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How a Maryland Crime Shaped a Presidential Election

How a Maryland Crime Shaped a Presidential Election

05/01/2019 in Maryland by Blake Wilson

In 1987, a convicted murderer from Massachusetts was apprehended in Prince George's County after a short police chase.  His arrest would set off a chain of events that would become the hot button issue of the 1988 presidential campaign.

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DC
When the Baltimore Sun was Washington's Most Visible Newspaper

When the Baltimore Sun was Washington's Most Visible Newspaper

03/08/2019 in DC by Blake Wilson

Back in 1887, the Baltimore Sun was looking for a bold way to celebrate its 50th anniversary and to declare itself one of the nation's premiere newspapers. What better way to do that than with the first skyscraper in the nation's capital?

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DC
The Curious Case of the ABA's Washington Caps

The Curious Case of the ABA's Washington Caps

02/21/2019 in DC by Blake Wilson

For one season the American Basketball Association set up shop in the Nation's Capital, as the defending league champion — and star player Rick Barry — moved from Oakland to D.C.  But almost as soon as the Washington Caps arrived in 1969, they were gone. So why didn't D.C.'s team last?

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DC
Running Down the Ghost Burglar

Running Down the Ghost Burglar

11/28/2018 in DC by Mark Jones

Dr. Michael Halberstam and his wife, Elliott, had planned to go to a movie after leaving their friends’ cocktail party, but they decided to make a quick stop back at home first. Michael parked the car and went inside the couple’s Palisades D.C. home to let out their two dogs, Iris and Jake. Elliot headed around back to meet the pups. It was about 8:45 pm – well after dark in the late fall. Moments later, the doctor was staring down the barrel of snub-nosed revolver in his own kitchen.

The odd chain of events that came next would uncover one of the largest — and strangest — crime operations in Washington, D.C. area history.

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DC
The Fire of Norman Morrison

The Fire of Norman Morrison

10/25/2018 in DC by Mark Jones

Dusk was approaching when Norman Morrison pulled into the Pentagon parking lot on November 2, 1965. Parking his two-tone Cadillac in the lot, he walked toward the north entrance, carrying his 11-month old daughter, Emily, and a wicker picnic basket with a jug of kerosene inside. Reaching a retaining wall at the building’s perimeter, the 31-year-old Quaker from Baltimore climbed up and began pacing back and forth. Around 5:20 pm, he yelled to Defense Department workers who were leaving the building.

Then, the unthinkable.

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DC
They Got Here With a Little Help from Their Friends

They Got Here With a Little Help from Their Friends

09/18/2018 in DC by Jesse Remedios

This may be hard to believe, but once upon a time record companies did not believe the Beatles could have a successful career in America. Yes, you read that right. The Beatles. Not having success. Crazy right? Luckily, for all of us, one teenager knew better and lit the fuse for Beatlemania with a simple letter to her local D.C. radio station.

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DC

The Hurricane That Created the Ocean City We Know Today

09/12/2018 in DC by Mark Jones

When readers of the Washington Evening Star opened their papers on August 25, 1933 they needed no reminder of what had just befallen the city. Two days earlier, the fiercest storm the nation’s capital had seen in decades pushed a wall of water up the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River. In a matter of hours, over six inches of rain fell on D.C. 51-mph winds toppled trees. Floodwaters submerged highways. Roofs were torn off buildings. A train crossing the Anacostia River was swept off its tracks. The list went on… Damage was even worse in Ocean City, yet the storm was also a cause for celebration. Huh?

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DC
Call to all D.C. Go-Go Fans: Let's Keep the Memory of D.C.'s Homegrown Sound Go-Going

Call to all D.C. Go-Go Fans: Let's Keep the Memory of D.C.'s Homegrown Sound Go-Going

08/17/2018 in DC by Dominic Charles

Go-go music is a signature Washington, D.C. sound and the D.C. Public Library has started an archive to preserve its history. Archivist Derek Gray is leading the charge and is seeking heirlooms related to the D.C. go-go scene: CDs and audio recordings of Chuck Brown and other go-go artists, flyers, posters, event advertisements, photographs, videos, DVDs, and other memorabilia. Help preserve the legacy of D.C.’s homegrown sound for future generations!

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DC
Claiming a Neighborhood: Shaw and Little Ethiopia

Claiming a Neighborhood: Shaw and Little Ethiopia

08/14/2018 in DC by Dominic Charles

In 2005, Ethiopian restaurateurs led a campaign to rename a strip of Ninth Street between U and T Little Ethiopia, to reflect the contributions that Ethiopians made to the Shaw neighborhood over the previous decade.  These business leaders faced backlash, however, from Shaw’s African-American community who thought the renaming campaign discounted the neighborhood’s proud African-American history.

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DC

Carrying a Torch for the Olympics

08/02/2018 in DC by Shaune Lee

Embed from Getty Images

One of the most memorable neighborhood block parties in recent memory kicked into gear as the Olympic flame came to Washington in the summer of 1996.  From Rockville to Reston, area residents got into the Olympic spirit as they welcomed the unusual guest.

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