X-Nico

98 unusual facts about Washington


17th Scripps National Spelling Bee

The 17th Scripps National Spelling Bee was held in Washington, District of Columbia in 1941.

21st Scripps National Spelling Bee

The 21st Scripps National Spelling Bee was held in Washington, District of Columbia in 1948, by the E.W. Scripps Company.

31st Scripps National Spelling Bee

The 31st Scripps National Spelling Bee was held in Washington, District of Columbia in 1958, by the E.W. Scripps Company.

Anacostia Park

It is one of Washington, D.C.'s largest and most important recreation areas, with over 1200 acres (4.9 km2) at multiple sites.

Aphonia Recordings

Although their collaborations remained intermittent through their teenage years they would later find themselves both studying experimental music composition at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.

Ballston, Arlington, Virginia

Washington-Lee High School and two small parks, Welburn Square and Glebe and Randolph Park, are also located in Ballston.

Blackwater fire of 1937

Consequently, by 1939 the first stages of the parachuting smokejumper program were initiated at Winthrop, Washington, and at two locations in Montana.

Bomb Queen

This pleased politicians in Washington, D.C., due to the lowered crime rates in other states.

Boundary Bay, British Columbia

South of it, across the border, is the community of Maple Beach, Washington, although there is no border crossing directly connecting the two communities (the border crossing is in Tsawwassen proper).

Brad Klippert

Klippert is a Pentecostal minister and a sheriff's deputy for the Benton County sheriff's department, serving as a school officer during legislative sessions and a patrol officer at other times.

Braj Kumar Nehru

Nehru worked as Executive Director in the World Bank (1949) and was Economic Minister at the Indian Embassy in Washington (1954).

Bristol, Washington

Bristol is located on State Route 10 between Cle Elum and Thorp in Kittitas County, Washington, United States.

British Embassy, Washington

It is located at 3100 Massachusetts Avenue, NW in Washington, D.C.

Canary rockfish

On October 29, 2007, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) received a petition from Sam Wright of Olympia, Washington to list a distinct population segment (DPS) of canary rockfish, and four other rockfishes, in Puget Sound, as an endangered or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act).

Charles E. Laughton

He was elected as a territorial representative for Stevens, Okanogan, and Spokane counties in 1888, before Washington Territory became a state.

Charles S. Drew

A hardcover version of Drew’s report of Indian attacks on settlers in the Oregon Territory was published by Ye Galleon Press of Fairfield, Washington in 1973.

Christylez Bacon

Christylez Bacon (pronounced: chris-styles) is a Grammy Nominated Progressive Hip-Hop artist and multi-instrumentalist from Southeast, Washington, D.C. As a performer, Christylez multi-tasks between various instruments such as the West African djembe drum, acoustic guitar, and the human beat-box (oral percussion), all while continuing the oral tradition of storytelling through his lyrics.

Committee for a Revolutionary Socialist Party

A First National Conference attended by 100 members and fraternal representatives of these groups met in Union, Washington Oct. 6-9, 1978.

Dan Dickau

Born in Portland, Oregon, Dickau graduated from Prairie High School in Brush Prairie, Washington.

Deadlee

He went on to perform at a variety of music festivals including the "Peace Out Festival" in Oakland, California, "Peace Out East" in New York City, and "HomoAGoGo" in Olympia, Washington.

Discovery Bay, Washington

Cape George is located on high bluffs at the northeast entrance of the bay.

E.B.E.

With help from MUFON and NICAP, Mulder tracks Druce and the E.B.E. to a power plant in Mattawa, Washington.

Eglon

Eglon, Washington, a community in the U.S. state of Washington on the Kitsap Peninsula

Eosalmo

Fossils from this genus have also been found at sites in Princeton, British Columbia, the McAbee Fossil Beds in B.C., and Republic, Washington, USA.

Erechim

City planners were inspired by urban concepts used in the design of Washington, D.C. (1791) and Paris (1850).

Farm Credit Council

The Farm Credit Council was established in 1983 and is headquartered in Washington, D.C. It is governed by a 23-person board that implements policy positions.

George Massey Tunnel

It is located approximately 20 km (12 mi) south of the city centre of Vancouver, British Columbia, and approximately 30 km (20 mi) north of the Canada-U.S. Border at Blaine, Washington.

Glacier View Wilderness

Glacier View Wilderness is administered by the Gifford Pinchot National Forest through the Cowlitz Valley Ranger district with headquarters located in Randle, Washington.

I Still Miss Someone

Jimmy Buffett performed the song as a dedication to Cash at the White River Amphitheatre in Auburn, Washington on September 16, 2003, four days after Cash's death.

I'm a Truck

Breeden and Simpson met in Vancouver, Washington in 1971, where Simpson agreed to record the song.

Interstate 90 floating bridge

Interstate 90 floating bridge is the common name for the twin floating bridges that carry Interstate 90 across Lake Washington between Seattle and Mercer Island.

Isaac Cathcart

His large land holdings were purchased by George Hillman who platted and sold the lots, eventually creating the town of Clearview.

J.M. McDonald

After about six months in Kemmerer, McDonald went to Spokane, Washington, to assists his brothers in a department store venture there.

James H. Hawley

Through luck or an acute weather sense, they chose to leave the area for Walla Walla, Washington before the depth of winter set in.

Joel Pritchard

In 1970, Pritchard ran for the U.S. House of Representatives to represent Washington's first district, challenging nine-term incumbent Thomas Pelly in the Republican primary.

John B. Timberlake

They moved into a house in Washington, D.C. provided by her father, across the street from his hotel and tavern called the Franklin House.

John W. Sprague

He was instrumental in selecting the route for the railroad's Pacific Division, from what later became Kalama, Washington, to Tacoma.

Karol Kennedy

Karol Estelle Kennedy Kucher (February 14, 1932, in Shelton, Washington – June 25, 2004, in Seattle, Washington) was an American pair skater.

Lenox Dale, Massachusetts

There is also a marble quarry on the border with the town of Washington.

Liz Pike

Liz Pike was born on January 7, 1960, and raised on a Brush Prairie, Washington dairy farm as one of 13 children.

Lloyd District, Portland, Oregon

TriMet buses and MAX trains provide frequent service in the district, as well as a commuter express bus route form Vancouver via C-Tran.

Lyle, Washington

In 1866 French sold his holdings to James O. Lyle from The Dalles, Oregon, and moved to White Bluffs.

Manson, Washington

Manson is part of the WenatcheeEast Wenatchee Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Marengo, Washington

Marengo, Washington is an unincorporated populated place in Columbia County, Washington.

Mark Sidran

Sidran spent ten years (1975-1985) as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.

Martin F. Smith

He moved to Hoquiam, Washington, in 1911 and completed law studies commenced in Chicago.

McNeil Island Corrections Center

The McNeil Island Corrections Center (MICC) was a Washington State Department of Corrections prison on McNeil Island in unincorported Pierce County, Washington, near Steilacoom.

Milwaukee Road Bunkhouse

The bunkhouse served the crews at the rail yard and division point at South Cle Elum, Washington.

Nagrom, Washington

In first half of the 1950s, the city's utility arm, today's Tacoma Public Utilities began buying private land along the banks of the river between their intake at Headworks, Washington (just east of Kanaskat, Washington), eastwards to the railroad and logging town of Lester, Washington.

Nan Campbell

She was the first woman to be elected mayor in the city of Bellevue, Washington.

National Capital Parks-East

National Capital Parks-East (NCPE) is an administrative grouping of a number of National Park Service sites generally east of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., but also nearby in Maryland.

Naval Base Kitsap

Naval Base Kitsap is the largest naval organization in Navy Region Northwest, and it is composed of installations at Bremerton, Bangor, and Keyport, Washington.

Naval Undersea Museum

The Naval Undersea Museum is an official naval museum located at Keyport, Washington, USA.

Neal Potter

An economist with the U.S. Office of Price Administration from 1941 to 1946, he went on to teach economics at Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon University) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1946 to 1947, and at Washington State College in Pullman, Washington, from 1947 to 1951.

Nesmith Ankeny

Nesmith Cornett Ankeny (1927, Walla Walla, Washington – 4 August 1993, Seattle) was an American mathematician specialising in number theory.

Nicholas MacLeod

Nicholas Menalaus MacLeod (8 February 1870, Quebec – 27 September 1965, Spokane, Washington) was a Scottish–Canadian chess master.

Nooksack Falls Hydroelectric Power Plant

The heaviest equipment ended up being shipped to the railhead at Glacier, loaded on a sled and pulled through the mountains.

Ozette

Ozette, Washington, an unincorporated community in Clallam County, Washington, United States

Pierce, Butler and Pierce Manufacturing Company

William K. Pierce, 64, "formerly a millionaire," committed suicide by shooting himself through the head on April 5, 1915, in Washington, D.C., at the home of Major Charles P. Lynch, his brother-in-law, after the Syracuse manufacturing company "had lost a fortune in few years."

Pilling's Pond

Pilling mentored Dye, and Dye went on to establish his own duck reserve near Lake Stevens, Washington, known as Northwest Waterfowl Farm.

Pomeroy, Washington

The town has been the seat of Garfield County ever since 1882, despite fierce competition in the 1880s with neighboring towns Pataha and Asotin.

Poughkeepsie Bridge Route

The Poughkeepsie Bridge Route was a passenger train route from Washington, D.C. to Boston, Massachusetts, via Baltimore, Maryland and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Presidential memorials in the United States

Located in a wing of the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C., the Wilson Center has a small exhibit concerning President Wilson's life and work, but it is best known for its work to unite the world of ideas with the world of policy by supporting scholarship linked to issues of contemporary importance.

Robert Stetson Macfarlane

He worked at the law firm of Chadwick, McMicken, Ramsey and Rupp from 1919 until his graduation in 1922, at which time he became chief deputy prosecuting attorney for King County, Washington, a position he held until 1925.

Roderick N. Matheson

He traveled to Washington, D.C., for Abraham Lincoln's inauguration in 1861, intending to stay only a few weeks, but found himself swept up in the fever of approaching war.

Roy Alexander Gano

From 1937-1939, he served as Special Engineer, United States Navy Research Lab, Bellevue, Washington.

Rugilė Mileišytė

Mileišytė is a member of the swimming team for the Washington State Cougars, and a graduate of social sciences at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington.

Sappho, Washington

Traveling by steamer from Seattle, they landed at an Indian settlement called Pysht on the Strait of Juan de Fuca and hiked inland 20 miles through the rainforest to their claim.

Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe of Washington

The Sauk-Suiattle Indian Reservation is in this area, centered near the present-day town of Darrington.

Sherril Huff

Originally from Kitsap County Huff spent two years as Assistant Director of the elections department at King County, Washington.

So Young, So Insane

So Young, So Insane is the second EP by You, Me, and Everyone We Know, a rock band from Washington, D.C. The six-track record was released independently on November 18, 2008.

Space Transport Corporation

Space Transport Corporation, or STC, was a company based in Forks, Washington whose goal was to commercialize space.

Spokane and Inland Empire Railroad

However, in 1909, Graves built a hydroelectric dam at Nine Mile Falls, Washington.

Spokane Public Library

, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Spokane County, Washington

St. John/Endicott High School

John/Endicott High School is a US public school located in St. John, Washington.

Steven Waterhouse

He holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Dallas Theological Seminary, a Master of Theology in Hebrew and Greek from Capital Bible Seminary near Washington, D.C., and undergraduate degrees in social sciences from Spring Arbor University and Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The Egg and I

The defense produced evidence that the Bishop family had actually been trying to profit from the fame the book and movie had brought them, including testimony that son Walter Bishop had had his father Albert appear onstage at his Belfair, Washington, dance hall with chickens under his arm, introducing him as "Pa Kettle." On February 10, 1951, the jury decided in favor of the defendants.

Thomas Pelly

He represented the First Congressional District of Washington as a Republican.

Treva Throneberry

He was convicted in Clark County, Washington of "having sex with a minor" and sentenced to 50 days in jail.

Trout Lake School

Trout Lake School is a public school that serves 88 students in grades K–12 located in Trout Lake, Washington.

Walt Horan

A fruit grower and packer, Horan was born and raised near Wenatchee, the younger son of Michael and Margaret A. (Rankin) Horan.

Washington State Route 164

SR 164 was first defined under law to be built and paved by the state of Washington in 1913 as the McClellan Pass Highway, extending southeast from Tacoma along the Puyallup and White rivers to Chinook Pass and towards Naches along an existing county road from Auburn and Enumclaw built in the 1890s.

Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Trail

Here, the 33kV line enters the substation and is replaced by a much larger BG&E transmission line; the line runs parallel to the trail all the way to Bowie.

Washington, D.C. hardcore

Hardcore in D.C also has grown a large following in the late '80s and the '90s: Swiz, Device, World's Collide, Fury, Battery, Ashes, Gauge, Smart Went Crazy, and Damnation A.D., with a majority of these bands releasing albums on Jade Tree Records, THD, Art Monk Construction, Lovvitt Records, and Sammich.

Washington, Kansas

Washington was established in spring 1860 and until the end of the American Civil War it was protected by two stockaded buildings, the Washington Company House and Woolbert's Stockade Hotel.

Washington, Kentucky

Among its graduates are two Presidents of Pakistan (Farooq Ahmed Leghari and Pervez Musharraf) and one prime minister of Pakistan (Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain) and one of India (Inder Kumar Gujral).

Washington, Louisiana

During the American Civil War, the Thirteenth Connecticut, part of Union General Nathaniel P. Banks's forces, occupied Washington, then larger than the parish seat of Opelousas.

Washington, Mississippi

The college was created by an act of the first General Assembly of the Mississippi Territory in 1802 and was named in honor of Thomas Jefferson, then-president of the United States.

Washington, Village and Capital, 1800-1878

Washington, Village and Capital, 1800-1878 is a two-volume Pulitzer Prize-winning book by American historian Constance McLaughlin Green.

Washington's 10th congressional district

Washington's 10th congressional district is a congressional district created by the 2010 United States Census that elected a member of the United States House of Representatives beginning with the 2012 elections.

Washington's 39th legislative district

This urban district is represented by state senator Kirk Pearson and state representatives Dan Kristiansen (pos. 1) and Elizabeth Scott (pos. 2), all Republicans.

Washington's 3rd Legislative District

The largely rural district is represented by state senator Andy Billig (D) and state representatives Marcus Riccelli (D-pos. 1) and Timm Ormsby (D-pos. 2).

Washington's 4th congressional district

In the 2008 election, Hastings easily defeated challenger George Fearing (D-Kennewick).

Washougal High School

Washougal High School is a public school in the Washougal School District founded in the early 1900s in Clark County, Washington.

Wauconda

Wauconda, Washington, an unincorporated community in Okanogan County, Washington, United States

West Richland, Washington

It crossed the Fallon Bridge between Richland and West Richland and then proceeded directly west to Kiona.

Westfield Annapolis

The site was at one time the location of the Annapolis terminus of the Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway, and was known as the "Best Gate" station, which had three single-ended and four double-ended sidings, where rail cars could be shunted on or off of the single-track WB&A east-west railway which ran to the north-south Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and Pennsylvania Railroad lines.

Wilmington/Newark Line

Electrified operation was extended to Newark and beyond to Washington, D.C. on February 10, 1935.


Ardeshir Zahedi

In the mid-1970s, Zahedi became known as a companion of the American movie star Elizabeth Taylor, with the two being dubbed "the hottest couple" in Washington D.C., according to the writer Barbara Howar.

Charles Fickert

A 1919 grand jury exonerated Fickert from charges made by John B. Densmore, investigator from Washington, Director General of Employment, in the framing of Mooney and Billings and for his having conspired with Pete McDonough in the freeing of wealthy defendants.

Columbia Bar

The Columbia Bar is part of a set of major marine coastal hazards along the Pacific Northwest coast, including Cape Flattery at the northwest tip of the Olympic Peninsula and Cape Scott, which is at the north tip of Vancouver Island.

David Corn

In the Washington Post, Roger Warner called it "an impressive feat of research"; but, in the New York Times, Joseph Finder claimed Corn was seriously distorting history to blame Shackley for a series of CIA failings.

Dean Richmond

In 1861, as President-Elect Abraham Lincoln made his way to Washington, D.C., the engine that pulled the train was The Dean Richmond.

East Washington Avenue Bridge

The East Washington Avenue Bridge was a movable Strauss underneath-counter weight deck-girder bascule bridge in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Edge city

Garreau's classic example of an edge city is the information technology center, Tysons Corner, Virginia, west of Washington, D.C. As recently as the end of World War II, it was a country crossroads, but it now has more office space than downtown Atlanta.

Edith Pfau

Pfau's education ministry included eleven years teaching at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, eleven years at Immaculata Junior College in Washington, D.C., and ten years at Providence University in Shalu, Taichung, Taiwan.

Education in Spokane, Washington

Higher education institutions in Spokane include two private universities, Gonzaga and Whitworth, Washington State University and Eastern Washington University at the Riverpoint Campus, and the public Community Colleges of Spokane system as well as an ITT Tech campus.

Elizabeth Lewis

Betty Washington Lewis (1733–1797) was the only sister of George Washington to live to adulthood

Ellsworthite

Bulletin of the National Research Council, Number 77, Physics of the Earth - I Volcanology, By the Subsidiary Committee on Volcanology, Published by the National Research Council of The National Academy of Sciences Washington, D.C., (1931)

Evangelical and Reformed Church

United States President Theodore Roosevelt attended Washington D.C.'s Grace Reformed Church, an Evangelical and Reformed congregation.

Felix Grundy McConnell

Mcconnell was elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-eighth and Twenty-ninth Congresses and served from March 4, 1843, until his death in Washington, D.C., September 10, 1846.

Fort Ellsworth

Over the seven weeks that followed the occupation of northern Virginia, forts were constructed along the banks of the Potomac River and at the approaches to each of the three major bridges (Chain Bridge, Long Bridge, and Aqueduct Bridge) connecting Virginia to Washington and Georgetown.

Freedom Sunday for Soviet Jews

Freedom Sunday for Soviet Jews was the title of a national march and political rally that was held on December 6, 1987 in Washington, D.C. An estimated 250,000 participants gathered on the National Mall, calling for U.S.S.R. President Gorbachev to extend his policy of Glasnost to Soviet Jews by putting an end to their forced assimilation and allowing their emigration from the Soviet Union.

George W. Littlefield

Works on Littlefield include David B. Gracy, II, George Washington Littlefield: A Biography in Business (Ph.D. dissertation; Texas Tech University, 1971) and J. Evetts Haley's George W. Littlefield, Texan (1943; through the University of Oklahoma Press in Norman, Oklahoma).

Healy

Healy Hall, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, United States

Hechinger

Their sponsorship of the 11:00 p.m. newscast at T.V. station WTOP in Washington, D.C., was a first, according to Walter Cronkite (an anchor of those broadcasts) in his autobiography A Reporter's Life.

In the News

Three new one-minute segments were produced each week, narrated by CBS Radio News Washington Correspondent Dan Raviv.

Jack L. Tilley

The Sergeants Major of the Army, Daniel K. Elder, Center of Military History, United States Army Washington, D.C. 2003.

Jeffrey Gedmin

He earned his Masters degree in German Area Studies (Literature concentration) from American University in Washington, D.C. He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from American University and also studied musicology for a year at the University of Salzburg in Austria.

Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner

She attended Springhill Lake Elementary (Prince George's County Public Schools) in Greenbelt, Maryland just outside of Washington, D.C. Rowe-Finkbeiner moved to Columbia, Maryland where she attended Oakland Mills Middle School and Oakland Mills High School.

KXLY

KXLY-TV, a television station (channel 4) licensed to Spokane, Washington, United States

Lawrence Edwards

Advocated for the New York City region as well as a Boston to Washington line by the Regional Plan Association, — the invention was praised by Secretary of Transportation John Volpe as well as editorials in The New York Times and professional and scientific journals.

Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation

Washington, DC-based American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) is using a three-year grant from MEAF for its Summer Internship Program.

Mrs. Washington

"Mrs. Washington" is a song written and performed by Gigolo Aunts and the title song from their 1993 and 1994 singles.

Mu Sochua

In 2005, she received the Leadership Award in Washington, DC, from the Vital Voices Foundation, co-founded by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Northwestel

The microwave system on the Alaska Highway was inaugurated with a phone call from Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, visiting Whitehorse, to President John F. Kennedy in Washington, D.C..

Onalaska, Washington

Onalaska, Washington, Onalaska, Wisconsin, Onalaska, Arkansas and Onalaska, Texas are all historically connected to one another through the lumber industry.

Ozette

Ozette Lake, a lake in the state of Washington in the United States

Pat Goss

Goss is the master technician on the television program MotorWeek, where he hosts a segment called Goss' Garage, and hosts a weekend radio show about cars on WJFK-FM in Washington, DC.

Paul Schenck

The Schenck brothers work side by side on Capitol Hill in Washington where Robert is president of Faith and Action, an ecumenical mission, and Paul is chairman of the National Pro-Life Center.

Peter Daniel Young

At the age of nine, he moved to Mercer Island, Washington, near Seattle, where he graduated from Mercer Island High School.

Phil Graham

The following year the Post/CBS joint venture bought the CBS-affiliated television station in Washington, and changed the call letters to WTOP-TV, and in 1953 the company bought WMBR radio and WMBR-TV in Jacksonville, Florida.

Puyallup

The Washington State Fair, formerly the Puyallup Fair and the Western Washington Fair, held in Puyallup, Washington

Quillayute

Quillayute Airport, formerly known as Quillayute State Airport, a public airport in Clallam County, Washington, United States

Richard Urquhart Goode

In 1889, he was appointed a geographer with the Survey and was placed in charge of surveys of the Pacific Coast States - California, Oregon, and Washington.

Robert Stewart Sparks

In 1925, the 5th District was bounded by Washington Street on the north, the city limits on the east, Exposition Boulevard on the south and Vermont Avenue on the west.

Sara Little Turnbull

Later, when Turnbull became executive vice president of National Forest Products Assn, they moved to Washington, D.C., with an apartment at the Watergate complex.

SM UB-65

National Archives and Records Service, U.S. General Services Administration, Washington: 1984

Stanley Allen Bastian

On September 19, 2013, President Obama nominated Bastian to serve as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, to the seat vacated by Judge Edward F. Shea, who took senior status on June 7, 2012.

Stonycreek Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania

It is widely held that the Flight 93 hijackers intended to use the craft to destroy the United States Capitol building in Washington, D.C. The crash here was a result of a struggle over control of the plane between hijackers and passengers, who learned of the plane's intended fate through cellphone calls to and from family members.

Tractorcade

Tractorcade was a protest in Washington, D.C. by the American Agriculture Movement.

Ulysses S. Grant as peacetime general, 1865–1869

In May 1865, the Union League of Philadelphia purchased the Grants a house in that city, but Grant's work was in Washington.

Washington State Legislature

The Washington State Legislature traces its ancestry to the creation of the Washington Territory in 1853, following successful arguments from settlers north of the Columbia River to the U.S. federal government to legally separate from the Oregon Territory.

WDAZ-TV

Owned by Forum Communications of Fargo, which also owns the Grand Forks Herald, WDAZ has facilities on South Washington Street in Grand Forks near Kmart and a news bureau and sales office on U.S. Highway 2 in Devils Lake.

Western pond turtle

Western pond turtles originally ranged from northern Baja California, Mexico, north to the Puget Sound region of Washington.