- "District of Colombia" (sic) redirects here. For political subdivisions of the country, Colombia, see Departments of Colombia.
Washington, D.C., (pronounced /ˈwɒʃɪŋtən ˌdiːˈsiː/) is the capital of the United States. Washington (the city) is coterminous with the District of Columbia (abbreviated as "D.C."). The city and the district are located on the banks of the Potomac River and bordered by Virginia to the southwest and Maryland to the northwest, northeast, and southeast. The city was planned and developed in the late 18th century to serve as the permanent national capital; the federal district was formed to keep the national capital distinct from the states.[3][4]
The city was named after George Washington, the first president of the United States. The district's name, "Columbia," is an early poetic name for the United States and a reference to Christopher Columbus, an early explorer of the Americas. The city is commonly referred to as Washington, The District, or simply D.C. In the 19th century, it was called the Federal City or Washington City. The official 2007 estimated population of Washington, D.C., was 588,292.[1] During the workweek, however, the number of commuters from the suburbs into the city swells the District's population an estimated 71.8% to a daytime population over one million people.[5] The Washington Metropolitan Area, which includes the surrounding counties in Maryland and Virginia, is the eighth-largest in the United States with more than five million residents. When combined with Baltimore and its suburbs, the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area has a population exceeding eight million residents, the fourth-largest in the country.[6] If Washington, D.C., were a state, it would rank last in area (behind Rhode Island), second to last in population (ahead of Wyoming), first in population density, 35th in gross state product, and first in percentage of African Americans, which would make Washington, D.C., a minority-majority state.
The centers of all three branches of the U.S. government are located in the District. Also situated in the city are the headquarters for the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Organization of American States, the Inter-American Development Bank, and other national and international institutions, including trade unions and professional associations. Washington is a frequent location for political demonstrations and protests, large and small, particularly on the National Mall. A center of American history and culture, Washington is a popular destination for tourists, the site of numerous national landmarks and monuments, the world's largest museum complex (the Smithsonian Institution), galleries, universities, cathedrals, performing arts centers and institutions, and music scenes. The District also includes substantial areas of wild natural habitat, particularly along the Potomac and Anacostia rivers, as well as in Rock Creek Park and Theodore Roosevelt Island located in the Potomac River.
The District of Columbia and the city of Washington are governed by a single municipal government and for most practical purposes, are considered to be the same entity. This has not always been the case: prior to 1871, when Georgetown ceased to be a separate city, there were multiple jurisdictions within the District.[7] Although there is a municipal government and a mayor, Congress has the supreme authority over the city and district, which results in citizens having less self-governance than residents of the states. The District has a non-voting at-large Congressional delegate, but no senators.
History
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The District of Columbia, founded on July 16, 1790, is a federal district as specified by Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution. The land forming the original District came from the state of Maryland and Commonwealth of Virginia. However, the area south of the Potomac River (39 square miles or about 100 km²) was returned, or "retroceded," to Virginia in 1847 and now is incorporated into Arlington County and the City of Alexandria. The remaining land that constitutes the District of Columbia is the territory originally ceded by Maryland, including islands in the Potomac River.
Planning
Pierre Charles L'Enfant's Plan of the City of Washington, as revised by Andrew Ellicott
A Southern site for the new country's capital was agreed upon at a dinner between James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, hosted by Thomas Jefferson. The site was part of the deal that led to the new national government's assumption of debts from the Revolutionary War.[8] (The southern states had largely paid off their war debts; collectivizing debt was to northern advantage, so a southern capital was a compromise.) The city's plan was largely the work of Pierre Charles L’Enfant, a French-born architect, engineer and city planner who first arrived in the American colonies as a military engineer with Major General Lafayette. L'Enfant drew up a basic plan for Washington, D.C. in 1791; the city layout owed much to the Baroque style, which was the dominant style in many North American and European planned cities of the day. The plan incorporated broad avenues and major streets which radiate out from traffic circles and rectangular parks, providing open space and landscaping, sites for various statues and smaller memorials, and vistas towards important landmarks and monuments. (Many of these places now also serve as entrances to underground stations of the region's heavy-rail Metro public transit system.) While all of the original colonies had avenues named for them, the most prominent states received more prestigious locations under Andrew Ellicott's later plan for the city. Massachusetts Avenue was the northernmost of three principal east-west arteries, Virginia Avenue the southernmost, and Pennsylvania Avenue was given the honor of connecting the White House to the planned Capitol building. In the original plan, all three roads reached neighboring Georgetown. Maryland Avenue, another early major street, extended northeastward from the Capitol site to the original city limits, where it met the Bladensburg road to points north.
The initial plan for the "Federal District" was a diamond, measuring 10 miles (16 km) on each side, totaling 100 square miles (259 km²). The actual site on the Potomac River was chosen by President Washington. Washington may have chosen the site for its natural scenery, believing that the Patowmack Canal would transform the Potomac into a great navigable waterway leading to the Ohio and the American interior. The city was officially named "Washington" on September 9, 1791.[9] Out of modesty, George Washington never referred to it as such, preferring to call it "the Federal City."[10] Despite choosing the site and living nearby at Mount Vernon, he rarely visited the city. The federal district was named the District of Columbia because Columbia was a poetic name for the United States used at the time, which was close to the 300th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' first voyage to the Americas in 1492.
1888 German map of Washington, D.C.
As originally platted, the District of Columbia was carved out of two adjacent counties - one in Virginia, one in Maryland — and the portion from each state was organized as a separate county. Alexandria County was on the south bank of the Potomac and was retroceded to Virginia in the nineteenth century (where it later became the independent city of Alexandria and the County of Arlington). The County of Washington was on the north bank. In addition to the new City of Washington being constructed in the geographic and geometric center of the District, there were a number of other communities — including Georgetown (founded in 1751 and named for its co-founders and/or King George II), Tenley, and the village commonly known today as "Anacostia." In time, all of these communities were amalgamated to the City of Washington, which thus became coextensive with the District of Columbia so that a separate County of Washington was no longer needed, so it was abolished.
As constructed, Washington City was centered on its current area but ended at present-day Rock Creek Park on the west and Florida Avenue and Benning Road on the north. Florida Avenue was then called "Boundary Street."
In 1791–92, Andrew Ellicott and Benjamin Banneker surveyed the border of the District with both Maryland and Virginia, placing boundary stones at every mile point; many of these still stand.
The cornerstone of the White House, the first newly constructed building of the new capital, was laid on October 13, 1792.[11] That was the day after the first celebrations of Columbus Day in the United States.[12]
19th century
On August 24, 1814, British forces burned the capital during the most notable raid of the War of 1812 in retaliation for the sacking and burning of York (modern-day Toronto) during the winter months, which had left many Canadians homeless. President James Madison and U.S. forces fled before the British forces arrived and burned public buildings, including the Capitol and the Treasury building. The White House was burned and gutted. The Washington Navy Yard was also burned — by American sailors — to keep ships and stores from falling into the hands of the British. The home of the Commandant of the Marine Corps, located at the Marine Barracks, was one of the few government buildings not burned by the raiding British soldiers as a sign of respect, and is now the oldest public building in continuous use in the nation's capital. The Patent Office was also spared, as a result of the Superintendent of Patents pleading with British soldiers and contending that destroying the store of knowledge therein would be a disservice to mankind. Civilians were not directly targeted and, initially, the British had approached the city hoping to secure a truce. However, they were fired upon, triggering frustration and anger among the British, which ultimately led to the sacking of government buildings.[13]
During the 1830s, the District was home to one of the largest slave trading operations in the country (see Alexandria, Virginia).
In 1846, the population of Alexandria County, who resented the loss of business with the competing port of Georgetown and feared greater impact if slavery were outlawed in the capital, voted in a referendum to ask Congress to retrocede Alexandria back to the Commonwealth of Virginia. Congress agreed to do so on July 9 of that year. The slave trade, though not slavery, in the capital was outlawed as part of the Compromise of 1850.
The enormous complex of defenses that protected Washington, D.C. in 1865 made that city one of the most heavily-defended locations in the world.
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Washington remained a small city — the 1860 Census put the population at just over 75,000 people — until the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861. The significant expansion of the federal government to administer the war and its legacies such as veterans' pensions led to notable growth in the city's population, as did a large influx of freed slaves. By 1870, the District population had grown to nearly 132,000.
In July 1864, Confederate forces under General Jubal Anderson Early made a brief raid into Washington, culminating in the Battle of Fort Stevens. The Confederates were repelled, and Early eventually returned to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. The fort is located near present-day Walter Reed Army Medical Center in northwest Washington. This was the only battle where a U.S. president, Abraham Lincoln, was present and under fire while in office.[14]
In the early 1870s, Washington was given a territorial government, but Governor Alexander Robey Shepherd's reputation for extravagance resulted in Congress abolishing his office in favor of direct rule. Congressional governance of the District would continue for a century.
Newspaper Row, Washington, D.C., 1874
In 1878, Congress passed an Organic Act that made the boundaries of the city of Washington coterminous with those of the District of Columbia. This effectively eliminated Washington County; Georgetown, technically made a part of the city, was allowed to remain nominally separate until 1895 when it was formally combined with Washington.
The Washington Monument, with construction stalled by other priorities, finally opened in 1888. Plans were laid to further develop the monumental aspects of the city, with work contributed by such noted figures as Frederick Law Olmsted and Daniel Burnham. However, development of the Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial and other structures on the National Mall, and construction of Potomac Park did not begin until the early 20th century.
20th century
The many Depression relief agencies created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal in the 1930s, followed by World War II in the 1940s, brought a great increase to the city's population. Roommates doubled up in scarce apartments and competed for space on buses and trolleys, as reported in David Brinkley's book. The District's population peaked in 1950, when the census for that year recorded a record population of 802,178 people.[15] At the time, the city was the ninth-largest in the country, just ahead of Boston and close behind St. Louis. The population declined in the following decades, mirroring the suburban emigration from many of the nation's older urban centers following World War II and the racial integration of public schools.
The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified on March 29, 1961, allowing residents of Washington, D.C., to vote for president and have their votes count in the Electoral College as long as the District does not have more electoral votes than the least populous state.
After the assassination of civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr., in Memphis, on April 4, 1968, riots broke out in some sections of the city. The violence raged for four days, and many stores and other buildings were burned. At one point, the rioters came within two blocks of the White House. President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered over 13,000 federal troops to occupy the city — the largest occupation of an American city since the Civil War.
The city began construction of its subway system, with the first 4.6 miles (7.4 km) of the Washington Metro subway system opening March 27, 1976. Today the system knits together Washington and its suburbs with a network of 86 stations and 106.3 miles (171.1 km) of track.
In 1973, Congress enacted the District of Columbia Self-Rule and Governmental Reorganization Act, providing for an elected mayor and council for the District. With this change, Walter Washington became the first elected mayor of the District in 1975. Marion Barry became mayor in 1979 and served three successive four-year terms; however, after his arrest for drug use in an FBI sting operation on January 18, 1990, and his sentence to a six-month jail term, he did not seek re-election. His successor, Sharon Pratt Kelly, became the first black woman to lead a U.S. city of Washington's size. Barry, however, ran again in 1994, defeating Kelly in the Democratic primary and once again becoming mayor. During his fourth term, the city nearly became insolvent and was forced to give up some home rule to a congressionally-appointed financial control board. In 1998, Anthony A. Williams was elected the city's mayor and led the city into fiscal recovery. In 2006, Adrian Fenty was elected mayor. Among Mayor Fenty's many promises are increased attention to every citizen of the city and a world-class atmosphere in business and residence.
Night view of The Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument and US Capitol, 2007
During the 1970s, many in the District referred to it as "Chocolate City" in reference to the city's Black majority and African American culture. Popularized by two local disc jockeys, the nickname was also a reference to the 1975 album Chocolate City by Parliament-Funkadelic. While the nickname never caught on permanently, it was a reminder of the contributions to the city over the years by such icons as Duke Ellington, Chuck Brown, and other African-American performers.[16] During his Correspondents' Dinner speech in 2006, Stephen Colbert referred to the city as "the Chocolate City with the marshmallow center."
21st century
On September 11, 2001, American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757, was hijacked and deliberately crashed into the Pentagon at 9:37AM, just across the Potomac River in Arlington, Virginia, causing a partial collapse of one side of the building. Al-Qaeda leader Abu Zubaydah told American officials while under interrogation that the White House was the intended target.[17] Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Ramzi Binalshibh have said that the United States Capitol was the intended target[18] of another hijacked flight that same day, United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
In 2005, Washington D.C. was awarded a Major League Baseball team, formerly the Montreal Expos, which is known as the Washington Nationals. The team played in RFK Stadium for its first three years in Washington but on March 30, 2008 the club played their first regular-season game in their new stadium, Nationals Park.
Geography
Topography
Washington, DC Metropolitan Area Road Map.
Washington, DC Metropolitan Area Aerial photo.
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Washington, D.C., is located at 38°53′42″N, 77°02′11″W (the coordinates of the Zero Milestone, on the Ellipse). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 68.3 square miles (177.0 km²). 61.4 square miles (159.0 km²) of it is land and 6.9 square miles (18.0 km²) of it (10.16%) is water.
Washington is surrounded by the states of Maryland (on its southeast, northeast and northwest sides) and Virginia (on its western side); it interrupts those states' common border, which is the Potomac River's southern shore both upstream and downstream from the District. The Potomac River as it passes Washington is virtually entirely within the District of Columbia border because of colonial riparian rights between Maryland and Virginia.
The District has three major natural flowing streams: the Potomac River, the Anacostia River and Rock Creek. The Anacostia River and Rock Creek are tributaries of the Potomac River. There are also three man-made reservoirs: Dalecarlia Reservoir, which crosses over the northwest border of the District from Maryland; McMillan Reservoir near Howard University; and Georgetown Reservoir upstream of Georgetown and downstream of Rock Creek Park.
The highest natural point in the District of Columbia is 409 feet (125 m) above sea level in Tenleytown.[19][20] The lowest point is sea level, which occurs along all of the Anacostia shore and all of the Potomac shore except the uppermost portion (the Little Falls area, upstream of Chain Bridge). The sea-level Tidal Basin rose eleven feet during Hurricane Isabel on September 18, 2003.
The geographic center of the District of Columbia is located near 4th Street NW, L Street NW, and New York Avenue NW.
Geographical features of Washington, D.C. include Theodore Roosevelt Island, Columbia Island, the Three Sisters Islands and Hains Point.
Climate
Washington has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification: Cfa). Its climate is typical of Mid-Atlantic U.S. areas removed from bodies of water, with four distinct seasons.
Summer tends to be hot and humid with daily high temperatures in July and August averaging in the high 80s to low 90s (in °F; about 30° to 33 °C). The combination of heat and humidity in the summer brings very frequent thunderstorms, some of which occasionally produce tornadoes in the area.
Spring and fall are mild with high temperatures in April and October averaging in the high 60s to low 70s (about 20 °C).
Winter brings sustained cool temperatures and occasional snowfall. Average highs tend to be in the low 40s (6 to 8 °C) and lows in the mid 20s (-5 to -2 °C) from mid-December to mid-February. Additionally, Arctic air can lower nighttime lows into the teens, even in the city.[21]
While tropical cyclones (or their remnants) occasionally track through the area in late summer and early fall, they have often weakened by the time they reach Washington partly because of the city's inland location. Flooding of the Potomac River, however — caused by a combination of high tide, storm surge, and storm runoff — has been known to cause extensive property damage in Georgetown and Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.[22][23]
Spring is generally the most favorable time of year, with low humidity, mild temperatures, and many kinds of trees, shrubs, and other plants in bloom. This period generally lasts from late March until mid-May. Because the heat island effect is not as pronounced, temperatures of the Dulles Airport area and suburbs to the west and north are on average 6 to 7 °F (3 °C) cooler than Washington year-round, so a weather forecast for the city may not be accurate for outlying suburbs.
The average annual rainfall is 39.3 inches (998 mm) and average annual snowfall is 16.6 inches (422 mm). Some outlying suburbs to the north and west receive upwards of six more inches of snowfall each year.[24] The average high temperature in January is 41 °F (5 °C); the average low for January is 27 °F (-3 °C). The average annual temperature is 57.5 °F (14.1 °C). The highest recorded temperature was 106 °F (41 °C) on July 20, 1930 and August 6, 1918 and the lowest recorded temperature was -15 °F (-26 °C) on February 11, 1899, during the Great Blizzard of 1899.[25] The city averages 36.7 days hotter than 90 °F (32 °C), and only 64.4 nights below freezing.[26]
| Monthly Normal and Record High and Low Temperatures |
| Month |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
| Record high |
79°F (26°C) |
84° (29°) |
93° (34°) |
95° (35°) |
99° (37°) |
102° (39°) |
106° (41°) |
106° (41°) |
104° (40°) |
96° (36°) |
86° (30°) |
79° (26°) |
| Normal high |
43° (6°) |
47° (8°) |
56° (13°) |
66° (19°) |
75° (24°) |
84° (29°) |
88° (31°) |
86° (30°) |
79° (26°) |
68° (20°) |
57° (14°) |
47° (8°) |
| Normal low |
27° (-3°) |
30° (-1°) |
37° (3°) |
46° (8°) |
56° (13°) |
65° (18°) |
70° (21°) |
69° (21°) |
62° (17°) |
50° (10°) |
40° (4°) |
32° (0°) |
| Record low |
-14° (-26°) |
-15° (-26°) |
4° (-16°) |
15° (-9°) |
33° (1°) |
43° (6°) |
52° (11°) |
49° (9°) |
36° (2°) |
26° (-3°) |
11° (-12°) |
-13° (-25°) |
| Precipitation |
3.2 in. (8.2 cm.) |
2.6 (6.7) |
3.6 (9.1) |
2.7 (6.9) |
3.8 (9.7) |
3.1 (8) |
3.7 (9.3) |
3.4 (8.7) |
3.8 (9.6) |
3.2 (8.2) |
3 (7.7) |
3.1 (7.7) |
| Source: The Weather Channel[27] |
Nature
Washington, D.C., has many natural areas and birdwatching spots within the city's limits. The District's parks and natural areas include Anacostia Park, the United States National Arboretum, the very large Rock Creek Park, the Smithsonian National Zoological Park, Theodore Roosevelt Island, and portions of the C&O Canal, the Potomac River, and the Anacostia River. The Potomac River, flowing through Washington, D.C., has been called one of the wildest urban rivers in the nation, if not the world. Great Falls, with its rapids and islands, is located on the Potomac upstream (northwest) of Washington. George Washington once surveyed this area for a "Pawtomack" Canal that would allow barge traffic to bypass Great Falls. The Potomac Gorge,[28] cut into hard metamorphic bedrock, extends from Great Falls downstream to Georgetown (D.C.), the Rosslyn area of Arlington (Virginia), and Theodore Roosevelt Island (D.C.), all located at the boundary between the Piedmont and the Coastal Plain.
Most of the natural habitat in Washington, D.C., is managed by the U.S. National Park Service, with the Potomac Gorge considered one of the most significant natural areas in the entire National Park System.[29] The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service operates the National Arboretum, and various other federal agencies, military and civilian, have minor holdings of wild land within the District. The ubiquitous federal presence and land-management responsibilities in the Washington region make the area a crucible for applied research and adaptive management for urban ecosystems, such as the restoration of Kenilworth Marsh,[30] a remnant of the original tidal marshes of Washington, D.C., on the Anacostia River. The Potomac River, once called a national disgrace by President Lyndon Johnson, is now home to a vibrant warm-water fishery. Professional bass tournaments have been held within view of the Jefferson Memorial, and naturally reproducing Bald Eagles have returned to its banks. Despite its intensely urbanized landscape, the District of Columbia is a center for research on urban wildlife management,[31] invasive species management, urban stream restoration, and the aquatic ecology of urban streams. The National Park Service's Center For Urban Ecology[32] is a regional source of expertise and applied science on "land use change and urban development, habitat fragmentation, biodiversity and maintenance of ecosystem processes" for the region.
Culture
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Tourism
Washington is home to numerous national landmarks and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the United States. The National Mall is a large, open park area in the center of the city featuring many monuments to American leaders; it also serves to connect the White House and the United States Capitol buildings. Located prominently in the center of the Mall is the Washington Monument. Other notable points of interest on or near the Mall include the Jefferson Memorial (see right), Lincoln Memorial, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, National World War II Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, District of Columbia War Memorial, Albert Einstein Memorial, and United States Navy Memorial.
The Jefferson Memorial at dusk
The world famous Smithsonian Institution is located in the District. The Smithsonian today is a collection of free museums that includes the Anacostia Museum, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Hirshhorn Museum, National Air and Space Museum, National Museum of American History, National Museum of the American Indian, National Museum of Natural History, National Portrait Gallery, National Postal Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Renwick Gallery, and National Zoo.
There are many art museums in D.C., in addition to those that are part of the Smithsonian, including the free National Gallery of Art, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Corcoran Gallery of Art and The Phillips Collection.
The Library of Congress and the National Archives house thousands of documents covering every period in American history. Some of the more notable documents in the National Archives include the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.
The District of Columbia operates its own public library system with 27 branches throughout the city. The main branch — which occupies a multi-story glass and steel-framed building at the intersection of 9th and G Streets, N.W., designed by modernist architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe — is known as the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library.[33] It has a large mural in its main hall depicting the civil rights leader.
Other points of interest in the District include Arena Stage, Chinatown, Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the Ukrainian Catholic National Shrine of the Holy Family (across the street from the Basilica Shrine), Blair House, Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, Folger Shakespeare Library, Ford's Theatre, Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, International Spy Museum, National Building Museum, National Geographic Society, Old Post Office Building, Old Stone House, Theodore Roosevelt Island, Franciscan Monastery, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Victims of Communism Memorial, and the Washington National Cathedral.
Performing arts
National Museum of the American Indian
Washington is a major national center for the arts, with many venues for the performing arts in the city. Arena Stage, one of the first non-profit regional theaters in the nation, is rich with history and produces an eight-show season ranging from classics to world premieres, dedicated to the American canon of theater. The Shakespeare Theatre Company is regarded as one of the world's great Shakespeare troupes. Numerous other professional theaters, such as The Studio Theatre and Woolly Mammoth, and venues such as the National Theatre, make the city a major theater center. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts hosts the National Symphony Orchestra, the Washington National Opera, the Washington Ballet, and a variety of other musical and stage performances.
The Lincoln Theatre hosted the likes of Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald on U Street (known as "Washington's Black Broadway") prior to the 1968 riots.[34] Notable local music clubs include Madam's Organ Blues Bar in Adams Morgan; Blues Alley in Georgetown; the ESL Music in the Dupont Circle district; and the Black Cat, the 9:30 Club, the Bohemian Caverns jazz club, and the Twins jazz clubs, all in the U Street NW area. The U Street area actually contains more than two dozen bars, clubs, and restaurants that feature jazz either nightly or several times a week.
Notable Washingtonians in the entertainment industry include singer-songwriter Marvin Gaye, musician Ian MacKaye, film actress Merle Oberon, comedian Dave Chappelle, musician Duke Ellington, filmmaker Ted Salins and two members of the rock group Jefferson Airplane: guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and bass player Jack Cassidy.
Music
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Mount St. Sepulchre Franciscan Monastery
D.C. has its own native music genre, called go-go, a post-funk, percussion-driven flavor of R&B that blends live sets with relentless dance rhythms, so-called because they "go and go and go". The most accomplished practitioner of go-go was D.C. band leader Chuck Brown, who brought go-go to the brink of national recognition with his 1979 LP Bustin' Loose. Go-Go band and Washington natives Experience Unlimited (E.U.) hit the American pop charts in 1988 with their memorable dance tune "Da Butt." Other notable go-go bands include Rare Essence, Trouble Funk, Junkyard Band, Backyard Band, and the Northeast Groovers.
Washington was an important center in the genesis of punk rock in the United States, and the label Dischord Records, formed by Ian MacKaye, was one of the most crucial independent labels of the 1980s hardcore scene and eventually 90's indie rock. Punk/indie bands of note from D.C. include Minor Threat, Bad Brains, Fugazi, Government Issue, Scream, Tru Fax and the Insaniacs, the Slickee Boys, the Dismemberment Plan, Penguin's Exploding Octopus, and The Psychotics. Washingtonians continue to support punk bands, long after the punk movement's popularity peaked. The region also has a significant indie rock history and was home to TeenBeat, Dischord Records and Simple Machines, among other indie record labels.
Television shows
There have been several television series that have featured the District. Most of these have been related to government (e.g., The West Wing and Commander in Chief) or security organizations (e.g., 24, NCIS, The District, Get Smart, Bones, and The X-Files). Other programs had the nation's capital as a secondary focus, using it merely as a city setting. For instance, Murphy Brown focused on the lives of the reporters of the (fictional) Washington-based television newsmagazine, FYI. The soap opera Capitol allowed for stories about political intrigue alongside the traditional class struggle sagas. The sitcom 227 portrayed the life of the African American majority as seen through the eyes of residents in a Washington apartment building. Disney's spinoff to That's So Raven, Cory in the House, is another sitcom set in Washington, D.C. The premise of the show is Cory's father gets a job at the White House as the chief chef.
Sports
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Other professional and semi-professional teams based in D.C. include the PIHA Potomac Mavericks who play at The Box in nearby Chantilly, Va.,USAFL Baltimore Washington Eagles, the NWFA D.C. Divas, the Minor League Football D.C. Explosion, the Washington RFC rugby union team of the Rugby Super League, as well as a host of others playing in the Potomac Rugby Union and the Washington Cricket League. It was also home to the WUSA Washington Freedom, from 1987 to 1989 home of the Major Indoor Lacrosse League's Washington Wave, and during the 2000–2002 NLL seasons, the Washington Power was based in the city. The Freedom are scheduled to be revived in 2009 with the launch of WUSA's successor, Women's Professional Soccer. In rugby league, the Washington D.C. Slayers play in the American National Rugby League.
There were two Major League Baseball teams named the Washington Senators in the early and mid-20th century, which left to become respectively the Minnesota Twins and the Texas Rangers. In the 19th century, the town was home to teams called the Washington Nationals, Washington Statesmen, and Washington Senators on and off from the 1870s to the turn of the century.
Washington was home to several Negro League baseball teams, including the Homestead Grays, Washington Black Senators, Washington Elite Giants, Washington Pilots, and Washington Potomacs.
The Verizon Center in Chinatown, home to the Capitals, Mystics, Wizards, and the Georgetown Hoyas, is also a major venue for concerts, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) professional wrestling, and other events, having replaced the old Capital Centre. Since its opening in 1997, the arena has served as a catalyst for development in Chinatown. Office buildings, high-end condominiums, restaurant chains, movie theaters, and other buildings have sprung up around Chinatown.citation needed
The city's soccer team, D.C. United, is the most successful franchise in MLS history, with 4 league championships and 10 total tournament victories, both league highs.[35] Washington has hosted MLS Cup three times at RFK Stadium. Washington hosts the annual Legg Mason Tennis Classic that takes place at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park. The Marine Corps Marathon and the National Marathon are both held annually in Washington.
Media
Newspapers
The Washington Post is the oldest and most-read daily newspaper in Washington.citation needed It is notable for exposing the Watergate scandal. The Washington Post also has a daily free newspaper called the Express, summarizing events, sports, and entertainment. The more conservative daily The Washington Times and the free weekly Washington City Paper also have substantial readership in the District. On February 1, 2005 the free daily tabloid The Washington Examiner debuted, having been formed from a chain of suburban newspapers known as the Journal Newspapers.
The weekly Washington Blade and Metro Weekly focus on gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender issues, and the Washington Informer and The Washington Afro American on black issues. The bi-weekly Street Sense focuses on issues of homelessness and poverty.
Several neighborhoods in the District have their own community newspapers. Some of these include The Current Newspapers, which has editions serving Dupont Circle, Foggy Bottom, Georgetown, Chevy Chase and Upper Northwest, and a Capitol Hill paper called The Capitol Hill Current/Voice of the Hill. Additional papers include In-Towner (Dupont Circle, Logan Circle and Adams Morgan), Hill Rag (Capitol Hill), East of the River (Anacostia), D.C. North (Northeast D.C.), and The Southwester (Southwest D.C.). In addition, several specialty newspapers serve the U.S. Congress; most notable are Roll Call and The Hill.
Television
The metro area is served by several local broadcast television stations and is the ninth largest designated market area in the U.S., with 2,308,290 homes (2.05% of the U.S. population). Major television network affiliates include WRC 4 (NBC), WTTG 5 (Fox), WJLA 7 (ABC), WUSA 9 (CBS), WDCW 50 (The CW), WDCA 20 (MyNetworkTV), as well as WETA 26 and WHUT 32 (PBS) stations. Channels 4, 5, and 20 are network owned-and-operated stations. Public access on cable television is provided by the Public Access Corporation of the District of Columbia on two channels simulcast to both local cable TV systems. One channel is devoted to religious programming and the other channel provides a diversity of offerings. A regional news station, News Channel 8, is carried on Channel 8 on all cable systems in Washington, D.C. and surrounding communities. Additionally, most Baltimore area television stations can be seen in the Washington region. Besides being viewed clearly in the District, they can especially be seen in the suburbs of the Interstate 95 corridor between both cities. They are WMAR 2 (ABC), WBAL 11 (NBC), WJZ 13 (CBS), WMJF 16 (Ind/MTV2), WMPT 22 / WMPB 67 (PBS/MPB), WUTB 24 (MyNetworkTV), WBFF 45 (FOX), and WNUV 54 (The CW).
The WTTG Television Tower, built in 1963, is a 214.8 metre high guyed TV mast; it is only 17.2 meters shorter than the Hughes Memorial Tower.
Spanish-language television is also represented by Telemundo WZDC-LP 25 and TeleFutura affiliate WMDO-CA 47, but these are low-power broadcasting stations limited to within the Capital Beltway area. Univision's WFDC-TV 14, however, transmits as a full power station and can be received as far north as Baltimore.
On April 10, 2007, Telemundo WZDC-LP switched channel locations from 64 to 25, as the higher band of UHF channels is to be eliminated in the digital switchover of 2009. The channel switchover was also supposed to increase coverage over a larger portion of the metropolitan area. However, viewers still report an inability to see its broadcasts in upper Montgomery County (Burtonsville and Laurel) and Howard County (Columbia/Ellicott City).
Incidentally, D.C's Univision and TeleFutura stations (owned by Entravision) switched call letters on January 1, 2006; meaning that now Univision is the only Spanish station which can be seen at full power over the whole Washington metropolitan area. The Univision network moved from low-powered Channel 47/WMDO to full-powered Channel 14/WFDC; Univision's youth-oriented TeleFutura network moved from 14 to 47. The change caused Univision and TeleFutura to exchange channel locations on D.C. area cable TV systems, too.
Azteca América announced they would start transmitting from a new full powered Spanish-language broadcast affiliate in the region, Channel 69/WQAW-LP on October 6, 2006, as well as its addition to local channel lineups for Comcast Cable. However it has not been seen on the air as of yet. Earliest reports from viewers do not indicate availability of its broadcasts inside the District, as far south as Prince William County, Virginia, or as far north as the Columbia/Baltimore area. According to the FCC, WQAW has filed a license application to move their transmitter to Lake Shore, Maryland, thereby rendering better coverage to the area between Baltimore and Washington, and moving to Channel 8.
Several cable television networks have their headquarters in the Washington area, including C-SPAN on Capitol Hill, Black Entertainment Television (BET) in Northeast D.C., National Geographic Channel in downtown D.C., and Discovery Communications in Silver Spring, Maryland, as well as the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in Alexandria, Virginia. Major national broadcasters and cable outlets, including NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, and CNN maintain a significant presence in Washington, as do those from around the world, including the BBC, CBC, and Al Jazeera. America's Most Wanted is the only network primetime program produced in Washington.citation needed
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