Eastern Air Lines Flight 537: The 1949 Crash That Killed 55 Near National Airport
At 11:46 on November 1st, 1949, a young controller kept calling: Bolivia 927, turn left. The pilot never answered. Fifty-five died.
1940s
World War II reshaped Washington completely. The Pentagon rose across the river in just 16 months, the federal workforce exploded, and the city became the command center for the Allied war effort. Housing was impossibly scarce, rationing was everywhere, and Washington hummed with wartime urgency from 1941 to 1945.
Washington’s First AI Panic Happened in 1950
AI anxiety isn’t new. In 1949, an MIT professor turned down a corporate contract because he feared machines would replace human judgment. A year later, Washington had its own “electronic brain” on Connecticut Avenue. We’ve been having this argument for 75 years.
Gas Rationing in Washington, D.C.: The Long Lines of 1942
In June 1942, Washington D.C. gas stations on upper Wisconsin Avenue ran dry by 8:30 a.m. These Office of War Information photos show how the city lived through wartime gas rationing.
Why the Pentagon Has Five Sides: It’s Not What You Think
The Pentagon wasn’t designed to be five-sided. In 1941, architects had 72 hours to fit a building around a five-road intersection. The shape stuck.
The Duo Who Built D.C.’s First Freeway: Archie Alexander, Maurice Repass, and the Whitehurst Story
A four-year-old cut the ribbon on the Whitehurst Freeway on October 8, 1949. It was Washington’s first elevated highway.
Temporary Structures Reshape Washington’s Monumental Core
Take a rare glimpse of the massive Navy and Munitions Buildings erected on the Mall in 1918. See how massive they were from the Washington Monument in 1942 with this incredible vantage point.
Schott’s Alley on Capitol Hill in 1941
What was alley living like near Capitol Hill? This photo shows Schott’s Alley, razed in the 1940s to make way for the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
Three Houses for Sale the Day of Pearl Harbor
These three houses were advertised for sale in the Washington Post on December 7th, 1941. Help us identify the 565-acre estate in Warrenton, Virginia.
Revisiting Streetcar Life in Washington, DC: A Look Back at Life in 1943
What was it like riding the streetcars of Washington on the 1940s? Take a look at this series of great old photos.