The 10 Weirdest And Strangest Things That Have Ever Happened In Washington DC

In his book Urban Legends & Historic Lore of Washington DC, Robert Pohl tells the story of when the US Army accidentally shot up the Lincoln Memorial. During WWII, anti-aircraft military weapons were installed on top of the US Department of the Interior. But in 1942, a soldier accidentally pulled the trigger and released a round of ammunition into the memorial. There was minor damage to the memorial.

In 1962, the Second Infantry War Memorial was rededicated and right before the dedication, two homeless man found their way inside. Construction workers were still working on the monument and were going to install a 8in piece of granite on top of the structure, thus sealing it. Luckily they heard newspapers shuffling inside the memorial and the two men were able to get out before getting stuck there forever.

In 2013, Rusty the Red Panda escaped the National Zoo and was found hanging out in Adams Morgan.

One of the saddest stories of DC was the fall of Mayor Marion Barry who served as mayor of DC in the 1980s. In 1990, Marion Barry was arrested for crack cocaine use and possession following a police sting. He was charged with three felony counts of perjury, 10 counts of drug possession and one misdemeanor county of conspiracy to possess cocaine. Mayor Barry continued as mayor after his arrest and through his trial. Following his release from prison, he was voted mayor again in 1995.

In 2009, the Nats took the field wearing jerseys that read Natinals, an error by the uniform company. They played one game in the jerseys, which they lost.

There is J Street in Washington DC and the popular lore is that DC designer Pierre L’Enfant hated John Jay, who was the first chief justice. Apparently out of spite, L’Enfant left out J Street but a more probable reason is that J appeared just as I in the 18th century.

Virginia and Maryland donated land to form Washington DC in 1790. But in July of 1862, the Virginia part, which is now Alexandria was returned to Virginia. This was mostly do with slave Southern congressmen wanting to protect their slave trade in Virginia from Northern abolitionists.

In 1969, students from Gonzaga College High School tricked the US Department of the Interior into turning the Washington Monument the school’s colors purple and white. You can see a great photo of it here.