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Lost History

Washington Used to Trick-or-Treat a Night Early

For about twenty years after World War II, Washington kids started trick-or-treating on October 30, a night early. They called it beggar’s night.

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Original 1973 theatrical poster for The Exorcist: a man with a hat and bag silhouetted under a streetlamp in front of a lit houseBehind The Exorcist: The 1949 Boy and the Wrong HouseOct 29EpisodeA packed lawn of concertgoers at dusk facing the lit Merriweather Post Pavilion stage, with trees behind.Merriweather vs. Wolf Trap: The Fight Over the Symphony’s Summer HomeOct 27FBI agent Gene Harding standing in the front doorway of 4407 W Street NW talking with a reporter in February 1980The Abscam House: How the FBI Secretly Rented a Post Reporter’s Home on W Street NWOct 26Rock Spring Club, a three-story frame clubhouse with striped awnings on Conduit Road, about 1897Conduit Road Roadhouses: DC’s Vice Strip Over the LineOct 23Councilman Marion Barry lying in a hospital bed with a bandage and monitor leads on his chest, gesturing as he speaks.The 1977 Hanafi Siege: 39 Hours That Held Washington HostageOct 22Entrance of the Tabard Inn at 1739 N Street NW under its "Hotel Tabard Inn" marquee, photographed by Theodor HorydczakTabard Inn History: Sold in 1927, Bought Back in 1930Oct 21Episode

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The Bayou exterior in 1977 with the Whitehurst Freeway overhead at 3135 K Street NW, GeorgetownThe Bayou: 45 Years Under the Whitehurst FreewayForty-five years of Georgetown’s loudest room. The Bayou opened in 1953, closed in 1998, and put U2, Dave Matthews, and a whole DC scene through its doors.1801 view of Georgetown and the new Federal City of Washington on the PotomacWhy Is It Called the District of Columbia?Washington Post map of new suburban subdivisions around Washington in 1961Washington’s New Suburbs in 1961: 57 Subdivisions on One MapWilliam Bradford Bishop Jr., photograph taken circa 1970-1975The Bishop Family Murders: A Bethesda Home, a Foggy Bottom Memo, and a 50-Year ManhuntWhite House north view - 1901 (Library of Congress)Teddy Roosevelt’s 1902 White House Renovation: How the West Wing Began

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1952 Washington UFO Sightings: Jets Scrambled Over the CapitolOct 27EpisodeArcade Market in Columbia Heights (Library of Congress)The Arcade Market’s 1927 Plan for Rooftop ParkingOct 26Kenya’s embassy at 2249 R Street NW, with its pale façade, flags, and entrance archesBefore It Was Kenya’s Embassy: The Story of 2249 R StreetOct 26The History of Luther Place Memorial Church on Thomas CircleOct 25

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