on Washington to
lobby for an overhaul of farm programs and to strengthen antitrust
enforcement on agribusiness.
   (WSJ, 3/21/00, p.A1)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 9, Some 10-30 thousand
protesters began gathering in Washington DC for the meeting of the
WTO. They planned to target the World Bank and the IMF. The World
Bank’s 181 members accessed some $30 billion annually in loans
through 5 institutions: The Int’l. Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (IBRD), the Int’l. Development Assoc. (IDA), the Int’l.
Finance Corp. (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
(MIGA) and the Int’l. Center for settlement of Investment Disputes
(ICSID).
   (SFEC, 4/9/00, p.A12)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 15, An estimated 600
people were arrested in Washington DC prior to the meeting of the
IMF and World Bank.
   (SFEC, 4/16/00, p.A1)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 16, In Washington DC
police blocked some 10,000 protesters from disrupting the meetings
of the World Bank and the IMF. Finance ministers and central bankers
issued a statement that pledged to seek greater debt relief for the
poorest countries and to reform the IMF to prevent future financial
crises.
   (SFC, 4/17/00, p.A1)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 17, The IMF and World
Bank ministers in Washington DC ended their meetings and pledged to
speed debt relief to poor countries and to increase support for
fighting AIDS. Police blocked all protestor attempts to disrupt the
meetings.
   (SFC, 4/18/00, p.A1)(AP, 4/17/01)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 24, In Washington DC a
shootout at the National Zoo left 7 children wounded. A 16-year-old
high school student, Antoine B. Jones, the son of a convicted
enforcer, was later arrested. Jones later agreed to plead guilty to
7 felonies.
   (WSJ, 4/25/00, p.A1)(SFC, 4/26/00, p.A3)(SFC,
4/27/00, p.A4)(SFC, 10/26/00, p.a12)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 29, Some 1000 gay and
lesbian couples proclaimed their love at the Lincoln Memorial as
part of the events leading to the 4th annual Millennium March the
next day.
   (SFEC, 4/30/00, p.A13)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 3, Some 69,000 runners
took part in the Komen Race for the Cure, sponsored by the Susan B.
Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
   (SFEC, 6/4/00, p.A2)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 13, The contest for a
Martin Luther King memorial on the national Mall was won by the ROMA
Design Group of SF.
   (SFC, 9/14/00, p.A3)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 21, Final approval of
the World War II Memorial on the National Mall was expected. The
neoclassical design was by Friedrich St. Florian.
   (WSJ, 9/21/00, p.A26)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 28, A gay, deaf
student at Gallaudet Univ. was beaten to death. Thomas Minch (18)
was later arrested for the death of Eric Franklin Plunkett (19).
Minch was released within 24 hours. In 2002 Joseph M. Mesa Jr. was
convicted of killing and robbing 2 Gallaudet classmates. [See Feb 3,
2001]
   (SFC, 10/4/00, p.A2)(SFC, 10/5/00, p.A2)(SFC,
5/22/02, p.A9)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 16, Louis Farrakhan
planned a one million family march in Washington to seek spiritual
strength and political empowerment. Thousands gathered in the
National Mall to celebrate the American family.
   (SFC, 10/14/00, p.A3)(SFC, 10/17/00, p.A3)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Afghan cab drivers in
Washington DC began meeting to discuss the poetry of Abdul Qadir
Bedil (1644-1721), Afghanistan Sufi poet, in a program called “An
Evening of Sufism.” In 2004 original members broke off and formed
the group “An Evening With the Dervishes.”
   (WSJ, 7/10/06, p.A1)(http://devoted.to/bedil)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 20, George Bush , the
1st president with an MBA, was inaugurated as the nation’s 43rd
president in Washington DC. The "compassionate conservative" vowed
to lead "through civility, courage, compassion and character."
   (SFC, 1/20/01, p.A1)(SSFC, 1/21/01, p.A1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 20, Some 25,000
protesters gathered in Washington DC for the inauguration of Pres.
Bush along with some 7,000 police.
   (SSFC, 1/21/01, p.A4)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 3, Benjamin Varner, a
freshman at Gallaudet Univ., was found dead with his throat slashed
and face mutilated. Police later arrested Joseph Mesa Jr. (20), a
freshman student from Guam, for the murder of Varner and Eric
Plunkett in Sep, 2000. [see Sep 28, 2000]
   (SSFC, 2/4/01, p.A10)(SFC, 2/6/01, p.A6)(SFC,
2/14/01, p.A7)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 20, Robert Philip
Hanssen (56), senior FBI agent, was arrested for spying. He had
allegedly passed information to the Russians for 15 years. It was
believed that he had betrayed the construction of a tunnel under the
Soviet Embassy in Washington.
   (SFC, 2/21/01, p.A1)(SSFC, 3/4/01, p.A6)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 18, An accident that
injured 17 shut down several heavily traveled highways around
Washington DC for several hours. The Virginia crash involved a
Quebec tour bus, a truck and two cars.
   (AP, 3/19/02)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 22, The Pope John Paul
II Cultural Center, designed by Leo Daly, opened near the Basilica
of the National Shrine.
   (SSFC, 3/11/01, Par p.19)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 30, Chandra Levy (24),
an intern from Modesto, Ca., was last seen at a health club near her
apartment in Washington, DC. On July 5 the aunt of Chandra Levy
reported that her niece told her of a relationship with US Rep. Gary
Condit before she disappeared. Levy’s remains were found May 22,
2002, in Rock Creek Park, Washington DC. In 2009 Ingmar Guandique
(27), a Salvadoran immigrant already serving a 10-year sentence for
attacking 2 women in the same park, was charged in her murder. In
2010 Scott Higham and Sari Horwitz authored “Finding Chandra: The
True Washington Murder Mystery.” In Nov 22, 2010, a jury found
Guandique guilty of 2 counts of 1st degree murder. On Feb 11, 2011,
Guandique was sentenced to 60 years in prison. In 2015 Guandique was
granted a new trial. In 2016 the DC US Attorney’s office said it has
moved to dismiss the case against Guandique.
   (SFC, 5/18/01, p.A3)(SFC, 7/6/01, p.A1)(AP,
4/30/02)(SFC, 5/23/02, p.A1)(SFC, 4/23/09, p.A4)(SSFC, 5/9/10,
p.F1)(SFC, 11/23/10, p.A12)(SFC, 2/12/11, p.A6)(SFC, 7/29/16, p.A6)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â May 28, Pres. Bush signed
a bill ordering the construction of a WW II memorial on the capital
Mall.
   (SFC, 5/29/01, p.A3)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 17, Katharine Graham,
Pulitzer Prize winner and publisher of the Washington Post, died at
age 84 in Boise, Idaho.
   (SFC, 7/18/01, p.A6)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 11, 9:38 a.m. American
Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757 carrying 64 people, crashed into
the Pentagon in Arlington, Va. It was enroute from Washington
DC to LA.
   9:40 a.m. The FAA grounded all domestic flights
and ordered all airborne craft to land
immediately.  Â
   (SFC, 9/12/01, p.A6,10,12)(WSJ, 9/12/01, p.A1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 29, Some 7,000 people
marched for peace in Washington DC while an estimated 7-10 thousand
marched in San Francisco. They marched to mourn terrorist victims,
and to urge the nation to heal poverty and injustice that fuels
global violence instead of focusing on military revenge.
   (SSFC, 9/30/01, p.A3)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 29-30, The annual
meeting of the World Bank and IMF was scheduled to take place in
Washington DC. The meeting was reduced to 2-days due to expected
anti-globalization protests. The meeting was cancelled following the
Sep 11 terrorist attacks.
   (SFC, 8/14/01, p.A3)(SSFC, 9/30/01, p.A3)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 4, Reagan National
Airport re-opened.
   (SFC, 10/5/01, p.A15)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 5, Bob Stevens (63),
photo editor for the Sun tabloid, died of anthrax. Anthrax spores
were later found on his computer keyboard in Lantana. This was the
1st of a series of cases in Florida, New York, New Jersey and
Washington. In 2011 his widow settled a $2.5 million lawsuit against
the US government.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_2001_anthrax_attacks)(SFC,
12/30/01, p.D7)(AP, 10/5/02)(SFC, 10/31/11, p.A5)(SFC, 11/30/11,
p.A13)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 7, Herbert L. Block
(b.1910), Washington Post cartoonist, died at age 91. He authored
"Herblock: A Cartoonist’s Life" in 1993.
   (SFC, 10/8/01, p.A20)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 16, A wing of the US
Senate building was closed following confirmation that a letter to
Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., carried anthrax. It was later found that
the anthrax contained the additive bentonite to enhance suspension
in air.
   (SFC, 10/17/01, p.A1)(SFC, 10/25/01, p.A1)(WSJ,
10/26/01, p.A1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 20, Traces of anthrax
were found in a US House of Representatives mail room. This became
the 3rd Capital Hill building infected.
   (SSFC, 10/21/01, p.A3)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 21, Thomas L. Morris
Jr. (55), a DC postal worker diagnosed with the deadly inhalation
form of anthrax, died. Officials began testing thousands of postal
employees.
   (SFC, 10/23/01, p.A1)(WSJ, 10/24/01, p.A1)(AP,
10/22/06)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 22, DC postal worker,
Joseph P. Curseen (47), died from anthrax. .
   (SFC, 10/23/01, p.A1)(WSJ, 10/24/01, p.A1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 23, Traces of anthrax
were found at an off-site facility that handled mail for the White
House.
   (SFC, 10/24/01, p.A1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 10, Traces of anthrax
were reported in offices of the Hart and Longworth government
buildings.
   (SSFC, 11/11/01, p.A7)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 19, Protesters
gathered in Washington DC and rallied against US policies in Latin
America ahead of weekend meetings of the IMF and World Bank.
   (SFC, 4/20/02, p.A3)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 26, The new Malrite
international spy museum opened.
   (SFC, 7/17/02, p.A3)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 29, The Capitol
Limited Amtrak train derailed outside Washington DC and over 100
people were injured.
   (SFC, 7/30/02, p.A4)(AP, 7/29/03)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 30, In Washington, DC,
some 35,000 gathered for the 39th annual meeting of the Islamic
Society of North America.
   (SFC, 8/31/02, p.A1)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 27, In Washington DC
some 1,500-2,000 activists protested the start of the annual
meetings of the World Bank and IMF. About 650 were arrested.
   (SFC, 9/28/02, p.A3)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 28, In Washington DC
the World Bank and IMF agreed to speed efforts to develop a new
"sovereign bankruptcy" procedure for countries in debt crises.
Thousands demonstrated, but only 5 arrests were reported.
   (SSFC, 9/29/02, p.A1,9)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 2, James Martin (55)
was shot to death by a sniper in Wheaton, Md. He was the 1st to die
at the hands of a local serial killer. The next day, five people in
the Washington D.C. area were shot dead, setting off a frantic
manhunt. John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo were later arrested
for 10 killings and three woundings; Muhammad has been sentenced to
death, Malvo to life in prison.
   (NW, 10/21/02, p.28)(AP, 10/2/07)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 3, Police hunted for a
"skilled shooter" who murdered five random victims over 16 hours
with a high-powered rifle in Montgomery County, Maryland, just a
short distance from Washington DC. A 6th victim was killed in DC.
James Buchanon (39), Premkumar Walekar (54), Sarah Ramos (34), Lori
Ann Lewis Rivera (25) and Pascal Charlot (72) became the 2nd to 6th
victims.
   (SFC, 10/4/02, p.A3)(SFC, 10/5/02, p.A3)(SSFC,
10/12/02, p.A4)(NW, 10/21/02, p.28)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 26, In
Washington DC war protesters tied up phones, fax machines and
computers as part of a "virtual march."
   (SFC, 2/27/03, A14)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 19, Tobacco farmer
Dwight Ware Watson, who'd claimed to be carrying bombs in a tractor
and trailer that he'd driven into a pond on Washington's National
Mall, surrendered after disrupting traffic for two days; there were
no explosives.
   (AP, 3/19/04)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 17, John Allen
Muhammad was convicted of two counts of capital murder and
masterminding the 2002 sniper attacks in the Washington DC
region.Â
   (SFC, 11/18/03, p.A1)(AP, 11/17/08)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 19, The 2-year-old
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) held a banquet at the
Grand Hyatt in Washington DC that cost $461,745 for some 600
honorees and as many guests.
   (SFC, 10/15/04, p.A7)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â The $650 Million
Washington Convention Center was scheduled to open.
   (WSJ, 12/16/98, p.B12)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Street Sense, a Washington
DC newspaper for the homeless, was founded by Ted Henson (23) and
Laura Thompson Osuri (26). It followed the general business plane of
the North American Street Newspaper Association, a trade group
focused on homelessness.
   (WSJ, 6/30/06, p.A1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan, Pres. George W. Bush
signed the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program, the first
school-voucher scheme directly subsidized by the federal
government.  Â
   (http://tinyurl.com/y9xy7vs3)(Econ, 5/6/17, p.29)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 2, A white power
containing Ricin, a deadly poison, was discovered in a mail room
near the office of US Senate majority leader Bill Frist.
   (SFC, 2/3/04, p.A3)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 9, John Allen Muhammad
(43) was sentenced to death in Manassas, Va., for his 2002 murder
rampage in the Washington DC area.
   (SFC, 3/10/04, p.A3)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 29, A national
monument to the 16 million U.S. men and women who served during
World War II opened to the public in Washington DC. Official
dedication was set for May 29.
   (AP, 4/29/04)(SFC, 4/30/04, p.A3)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 2, Independence Air,
formerly known as Atlantic Coast Airlines, began operations at
Dulles Airport. The DC based carrier shut down Jan 5, 2006.
   (SFC, 1/3/06, p.E1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 9-10, The body of
Ronald Reagan arrived in Washington to lie in state in the U.S.
Capitol Rotunda before the 40th president's funeral. Thousands
viewed the flag-draped casket of Pres. Reagan in the Capitol Rotunda
of Washington DC.
   (SFC, 6/10/04, A15)(AP, 6/9/05)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 16, PNC Financial,
based in Pennsylvania, agreed to by Riggs National of Washington DC
for $779 million. Riggs was fined $25 million in May for violating
money laundering regulations.
   (Econ, 7/24/04, p.69)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 24, Cardinal James A.
Hickey (84), former archbishop of Washington, D.C., died.
   (AP, 10/24/05)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 10, A gas station in
Washington DC became the first in North America to have a hydrogen
dispensing pump.
   (AP, 11/10/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Burt Solomon authored “The
Washington Century: Three Families and the Shaping of the Nation’s
Capital.”
   (WSJ, 11/18/04, p.D8)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â A US government found that
some $700 million from Equatorial Guinea was held at Washington's
Riggs Bank, making the country the bank's biggest customer. Riggs
was fined millions of dollars in money-laundering fines. Nothing was
done against Equatorial Guinea’s Pres. Obiang. Human rights groups
have accused Obiang of using the oil wealth to make his family
fabulously rich while most of his countrymen live in squalor.
   (AP, 11/3/09)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 20, The inauguration
ceremony for Pres. Bush was held in Washington DC. The event was
expected to cost $40 million the administration asked DC to use 11.9
million of its federal homeland security funds to help pay costs.
   (SFC, 1/20/05, p.A12)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, The Washington DC
City Council approved a bill that requires transporters of ultra
hazardous materials to skirt a 2.2 mile radius around the Capital
building.
   (WSJ, 2/2/05, p.A4)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 14, Pres. Bush threw
out the 1st pitch at RFK Stadium as the Nationals brought baseball
back to the capital. Washington, DC, had last hosted a major-league
game in September, 1971.
   (WSJ, 4/15/05, p.A1)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 23, G7 finance
ministers and central bankers concluded a meeting in Washington and
agreed to meet again in December in London and bid farewell to
Chairman Alan Greenspan.
   (AFP, 9/24/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 24, The 184-nation
International Monetary Fund and the World Bank opened their annual
meetings in Washington DC. They were ready to act on a breakthrough
deal that would forgive more than $40 billion owed by the poorest
nations.
   (AP, 9/24/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 15, Thousands gathered
in DC at the National Mall for the Millions More Movement to
commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March organized
by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
   (AP, 10/15/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 18, In Washington DC
Michael Scanlon (35) was charged with conspiring with former
lobbyist Jack Abramoff to bribe government officials and bilk
millions of dollars from Indian tribes. In March, 2002, Ohio Rep.
Robert Ney agreed to back legislative language to benefit the Tigua
tribe of El Paso, Texas, a client of Abramoff and Scanlon.
   (SFC, 11/19/05, p.A3)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Donald A. Ritchie authored
“Reporting from Washington: The History of the Washington Press
Corp.”
   (WSJ, 4/12/05, p.D8)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 2, Independence Air,
formerly known as Atlantic Coast Airlines, said it will shut down on
Jan 5. The DC based carrier only began operations Jun 16, 2004.
   (SFC, 1/3/06, p.E1)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 8, In Washington DC
David E. Rosenbaum (63), a recently retired journalist for the NY
Times, died from injuries suffered in a robbery on Jan 6. Michael
Hamlin (24) and Percy Jordan Jr. (42) were soon arrested and charged
with felony murder. Both men were convicted of murder. In 2007
Hamlin was sentenced to 26 years in prison after he pleaded guilty
and testified against his cousin.
   (SFC, 1/14/06, p.A3)(SFC, 10/25/06, p.A3)(SFC,
1/4/07, p.A3)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 28, Five member of US
Congress were willingly arrested and led away from the Sudanese
Embassy in plastic handcuffs after protesting the Sudanese
government's alleged role in atrocities in the Darfur region.
   (AP, 4/28/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 30, Some 100,000
rallied in Washington DC, SF and other US cities to urge the Bush
administration to take decisive action to stop the genocide in
Darfur.
   (SFC, 5/1/06, p.A1)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr, In Washington DC a
smoking ban passed in 2005 took effect for restaurants and offices.
   (SFC, 1/2/07, p.A3)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â May 16, Seven
African-American members of the US Congress were arrested at the
Embassy of Sudan, where they were protesting atrocities in that
country's Darfur region.
   (AP, 5/17/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 20, A Washington DC
jury found former Bush administration official David Safavian guilty
of covering up his dealings with Republican influence-peddler Jack
Abramoff. Safavian was sentenced to 18 months in prison, but the
underlying conviction was thrown out by an appeals court in 2008. In
Dec, 2008, Safavian was convicted of obstructing justice and lying.
In Oct 2009 he was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison.
   (AP, 6/20/06)(SFC, 10/17/09, p.A6)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 26, Flooding shut down
much of central Washington DC.
   (WSJ, 6/27/06, p.A1)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 27, Washington DC was
scheduled to begin a campaign to screen every resident (14-84) for
the AIDS virus. DC was experiencing the highest rate of new AIDS
cases in the US.
   (SSFC, 6/25/06, p.A8)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 9, In Washington DC
Alan Senitt (27), a British volunteer for the potential presidential
campaign of former Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner, was killed in the
Georgetown neighborhood by robbers who slashed his throat and tried
to rape his female companion. Within three hours of the attack,
police arrested and charged two men, and two other suspects
surrendered a few hours later. On May 21, 2007, Christopher Piper
and Jeffery Rice pleaded guilty to robbing and killing Alan, and
committing other robberies in the city. They were sentenced August
24, 2007, to 37 and 52 years respectively in prison.
   (AP,
7/10/06)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Senitt)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 29, Gallaudet Univ. of
Washington DC, the premier US school for the deaf, voted to
terminate the appointment of incoming president Jane Fernandes
following a month of protests by students and faculty.
   (SFC, 10/30/06, p.A3)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 4, Katherine Jefferts
Schori (52) took office at Washington National Cathedral as the 1st
woman to lead the US Episcopal Church and the 1st female to head an
Anglican province. The former bishop of Nevada was elected at the
Episcopal convention in June.
   (SSFC, 11/5/06, p.A9)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 13, Groundbreaking
ceremonies were held in Washington DC for a memorial to Martin
Luther King Jr.
   (SFC, 11/14/06, p.A1)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 1, In Washington DC a
smoking ban passed in 2005 was extended to bars and nightclubs. The
ban for smoking in restaurants and offices had taken effect in April
2006.
   (SFC, 1/2/07, p.A3)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 2, US markets and
federal agencies closed in respect for funeral rites for former
Pres. Gerald Ford. Ford’s body was flown to Michigan for burial
following services in the National Cathedral.
   (WSJ, 1/2/06, p.A1)(WSJ, 1/3/06, p.A1)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 4, The 110th Congress
convened with Democrats in control of both the House and Senate for
the first time in a dozen years. "Today we make history. Today we
change the direction of our country," exulted Rep. Nancy Pelosi,
poised to become the first woman speaker in history.
   (AP, 1/4/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 4, The US Federal
Trade Commission fined the marketers of four weight loss pills $25
million for making false advertising claims ranging from rapid
weight loss to reducing the risk of cancer.
   (AP, 1/4/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 17, Art Buchwald (81),
columnist and author, died. For over four decades he chronicled the
life and times of Washington DC with an infectious wit and endeared
himself to many with his never-say-die battle with failing kidneys.
   (AP, 1/18/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 27, In Washington DC
tens of thousands converged on the National Mall to oppose Pres.
Bush’s plan for a troop increase in Iraq. Thousands marched in San
Francisco.
   (SSFC, 1/28/07, p.A15)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 1, Deborah Palfrey
(1956-2008) of Vallejo, Ca., was indicted in Washington DC for
running a $2 million prostitution ring. She threatened to sell
detailed phone records of her clients to pay for her defense. At
least 132 women were employed by her firm in the Washington area
from 1993-2006. On April 15, 2008, Palfrey was convicted of
racketeering and other charges.
   (SFC, 3/3/07, p.B1)(SFC, 4/16/08, p.A2)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 1, Paul Joyal (53), a
US expert on Russian intelligence, was hit several times as he
returned home in Washington DC. The shooting came four days after
Joyal alleged in a major television network interview that the
government of Russian President Vladimir Putin was involved in the
radiation poisoning of a former KGB agent in London.
   (AFP, 3/3/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 9, A US appeals court
overturned a District of Columbia handgun ban.
   (WSJ, 3/10/07, p.A1)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 25, A Washington DC
judge rejected a lawsuit by Roy Pearson, who sought $54 million for
a pair of pants lost by the Custom Cleaners dry cleaning firm in
2005. Pearson’s claim had been reduced from $67 million.
   (SFC, 6/26/07, p.A3)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 9, US Sen. David
Vitter, R-La., acknowledged that he was on the list of phone records
just released by Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the alleged “D.C. Madam.”
   (SFC, 7/11/07, p.A6)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 18, NYC and New Jersey
claimed $170.2 million in anti-terrorism funds, LA and Long Beach,
Ca., claimed $72.6 million, DC claimed $61.7 million, Chicago got
$47.3 million, the SF Bay Area got $34.1 million and Houston got $25
million.
   (SFC, 7/19/07, p.B3)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 15, Several thousand
anti-war demonstrators marched through downtown Washington, DC,
clashing with police at the foot of the Capitol steps where more
than 190 protesters were arrested.
   (AP, 9/16/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 1, The Shakespeare
Theater Company opened the new Sidney Harman Hall, a 775-seat
theater in downtown Washington, DC.
   (Econ, 10/6/07, p.34)
2007      Oct 19,  Â
 A team of students from Germany's Technische Universitat
Darmstadt won a weeklong competition on the Washington DC National
Mall for the best, most efficient, and well-designed and -engineered
solar home.
   (AP, 10/19/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 7, Prosecutors said 2
mid-level DC government employees used phony paperwork to collect
more than $16 million from illegal tax refunds, avoiding detection
for at least three years while issuing more than 40 checks cashed by
friends and family members in on the scam. The total stolen was
later raised to some $30 million. Harriet Walters, the alleged
ringleader of the scam, authorized checks to such fake companies as
Bilkemor LLC. In 2008 Walters (51) pleaded guilty to stealing some
$48 million. 9 others pleaded guilty in the scam. Walters faced
15-18 years in prison and was ordered to pay restitution.
   (Econ, 11/24/07,
p.36)(http://tinyurl.com/2o7sj5)(WSJ, 9/17/08, p.A19)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 9, In Washington, DC,
Michael Mukasey, a retired federal judge, was sworn in as the 81st
US Attorney General.
   (SFC, 11/10/07, p.A3)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 26, A new report said
the US District of Columbia has the highest rate of AIDS of any city
in the country. An estimated one in 20 residents had HIV and one in
50 had AIDS.
   (SFC, 11/27/07, p.A3)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 17, A US judge ruled
that the White House visitor logs are public, a blow to Pres. Bush,
who didn’t want to disclose visits by religious conservatives.
   (WSJ, 12/18/07, p.A1)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 9, In Washington, DC,
the bodies of 4 girls, ages 5-17) were found by federal marshals
delivering eviction papers. They had been dead for about seven
months. Banita Jacks (34) was later convicted of killing her 4
daughters and in Dec 2009 was sentenced to 120 years in prison.
   (SFC, 12/19/09, p.A5)(http://tinyurl.com/ya5qebf)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 12, Barack Obama won
75% of the vote in Washington DC, nearly two-thirds in Virginia and
approximately 60% in Maryland. McCain's victory in Virginia was a
relatively close one, the result of an outpouring of religious
conservatives who backed Mike Huckabee.
   (AP, 2/13/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 28, In Washington
truck drivers honked horns, waved placards and shouted through
bullhorns at the Capitol to protest rising fuel prices they say are
hurting their livelihood.
   (AP, 4/29/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â May 1, Deborah Palfrey
(b.1956), a woman from Vallejo, Ca., known as the “D.C. Madam,” was
found hanged at her mother’s home in Tarpon Springs, Fl. She had
been convicted on April 15 of racketeering and other charges related
to a prostitution ring, whose clients included high profile
government officials.
   (SFC, 5/2/08, p.A13)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 13, Tim Russert (58),
NBC News's Washington bureau chief, collapsed and died of a heart
attack in his Washington newsroom.
   (AP, 6/14/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 10, An internal
government report said US Interior Department employees in Denver
and Washington, who oversaw oil drilling on federal lands, had sex
and used illegal drugs with workers at energy companies where they
were conducting official business.
   (AP, 9/11/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 27, A Washington DC
jury found Alaska’s Sen. Stevens guilty on seven counts of trying to
hide more than $250,000 in free home renovations and other gifts
from a wealthy oil contractor. Stevens, who first entered the Senate
in 1968, faced Alaska's voters in upcoming elections as a convicted
felon. On April 1, 2009, the US Justice Dept. dropped charges
against Stevens, saying prosecutors’ mistakes forced the move.
   (AP, 10/28/08)(WSJ, 4/2/09, p.A1)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 6, The leaders of GM,
Ford and Chrysler came to Capital Hill along with the president of
the UAW to discuss billions of dollars in financial help for the
struggling car industry.
   (SFC, 11/7/08, p.C3)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 18, The chief
executives of Detroit’s Big Three automakers appeared before the US
Senate Banking Committee along with the head of the UAW union to
plea for financial aid under the current economic crises.
   (WSJ, 11/19/08, p.A1)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 2, The new Washington,
DC, Capitol Visitor Center opened to the public. The 580,000
square-foot structure ended up costing $621 million, over twice the
budgeted amount.
   (Econ, 12/20/08, p.53)(www.aoc.gov/cvc/)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 31, SF ended the year
with 98 homicides. In Milwaukee, Wisc., the total number of
homicides dropped 32%, from 105 in 2007 to 71 in 2008, the lowest
number since 1985. Detroit had 344 slayings, a 13% drop from the 396
in 2007; Philadelphia's 332 killings were a 15% drop from the 392 in
2007; and the 234 homicides in Baltimore were 17% less than the 392
the year before. Cleveland recorded 102 homicides in 2008, down from
a 13-year high of 134 in 2007. Homicides in New York rose 5.2%, to
522 from 496 the year before. Slayings in Los Angeles were down to
376 in 2008 compared to 400 the prior year. Preliminary data in
Chicago showed 508 homicides were reported in 2008, the first time
the city had more than 500 murders since 2003 and about 15% more
than the 442 homicides reported in 2007. Washington, D.C., ended
2008 with 186 homicides, up from 181 in 2007.
   (SFC, 1/2/09, p.1)(AP, 1/3/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 17, President-elect
Barack Obama rolled into the capital city after pledging to help
bring the nation "a new Declaration of Independence" and promising
to rise to the stern challenges of the times. He kicked off a
four-day inaugural celebration with a daylong rail trip, retracing
the path Abraham Lincoln took in 1861.
   (AP, 1/18/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 20, In Washington DC
some 2 million people packed the National Mall to celebrate the
inauguration of Barack Obama as America's 44th and first black
president. “The Question we ask today is not whether government is
too big or too small, but whether it works.” Obama's new
administration ordered all federal agencies and departments to stop
any pending regulations until they can be reviewed by incoming
staff, halting last-minute Bush orders.
   (AP, 1/20/09)(Reuters, 1/20/09)(SFC, 1/21/09,
p.A8)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 21, President Barack
Obama's first public act in office was to institute new limits on
lobbyists in his White House and to freeze the salaries of high-paid
aides, in a nod to the country's economic turmoil. A judge quickly
granted President Barack Obama's request to suspend the war crimes
trial at Guantanamo of a young Canadian in what may be the beginning
of the end for the Bush administration's system of trying alleged
terrorists. Obama took the oath of office again with Chief Justice
John Roberts to correct the previous day’s initial flub in wording.
   (AP, 1/21/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 25, Conservation
International, a Washington D.C.-based conservation group, announced
the discovery of over 50 new animal species in a remote, mountainous
region of Papua New Guinea. The group spent the past several months
analyzing more than 600 animal species found during its expedition
to the South Pacific island nation in July and August.
   (AP, 3/25/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 15, In Washington, DC,
the FBI arrested Walter Kendall Myers (72) and his wife, Gwendolyn
(71), for spying. For three decades, Myers and his wife had shuffled
secrets to their Cuban contacts. Kendall Myers first worked for the
State Department as a lecturer at the Foreign Service Institute and
later as a European analyst in the department's intelligence arm,
the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, from 2000 until his
retirement in October 2007. On Nov 20 Myers and his wife pleaded
guilty to serving as covert agents since 1979. Myers agreed to serve
life in prison and his wife agreed to serve 6-7½ years.
   (AP, 6/6/09)(SFC, 11/21/09, p.A4)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 27, Five members of
the US Congress were arrested while protesting the expulsion of aid
groups from Darfur in front of the Sudanese Embassy in Washington,
DC. The included Democratic Reps. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, Jim
McGovern of Massachusetts, John Lewis of Georgia, Donna Edwards of
Maryland and Lynn Woolsey of California.
   (AP, 4/27/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â May 5, The District of
Columbia Council gave final approval to legislation that recognizes
same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. The law became effective on
July 7.
   (SFC, 5/6/09, p.A5)(SFC, 7/8/09, p.A4)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 10, James von Brunn
(88), identified as a white supremacist, shot and killed Guard
Stephen T. Johns (39), who prevented his entrance into the US
Holocaust Memorial and Museum in Washington, DC. Security engaged
the gunman as soon as he stepped inside the crowded museum and began
shooting. Brunn was shot in the face by other guards and was later
charged with first-degree murder. He died on Jan 6, 2010, while
awaiting trial in North Carolina.
   (AP, 6/11/09)(SFC, 7/30/09, p.A5)(SFC, 1/6/10,
p.A4)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 22, A Washington DC
Metrorail transit system train plowed into another stopped train,
killing at least seven people and injuring scores of others. It was
part of an aging fleet that federal officials had sought to phase
out because of safety concerns.
   (AP, 6/23/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 29, Kosovo, a former
province of Serbia, became the 186th member of the International
Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The ceremony was held in
Washington, DC, because the US government is the repository for the
1944 Bretton Woods agreement that created the post-World War II
international financial system.
   (AP, 6/30/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, Attacks began on
more than two dozen Internet sites in the United States and South
Korea and some were disabled by hackers. South Korea's spy agency
later said the attacks were possibly linked to North Korea. Some of
the affected US government Web sites, such as the Treasury
Department, Federal Trade Commission and Secret Service, were still
reporting problems days after it started during the July 4 holiday.
   (Reuters, 7/8/09)(AP, 7/8/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 18, Robert Novak (78),
political columnist, died in Washington DC after a battle with brain
cancer that was diagnosed in July 2008. He was a conservative,
pugilistic debater and proud owner of the "Prince of Darkness"
moniker, which he used in his 2007 memoir: "The Prince of Darkness:
50 Years Reporting in Washington." A column of his in 2003 outed
Valerie Plame as a CIA agent.
   (AP, 8/18/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 21, Bob Woodward
released an exclusive 66-page report from Gen. Stanley McChrystal to
President Barack Obama about Afghanistan policy, the first major
national security leak and a sure sign that the celebrated
Washington Post reporter has penetrated yet another administration.
The report was presented to US Defense Secretary Robert Gates on
August 30 and was being reviewed by the White House, with McChrystal
widely expected to make a formal request to increase the
62,000-strong US force.
  Â
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20090922/pl_politico/27414)(AFP,
9/22/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 11, Thousands of gay
and lesbian activists marched from the White House to the Capitol,
demanding that President Barack Obama keep his promises to allow
gays to serve openly in the military and allow same-sex marriages.
   (AP, 10/11/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 20, The Manhattan
Declaration, signed by about 150 prominent Christian clergy,
ministry leaders and scholars, was released at a press conference in
Washington, DC. A number of Christian leaders, known for their
public witness on behalf of justice, human rights, and the common
good, had come together in shaping the declaration. It was born out
of an urgent concern about growing efforts to marginalize the
Christian voice in the public square, to redefine marriage, and to
move away from the biblical view of the sanctity of life. In
December 2010 Apple removed it as an iPhone App.
  Â
(www.manhattandeclaration.org/the-movement/movement.aspx)(SFC,
12/7/10, p.A18)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 24, President Barack
Obama showered praise on India and PM Manmohan Singh in an elaborate
welcoming ceremony, declaring it was only fitting the Indian leader
should be the first state visitor of his administration. Virginia
couple, Michaele and Tareq Salahi, met Pres. Obama in the receiving
line of the state dinner for PM Singh. A "deeply concerned and
embarrassed" Secret Service later acknowledged that its officers
never checked whether the two were on the guest list before letting
them onto the White House grounds.
   (AP, 11/24/09)(AP, 11/28/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 16, It was reported
that nearly 40 people have been arrested in Virginia this week on
charges of dealing heroin and prescription narcotics in the suburbs
of Washington, DC.
   (SFC, 12/15/09, p.A9)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 6, Gilbert Arenas, a
Washington DC Wizards basketball guard, was suspended indefinitely
without pay by NBA commissioner David Stern, for carrying guns into
the Wizards' locker room. With each game he misses, Arenas will lose
about $147,200 of the $16.2 million he will earn in the second
season of a six-year, $111 million contract. The punishment came on
his 28th birthday.
   (AP, 1/7/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 6, A blizzard battered
the US Mid-Atlantic region, with emergency crews struggling to keep
pace with the heavy, wet snow that has piled up on roadways, toppled
trees and left thousands without electricity. A record 2 1/2 feet or
more was predicted for Washington.
   (AP, 2/6/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 8, The US federal
government was shuttered while the Mid-Atlantic region dug out from
as much as three feet of snow that left tens of thousands without
power and blocked trains, planes and cars, with another storm
looming.
   (AP, 2/8/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 9, US Federal
government offices were closed for a second straight day and utility
workers struggled to restore power knocked out by a weekend
blizzard.
   (AP, 2/9/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb, RT America, a TV
channel based in Washington, D.C., was launched as part of the RT
network, a global multilingual television news network based in
Moscow, Russia, and funded by the Russian government.
   (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT_America)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 2, The Washington DC
council voted to censure ex-mayor Marion Barry over a report
accusing him of helping award a $15,000 city contract to a woman
with whom he had a sexual relationship.
   (SFC, 3/3/10, p.A6)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 9, In Washington, DC,
same sex couple began to marry as the district became the 6th place
in the US to conduct same sex marriages.
   (SFC, 3/10/10, p.A10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 30, A gunman sprayed
bullets from a moving vehicle into a crowd in southeastern
Washington, killing four and wounding at least five others, before
leading police on a chase into neighboring Maryland. Three people
were arrested in the drive-by shooting.
   (AP, 3/31/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 15, In Washington, DC,
several thousand Tea Party protesters marked tax day with a rally in
Freedom Plaza capping a national protest tour that began in Nevada.
   (SFC, 4/16/10, p.A12)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 20, Dorothy Height
(98), a longtime leader of the US civil rights movement and the
chairwoman of the National Council of Negro Women, died in
Washington, DC.
   (Reuters, 4/20/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 12, Shahram Amiri, a
missing Iranian nuclear scientist who Tehran claims was abducted by
the US, took refuge at the Pakistani embassy in Washington and asked
to return to his homeland. Amiri (32) disappeared while on a
pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia in June 2009.
   (AP, 7/13/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 25, In Washington DC a
storm downed electrical lines and left 4 people dead.
   (SFC, 7/27/10, p.A5)
2010      Aug 28, From the
steps of the Lincoln Memorial conservative commentator Glenn Beck
and tea party champion Sarah Palin appealed to a vast, predominantly
white crowd on the National Mall to help restore traditional
American values and honor Martin Luther King's message.
   (AP, 8/28/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 27, Sponsored by the
US Department of Homeland Security, Cyber Storm III kicked off for a
3-day series of simulated events designed to exploit holes in the
nation's cybersecurity system. It was Washington's first chance to
test the new National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration
Center, which was set up last fall to act as a hub for coordinating
cybersecurity.
   (http://tinyurl.com/24jewsu)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 5, Claiming power
beneath the Capitol dome, resurgent Republicans gained control of
the House of Representatives as the 112th Congress convened in an
era of economic uncertainty. Dozens of tea party-backed lawmakers
took office in both houses.
   (AP, 1/6/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 27, A thick blanket of
snow covered the Northeast, as the fifth major storm of the winter
set snowfall records. The storm that had been predicted for days
caught much of the East Coast off guard with its ferocity, tearing
through with lightning, thunder and mounds of wet snow, leaving
nearly 300,000 customers around the nation's capital without power
and forcing people to shovel out their cars and doorsteps all over
again.
   (Reuters, 1/27/11)(AP, 1/27/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 9, US federal
prosecutors announced charges against 41 alleged gang members for
activities ranging from racketeering conspiracy to drug and gun
trafficking and murder in four states and Washington D.C. Some 29
defendants were arrested and more arrests are expected in connection
with the separate cases from Los Angeles; McAllen, Texas; Kansas
City; Washington D.C.; and Las Vegas.
   (Reuters, 2/9/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 12, Activists at the
Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, DC, selected
Texas Rep. Ron Paul as their top choice for the 2012 presidential
nomination. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mit Romney finished a strong
second.
   (SSFC, 2/13/11, p.A14)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 13, Officials in
Washington, DC said they planned to set up 20-30 online gambling hot
spots by September in an effort to generate revenue.
   (SFC, 4/14/11, p.A5)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 14, In Washington DC,
Catholic University has decided to put an end to co-ed dormitories.
John H. Garvey, president of the college, believes that single-sex
dorms will minimize binge drinking and casual sex.
          Â
(Washington Post, 6/14/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 15, In Washington DC
10 members of the House of Representatives, conservative Republicans
and liberal Democrats, filed suit challenging Pres. Obama’s right to
wage war in Libya.
   (SFC, 6/16/11, p.A8)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 31, President Barack
Obama and Republican congressional leaders reached historic
agreement on a compromise to permit vital US borrowing by the
Treasury in exchange for more than $2 trillion in long-term spending
cuts. The Treasury's authority to borrow would be extended beyond
the 2012 elections. No votes were scheduled in either house of
Congress before Aug 1, to give rank and file lawmakers time to
review the package.
   (AP, 7/31/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 1, The US House of
Representatives voted 269-161 to approve the debt-limit deal reached
by leaders a day earlier. Democrats provided 95 votes as 66
Republicans voted no.
   (SFC, 8/2/11, p.A1)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 2, Pres. Obama signed
emergency legislation to avoid a government default on the national
debt a little more than an hour after it passed the Senate.
   (AP, 8/2/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 8, US House leaders
announced that they are terminating the long-running congressional
page program for high school students, both out of cost
considerations, and in recognition of the diminished demand for page
services in the digital age.
   (http://tinyurl.com/4yp84kn)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 12, Albrecht Muth
called police saying he had discovered Viola Drath (91), his wife of
20 years, murdered at their Georgetown home. On Jan 16, 2014,
Albrecht Muth (49) was convicted of her murder.
   (SFC, 1/17/14, p.A7)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 18, In China a fight
broke out in Beijing between the visiting Georgetown University
men's basketball team and the Bayi Rockets, the army's Chinese
Basketball Association team, forcing play to end early. Video
footage spread on the Internet and worldwide TV news.
   (AP, 8/19/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 23, The most powerful
earthquake to strike the East Coast in 67 years shook buildings and
rattled nerves from South Carolina to Maine. Frightened office
workers spilled into the streets in New York, and parts of the White
House, Capitol and Pentagon were evacuated. The magnitude 5.8
earthquake and was centered 40 miles northwest of Richmond, Va. The
Washington Monument obelisk closed indefinitely due to earthquake
damage.
   (AP, 8/23/11)(SFC, 9/27/11, p.A7)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 5, The US White House
estimated that Hurricane Irene will cost taxpayers $1.5 billion in
disaster relief.
   (SFC, 9/6/11, p.A4)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 26, The US Congress
finessed a dispute over disaster aid and advanced legislation to
avoid a partial government shutdown only days away.
   (AP, 9/27/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 4, Officials at the
Washington National Cathedral said they need to raise at least $15
million for initial repairs to the Aug 23 earthquake damaged
edifice.
   (SFC, 10/5/11, p.A7)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 8, The National Air
and Space Museum in Washington was closed after anti-war
demonstrators swarmed the building to protest a drone exhibit and
security guards used pepper spray to repel them, sickening a number
of protesters.
   (AP, 10/8/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 15, Thousands of
people led by the Rev. Al Sharpton rallied near the Washington
Monument, where speakers called for easier job access and decried
the gulf between rich and poor before the crowd marched to the new
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.
   (AP, 10/15/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 16, In Washington DC
thousands of people spanning all ages and races honored the legacy
of the nation's foremost civil rights leader during the formal
dedication of the new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.
   (AP, 10/17/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct, In Washington DC
Trudith Rishikof died after being hit by a Swiss Embassy vehicle In
2015 the Swiss government reached an agreement to pay $1.725 million
in compensation to her husband.
   (AP, 4/15/15)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 16, In Washington DC a
band of millionaires stormed Capitol Hill to urge Congress to tax
them more.
   (AP, 11/16/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 16, Oscar Ramiro
Ortega-Hernandez (21), a man with an apparent obsession with
President Barack Obama, was arrested in Pennsylvania after the
Secret Service discovered two bullets struck the White House while
the president was away.
   (AP, 11/17/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 22, Occupy Wall Street
protesters arrived in Washington, DC, following a 231-mile trek and
planned a day of action for Nov 23.
   (SFC, 11/23/11, p.A13)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 4, Washington DC
police detained over 30 people in a standoff at the Occupy DC
campaign in McPherson Square.
   (SFC, 12/5/11, p.A8)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 6, Harry Thomas Jr., a
Democratic former city councilman in Washington, DC, pleaded guilty
to embezzling over $350,000 in government funds earmarked for youth
sports and arts programs. He also admitted filing false tax returns.
   (SFC, 1/7/12, p.A5)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 17, The FBI arrested
Amine El Khalifi (29) of Morocco in Washington DC. He was charged by
criminal complaint with attempting to use a weapon of mass
destruction against US property. He had a MAC-10 automatic weapon
and wore a suicide-bomber vest given to him by FBI undercover agents
posing as accomplices in the sting operation. If convicted, he could
receive a maximum sentence of life in prison.
   (SFC, 2/18/12, p.A12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 22, Pres. Obama and
others took part in the formal groundbreaking for the National
Museum of African American History and Culture on the National Mall,
scheduled to open in 2015.
   (SFC, 2/23/12, p.A9)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 24, In Washington, DC,
atheists gathered on the National Mall for the Reason Rally.
Organizers claimed a crowd of at least 20,000.
   (www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAd72Gkfd4k)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 3, Mitt Romney swept
Republican primaries in Maryland (47%), Wisconsin (42%) and
Washington, DC (70%).
   (SFC, 4/4/12, p.A6)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 30, Millions across
the mid-Atlantic region sweltered in the aftermath of violent storms
that pummeled the eastern US with high winds and downed trees,
killing 24 people and leaving 3 million without power during a heat
wave. At least six of the dead were killed in Virginia. 2 young
cousins in New Jersey were killed when a tree fell on their tent
while camping. 2 were killed in Maryland, one in Ohio, one in
Kentucky and one in Washington.
   (AP, 6/30/12)(SFC, 7/3/12, p.A8)(Econ, 7/7/12,
p.32)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 21, President Barack
Obama took the oath of office for his second term before a crowd of
hundreds of thousands, urging the nation to set an unwavering course
toward prosperity and freedom for all its citizens. Obama's
inaugural address marked the first time a president used the
occasion to praise progress on gay rights.
   (AP, 1/21/13)(Reuters, 1/21/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 13, In Washington DC
celebrities and activists were arrested after tying themselves to
the White House gate to protest the Keystone XL oil pipeline from
Canada. Sierra Club Director Michael Brune was also arrested, the
first time in the group’s history that club leader was arrested in
an act of civil disobedience.
   (SFC, 2/14/13, p.A8)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 17, Thousands of
protesters gathered on Washington's National Mall calling on Pres.
Obama to reject the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline proposal
and honor his inaugural pledge to act on climate change.
   (AP, 2/18/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 16, A letter was
intercepted in Maryland, postmarked from Memphis and mailed to
Mississippi Republican Sen. Roger Wicker's DC office. It contained
the toxic substance ricin, forcing the temporary closure of a Senate
post office and prompting a federal investigation. The next day FBI
agents detained Paul Kevin Curtis at his home in Corinth, Miss.
   (The Ticket, 4/17/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 10, Washington DC
passed a bill requiring large retailers to pay their workers a
minimum of $12.50 per hour.
   (Econ, 7/20/13, p.29)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 5, The Washington Post
said Jeff Beezos, CEO of Amazon.com has agreed to buy the Washington
Post for $250 million. His purchase will be made as an individual
and not as part of the the online retailer.
   (SFC, 8/6/13, p.D1)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 14, In Washington, DC,
former Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (48) was sentenced to 2.5
years in prison after pleading guilty to scheming to spend some
$750,000 in campaign funds on personal items. His wife received a
one year sentence.
   (SFC, 8/15/13, p.A6)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 16, A former US Navy
reservist opened fire at the Washington Navy Yard, killing 12 people
before he was shot dead by police. He was identified by the FBI as
Aaron Alexis (35), a civilian contractor from Queens, NY, who most
recently resided in Fort Worth, Texas.
   (SFC, 9/17/13, p.A1)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 3, In Washington
DCÂ a dramatic car chase through the streets near the White
House to the US Capitol ended in gunfire when law enforcement
officers shot and killed the driver as lawmakers and aides huddled
in a lockdown. The car involved in the chase was registered to
Miriam Carey (34) of Connecticut. A one-year-old girl in the car was
unhurt.
   (AP, 10/4/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 4, In Washington DC a
man set himself on fire in the National Mall. Passers-by rushed over
to douse the flames. John Constantino (64) had suffered from mental
illness and died of his burns at a hospital.
   (SFC, 10/5/13, p.A6)(SSFC, 10/6/13, p.A10)(SFC,
10/9/13, p.A6)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 20, Members of
Congress took part in a ceremony bestowing the Congressional Gold
Medal to honor 33 tribes tribes for their WWI and WWII contributions
as code talkers. Today’s ceremony was for tribes not included in the
initial 2008 Gold Medal awards.
   (SFC, 11/21/13, p.A5)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 8, In Washington DC
the Kennedy Center Honors were awarded to Carlos Santana, Billy
Joel, Herbie Hancock, Martina Arroyo and Shirley McClaine for their
impact on Amereican culture.
   (SFC, 12/9/13, p.A8)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 14, The US Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit tossed the FCC’s online
access rules arguing that Internet providers built their networks
and therefore have the right to manage their costs and services.
   (SFC, 1/15/14, p. A1)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 16, Albrecht Muth
(49), an eccentric German who pretended to be an Iraqi general, was
convicted in DC of killing his socialite and journalist wife, Viola
Drath (91) in August, 2011. On April 30 Muth was sentenced to 50
years in prison.
   (SFC, 1/17/14, p.A7)(SFC, 5/1/14, p.A8)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 2, Washington DC
Councilwoman Muriel Bowser defeated Mayor Vincent Gray in a mayoral
primary leaving Gray to serve nine months as a lame duck. Weeks
earlier federal prosecutors said Gray knew of an illegal $668,000
slush fund that helped him defeat incumbent Adrian Fenty in 2010.
   (SFC, 4/3/14, p.A11)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 12, The 188-nation IMF
concluded weekend meeting in Washington, DC, with pledges to work
for faster growth to alleviate unemployment.
   (SSFC, 4/13/14, p.A6)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 13, In Washington DC a
G20 official said reforms to the International Monetary Fund have
hit a deadlock despite a declaration from global financial chiefs
that they would move forward without the United States if it fails
to ratify the changes by year-end.
   (Reuters, 4/13/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â May 15, A US federal judge
upheld registration requirements that are part of gun laws in
Washington DC.
   (SFC, 5/16/14, p.A5)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â May 22, US politicians,
federal officials and gay activists celebrated the first day issue
of a US Postal Service stamp in honor of Harvey Milk, on what would
have been his 84th birthday.
   (SFC, 5/23/14, p.A1)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 26, A US federal judge
ruled that a ban on citizens carrying handguns in public in the US
capital Washington DC is unconstitutional.
   (AFP, 7/26/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 4, Pres. Obama opened
a 3-day summit in Washington DC for more than 40 African heads of
state as hundreds gathered outside the State Dept. to denounce some
of the leaders as torturers and killers.
   (SFC, 8/5/14, p.A6)(Econ, 8/2/14, p.19)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 5, The Obama
administration announced $14 billion in commitments from US
businesses to invest in Africa, a representatives from nearly 100
American and African companies gathered at a US-Africa summit in
Washington DC.
   (SFC, 8/6/14, p.A6)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 19, In Washington DC
Omar Gonzalez (42), carrying a knife, climbed a fence of the White
House, ran inside and reached the East Room before he was
apprehended.
   (SFC, 9/29/14, p.A12)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 23, The District of
Columbia city council reluctantly voted to allow people to carry
concealed handguns for the first time in 40 years to comply
with a court ruling that struck down the district’s ban on
carrying handguns outside the home.
   (SFC, 9/24/14, p.A8)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 21, Ben Bradlee (93),
the hard-driving editor who reigned over the Washington Post, died.
His work included guiding young reporters Bob Woodward and Carl
Bernstein as they traced a 1972 burglary at Democratic Party
headquarters at the Watergate office and apartment complex back to
the Nixon White House.
   (AP, 10/22/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 4, Oregon and
Washington DC voted to legalize marijiana use by adults.
   (SFC, 11/5/14, p.A10)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 23, Marion Barry
(b.1936), the scandal-plagued former mayor of Washington, DC, died.
Barry was elected mayor 4 times (1978, 1982, 1986 and 1994). He was
jailed in 1990 for smoking crack cocaine, but made a surprising
return to office in 1994.
   (Reuters, 11/23/14)(SFC, 11/24/14, p.A6)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 8, Protesters with
signs bearing names of black Americans killed by police marched
outside the US Capitol and the Justice Department in peaceful
demonstrations demanding a human rights investigation.
   (AP, 12/9/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 13, Thousands of
protesters paralyzed parts of New York and Washington, stepping up
demonstrations across the United States demanding justice for black
men killed by white police.
   (AFP, 12/14/14)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 12, In Washington DC a
woman died and dozens of people were injured after thick smoke
filled a subway tunnel during the evening rush hour.
   (AFP, 1/13/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 26, The House
Freedom Caucus, a congressional caucus consisting of conservative
and libertarian Republican members of the US House of
Representatives, was formed.
   (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_Caucus)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 26, In Washington DC a
new law went into effect legalyzing possession of marijuana for
recreational purposes, following a voter approved initiative
last November.
   (SFC, 2/27/15, p.A10)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 21, In Washington, DC,
a new museum complex opened on the campus of George Washington Univ.
It joined the Textile Museum with the Albert H. Small Washingtoniana
Collection.
   (SSFC, 3/8/15, p.L2)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 15, Douglas Hughes of
Florida landed a one-person gyrocopter on the lawn of the Capital in
Washington DC. On April 21, 2016, Hughes was sentenced to 120 days
in jail for operating a gyrocopter without a license.
   (SFC, 4/22/16, p.A6)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â May 14, In Washington DC
businessman Savvas Savopoulos, president and CEO of American Iron
Works, a building materials company in Maryland, his wife Amy, their
10-year-old son Philip and the family's housekeeper Veralicia
Figueroa -- were found bound and bludgeoned after a fire gutted the
millionaire's mansion. On May 21 Daron Dylon Wint (34) was arrested
along with three other men and two women following a DNA lead
gleaned from a pizza crust.
   (AFP, 5/22/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â May 15, Washington DC
rabbi Bernard "Barry" Freundel (63), who admitted setting up cameras
to spy on women as they prepared for Jewish ritual baths, was
sentenced to more than six years in prison.
   (AFP, 5/16/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â May 31, The Washington
Post reported that US police have killed people at a rate of more
than two a day this year, using its own tally for lack of complete
federal statistics.
   (AFP, 5/31/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 15, The John F.
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts said "Star Wars" creator
George Lucas, groundbreaking actresses Rita Moreno and Cicely Tyson,
singer Carole King, rock band the Eagles and acclaimed music
director Seiji Ozawa will receive this year's Kennedy Center Honors.
   (AP, 7/15/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 22, Pope Francis (78)
arrived Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington, where he was
greeted by US President Barack Obama, his wife Michelle and their
two daughters. His historic six-day trip will focus on consumerism,
poverty and the marginalized.
   (AFP, 9/23/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 23, In Washington, DC,
Pope Francis celebrated the canonization of Junipero Serra at the
Basilica of the National shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
   (SFC, 9/23/15, p.A1)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 24, In Washington, DC,
Pope Francis issued a ringing call to action on behalf of
immigrants, urging US lawmakers to embrace "the stranger in our
midst" as he became the first pontiff in history to address a joint
meeting of the legislators.
   (AP, 9/24/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 25, US President
Barack Obama welcomed China's Xi Jinping to the White House with
pointed remarks about human rights, cyber espionage and Beijing's
territorial ambitions.
   (AFP, 9/25/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 18, Eddie Murphy was
honored as the winner of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at
the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.
   (SFC, 10/19/15, p.A7)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 30, Paul Ryan (45) of
Wisconsin was sworn in as the 54th speaker of the US House of
Representatives.
   (SFC, 10/30/15, p.A6)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 5, In Washington DC
controversial Russian media mogul Mikhail Lesin (57), who helped
found the RT English-language television network, was found dead at
the Dupont Circle Hotel.
   (AFP, 11/7/15)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 23, A deadly blizzard
walloped the eastern United States, paralyzing Washington and other
cities under a heavy blanket of snow as officials warned millions of
people to remain indoors until the storm eases up. At least 8 people
were killed in three states in road accidents: 6 in North Carolina,
one in Kentucky and one in Virginia.
   (AFP, 1/23/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 24, Millions of
Americans began digging out from a mammoth blizzard that set a new
single-day snowfall record in Washington and New York City. At least
42 deaths were blamed on the weather.
   (AP, 1/24/16)(SFC, 1/26/16, p.A5)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 28, In Washington DC
Larry Dawson (66) was shot by police after he entered the Capitol
visitor center brandishing a weapon. He was hospitalized in critical
but stable condition.
   (AFP, 3/29/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 31, President Barack
Obama hosted a nuclear security summit of world leaders in
Washington.
   (AP, 3/31/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 12, On Equal Pay Day
Pres. Obama designated the iconic home and headquarters of the
National Woman’s Party as a national monument to highlight the push
for women's equality. The currently named Sewall-Belmont House and
Museum in Washington, D.C., will become the new Belmont-Paul Women’s
Equality National Monument.
   (CSM, 4/12/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 19, District of
Columbia law makers voted to enact a permanent ban on smoking
marijuana in private clubs.
   (SFC, 4/20/16, p.A6)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â May 20, The White House
was placed on lockdown for more than an hour and heavily armed
Secret Service agents deployed around the building after a man
brandished a weapon nearby. Jesse Oliveri of Ashland, Pa., was shot
once by a Secret Service agent and taken into custody.
   (AP, 5/21/16)(SFC, 5/23/16, p.A6)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 7, Washington DC
lawmakers approved a $15-an-hour minimum wage. Mayor Muriel Bowser
pledged to sign it.
   (SFC, 6/8/16, p.A4)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 2, The Washington
Wizards agreed to pay Ian Mahinmi $64 million over four years,
according to a person familiar with the deal.
   (AP, 7/2/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 10, Seth Rich
(b.1989), an American employee for the Democratic National Committee
(DNC), died after he was fatally shot in the Bloomingdale
neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Police suspected he may have been
killed in an attempted robbery.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Seth_Rich)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 28, Washington DC
prosecutors said they will not retry Ingmar Guandique, a Salvadoran
immigrant charged in the 2001 murder of Chandra Levy, due to
unforeseen recent developments.
   (SFC, 7/29/16, p.A6)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 12, The five-star
Trump Int’l. Hotel opened in Washington, DC, in the Old Post Office
building.
   (Econ, 1/14/17, p.77)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 24, Pres. Barack Obama
opened National Museum of African-American History & Culture in
Washington, DC. It had been approved by Pres. George W. Bush in
2003.
   (Econ, 1/14/17, p.77)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 15, The rebuilt
cast-iron dome of the US Capitol, a soaring symbol of national unity
since the 19th century, was formally completed after a $60 million
overhaul that included repairing rust-choked gutters and more than
1,300 cracks.
   (Reuters, 11/15/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 18, President-elect
Donald Trump tapped arch-conservative Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions
(69) to be attorney general and hawkish congressman Mike Pompeo
(52), a strident opponent of the Iran nuclear deal, as his CIA
director. Trump turned to Lieutenant General Michael Flynn (57) as
national security adviser.
   (AFP, 11/18/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â The 555-foot Washington
Monument, completed in 1884, closed in order to replace the elevator
and upgrade security systems. The D.C. monument reopened in 2019.
   (SFC, 9/18/19, p.A5)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 20, Donald Trump was
sworn in as the 45th president of the United States, ushering in a
new political era that has been cheered and feared in equal measure.
Washington DC was rocked by violent protests against the
businessman-turned-politician, with black-clad anti-establishment
activists smashing windows, setting vehicles on fire and fighting
with riot police who responded with stun grenades.
   (AFP, 1/20/17)(Reuters, 1/21/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 20, In Washington, DC,
at least six journalists were charged with felony rioting after they
were arrested while covering violent protests that took place just
blocks from the inauguration parade of Pres. Trump. The journalists
were among 230 people detained in the anti-Trump protests.
   (SFC, 1/26/17, p.A6)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 21, Large crowds of
women, many wearing bright pink knit hats, poured into downtown
Washington a march in opposition to US President Donald Trump.
Legions of women flooded parks, streets and city squares from Sydney
to Paris to Philadelphia, marching in solidarity as a show of
empowerment and a stand against Donald Trump.
   (Reuters, 1/21/17)(AP, 1/21/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 14, Winter Storm
Stella dumped snow and sleet across the northeastern United States,
forcing airlines to ground flights and schools to cancel classes.
Airlines canceled about 5,700 flights across the United States.
Airports in New York, Boston, Baltimore, Washington and Philadelphia
were hit the hardest.
   (AP, 3/14/17)(AFP, 3/14/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 6, US Rep. and House
Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes recused himself from the House
Intelligence Committee’s investigation of Russian influence in last
November’s elections.
   (SFC, 4/7/17, p.A10)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 12, In Washington, DC,
Sharafat Ali Khan (32), a Pakistani national former resident of
Brazil, pleaded guilty to helping smuggle dozens of people from
Pakistan and Afghanistan into the US through Brazil and Latin
America from 2014-2016.
   (SFC, 4/13/17, p.A5)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 22, US scientists
staged an unprecedented protest in Washington, DC. The March for
Science was provoked by steep cuts President Donald Trump has
proposed for science and research budgets, and growing disregard for
evidence-based knowledge. Similar events took place around the
world.
   (Reuters, 4/22/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 28, US officials said
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is proposing to eliminate 2,300
jobs as part of a plan to cut more than a quarter of the State
Department's budget for the next fiscal year.
   (AP, 4/28/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 29, Tens of thousands
of protesters turned out in Washington, DC, to voice concern over
climate change in a mass demonstration dubbed the “Peoples Climate
March” and also marking the 100th day of Donald Trump's presidency.
   (Reuters, 4/29/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â May 11, Acting FBI
Director Andrew McCabe, while under questioning at a Senate hearing,
agreed to refrain from updating the White House about an
investigation into Russian meddling in the presidential election.
   (AP, 5/11/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â May 17, The US Justice
Department appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller to lead the
investigation of allegations that the Trump campaign collaborated
with Russia to sway the 2016 election. Mueller will have sweeping
powers and the authority to prosecute any crimes he uncovers.
   (AP, 5/18/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â May 26, A US federal judge
tossed out two life sentences for DC sniper lee Boyd Malvo and
ordered Virginia courts to hold new sentencing hearings. Malvo was
17 when he was arrested in 2002 for a series of shootings that
killed 10 people.
   (SFC, 5/27/17, p.A6)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 8, Former FBI Director
James Comey began his much-anticipated congressional testimony under
oath. Comey accused the White House of lies and defamation,
beginning explosive testimony against Donald Trump that threatens
the future of his young presidency.
   (AP, 6/8/17)(AFP, 6/8/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 11, Supporters of LGBT
rights mobilized in Washington, DC, and other cities across the US
for the Equality March for Unity and Pride.”
   (SFC, 6/12/17, p.A4)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 12, Maryland and the
District of Columbia filed a lawsuit alleging that Pres. Donald
Trump’s failure to shed his private businesses has undermined public
trust and violated constitutional bans against self-dealing.
   (SFC, 6/13/17, p.A7)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 14, In Washington, DC,
Qatari Defense Minister Khalid bin Mohammed al-Attiyah met with US
Defense Sec. James Mattis and signed a deal for F-15 fighter jets
worth some $12 billion.
   (SFC, 6/16/17, p.A4)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 10, Pres. Donald
Trump’s commission on election fraud told states to hold off on
providing detailed voter information until a judge rules on a
lawsuit filed by the Electronic Privacy Information Center in
Washington.
   (SFC, 7/12/17, p.A4)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 21, White House press
secretary Sean Spicer abruptly resigned in protest at a major
shake-up of Donald Trump's scandal-tainted administration, as
pressure mounted from a broadening investigation into the Trump
campaign's ties to Russia.
   (AFP, 7/22/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 21, Anthony
Scaramucci, a New York financier, began his job as Pres. Donald
Trump’s new communications chief. The next day he cleared up his
Twitter trail of remarks in which he differs from Trump on illegal
immigration, climate change, Islam and even gun control.
   (AFP, 7/23/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 19, Dick Gregory
(b.1932), pioneering black satirist and civil rights campaigner,
died in Washington, DC.
   (SSFC, 8/20/17, p.A6)(Econ, 9/9/17, p.86)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 31, The US State Dept.
ordered Russia to shutter its San Francisco consulate on Green St.
in Pacific Heights and close trade offices at its missions in
Washington and New York. It gave Moscow 48 hours to comply.
   (AP, 9/1/17)(SSFC, 7/15/18, p.C9)
  Â
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 20, Chinese
bike-sharing giant Mobike launched in the US capital, bringing its
"dockless" system which has swept China and is used in some 180
cities worldwide. Mobike, allows users to unlock the bicycle with a
smartphone app and tracks the location of the bikes with GPS.
   (AP, 9/20/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 27, The Washington
Free Beacon, a conservative website with strong ties to the
Republican establishment, confirmed it originally retained the
political research firm Fusion GPS to scour then-candidate Trump's
background for negative information. the Democratic National
Committee continued funding Fusion's work after the original GOP
source lost interest.
   (AP, 10/28/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 17, In Washington, DC,
the Museum of the Bible opened. It boasted 16 fragments of the Dead
Sea scrolls. In 2018 five were revealed to be fakes. In 2020 the
museum announced that all the fragments were fakes. The museum was
founded by Steve Green, a prominent evangelical Christian and
president of Hobby Lobby, a chain of craft shops.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_the_Bible)(Econ, 3/21/20,
p.27)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 24, Marcus Raskin
(83), a co-founder of the liberal Institute for Policy Studies think
tank (1963), died at his home in Washington, DC.
   (SFC, 12/28/17, p.D5)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 19, The US House and
Senate failed to break a deadlock over a fourth stopgap spending
bill since the fiscal year ran out last fall.
   (SFC, 1/20/18, p.A1)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 20, Parts of the US
federal government shut down early today as the House and Senate
failed to break a deadlock over a fourth stopgap spending bill since
the fiscal year ran out last fall.
   (SFC, 1/20/18, p.A1)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 22, The US three-day
government shut down ended as Senate Democrats voted for a stopgap
spending bill with a promise by Republican leaders to hold debates
on immigration that will provide legal status for the 690,000
Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigrants.
   (SFC, 1/23/18, p.A1)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 6, The White House
confirmed Pres. Donald Trump’s order for a large-scale military
parade with soldiers marching and tanks rolling. Critics said it
would be a waste of money and was akin to events organized by
authoritarian regimes.
   (AP, 2/7/18)(SFC, 2/7/18, p.A5)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 6, The US House of
Representatives passed a resolution prohibiting members from
engaging in sexual relationships with staff.
   (AP, 2/9/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 20, In Washington, DC,
attorney Alex van der Zwann (33), a Dutch national, pleaded guilty
to lying to the special counsel investigation Russian election
interference.
   (SFC, 2/21/18, p.A6)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 21, In Washington, DC,
students and parents appealed to Pres. Donald Trump to set politics
aside and protect America’s school children from gun violence. Trump
promised to be strong on background checks and suggested support for
teachers and other school employees to carry concealed weapons.
   (SFC, 2/22/18, p.A7)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 2, Amtrak canceled all
trains between Boston and Washington because of hazardous conditions
as storms pounded the US East Coast, and later in the day also said
it was canceling all trains southbound from Washington because of
downed trees.
   (Reuters, 3/2/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 3, In Washington, DC,
a man (26) shot himself to death outside the White House. He was
later identified as Cameron Ross Burgess of Maylene,
Ala.  Â
   (SSFC, 3/4/18, p.A12)(SFC, 3/5/18, p.A6)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 16, At the request of
Speaker Paul Ryan, House Chaplain Rev.Patrick Conroy resigned, with
May 24 being his last day in office. US Republicans later said Ryan
fired Rev. Patrick Conroy (b.1950) because he didn't do a very good
job, and not because of Conroy's political leanings.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_J._Conroy)(SFC, 4/28/18,
p.A5)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 3, US House Speaker
Paul Ryan reinstated Rev. Patrick J. Conroy as chaplain of the House
of Representatives after Conroy sent him a letter intimating that
the speaker did not have the authority to fire him..
   (SFC, 5/4/18, p.A5)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 28, Police in
Washington, DC, arrested nearly 600 people after hundreds of
chanting women demonstrated inside a Senate office building against
Pres. Donald Trump's treatment of migrant families.
   (SFC, 6/29/18, p.A14)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 26, In Washington, DC,
Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed oversaw the reunification of feuding wings
of the Orthodox Tewahedo Church, one of the world's oldest Christian
churches. The 2 Synods were reunited into one Holy Synod after 27
years.
   (AFP, 7/27/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 28, Pope Francis
accepted the resignation of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick (88), the
former archbishop of Washington, D.C., who has been at the center of
a widening sexual abuse scandal.
   (Reuters, 7/28/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 12, In Washington, DC,
a white supremacist rally outside the White House fizzled out after
only a handful of neo-Nazis showed up and were massively outnumbered
by hundreds of counter-protesters.
   (AFP, 8/12/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 10, Palestinian
official Saeb Erekat said US has notified the Palestinians it's
closing their mission in Washington.
   (AP, 9/10/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 8, The White House
suspended CNN reporter Jim Acosta after he and Pres. Trump had a
heated confrontation during a news conference a day earlier.
   (SFC, 11/9/18, p.A7)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 30, At the American
Health Summit in Washington DC former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg
announced a $50 million donation to help ten states fight the
nation's opioid epidemic.
   (SFC, 12/1/18, p.A8)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 4, In Washington DC a
sentencing recommendation late today from Russia probe head Robert
Mueller, that Flynn spend no time in jail, explained that the
retired three-star general had given "substantial assistance" to his
and other secret, high-level investigations.
   (AFP, 12/5/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 5, In Washington DC
international dignitaries gathered with US leaders at the funeral
service for George H.W. Bush.
   (AP, 12/5/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 22, An air of chaos
enveloped Washington as the US government kicked off the holidays by
partially shutting down, following the failure of leaders to pass a
federal spending bill as negotiations stalled over Donald Trump's
demand for money to build a US-Mexico border wall.
   (AFP, 12/22/18)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Democrats took over
the US House of Representatives, ushering in a new era of divided
government in Washington with the goal of checking Donald Trump's
turbulent presidency.
   (AP, 1/3/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 19, A Catholic diocese
in Kentucky apologized after videos emerged showing students from an
all-male high school mocking Native American Nathan Philips after a
rally in Washington DC. Many of the youths were wearing "Make
America Great Again" hats. One student said African American
protesters were insulting them. Philips said he approached the
students to keep the peace.
   (SSFC, 1/20/19, p.A10)(SFC, 1/21/19, p.A4)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 28, It was reported
that Freedom Forum is selling its Newseum, a
Washington   DC museum devoted to journalism and the
First Amendment, to Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Univ. for $372.5
million.
   (SFC, 1/28/19, p.A4)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 27, Michael Cohen,
Pres. Trump's longtime lawyer and fixer, spoke before the US House
Oversight and Reform Committee and accused Pres. Trump of an
expansive pattern of lies and criminality.
   (SFC, 2/28/19, p.A7)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 28, Michael Cohen,
Pres. Trump's longtime lawyer and fixer, returned to Capitol Hill
for hours of questioning before the US House Intelligence committee.
   (SFC, 3/1/19, p.A6)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 4, Pope Francis named
Atlanta Archbishop Wilton Gregory (71) as the new archbishop of
Washington DC, choosing a moderate, and the first African-American,
to lead the archdiocese.
   (AP, 4/4/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 26, In Washington DC
Maria Butina, the only Russian arrested and convicted in the
three-year investigation of Moscow's interference in US politics,
was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
   (AP, 4/27/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 3, Twenty-two
journalists killed in 2018 had their names added to a Washington
memorial as media rights defenders warned of growing threats to
freedom of the press around the world.
   (AFP, 6/4/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, Donald Trump’s
“Salute to America” took place in Washington, DC, as the country
celebrated Independence Day. Trump became the first president in
nearly seven decades to address a crowd at the National Mall on
Independence Day.
   (SFC, 7/5/19, p.A6)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 15, Washington DC
Catholic priest Urbano Vazquez (47) was convicted after a weeklong
trial for sexually abusing two children in his parish. He faced up
to 45 years in prison.
   (AP, 8/16/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 16, Washington, DC,
encted emergency regulations to stop the federal government's plan
to house unaccompanied migrant children there. Mayor Muriel Bowser's
administration approved regulations that prohibited licensing
facilities housing more than 15 residents.
   (SFC, 8/22/19, p.A7)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 27, In Washington, DC,
a military contractor, whose top executive was killed in Iraq under
mysterious circumstances 15 years ago, won a judgment of roughly
$140 million against Iraq to reimburse the contractor for funds it
never received.
   (AP, 8/27/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 5, Three former
private security guards for the former security firm Blackwater were
given new sentences by a federal court for convictions in the 2007
massacre of 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians at a traffic stop. They were
convicted in 2014 of multiple counts of manslaughter for their roles
in the massacre and sentenced to 30 years in prison. The federal
district court for the District of Columbia resentenced the men,
ordering Paul Slough to serve 15 years, Evan Liberty to serve 14
years and Dustin Heard to serve 12 years.
   (Reuters, 9/6/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 13, Outside the DC
White House Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg (16), who has shot to
global fame for inspiring worldwide student strikes to promote
action against climate change, took her mission to President Donald
Trump’s doorstep. Hundreds of mostly young people joined her across
the street.
   (Reuters, 9/13/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 18, Swedish teenage
climate activist Greta Thunberg appeared for a second straight day
before the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. The hearing
was part of a series of events intended to raise awareness of global
warming before a planned “climate strike” on September 20.
   (Yahoo News, 9/18/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 23, In Washington, DC,
activists seeking to pressure US politicians to fight climate change
blocked major traffic hubs as they sought to draw attention to a UN
Climate Summit.
   (AP, 9/23/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 30, The DC Nationals
beat the Houston Astros 6-2 at Minute Maid Park coming from behind
in the last two games to take the first championship in the history
of the organisation. It was DC’s first baseball title since 1924,
when the Washington Senators won.
   (http://tinyurl.com/y3o96r5b)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 9, Militias and
conservative activists rallied in Washington DC to demand protection
of gun ownership rights, term limits for lawmakers in Congress, and
tighter US borders against immigrants, among other things.
   (Reuters, 11/11/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 15, It was reported
that Giles Daniel Warrick (60), suspected of being the “Potomac
River Rapist,” is now awaiting extradition from Horry County, South
Carolina. He was accused of raping 10 women and killing one of them
between 1991 and 1998 in Washington, D.C. and its surrounding
suburbs.
   (AP, 11/15/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 1, Allan Gerson (74),
a lawyer who pursued Nazi war criminals, died at his home in
Washington, DC. He pioneered the practice of suing foreign
government in US courts for complicity to terrorism.
   (AP, 12/3/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 18, The US House
gaveled in for a historic session to impeach President Donald Trump
on charges that he abused his power and obstructed Congress, votes
that will leave a lasting mark on his tenure at the White House.
Trump was impeached by the US House of Representatives, becoming
only the third American chief executive to be formally charged under
the Constitution’s ultimate remedy for high crimes and misdemeanors.
The historic vote split along party lines.
   (AP, 12/18/19)(AP, 12/19/19)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 22, US House
prosecutors faced fidgeting senators as they rolled out their case
against President Donald Trump, the trial's previous session having
lasted a fatigue-inducing 13 hours. Pres. Trump sent 120-plus tweets
that included trial commentary and criticism.
   (AP, 1/22/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 8, In Washington DC
police escorted more than 100 members of the Patriot Front, a white
nationalist group, on a march through the National Mall.
Metropolitan Police said the march occurred without incident or
arrests.
   (Reuters, 2/8/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 27, Washington, D.C.,
confirmed 36 new coronavirus cases, raising its total to 267.
   (AP, 3/27/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 28, Washington, D.C.,
confirmed 37 new coronavirus cases, raising its total to 304.
   (SSFC, 3/29/20, p.A6)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 30, Maryland, Virginia
and Washington, D.C., issued stay-at-home directives, virtually
shutting down the capital region in the wake of the coronavirus
pandemic.
   (NY Times, 3/31/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 4, Washington DC
reported 145 new positive infections from COVID-19, bringing tis
total to 902. Six new deaths brought that total to 15.
   (SSFC, 4/5/20, p.A9)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 7, Washington DC
reported 114 new cases of the coronavirus bringing its total to
1,211 and 22 deaths.
   (SFC, 4/8/20, p.A5)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 30, A man armed with
an assault rifle was arrested after opening fire outside the Cuban
Embassy in Washington early today, his bullets tearing holes into
the walls and pillars near the front entrance in what authorities
suspect was a hate crime. Police found Alexander Alazo (42) of
Aubrey, Texas, armed with an assault rifle, and they and took him
into custody.
   (AP, 4/30/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 30, Washington DC
officials announced 217 new COVID-19 infections, bringing its total
to 4,323. New deaths rose by 19 for a total of 224.
   (SFC, 5/1/20, p.A5)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â May 31, Pres. Donald Trump
in tweets accused anarchists and the media of fueling violence.
Trump said he will designate Antifa as a terrorist organization.
Attorney General William Barr pointed a finger at “far left
extremist” groups. Police chiefs and politicians accused outsiders
of causing the problems. At the White House, the scene of three days
of demonstrations, police fired tear gas and stun grenades into a
crowd of more than 1,000 chanting protesters across the street in
Lafayette Park. The district's entire National Guard, roughly 1,700
soldiers, was called in to help control the protests.
   (AP, 6/1/20)(SFC, 6/1/20, p.A4)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â May 31, Downtown
Washington, D.C., was filled with flames and broken glass in the
early hours as large groups of protesters moved through the city for
the second straight night.
   (Yahoo News, 5/31/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 1, In Washington, DC,
police violently broke up a peaceful and legal protest by several
thousands in Lafayette Park across from the White House ahead of a
Trump speech in the Rose Garden. Trump's following photo op at St.
John's Church, a house of worship known as the Church of the
Presidents, was condemned by Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde.
The death toll from the unrest across the country rose to at least
nine. The Secret Service later admitted that pepper spray was used
to clear protesters from Lafayette Park. In 2021 an internal
government investigation determined that the decision to forcibly
clear racial justice protesters from the area was not influenced by
then-President Donald Trump's plan to stage a Bible-toting photo
opportunity at that spot. The report concluded that the protesters
were cleared by US Park Police last June 1 so that a contractor
could get started installing new fencing.
   (AP, 6/1/20)(AP, 6/2/20)(SFC, 6/15/20, p.A4)(AP,
6/9/21)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 3, US Defense
Secretary Mark Esper overturned an earlier Pentagon decision to send
a couple hundred active-duty soldiers home from the Washington,
D.C., region.
   (AP, 6/3/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 5, The city of
Washington capped nearly a week of demonstrations against police
brutality by painting the words Black Lives Matter in enormous
bright yellow letters on the street leading to the White House, a
highly visible display of the local government's embrace of protests
that has put it further at odds with President Donald Trump.
   (AP, 6/5/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 6, In the US massive
protests against police brutality nationwide capped a week that
began in chaos but ended with largely peaceful expressions that
organizers hope will sustain their movement. The largest US
demonstration appeared to be in Washington, where protesters flooded
streets closed to traffic.
   (AP, 6/6/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 11, It was reported
that the deployment of thousands of National Guard troops in
response to protests on the streets of Washington, endorsed by
President Donald Trump and much criticized by the city's mayor, cost
the federal government $2.6 million per day at its peak. Officials
said it cost about $530 per Guard member, per day to be deployed.
   (Reuters, 6/11/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 19, In Washington, DC,
protesters toppled the only statue of a Confederate general in the
nation's capital and set it on fire on Juneteenth, the day marking
the end of slavery in the United States. The statue of Albert Pike,
dedicated in 1901, was located in Judiciary Square about half a mile
from the Capitol. It was built at the request of Masons who
successfully lobbied Congress to grant them land for the statue as
long as Pike would be depicted in civilian, not military, clothing.
Pike had been a longtime influential leader of the Freemasons.
   (AP, 6/19/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 22, Protesters threw
ropes over a statue of President Andrew Jackson near the White House
late today and tried to pull it down, in the latest attempt to
remove memorials of marred historical figures, including Confederate
leaders and Christopher Columbus. Police officers with riot shields
and pepper spray confronted the demonstrators in Lafayette Park. The
statue remained upright.
   (AP, 6/23/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 25, The attorney
general for the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit against Exxon
Mobil Corp, BP Plc, Chevron Corp, and Royal Dutch Shell Plc for
"systematically and intentionally misleading" consumers about the
role their products play in causing climate change.
   (Reuters, 6/25/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 26, The US House of
Representatives approved statehood for Washington, DC. The bill
passed on party lines, with Democrats voting in favor and
Republicans against it. The House bill would designate a small
downtown area, mostly government buildings, as the new national
capital. It was expected to die in the Republican-controlled Senate.
In a 2016 referendum 86 percent of DC residents voted in favor of
statehood.
   (AP, 6/26/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 13, Daniel Snyder,
owner of the Washington Redskins football team, announced that the
name and logo of the team would be retired.
   (Econ., 7/18/20, p.23)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 25, Washington DC
Mayor Muriel Bowser issued an executive order mandating that anyone
arriving after nonessential travel must self-quarantine for 14 days.
   (SSFC, 7/26/20, p.A8)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 9, In Washington, DC,
a dispute that erupted into gun fire during a large outdoor party
early today left one person dead and some 20 others injured.
   (AP, 8/9/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 27, Pres. Donald Trump
delivered a triumphant, optimistic vision of America’s future as he
accepted the Republican nomination for president at the White House.
But he said that brighter horizon could only be secured if he
defeated his Democratic foe, who currently has an advantage in most
national and battleground state polls. Trump claimed accomplishments
he didn't earn on the pandemic, energy and veterans at the
convention finale that also heard Black Lives Matter baselessly
accused of coordinating violent protests across the country.
   (AP, 8/28/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 28, Thousands of
people gathered to march in Washington, D.C., to denounce racism,
protest police brutality and commemorate the anniversary of the
march in 1963 where civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr made
his "I Have a Dream" speech.
   (Reuters, 8/28/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 2, In Washington DC a
police officer, who has not been publicly identified, shot Deon Kay
(18), an armed Black teenager, to death in the city’s Southeast
section. Officers were called to the area because of a report of a
man with a gun.
   (NBC News, 9/4/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 26, Thousands of
people packed the National Mall in downtown Washington to pray and
show their support for President Donald Trump.
   (AP, 9/26/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 17, Women’s March
protesters took to the streets in Washington DC, galvanized by their
opposition to Mr. Trump and his nomination of Judge Amy Coney
Barrett to the Supreme Court. The march was met with a
counterprotest in support of Judge Barrett.
   (NY Times, 10/18/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 14, In Washington DC
several thousand supporters of President Donald Trump protested the
election results and marched to the Supreme Court. Nighttime clashes
with counterdemonstrators led to fistfights, at least one stabbing
and more than 20 arrests.
   (AP, 11/14/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 12, Thousands of
President Trump’s supporters marched in Washington and several state
capitals to protest what they contended, against all evidence, was a
stolen election. Four people were stabbed in DC, and the police
declared a riot in Olympia, Wash., where one person was shot.Â
Vandalism targeted two historic Black churches during clashes
between supporters of President Trump and counter protesters.
   (NY Times, 12/13/20)(The Week, 12/14/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 21, DC officials said
a statue of Black civil rights activist Barbara Johns, who played a
key role in the desegregation of the public school system, will be
installed in the US Capitol Rotunda, replacing one of General Robert
E. Lee, a leader of the pro-slavery Confederacy.
   (Reuters, 12/21/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 26, Black
astrophysicist George Carruthers (81) died in Washington, DC. He
developed a telescope that went to the moon on Apollo 16, producing
images of Earth’s outermost atmosphere, stars and galaxies.
   (NY Times, 1/23/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 4, Enrique Tarrio
(36), the chairman of the Proud Boys, was arrested by the Washington
DC Metropolitan Police on suspicion of burning a Black Lives Matter
banner that was torn from a historic Black church in Washington
during protests last month.
   (NY Times, 1/4/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 6, The US Congress met
today to certify the Electoral College results. President Trump has
pressured Vice President Mike Pence, who presides over the ceremony,
to overturn the result. But Pence told Trump yesterday that he does
not have that power. The US Capitol was overrun by a pro-Trump mob.
A woman died after she was shot by the police inside the Capitol,
during the mayhem. Three other people also died in the area around
the Capitol “from separate medical emergencies.” A bomb squad
destroyed a pipe bomb that was found at the Republican National
Committee headquarters. Protesters backing President Donald Trump
massed outside statehouses from Georgia to New Mexico, leading some
officials to evacuate. The woman shot dead was soon named as Ashli
Babbitt (35), a Donald Trump supporter from San Diego, California,
who had served in the United States Air Force. QAnon conspiracists
helped lead the assault on Capitol Hill.
   (Reuters, 1/6/21)(NY Times, 1/6/21)(AP,
1/6/21)(The Telegraph, 1/7/21)(Econ., 1/30/21, p.24)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 6, Facebook, Twitter
Inc and Snap Inc temporarily locked Trump's accounts as the siege of
the Capitol escalated.
   (Reuters, 1/7/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 6, A sober, shaken
Senate returned to its hallowed chamber late today to slap away a
frivolous election challenge. Nearly 15 hours after lawmakers first
gathered in joint session, they accepted the final state tally and
certified Biden’s victory.
   (AP, 1/6/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 7, US Senate
Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called on Vice President Mike Pence
to invoke the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution to immediately
remove Trump from office, saying that if he does not act, Congress
should impeach the president.
   (Reuters, 1/7/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 7, It was reported
that top national security aides and other staffers have resigned
from President Donald Trump's administration over the storming of
Capitol Hill by his supporters. Officials said more departures are
expected soon.
   (Reuters, 1/7/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 7, The chief of the
Capitol Police and the sergeants-at-arms for the House and Senate
announced their resignations. Officials said the Capitol Police
turned down support from the National Guard before the riots and
rebuffed help from the FBI as the mob descended. Capitol Police
officer Brian D. Sicknick died late today from injuries sustained
“while physically engaging” with pro-Trump rioters who descended on
the US Capitol the day before. A medical examiner later said
Sicknick died from two strokes he suffered the day after he was
sprayed with a strong chemical irritant during the assault on the
Capitol.
   (NY Times, 1/8/21)(Washington Post, 4/19/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 7, Neil Sheehan (84),
Vietnam War correspondent and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, died in
Washington DC. In 1971 he obtained the Pentagon Papers, telling the
secret government history of the Vietnam War. Sheehan had smuggled
the papers out of the apartment in Cambridge, Mass., where Daniel
Ellsberg had stashed them; then he copied them illicitly, just as
Mr. Ellsberg had done, and took them to The Times.
   (NY Times, 1/8/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 9, Off-duty US Capitol
Police officer Howard Liebengood (51) died of an apparent suicide.
He was among the officers who clashed with a pro-Trump mob that
stormed the Capitol last week.
   (https://tinyurl.com/y3mlca6q)(The Week, 1/11/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 13, Airbnb says it
will be blocking and cancelling all reservations in the Washington,
D.C. area during the week of the presidential inauguration.
   (AP, 1/13/20)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 15, Wesley Allen
Beeler (31) of Virginia was arrested at a Washington checkpoint near
the Capitol with an "unauthorized" inauguration pass, a gun and more
than 500 rounds of ammunition.
   (AP, 1/16/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 16, US National Guard
troops poured into the nation's capital, as governors answered the
urgent pleas of US defense officials for more troops to help
safeguard Washington even as they keep anxious eyes on possible
violent protests in their own states.
   (AP, 1/16/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 22, A US official said
between 150 and 200 National Guard deployed to Washington, DC, to
provide security for President Joe Biden's inauguration have tested
positive for the coronavirus.
   (Reuters, 1/22/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 2, The remains of
Brian Sicknick, the Capitol Police officer who died after being
injured during the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, arrived to lie in honor in
the building's Rotunda.
   (NY Times, 2/2/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 3, More than 370
Democratic congressional aides issued a public appeal imploring
senators to convict former Pres. Donald Trump for inciting the Jan.
6 attack on the Capitol.
   (SFC, 2/4/21, p.A8)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 10, In Washington, DC,
opening arguments begin in Donald Trump's impeachment trial.
   (AP, 2/10/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 13, The US Senate
acquitted Donald Trump of inciting the Capitol Hill riot despite the
strongest bipartisan support for conviction in US history.
   (NY Times, 2/13/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 1, Vernon Jordan (85),
who grew up in the segregated South to become an influential leader
in the American civil rights movement, Washington politics and Wall
Street, died in Washington, DC.
   (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernon_Jordan)(AP,
3/2/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 2, US Capitol Police
officer William Evans, an 18-year veteran of the force, died
following an attack at the Capitol building this afternoon. A second
officer was injured. Noah Green (25) rammed his car into two
officers before hitting a barricade. Green then exited the vehicle
with a knife and lunged at an officer. An officer then shot the
suspect, who died at a hospital.
   (NBC News, 4/2/21)(SFC, 4/6/21, p.A4)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 16, A US memorial to
the dead of WWI opened in Pershing Park, Washington DC.
   (SFC, 4/17/21, p.A4)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 16, Jon Schaffer, a
founding member of the far-right group the Oath Keepers, pleaded
guilty to charges stemming from his participation in the riot at the
Capitol building on Jan. 6. He is the first Capitol riot suspect to
plead guilty.
   (Washington Post, 4/17/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 20, The White House
endorsed a bill to make the District of Columbia a state. The House
of Representatives will vote on it soon.
   (NY Times, 4/21/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 22, The US House voted
along party lines to grant statehood to Washington, DC, as Democrats
moved to use their congressional majority to accomplish a long-held
goal that has become a central plank in the party’s push to expand
voting rights and address racial inequity.
   (NY Times, 4/22/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 26, The Washington DC
police department said that its computer network was breached and
that the Babuk Group, a Russian-speaking ransomware syndicate,
claimed to have stolen sensitive data.
   (SFC, 4/27/21, p.A3)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â May 12, US House
Republicans ousted Rep. Liz Cheney from her post as the chamber’s
No. 3 GOP leader, punishing her after she repeatedly rebuked former
President Donald Trump for his false claims of election fraud and
his role in inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
   (AP, 5/12/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â May 13, The police
department in Washington DC suffered a massive leak of internal
information after refusing to meet the blackmail demands of the
Babuk group, a Russian-speaking ransomware syndicate.
   (AP, 5/13/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 8, A US Senate report
examining the security failures surrounding the Jan. 6 insurrection
at the Capitol said missed intelligence, poor planning and multiple
layers of bureaucracy led to the violent siege.
   (AP, 6/9/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 10, Defense Secretary
Lloyd Austin told Congress that the US military has already begun
conducting combat operations and surveillance in Afghanistan from
outside the country's borders.
   (AP, 6/10/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 11, Jessica Johanna
Oseguera Gonzalez (34), the daughter of alleged Mexican cartel boss
Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, aka "El Mencho," was sentenced to
30 months in prison. She had pleaded guilty in March to violating
the Kingpin Act, which prohibits Americans from having financial
dealings with companies that aid narcotics traffickers.
   (Fox News, 6/12/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 30, The US House
voted, largely along party lines, to create a special committee to
investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
   (NY Times, 7/1/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 10, DC Metropolitan
Police Officer Kyle DeFreytag, who served in the Fifth District and
responded to the Capitol riot, was found dead. His death marked four
suicides by officers who defended the US Capitol on January 6.
   (Axios, 8/3/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 15, It was reported
that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is donating $200 million to the
Smithsonian Institution to boost its National Air and Space Museum.
This was the largest gift received by the institution since its
founding in 1846.
   (SFC, 7/15/21, p.B2)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 19, Paul A. Hodgkins,
first person to have pleaded guilty to storming the Capitol on Jan.
6 with the intention of stopping the certification of the Electoral
College vote, was sentenced to eight months in prison.
   (NY Times, 7/19/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 3, A Pentagon police
officer was killed after an assailant stabbed him in the neck at a
metro hub outside the Department of Defense headquarters. He was
identified the next day as George Gonzalez, a native New Yorker who
previously served in Iraq. Assailant Austin William Lanz (27) of
Georgia was killed by ensuing gunfire from responding law
enforcement.
   (AP, 8/4/21)(SFC, 8/4/21, p.A5)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 4, Michigan man Karl
Dresch (41), who urged his social media followers to "take back our
country" before the assault on the US Capitol, was sentenced to time
served in pre-trial detention after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor
charge.
   (Reuters, 8/4/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 5, AFL-CIO President
Richard Trumka (72), head of one of the largest US labor
organizations, died of a likely heart attack in Washington, DC.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Trumka)(Reuters, 8/5/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 6, John Rizzo, the
reflective but resolute Central Intelligence Agency lawyer, died at
his home in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington DC. He
sanctioned the secret detention and torture of suspected Islamic
militants after the attacks on New York and Washington on Sept. 11,
2001, and approved drone strikes that targeted terrorists abroad.
   (AP, 8/13/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 9, DC Police Chief
Robert Contee said three officers are under "criminal and
administrative investigations" after video posted on social media
appeared to show one of them repeatedly punching a man in the face
while the other two restrain him during an arrest.
   (Fox News, 8/9/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 20, It was reported
that the FBI has found scant evidence that the Jan. 6 attack on the
US Capitol was the result of an organized plot to overturn the
presidential election result, according to four current and former
law enforcement officials.
   (Reuters, 8/20/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 25, In Washington, DC,
Israeli PM Naftali Bennett met with senior administration officials,
including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary
Lloyd Austin. A meeting with Pres. Biden was set for the next day.
   (AP, 8/25/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 18, In Washington DC
hundreds of police officers patrolled around the US Capitol, ahead
of a rally by supporters of the people who breached the building on
Jan. 6 trying to overturn former President Donald Trump's election
defeat. Fewer than 100 right-wing demonstrators, sharply outnumbered
by police presence and even by reporters, gathered at the foot of
the Capitol to denounce what they called the mistreatment of
“political prisoners” who had stormed the building on Jan. 6.
   (Reuters, 9/18/21)(NY Times, 9/19/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 8, Documents released
by a House committee investigating former President Donald Trump's
business said his company lost more than $70 million operating his
Washington, DC, hotel while in office, forcing him at one point to
get a reprieve from a major bank on payments on a loan.
   (AP, 10/8/21)
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End of file