Next to the statues of Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln in the U.S. Senate's sculpture collection is a little known artist who's frescoes and murals left a lasting mark on the building's interior. #DCHistory https://t.co/nckVdHCMtf Next to the statues of Theodore Roose…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 19, 2022
Charting the changing times in D.C. from a grand antebellum society to a city anxious about civil war, Sarah Pryor's memoirs provide an invaluable cultural and social window into the nation's capital in the 19th century. #DCHistory https://t.co/K88bzeB8fM Charting the changi…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 19, 2022
Ezra Pound, a figurehead of modern poetry and fascist sympathizer, once called DC home. But not to any house in the city. Rather, he was a patient at Chestnut Ward in St. Elizabeths Hospital, placed there after charges of treason. #DCHistory https://t.co/940h1iLZJD Ezra Poun…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 19, 2022
The Al Ash deli at New Hampshire Avenue and Farragut Street NW in Brightwood Park, was in business in the 1940s. @CapJewishMuseum https://t.co/8bV964LAsY The Al Ash deli at New Hampshire Avenue and Farragut Street NW in Brightwood Park, was in business in the 1940s. @CapJewish…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 19, 2022
Theodore Roosevelt was a difficult personality to paint, and his restlessness didn't help either. But one painter captured Roosevelt so well that he vowed never to sit for another portrait again. #DCHistory https://t.co/IiG8hGiYy6 Theodore Roosevelt was a difficult personali…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 19, 2022
Quote of the Day: "Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above them." - Washington Irving
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 19, 2022
Opinion | Friendship Heights has a chance to begin to rectify its racist past https://t.co/gVdiDDyFwV Opinion | Friendship Heights has a chance to begin to rectify its racist past https://t.co/gVdiDDyFwV — Streets of Washington (@StreetsOfDC) Feb 18, 2022
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 18, 2022
“They’re coming to town. That’s all we know.” When farmers descended upon D.C. in 1979 to influence national agricultural policy, they made sure to bring their tractors with them... which turned out to be quite handy when a snowstorm hit. #DCHistory https://t.co/axdUfRJvgc “…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 18, 2022
Few today would imagine that D.C.'s original National Aquarium was located in the basement of the Department of Commerce. #DCHistory https://t.co/5FVPvm5CkQ Few today would imagine that D.C.'s original National Aquarium was located in the basement of the Department of Commer…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 18, 2022
Theodore Roosevelt loved hiking (perhaps more aptly described as running for the Bull Moose). Better yet, he loved hiking with one of his best friends, the French Ambassador—one of the few who could keep up with him. #DCHistory https://t.co/xSuR5KUWzK Theodore Roosevelt love…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 18, 2022
Being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis didn't stop Kit Kamien from keeping music in his life, nor stop his career as an activist destigmatizing disability. #DCHistory https://t.co/hsTzDYXYtT Being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis didn't stop Kit Kamien from keeping music i…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 18, 2022
Few have ever heard of the man who was involved in the Library of Congress' first major scandal and helped save precious keystone documents from the nation's founding: Josias Wilson King. #DCHistory #MDHistory https://t.co/v6kYQ3SFzq Few have ever heard of the man who was in…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 18, 2022
Here are five stories that moved us this week, and the reasons why.
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Alexander Sammon | The New Republic | February 16th, 2022 | 7,137 words
Sure, your baby’s new SUNDVIK crib is cute and modern, but do you have any idea where the wood came from? Romania has one of the largest old-growth forests left in the world, home to ancient and rare spruce, beech, and oak trees. Joining the European Union in 2007 opened Romania up to a massive market for this prized cheap timber, which fuels the fast furniture industry. IKEA, which makes big sustainability claims, is the largest individual consumer of wood on the planet; in 2015, it started to buy forestland in Romania in bulk and is now the country’s largest private landowner. But more than half of Romania’s wood is illegally harvested and, as Alexander Sammon intrepidly reports, what’s actually happening on the ground is not always legit and, in some cases, has turned violent. “Tracing any individual tree from forest floor to showroom presents a near impossible challenge,” writes Sammon. “As wood moves through the supply chain, it becomes increasingly difficult to pin down.” This is a dismal but gripping and important read. —CLR
Amanda Chicago Lewis | Wired | February 15th, 2022 | 5,932 words
Getting intoxicated drivers off the road is an inarguable good. Exactly what “intoxicated” means for cannabis users, though, is a touch more arguable. THC’s fat-soluble nature means that a person can exceed the legal limit in multiple states a day after consuming, despite feeling absolutely nothing. Lewis, one of the most prominent journalists to have carved out a beat in this particular branch of botany, takes readers inside the struggle to reach a smarter standard, and the result is as thought-provoking and entertaining as you’d hope. Whether detailing the intricacies of a promising cognitive test or playing out the comedy of a stoney testing session, she’s able to capture both the science and the spectacle: “Without the usual context of a possible arrest,” she writes about the subjects and the supervising cops, “the vibe … veers from surreal to downright chummy, as if Tom and Jerry took a break from the endless chase to discuss the finer points of mousetrap methodology.” So sure, keep telling your friends you drive better when you’re high — maybe just read the piece first. —PR
*Subscription required. (The vast majority of the pieces we recommend are free to read online. Occasionally, we will share a piece that requires a subscription when we strongly believe that piece is worth your time.)
Hannah Smothers | Texas Monthly | January 11th, 2022 | 2,017 words
A few weeks ago, I got my first dog — a rag-tag collection of breeds, somehow muddled together to make something that I consider perfect. Perhaps it was because I was sitting with my scruffy mutt as I read, but Hannah Smothers’ essay about the loss of her dog had me holding back the tears. Augie, a mixed-breed rescue puppy, was only a part of her world for 36 hours before a dog attack brought his short life to an abrupt end. Smothers’ emotion is raw, seeping out of her words as she describes the gut-wrench of coming across his little toys around the house and the nightmares forcing her to relive the attack again and again. The grief led to her reaching out to a lawyer to see if she could vindicate her lost puppy. The answer was a resounding no. According to Texas law, the only possibility would be to sue for economic value: amounting to about $50 for Augie — a dog of indeterminate breed. In 2013, a case did argue that pets should have sentimental value, but, as Smothers explains, the big guys stepped in: “Among them were the American Pet Products Association, the Texas Veterinary Medical Association, and the American Kennel Club. They argued that if pet owners could sue for sentimental value, veterinary malpractice insurance premiums would skyrocket, and pet product companies would be hit with class-action lawsuits every time someone’s cat got sick from a can of food.” This is a fascinating debate, but this essay does not delve into the technicalities too deeply — it is the human emotion that makes it such a powerful piece. —CW
Adam Fales | Dilettante Army | February 15th, 2022 / 5,200 words
Here’s how fascinating this essay is: My husband read it and promptly went out to buy one of the books it mentions (Desperate Characters by Paula Fox), which I in turn, having read the essay while he was out, stole from him so that I can read it first. In seven sections — which he calls, appropriately, “gables” — Adam Fales considers the motif of the haunted house in American literature and film and what it can teach us about how we as a society have approached the wrongs of our collective history. With references to an impressive range of sources, from The Fall of the House of Usher to Paranormal Activity, Fales argues that, “Locating evil in a haunted place lets Americans concentrate the past’s wrongness. The haunted house is a place where we deal with how things have gone wrong.” —SD
Matt Dinan | The Hedgehog Review | February 1st, 2020 | 1,771 words
I was born and have lived all my life in a place known for the harshest winters outside Siberia. When people in other places say it’s cold out, I try to stay quiet. (After all, cold is relative and it’s all about what you’re used to.) The radio announcer declared yesterday a beautiful day. (It was -20 Celsius / -4 Fahrenheit. It was a lovely day.) But at this point in February, when winter is well ensconced and spring is still a distant dream, we start to think of moving somewhere, anywhere warmer. Matt Dinan, in his piece at The Hedgehog Review, understands reality in a winter community and my thinking around this time of year: “But if we are being honest, it really is quite hard to sustain the illusion that there is anything good about winter after the hundredth day or so of temperatures below freezing.” This terrific essay looks at cold through the lens of poetry and literature, as Dinan collects winter reflections from Henry Miller, Emily Dickinson, and others, and of how the people of winter communities regularly faced with heavy snow and dangerous conditions help one another to get through it: “When a snowstorm is coming, we’re called on, in a relatively low-stakes way, to evaluate, deliberate, and decide—together…Schools, businesses, government offices, sports teams, choirs, volunteer groups, families, friends—every part of civil society needs to decide whether it’s worth staying open, going out, or hunkering down at home…The edifying character of winter, then, has less to do with heroic individualism than with its capacity to force us into something less common: community.” —KS
These beautiful Japanese maps depict locations in Buddhist cosmology and geography: the mythological world, the philosophical world, the real world, and India, where Buddhism originated. Explore the maps here: https://t.co/8zyZXryAom https://t.co/QX5uDQLPI7 These beautiful Jap…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 18, 2022
While attacking D.C. in 1814, one British soldier found time to take in the sight and form his opinion of the city. Among them: "The President's house...was remarkable for nothing except the absence of taste exhibited in its structure." #DCHistory https://t.co/MBLVElXCGB Whi…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 18, 2022
As the British invaded D.C. in 1814, the best D.C. residents could hope for was an end to the flames burning their city. What they got instead was a tornado. #DCHistory https://t.co/ajdSw7MHwS As the British invaded D.C. in 1814, the best D.C. residents could hope for was an…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 18, 2022
Taking a Selfie on the Red Planet via NASA https://t.co/opRUssrT3R https://t.co/wa2xB49e3b
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 18, 2022
After the British invaded D.C. in 1814 and burned the Senate's wing of the Capitol building, Blodgett’s Hotel was used as a temporary convening site for U.S. Senators—otherwise known as the tavern down the street. #DCHistory https://t.co/oKedI20UCm After the British invaded …
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 18, 2022
In February 1925, D.C.'s Tidal Basin Beach closed down for good. #DCHistory #TidalBasin https://t.co/gsjzlyqNfv In February 1925, D.C.'s Tidal Basin Beach closed down for good. #DCHistory #TidalBasin https://t.co/gsjzlyqNfv — Boundary Stones (@BoundaryStones) Feb 18, 2022
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 18, 2022
In 1911, Maryland's Black community of 250,000 was ready for a fight when state Senator W. Mitchell Digges attempted to deprive them of their right to vote. #MDHistory https://t.co/GZun2rlSRl In 1911, Maryland's Black community of 250,000 was ready for a fight when state Sen…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 17, 2022
D.C.'s Octagon House, built in the 18th century, housed one of the wealthiest Virginians at the time. And, according to local stories, is also the home of ghosts. #DCHistory #OctagonHouse https://t.co/0BSHTV3kdM D.C.'s Octagon House, built in the 18th century, housed one of …
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 17, 2022
Oysters have long been a central feature of the fishing scene in the Chesapeake Bay. They were also at the center of a forgotten, centuries-long war between local oystermen. #MDHistory #VAHistory https://t.co/IjEjC5sVQD Oysters have long been a central feature of the fishing…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 17, 2022
On December 7, 1941, the Redskins (now the Washington Commanders) played against the Philadelphia Eagles in D.C. Meanwhile, Japanese airplanes were bombing Pearl Harbor. The audience in the stadium, however, had no idea that war had just begun. #DCHistory …
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 17, 2022
This 2012 map of the world's oceans shows a network of important shipping lanes. Zoom in here: https://t.co/18V3MiLDNK https://t.co/F5uv39dWtA This 2012 map of the world's oceans shows a network of important shipping lanes. Zoom in here: https://t.co/18V3MiLDNK …
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 17, 2022
Go-go music, a mixture of funk, hip-hop, and rock n’ roll, has its origins in the DMV area and represents of way of life to local residents. #DCHistory #VAHistory #MDHistory https://t.co/mrF7TbXA7x Go-go music, a mixture of funk, hip-hop, and rock n’ roll, has its origins in…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 17, 2022
In May 1942, Dick Gee Lam (1902–1993), a native of Taishan, China, and owner of the enormously successful Lotus nightclub on 14th Street NW, opened the Chinese Village restaurant, a family-oriented restaurant, at 804 H Street NE. @chineseeateries https://t.co/8DPTHROA3O In May…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 17, 2022
She found her father’s segregated schoolhouse decaying in the Va. woods. Now it is on the way to being saved. https://t.co/qaBJ32ivnE She found her father’s segregated schoolhouse decaying in the Va. woods. Now it is on the way to being saved. https://t.co/qaBJ32ivnE — Stree…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 16, 2022
What did it sound like when the Beatles first hit U.S. airwaves in 1963? #DCHistory #Beatles https://t.co/7sdYOC3VFD What did it sound like when the Beatles first hit U.S. airwaves in 1963? #DCHistory #Beatles https://t.co/7sdYOC3VFD — Boundary Stones (@BoundaryStones) Feb…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 16, 2022
In 1825, the House selected John Quincy Adams as winner of the controversial 1824 presidential election, setting the scene for an ugly 1828 race. #DCHistory https://t.co/zTg6aDzsh2 In 1825, the House selected John Quincy Adams as winner of the controversial 1824 presidential…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 16, 2022
Check out these maps & charts from the "Buccaneer atlas" created by William Hacke, a cartographer with connections to notorious pirate Captain Bartholomew Sharpe! Sail the seven seas here: https://t.co/9TnYVEAs0N https://t.co/Jq8EKHEXiX Check out these maps & charts from the …
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 16, 2022
Last week I walked a few blocks from my apartment to a grocery store in my small Midwestern town. The wind chill was -18 Fahrenheit, an improvement over the previous day, when it was a blistering -28. It had been several days — maybe weeks — since I voluntarily went outside for any length of time beyond simply getting in or out of my car.
The Land of White Death by Valerian Albanov inspired me to take this walk. The book tells the harrowing tale of a crew of Russian seal hunters who, in 1912, become trapped in the ice in the Siberian Arctic Circle. Remarkable for its first-person narrative — the vast majority of failed adventure/expedition stories are written by people who did not experience the event themselves — and for its narrator’s headstrong, hopeful, and lyrical ruminations, it made me think about what it must have been like trapped in the cold for years on end, far from home.
Considering I’m risk-averse almost to a fault, I’ll never travel the Siberian Arctic Circle, never climb Mount Everest, never go on a challenging backcountry hike by myself. Why? Partly because of simply having read too many narratives like Albanov’s, too many narratives like the ones on this reading list. Yet coupled with this aversion is a fascination of people who, unlike me, seek experiences full of risk and inspiration; and the thrill of experiencing landscapes few humans have walked on, or mountains unclimbed and unknown. And then, of course, there is the fascination with narratives of those who did not seek risk, who were going about their days and were thrust into extraordinary circumstances. This is the question that haunts me: How would I cope with facing a life-threatening situation in the wilderness? I read story after story, book after book, looking for myself: Yes, being the one who keeps people hopeful, maybe that would be me. Or, thinking of cutting open plants in the desert for water, I’d do that too.
I grew up near Detroit Metropolitan Airport, and too young, learned about Northwest 255. In 1987 it crashed on one of the busy roads outside the airport, killing all but one passenger and two people on the ground. I was sick with fear around airports for the next 15 years, but fascinated, too. I think now that fear is a cousin of obsession, because as an adult I perseverate on what I fear, including plane crashes. In this piece, Simon Worrall interviews Roberto Canessa, one of the passengers on doomed Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 (subject of the ‘90s film Alive) on the circumstances of survival. After his rugby team crashed in the Andes, Roberto, then a medical student, bore the enormous responsibility of trying to keep his teammates and friends alive, with mixed success.
Who survived? It wasn’t the smartest, most intelligent ones. The ones who survived were those who most felt the joy of living. That gave them a reason to survive.
My last real vacation was in February 2020, to Joshua Tree National Park. I was on my own, having peeled off from a group trip to Palm Springs, and I’d already read about Bill Ewasko, an experienced hiker and military veteran who disappeared in the park in June 2010. I went on a few short hikes alone, but, with little previous experience in the desert, was mostly happy to drive. It felt like I could see forever in every direction, yet the panorama kept shifting seamlessly and every few minutes I arrived in a landscape entirely new, save for the ash-gold sand and sentinel Joshua trees. How do you get lost in a place where you can see everything? Well, the truth is, anybody can get lost anywhere.
There is an unsettling truth often revealed by search-and-rescue operations: Every landscape reveals more of itself as you search it. The mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot once observed that the British coastline can never be fully mapped because the more closely you examine it — not just the bays, but the inlets within the bays, and the streams within the inlets — the longer the coast becomes. Although Joshua Tree comprises more than 1,200 square miles of desert with a clear and bounded border, its interior is a constantly changing landscape of hills, canyons, riverbeds, caves and alcoves large enough to hide a human from view. Solid canyon walls reveal themselves, on closer inspection, to be loose agglomerations of huge rocks, hiding crevasses as large as living rooms. The park is, in a sense, immeasurable. And now Ewasko’s case, like Joshua Tree itself, was becoming fractal: The more ground the search covered, the more there was to see. As Pete Carlson of the Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit put it to me, “If you haven’t found them, then they’re someplace you haven’t looked yet.”
Perhaps tied to the risk-averse aspect of my personality is also a strict scientist’s skepticism. I have trouble suspending disbelief when it comes to the occult, such as while reading Stephen King novels, or when watching TV shows like Yellowjackets.
Humans don’t have a great inherent understanding of statistics, nor as a species do we seem to grasp the extraordinary danger that accompanies the great outdoors. That an adult human can simply vanish is literally unthinkable: So when it happens, people look for a paranormal explanation, not comprehending how the landscape tucks bodies away, subsumes them.
Much of this article focuses on David Paulides of Missing 411 and its wide internet communities: Paulides raises awareness of forgotten missing-persons cases, which is good; he’s also a Bigfoot believer — that’s a little more iffy.
What makes Paulides’ ideas so tantalizing, so salacious, is what he doesn’t say. He denies mentioning Bigfoot in any of his works. But, like a good storyteller, he allows readers to reach these conclusions on their own. Even his fans have questioned his motives.
I do find David to, at times, sound a little bit like a charlatan,” one wrote on Reddit. “I feel like when you get so invested in something you are bound to lose yourself a little bit.”
In the early days of the pandemic, long-trail hikers were encouraged to head home to prevent spreading the virus to small, vulnerable locales. Not everyone listened: Three young men continued their obsessive hike of the Pacific Crest Trail, to devastating conclusion.
At around 9:30 a.m., as they turned a corner onto Apache Peak, the trail disappeared under what, at this higher altitude, was two to three feet of snow. They checked their maps. If they crossed a small clearing and headed around another corner, they’d be fine. Jannek, about 10 steps in the lead, and the lightest, made it across the precipitous slope to a stand of trees. But as Trevor crossed, he slipped on ice hidden beneath the top layer of powder. He stopped and tried to stabilize his footing, then his feet went out from under him, and he fell onto the snowy trail. For the briefest time, he managed to stay in place. Then, suddenly, he began sliding feet first, gathering momentum until he hit a rock and began cartwheeling into an icy gorge.
When a Russian family was discovered living in the Siberian taiga after 40 years without contact from the outside world, they were astounded by the advances of modern technology, from Sputnik to cellophane. But perhaps the single detail that strikes me the most is the last survivor, the youngest daughter in the family, choosing to live out her remaining days in the cabin in the wilderness, alone. There’s a saying that references “the devil you know” though I can’t speculate on all the reasons Agafia might have chosen to stay behind. Yes, perhaps, fear. But maybe there was also a desire to carry on her family’s legacy, to preserve a way of life she loved. The not knowing — the inability to know — is the true allure of this type of tale.
The Lykov children knew there were places called cities where humans lived crammed together in tall buildings. They had heard there were countries other than Russia. But such concepts were no more than abstractions to them. Their only reading matter was prayer books and an ancient family Bible. Akulina had used the gospels to teach her children to read and write, using sharpened birch sticks dipped into honeysuckle juice as pen and ink. When Agafia was shown a picture of a horse, she recognized it from her mother’s Bible stories. “Look, papa,” she exclaimed. “A steed!”
***
Kelsey Zimmerman is a writer from the Midwest. Her poetry can be found in Hobart, The Indianapolis Review, and elsewhere. She can be found hiking on the weekends or on Twitter @kelseypz.
NASA Tests the F/A-18E via NASA https://t.co/Q02jdc9KHx https://t.co/W8dpciMNIs
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 16, 2022
Three little-known Washingtonians were witnesses to some of the most influential murders in history: those of U.S. presidents. #DCHistory https://t.co/ShFOTpWKRA Three little-known Washingtonians were witnesses to some of the most influential murders in history: those of U.S…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 16, 2022
Picture this: an attendant knocks on guests doors at the Willard Hotel and tells them to "take their time" while a blazing fire rages above their heads on the upper floors. A fire that totaled over $5,400,000 in today's money. #DCHistory #WillardHotel https://t.co/QXhklLrqO6 …
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 15, 2022
One of the most persistent D.C.-based myths is that the term "lobbyist" was coined by President Ulysses S. Grant. But what's the real history behind the origin of this word? #DCHistory https://t.co/KONCqLXmio One of the most persistent D.C.-based myths is that the term "lobb…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 15, 2022
Join me on Zoom next Thursday Feb 24 for the official launch event (it's free!) for my new book on the history of Sixteenth Street: https://t.co/6sV6FmDMUi Join me on Zoom next Thursday Feb 24 for the official launch event (it's free!) for my new book on the history of Sixteen…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 15, 2022
The DC History Center is excited to launch John DeFerrari and Douglas Peter Sefton's new book, Sixteenth Street NW: Washington, DC's Avenue of Ambitions. Join us February 24 to learn about one of DC's most important boulevards: https://t.co/TOzVWvk3BI https://t.co/IZMGUrobqv …
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 15, 2022
The memoirs of Sarah Pryor documented the shift from the grand society of antebellum D.C. to the growing wartime tensions leading up to the Civil War. #DCHistory https://t.co/K88bzeB8fM The memoirs of Sarah Pryor documented the shift from the grand society of antebellum D.C.…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 15, 2022
This map of Montana Territory from 1879 shows Tribal reservations and treaties. Take a look here: https://t.co/rjQZeUOl3T https://t.co/ni4tGBvWqY This map of Montana Territory from 1879 shows Tribal reservations and treaties. Take a look here: https://t.co/rjQZeUOl3T …
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 15, 2022
Orbiting a Red Dwarf Star via NASA https://t.co/3v6eEhVSoS https://t.co/yaNaLuxxqk
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 15, 2022
Calvin Coolidge owned some of the strangest pets as president. Among them were a baby antelope, two lion cubs, Rebecca the raccoon, and Billy the pygmy hippopotamus. #DCHistory #CalvinCoolidge https://t.co/JjUJdKFTpS Calvin Coolidge owned some of the strangest pets as presid…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 15, 2022
How Well Do You Know 16th Street? A Guide to a Fascinating Thoroughfare. https://t.co/g5p9qWoT5x How Well Do You Know 16th Street? A Guide to a Fascinating Thoroughfare. https://t.co/g5p9qWoT5x — Streets of Washington (@StreetsOfDC) Feb 15, 2022
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 15, 2022
Matȟó Wanáȟtake, known as Kicking Bear, was born in an Oglala Lakota community in South Dakota and spent his entire life resisting the US government. How did a model of his face end up on Dumbarton Bridge in Washington, D.C.? #DCHistory #KickingBear https://t.co/qATEXWrGXT M…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 14, 2022
Before the National Aquarium in Baltimore opened in 1981, the original National Aquarium in D.C. was tucked away in the basement of the Department of Commerce. No, seriously. #DCHistory #NationalAquarium https://t.co/5FVPvm5CkQ Before the National Aquarium in Baltimore opene…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 14, 2022
Pete Seeger combined folk music with the social causes of his time: from civil rights to the labor movement and environmentalism. But his activism also got him in trouble with Congress, and nearly landed him in prison... #DCHistory #PeteSeeger https://t.co/JeCGTiMbYg Pete Se…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 14, 2022
When Al Capone was finally put behind bars, he frequently complained about the man who finally put him behind bars: "That bastard Hoover." But he wasn't talking about FBI director J. Edgar Hoover... #DCHistory https://t.co/05P3J7T86j When Al Capone was finally put behind bar…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 14, 2022
Dr. Lyndsey McMillon-Brown: Studying Solar Cells via NASA https://t.co/RM77yJBOzl https://t.co/X0vrY7rT7E
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 14, 2022
Say thank you to your DC florists today! #HappyValentinesDay 📷: Florist at Rick Scott Floral hard at work (“Working Images” Photograph Collection, photo by Martha Tabor) https://t.co/slDO4ychKt Say thank you to your DC florists today! #HappyValentinesDay 📷: Florist at Rick…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 14, 2022
If you wanted to get married in a hurry in the 1930s, Elkton, Maryland was the place to be. In its heyday, it boasted 15 wedding chapels and hosted thousands of weddings each year! #MDHistory #Elkton https://t.co/nkBVULaaQm If you wanted to get married in a hurry in the 1930…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 14, 2022
Follow the course of the Senegal River, around islands and through a twisting delta, in this 18th-century French map: https://t.co/AoQQZRJwn4 https://t.co/MDwHzzXKGE Follow the course of the Senegal River, around islands and through a twisting delta, in this 18th-century Frenc…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 14, 2022
While Valentine's Day is an occasion for love, for Theodore Roosevelt and his family, it was also a day full of mixed emotions: filled with love, life, and even death. #DCHistory #ValentinesDay2022 https://t.co/j23RL5aZr1 While Valentine's Day is an occasion for love, for Th…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 14, 2022
Happy Valentines Day from Streets of Washington (circa 1913 postcard). https://t.co/E5UFXitIEz Happy Valentines Day from Streets of Washington (circa 1913 postcard). https://t.co/E5UFXitIEz — Streets of Washington (@StreetsOfDC) Feb 14, 2022
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 14, 2022
Quote of the Day: "Love the giver more than the gift." - Brigham Young
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 14, 2022
Fighting for the best spot to watch the game takes on a new meaning with a TV this small…Happy #SuperBowlSunday! 📷: Men sitting, watching a football game on a small television set (Miller-Gillette Washington Seen photograph collection, MG 14.19, Courtesy DC Public Library) …
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 13, 2022
Prohibition marked the longest ban of alcohol within the United States. 85 years prior to that, D.C. had its own liquor ban, but for a different reason. #DCHistory https://t.co/bZVxaobQji Prohibition marked the longest ban of alcohol within the United States. 85 years prior …
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 13, 2022
The D.C. music scene has boasted the rise of various artists, genres, and venues throughout its history. With inspiration from Brazil, D.C. started its own Bossa nova craze in the 1960s. #DCHistory https://t.co/tyoGtdncQF The D.C. music scene has boasted the rise of various …
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 13, 2022
The expansion of the government during the 1940s meant construction of the Pentagon. For residents of Queen City and East Arlington, this would force them out of their homes and away from friends and family. #VAHistory https://t.co/7LgpwKDFOz The expansion of the government …
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 13, 2022
Warm up for this #SuperbowlSunday with a touchdown dance! 📷: U Street Lions football player on football field (Edward A. Hubbard photograph collection, HEd 1002A) https://t.co/BEMJrKf3xv Warm up for this #SuperbowlSunday with a touchdown dance! 📷: U Street Lions football p…
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 13, 2022
Imagine a plane accidentally sliding onto roads today - definitely terrifying and dangerous. This was exactly one problem contributing to the construction of Washington National Airport. #DCHistory #VAHistory https://t.co/Yq5ensHYJl Imagine a plane accidentally sliding onto …
— Kenneth Samson (@PangurBanC) Feb 13, 2022