Check out the video of the landing tests they performed on the White House South Lawn in 1957.

This wonderful old photo of Pennsylvania Avenue in 1957 shows President Eisenhower and Queen Elizabeth in an old Lincoln Cosmopolitan. Source: Flickr user Dave Gelinas And here’s another. Source: Flickr user Dave Gelinas Source: Flickr user Dave Gelinas

Here’s a pretty cool set of photos from January 20th, 1953. Source: Opie Radio

In September 1955, President Eisenhower suffered a heart attack while visiting Denver. He was rushed to Fitzsimmons Army Hospital, where he would spend seven weeks recovering. While convalescing, he continued to carry out his executive duties from his hospital suite (which is now open to tours). Early the following year, in February, the President and […]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oKD5J7wllU In September of 1960, the U.S. and Japan were celebrating 100 years of diplomatic relations. Crown Prince Akihito and Princess Michiko traveled to Washington at the end of the month to celebrate the occasion with an official state visit. An amusing article was published in the Washington Post on September 28th of that year, […]

You know how bad it sucks to accidentally lock yourself out of your house. How about when you’re locked in and your home is the White House? Well, that actually happened to President Eisenhower. Here is an amusing article from the Baltimore Sun on August 2nd, 1958. Washington, Aug. 1 (AP)–A 19-year-old blonde from Texas […]

This is a guest post by GoDCer from Poolesville, Jack (the guy that tipped us off to some great stories, like the decapitated convict). President Dwight Eisenhower’s inauguration was just five days away. For days the advance guard of a huge crowd had been streaming into Washington. In the days before commercial air travel had […]

If you’re fortunate enough to be participating in WABA’s “Down the Tubes” ride tomorrow, the last stop on your journey is going to be Poplar Point. Probably 70% of District residents don’t know what this is or where it is, but a number of important historical events have happened here. One of these events involved […]

I came across this one on YouTube. This was the first time the President of the United States was videotaped and then broadcast in color. This is the earliest surviving color videotape. It was filmed on May 22nd, 1958 in the WRC-TV studios in Washington (the local NBC affiliate). The video starts off in black […]

Aviation has a strong history in the Washington area. Following on the heels of our last aeronautical first (Concorde at Dulles), here is another first for the region and the country. In the fall of 1958, Pan Am (i.e., the planet’s largest and coolest airline) was getting set to inaugurate their transatlantic passenger jet service. […]

One of the most powerful and important inaugural addresses of all time, this is something worth watching in its entirety. The whole speech is below if you’d like to read it. This is a truly amazing and powerful speech. If you want to skip to the famous quote, start watching at 13:45. The full text […]