1920s

There have certainly been worse fires, but the Willard Hotel blaze of 1922 caused quite a stir. It resulted in $400,000 — about $5,400,000 today — in damages to the grand hotel and sent some of the District's most distinguished citizens and guests out into the street in their pajamas. Some just moved a little more quickly than others. Apparently, emergency procedures were a little different back then.

Given that he was a pretty important fellow with a busy schedule, it’s also no surprise that J.P. Morgan didn’t want to waste a lot of time in transit between D.C. and New York. After all, he had deals to strike, businesses to reorganize and railroads to consolidate amongst other items on his “to-do” list. And so, on January 23, 1911, Morgan took it upon himself to set a new world record for rail travel between D.C. and the Big Apple.

No doubt you are familiar with D.C.’s most prominent tributes to history -- the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, possibly even that unique sculpture of Einstein lounging on Constitution Avenue. But have you ever heard of the Zero Milestone?

The holiday season is pretty busy for the United States Post Office -- lots of letters and packages going all over the country, from coast to coast. And we're all familiar with the warnings that tell us to mail our items early if we want to guarantee delivery by Christmas. Well, apparently D.C. residents weren't heeding the warnings back in 1921. So the U.S.P.S. called in the big fella to get the point across.

On November 17, 1927 one of the fiercest storms our area has ever seen touched down near Old Town Alexandria. With winds estimated at 125 mph, it ripped through Alexandria, D.C. and Prince Georges County within minutes, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.

Hidden in the burial yard of Alexandria’s Old Presbyterian Meeting House lies a modest table-top memorial marking the grave of an unidentified Revolutionary War soldier whose remains were discovered there in the 1820s and formally honored in a 1929 dedication that echoed the nation’s renewed interest in its colonial past

On November 11, 1921, three years to the day after the armistice that ended World War I, President Warren G. Harding presided over the dedication of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. It was an emotional affair for Washington and the nation.

Is this bear enjoying the music? Or is it just waiting for a chance to take a swipe at the musicians through the bars.