Ghosts of DCThe lost and untold stories of Washington

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Historical Events

The big days in Washington, DC history. Assassinations, riots, marches, inaugurations, and the smaller moments that turned out to matter more than people knew at the time.

154 stories
Councilman 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 22Washington Daily News front page of October 13, 1926, headlined Ace of D.C. Detectives Slain on Wedding Day, with a portrait of Detective Arthur B. ScrivenerArthur Scrivener: Murder or Suicide in a Georgetown Alley, 1926Oct 18July 4, 1926: How Washington Celebrated America’s 150th BirthdayJul 4

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The Wan trial in session at the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, late 1919. (National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress.) Colorized by AI.The Kalorama Triple Murder of 1919: The Case That Helped Build MirandaJul 1Color photograph of a Trans World Airlines Lockheed L-049 Constellation named Paris Sky Chief (NC86505) parked on an airport ramp. The polished silver aircraft displays TWA markings and the distinctive triple-tail design, with hangars and airport equipment visible in the background.The “Paris Sky Chief”: When a Constellation Flew From National Airport to ParisJun 23Wreckage of Frank Corder's stolen Cessna 150L against the south wall of the White House, September 12, 1994The Two Times Someone Landed a Stolen Aircraft on the White House LawnJun 10Pentagon construction site on July 1, 1942, with three sides framed up, parked cars and worker trailers in the foreground, and the fifth side still open groundWhen Was the Pentagon Built? The 16-Month Wartime SprintJun 4Hand-colored 1860 lithograph showing the long Gothic Revival St. Elizabeths Hospital building with carriages and pedestrians in the foreground.Dallas Williams, the “Bad Man of Swampoodle”May 30US Marines in a firing line before the Northern Liberty Market in Washington as a crowd scatters, 1857 wood engraving.The 1857 Election Day Riot, When Marines Fired on a DC MobMay 29
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