From the Crazy Vault

A rum squad MPD prohibition officer was arrested for drunk driving in 1930. Isn't it ironic? Don't you think?

Why would somebody name a subdivision Cuckold's Delight? We can't think of a more bizarre name considering what it means.

Many don't know the extent of chemical warfare experiment that were conducted on and near the university grounds during the Great War.

Arthur G. Barkley was an unemployed bread truck driver from Phoenix hijacked a Washington-bound TWA jet, demanding $100 million in ransom. He was distraught from losing his job, became embroiled in lawsuits against his employer, the Teamsters Union, and the...

Autumn 1984, Washington DC – It was the best of times, it was the worst of traffic. In September of 1984, The Washington Post published a story about a horrendous Beltway accident. Though numerous letters were published in response to...

A scene was enacted just outside the National Theatre last night at the close of the performance which may end in a divorce suit.

I watched The Front Runner this weekend, the story about Gary Hart’s implosion of a presidential campaign in 1988. What a fascinating movie and slightly prescient of the tabloid times we live in today. It got me wondering about other...

The hot summer of 1952 witnessed some bizarre lights floating over the District. Evidently for many nights in July, sightings were reported of up to seven lights flying around the night sky, including over the Capitol Building. Radar operators claimed...

When this headline hit the papers in 1980, it was a big deal. A really big deal. Being gay was something that would disqualify you from holding a security clearance. Below are excerpts from the article printed on December 30th...

This is a bizarre and disappointing article that we dug up in The Washington Post. It was printed on April 2nd, 1977. Montgomery County school officials have learned that a small group of children–six sixth-graders and a third-grader–were smoking marijuana and...

This is a bizarre piece we found in The Washington Post from July 18th, 1928. And no, we’re not talking about that weed. The town fathers of Takoma Park, Md., have declared war on wild guns, wild dogs and wild weeds....

Thanks to a tip from GoDCer John, we did some digging into the story of a soldier who disappeared from Ft. Myer in 1967. A few Google searches later and we came across the story of Allen L. Adams of...

We once had a neighborhood called Herring Hill? True story. It was named for the fish pulled from Rock Creek, which, I don’t think are quite as plentiful today. Herring hill was the epicenter of the African-American community in eastern...

The sub headline for this article was “Walter Bryant Hurls Beer Bottle and Edward Bryant Uses Pistol.” Who do you think won that fight? We dug up this wild article in The Washington Post, printed on April 24th, 1908. Three days...

Below is a story we came across from The Washington Post, printed on December 29th, 1924. Remember, this was during the depths of Prohibition, so beer was non-alcoholic (and pretty terrible). George King and Joe Nally, said by police to be...

These prohibition stories are always great. This one is from a raid that happened on August 3rd, 1928 at 2106 18th St. NW in Adams Morgan. Today, the building is the home of Casa Oaxaca. Below is the article that...

This is probably a headline we wouldn’t see today. We found this in The Washington Post, printed on September 10th, 1894. A big opium joint, which had existed for three months at 425 Tenth street northwest, was raided about 10:30 o’clock...

This is a sad story that we came across in The Washington Postfrom June 29th, 1908. John McCalip, 22 years old, an electrician, at the Senate office building, was drowned yesterday while swimming in Broad Creek, on the Maryland side of...

This isn’t the measles scare of today’s California. This was an article that we dug up in The Washington Post from May 3rd, 1881. For some historical context, a week before Billy the Kid escaped from jail in Lincoln County, New...

The newspapers during the summer of 1894 were full of bizarre stories about a wild man wandering the vicinity of Tennallytown (when was it renamed Tenleytown?). Beginning on July 22nd, sightings of a “half-nude crazy man” were happening across the area, so...

On November 17th, 1927 a large tornado ripped through the area, destroying over 200 homes in D.C. and 300 structures in Alexandria. Up to 50 people were injured, but we only found one reported death, which was the result of...

Here is an amusing (though I don’t believe intentionally) sign that was posted in the National Zoo. The photo was taken in May of 1943. This reminds me of the crazy post we did a while back on the woman...

Here’s a super crazy story. The boy below is Melvin Jones, five years old, who lived at 210 9th St. NE with his family. At the end of October, 1925, he was playing with his brother and sister when a...

What a headline to draw you in. I couldn’t resist, so I read this piece from The Washington Times, printed on November 23rd, 1921 (also the day the Sheppard-Towner Act was signed to provide federal funding for maternity and child care)....

Here’s a sad story that we dug up in The Washington Post from May 26th, 1969. An argument over a dog that bit a young boy ended in the fatal shooting of the son of the dog’s owner last night in...

This is probably not something you would see today. At least, let’s hope not. We came across the headline “Wild Dog of Potomac Slain” in The Washington Post from July 28th, 1913. Below is the article. “Queen,” a bulldog, known for...

You probably don’t believe that headline, but it indeed happened back in 1956. On August 29th, The Washington Post reported that a woman from Fairfax gave birth to a healthy baby while en route to the hospital. Below are excerpts from...

Digging through the old newspaper archives, we uncovered a the following headline: “Found Wife Murdered; And Many Lay Dead Beside Her In Husband’s Home; Believes He Did Shooting.” How can we not look into this? The piece was printed in The Baltimore...

Oh my, “suggestive songs.” Not good, not good … especially in 1921 when this article was printed in The Washington Times. We came across an amusing headline, “Jollity of Frat Boys Results in Suit by Neighbor” and we had to dig...

The next time your father or grandfather tells you he never found himself in trouble during his youth, approach that claim with some skepticism, especially if he grew up in Chevy Chase. Check out this fantastic old article that we...