These stories will require a second reading because they’re a little nuts.
Read the tragic story of Levin Ward, a 65-year-old soldier from Tennallytown struck by the Georgetown and Tennallytown Electric Railroad’s Car No. 9. See his 1880 U.S. Census entry and learn why this streetcar was cursed.
In 1954, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie presented a pair of elephant tusks to District leaders in Washington, DC. Now, they have been stolen and the Metropolitan Police Department has asked for help in finding them. See photos and read descriptions of the tusks Selassie gave in other cities.
Read the strange story of the White House Secret Service guard who robbed a Citizens National Bank branch in Laurel in 1981. We came across the article and the sentencing in The Baltimore Sun. Come read this bizarre story from the 1980s!
James Hall, a drunk 26-year-old, fell from Key Bridge as he did stunts on the railings to amuse onlookers.
In September 1925, six 2,000-gallon gasoline tanks exploded in Rosslyn, sending sheets of blazing fire in every direction — and two firefighters had to leap from an adjoining tank seconds before it blew. The blaze drew 10,000 spectators and took nearly two hours to bring under control.
In 1900, a college prank in Georgetown University nearly went wrong. Students attempted to scare a stable attendant, but a horse was stolen and the police were called. Read more about this bizarre incident on Ghosts of DC.
Read about the robbery of Frederick Douglass’ former home at Cedar Hill in Anacostia, Washington D.C. in 1905. Learn more about this historic event from The Washington Post and other sources.
It was a painfully uncomfortable day 130 years ago in DC. We went through the papers to dig up some old stories about the misery of winter and found some good stuff. Read on to learn more about the freezing temperatures and ice jams in the Potomac River!
We came across an article in The Washington Post from August 17th, 1919, detailing an explosion in Foggy Bottom. Local officials were unable to identify the source of the explosion and an interesting theory was presented by others interviewed in the article. Was it a meteor or a bomb outrage?
This post tells the story of Jennie Lanahan’s mysterious death in a Washington DC boarding house in 1885. Follow along to find out what happened and read more about running a boarding house in the 1880s.
