On June 19, 1838, the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus agreed to sell 272 slaves to two Louisiana planters, Henry Johnson and Jesse Batey, for $115,000 (equivalent to approximately $3.25 million in 2023). This sale was the culmination of a contentious and long-running debate among the Maryland Jesuits over whether to keep, sell, or free their slaves, and whether to focus on their rural estates or on their growing urban missions, including their schools. (Full article...)
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The stolen helicopter, now on display
On February 17, 1974, U.S. ArmyPrivate First Class Robert Kenneth Preston (1953–2009) took off in a stolen Bell UH-1B Iroquois "Huey" helicopter from Tipton Field, Maryland, and landed it on the South Lawn of the White House in a significant breach of security. Preston had enlisted in the Army to become a helicopter pilot. However, he did not graduate from the helicopter training course and lost his opportunity to attain the rank of warrant officer pilot. His enlistment bound him to serve four years in the Army, and he was sent to Fort Meade as a helicopter mechanic. Preston believed this situation was unfair and later said he stole the helicopter to show his skill as a pilot. (Full article...)
James A. RyderSJ (October 8, 1800 – January 12, 1860) was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit who became the president of several Jesuit universities in the United States. Born in Ireland, he immigrated with his widowed mother to the United States as a child, to settle in Georgetown, in the District of Columbia. He enrolled at Georgetown College and then entered the Society of Jesus. Studying in Maryland and Rome, Ryder proved to be a talented student of theology and was made a professor. He returned to Georgetown College in 1829, where he was appointed to senior positions and founded the Philodemic Society, becoming its first president. (Full article...)
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Graham in 1959
Otto Everett Graham Jr. (December 6, 1921 – December 17, 2003) was an American professional footballquarterback who played for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. Graham is regarded by critics as one of the most dominant players of his era and one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, having taken the Browns to league championship games every year between 1946 and 1955, making ten championship appearances, and winning seven of them. With Graham at quarterback, the Browns posted a record of 105 wins, 17 losses, and 4 ties, including a 9–3 win–loss record in the AAFC and NFL playoffs. He holds the NFL record for career average yards gained per pass attempt, with 8.63. He also holds the record for the highest career winning percentage for an NFL starting quarterback, at 81.0%. Long-time New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, a friend of Graham's, once called him "as great of a quarterback as there ever was." (Full article...)
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Jordan in 2014
Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. He played 15 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) between 1984 and 2003, winning six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls. He was integral in popularizing basketball and the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s, becoming a global cultural icon. His profile on the NBA website states, "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time." (Full article...)
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Doonan in 1890
James Aloysius DoonanSJ (November 8, 1841 – April 12, 1911) was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit, who was the president of Georgetown University from 1882 to 1888. During that time he oversaw the naming of Gaston Hall and the construction of a new building for the School of Medicine. Doonan also acquired two historic cannons that were placed in front of Healy Hall. His presidency was financially successful, with a reduction in the university's burdensome debt that had accrued during the construction of Healy Hall. (Full article...)
Stanley Anthony Coveleski (born Stanislaus Kowalewski, July 13, 1889 – March 20, 1984) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for four American League (AL) teams between 1912 and 1928, primarily the Cleveland Indians. The star of the Indians pitching staff, he won over 20 games each year from the war-shortened 1918 season through 1921, leading the AL in shutouts twice and in strikeouts and earned run average (ERA) once each during his nine years with the club. The star of the 1920 World Series, he led the Indians to their first title with three complete-game victories, including a 3–0 shutout in the Game 7 finale. Traded to the Washington Senators after the 1924 season, he helped that club to its second AL pennant in a row with 20 victories against only 5 losses, including a 13-game winning streak, while again leading the league in ERA. (Full article...)
Samuel A. MulledySJ (/mʌˈleɪdi/muh-LAY-dee; March 27, 1811 – January 8, 1866) was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit who served as president of Georgetown College in 1845. Born in Virginia, he was the brother of Thomas F. Mulledy, who was a prominent 19th-century Jesuit in the United States and a president of Georgetown. As a student at Georgetown, Samuel was one of the founding members of the Philodemic Society, and proved to be a distinguished student, which resulted in his being sent to Rome to complete his higher education and be ordained to the priesthood. Upon his return to the United States, he became the master of novices at the Jesuit novitiate in Maryland, before being named president of Georgetown. He sought to be relieved of the position after only a few months, and returned to teaching and ministry. (Full article...)
Foxhall, also known as Foxhall Village, is a neighborhood in northwestern Washington, D.C., bordered by Reservoir Road on the north side, Foxhall Road on the west, Glover-Archbold Park on the east, and P Street NW on the south (with some properties south of P Street). The first homes were constructed along Reservoir Road and Greenwich Park Way in the mid-1920s. By the end of December, 1927, some 150 homes had been erected, and the community given the name of Foxhall Village. (Full article...)
Brentwood is a neighborhood in Northeast Washington, D.C., Bounded by Rhode Island Avenue NE, Rhode Island Ave-Brentwood Metro Sta Train Tracks NE, Montana Avenue NE, and New York Avenue NE. And is named after the Brentwood Mansion built at Florida Avenue and 6th Street NE in 1817 by Robert Brent, the first mayor of Washington City. He built it as a wedding present for his daughter Eleanor on her marriage as second wife to Congressman Joseph Pearson, and it stood for a hundred years before burning down in 1917. (Full article...)
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Washington Highlands, highlighted in red
Washington Highlands is a residential neighborhood in SoutheastWashington, D.C., in the United States. It lies within Ward 8. Bounded by Oxon Run Park(Oxon-Run Trail)SE, Livingston Road SE, South Capitol Street SE, Southern Avenue SE, Valley Avenue SE, and 13th Street SE. (Full article...)
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Woodland within the District of Columbia
Woodland is a small residential and industrial neighborhood in SoutheastWashington, D.C. Woodland lies in Washington's Ward 8, among the poorest and least developed of the city's wards. Like the neighborhoods around it, Woodland is almost exclusively African American. Woodland is bounded by Ainger Place SE to the north; Alabama Avenue SE and Knox Place SE to the east; Hartford Street SE to the south; and Langston Place SE, Raynolds Place SE, and Erie Street SE to the southwest. Fort Stanton Park forms the northwest and northern border of the neighborhood. (Full article...)
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Map of Washington, D.C., with the Fairlawn neighborhood highlighted in red
Mayfair or Parkside-Mayfair is a residential neighborhood in NortheastWashington, D.C., United States., on the eastern bank of the Anacostia River. It is bounded by Jay Street NE, Foote Street NE, Kenilworth Terrace NE, Anacostia Avenue NE, and Kenilworth Avenue NE. Mayfair is encircled by Jay Street and Hayes St., which met at the back of the neighborhood. (Full article...)
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South Korean ambassador's residence on Glenbrook Road
Image 16Eastward view of the National Mall from the top of the Washington Monument in 1918. The three structures and two chimneys crossing the Mall are temporary World War I buildings A, B and C and parts of their central power plant. (from National Mall)
Image 23National Mall proper and adjacent areas (April 2002). The Mall had a grassy lawn flanked on each side by unpaved paths and rows of American elm trees as its central feature. (Numbers in the image correspond to numbers in the list of landmarks, museums and other features below.) (from National Mall)
Image 37This view from the top of the Washington Monument shows rows of elm trees lining the Reflecting Pool (November 2014). (from National Mall)
Image 38Britney Spears performs during the "NFL Kickoff Live from the National Mall Presented by Pepsi Vanilla" concert, September 4, 2003 (from National Mall)
Image 642009 view from the United States Capitol facing west, over the Grant Memorial and Capitol Reflecting Pool in the foreground, and across the National Mall towards the Washington Monument (from National Mall)
Image 65Due to limited dining options on the Mall, food trucks are often parked next to tourist-dense locations. (from National Mall)
Image 70Map of the Mall in 1893 showing the Monument Grounds (with the Washington Monument), Agricultural Grounds (with the Dept. of Agriculture), Smithsonian Grounds (with the Castle and Arts and Industries museum), Armory Square, Public Grounds and Botanical Garden, as well as parts of the recently created "Tidal Reservoir" and "Proposed Park" (from National Mall)
Image 80Facing east on the National Mall, as viewed near the 1300 block of Jefferson Drive, S.W. in April 2010. Rows of American elm trees line the sides of a path traversing the length of the Mall. (from National Mall)
Image 81West side of the U.S. Capitol building (March 2019) (from National Mall)
Image 82The National Mall was the centerpiece of the 1902 McMillan Plan. A central open vista traversed the length of the Mall. (from National Mall)
Image 93With over 30,000 participants, the annual Marine Corps Marathon, held annually in October, is the largest non-prize money marathon in the country. (from Washington, D.C.)
Image 95Westward view from the top of the Washington Monument in 1943 or 1944 during World War II. In the foreground, temporary buildings on the Washington Monument grounds house the Navy's Bureau of Ships. The Main Navy and Munitions Buildings stand to the right of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Temporary buildings to the left of the Reflecting Pool house the Navy's Bureau of Supplies and Accounts. (from National Mall)
Image 102Portrait of the Mall and vicinity looking northwest from southeast of the U.S. Capitol, circa 1846–1855, showing stables in the foreground, the Washington City Canal behind them, the Capitol on the right and the Smithsonian "Castle", the Washington Monument and the Potomac River in the distant left. (from National Mall)