The son of a steeplejack, Reynolds began performing at the age six in Buffalo, New York balancing on one foot from a flagpole 140 feet in the air. His first major stunt came at age 12 when he climbed up the side of the Old South Building in Boston in a hair-raising act, balancing atop four chairs and five tables on a plank projected over the side of the building. Jack Reynolds was one of those death-defying risk-takers who appeared to be fearless. In 1916, he sat on a chair tilted back and balanced on a broomstick suspended between two planks extended over Washington’s tallest building.
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In 1791, long before Washington became a city of traffic circles, motorcades, and Metro tunnels, the nation’s capital was envisioned as a canal city — a grand American counterpart to the waterways of Amsterdam, Venice, and Paris. Boats once moved through the heart of the city where cars now crawl through rush hour congestion. Barges carrying lumber, tobacco, flour, whiskey, coal, and stone drifted past muddy embankments near what would later become the National Mall. The canals of Washington, DC have largely disappeared from public memory, buried beneath pavement and federal expansion. But for much of the 19th century, they represented one of the capital’s boldest and most ambitious engineering dreams.
Today, a letter can cross the country overnight without much thought. In 1918, however, the idea of delivering mail by airplane seemed as risky as it was revolutionary. From a makeshift airfield in what is now West Potomac Park, the nation's first scheduled airmail route took flight, connecting Washington, Philadelphia, and New York. The experiment would forever change American transportation, though not without a few bumps—and one famous wrong turn—along the way.
In the summer of 1908, just outside Washington, D.C., at Fort Myer, Virginia, the Wright brothers brought their daring invention to the U.S. Army’s doorstep in a bold competition for the world’s first military aircraft contract. Orville Wright’s record-breaking flights captivated officials and crowds alike — until a tragic crash claimed the life of Lt. Thomas Selfridge, the first fatality in powered aviation. Their eventual triumph in 1909 delivered the Army’s inaugural airplane, igniting the era of American military aviation.
The nation’s capital was at war with itself. On a muggy Saturday night in July 1919, white veterans were drinking in the bars clustered downtown when their banter gave birth to a rumor. The Metropolitan Police Department had arrested, questioned, and released a black man suspected of sexually assaulting a white woman—and not just any white woman, either, but the wife of a Navy man. The story snaked through the packed saloons and pool halls.
It was one of Washington's most spectacular fires. It happened on September 29, 1897, at the Capital Traction Company's powerhouse at 14th and E Northwest. It is now the site of the John Wilson Building, the Council of the District of Columbia. The company replaced the cable cars it served with an electric system, using horses in the interim. The electric wire for the cars was placed in the old cable system's underground conduit. The 14th Street branch switched to electric power on February 27, 1898, the Pennsylvania Avenue division on April 20, 1898 (March 20 west of the Capitol), and the 7th Street branch on May 26, 1898. The place where cars changed between Capital Traction and Metropolitan was initially located at U and 18th Streets. It was moved just east of the bridge over Rock Creek - to the Calvert Street Loop - in the spring of 1899 when the conduit system was changed to the more standard and less expensive contact shoe. The old line on Florida Avenue between 18th and Connecticut was discontinued that year and the track removed. On September 29, 1897, the Capital Traction Company's powerhouse at 14th and E NW burned down - and almost took downtown DC with it. Today, the location is taken by the John Wilson Building, the Council of the District of Columbia. After the conflagration, the company replaced the cable cars it served with an electric system, using horses in the interim. The electric wire for the cars was placed in the old cable system's underground conduit. The 14th Street branch switched to electric power on February 27, 1898, the Pennsylvania Avenue division on April 20, 1898 (March 20 west of the Capitol),[5] and the 7th Street branch on May 26, 1898. The place where cars changed between Capital Traction and Metropolitan was initially located at U and 18th Streets. It was moved to just east of the bridge over Rock Creek - to the Calvert Street Loop - in the spring of 1899 when the conduit system was changed to the more standard and less expensive contact shoe.[6] The old line on Florida Avenue between 18th and Connecticut was discontinued that year and the track removed.---- On yesterday's date in 1897, fire destroyed the Capital Traction Powerhouse at 14th/Penn. All that remained was a sign reading "Absolutely Fireproof." Less known: "Capital Traction Powerhouse" was an in-house Council funk band in the 70s. In 1908, our building was built t/here.
Throughout its history, Washington, DC has been the destination of demonstrators seeking to promote a wide variety of causes. The January 6th attack on the capitol is just the latest example. In March of 1932, another large group of protestor/patriots came demand the Bonus pay they'd earned during World War One. After victory in World War I, the US government promised in 1924 that servicemen would receive a bonus for their service if they could wait until 1945. In March of 1932, another large group of protestors came to demand the Bonus pay they'd earned during World War One. The Great Depression was on, and the U.S. Treasury was strapped for cash. By 1932, the Depression was dragging on, with no end in sight. Out of sheer desperation, some of the veterans decided to march on Washington to ask for the bonus right away.
It was Easter Sunday on April 9, 1939. One of the world’s greatest singers, contralto Marian Anderson, had been denied permission to sing at Constitution Hall, owned by the Daughters of the American Revolution, because of her race. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt quit the D.A.R. over the racist action and helped change the venue to the Lincoln Memorial. The incident placed the respected contralto into a spotlight unusual for a classical musician of the time. 75,000 people were in the audience that day. She was terrified. Later, she wrote: “I could not run away from this situation. If I had anything to offer, I would have to do so now.” And some one-hundred thousand Washingtonians joined Ms. Roosevelt in giving the stuffy organization the finger.
Margaret Gorman was a junior at Western High School in Washington, D.C. when her photo was entered into a popularity contest at the Washington Herald. She was chosen as “Miss District of Columbia” in 1921 at age 16 on account of her athletic ability, past accomplishments, and outgoing personality. As a result of that victory, she was invited to join the Second Annual Atlantic City Pageant held on September 8, 1921, as an honored guest. There she was invited to join a new event: the “Inter-City Beauty” Contest. She won the titles “Inter-City Beauty, Amateur” and “The Most Beautiful Bathing Girl in America” after competing in the Bather’s Revue. She won the grand prize, the Golden Mermaid trophy. She was expected to defend her positions the next year, but someone else[who?] had attained the title of “Miss Washington, D.C.,” so she was instead crowned as “Miss America.” She is the only Miss America to receive her crown at the end of the year. Gorman was the lightest Miss America at 108 pounds until 1949, when Jacque Mercer of Phoenix, Arizona, weighed in at 106 and won the title. Gorman later said: “I never cared to be Miss America. It wasn’t my idea. I am so bored by it all. I really want to forget the whole thing.” She still owned the sea green chiffon and sequined dress that she wore in the 1922 competition.
