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• Our Nation's Capital

Washington, D.C. Symbols

• Nickname: The District
• Motto: Justice for All (Justia Omnibus)
• Song: The Star-Spangled Banner (words by Francis Scott Key)
• Bird: Wood Thrush
• Tree: Scarlet Oak
• Flower: American Beauty Rose
• Pro Sports Teams: WA Wizards (basketball); WA Redskins (football); WA Capitals (hockey)

Facts About Washington, D.C.

• Name Origin: named after George Washington
• Alternate Name: District of Columbia
• Alternate Name Origin: named after Christopher Columbus
• Admitted to the Union (as a municipal corporation): 21 Feb 1871
• Area: 68 square miles
• Geographic Center: near 4th and L Streets, NW
• Highest Point: Tenleytown, 410 feet
• Lowest Point: Potomac River, 1 foot
• Mean Elevation: 150 feet
• Streams and Rivers: 39 miles
• Average Annual Rainfall: 39.4 inches
• Average Annual Snowfall: 21.2 inches
• Average Winter High Temperature: 35 degrees
• Record Low Temperature: -15 degrees (11 Feb 1899)
• Average Summer High Temperature: 80-90 degrees
• Record High Temperature: 100 degrees (Dulles Airport)
• Commercial Products: Federal government, tourism
• Official Language: English
• More information about Washington, D.C.

Quotes

• There's not a one of us who has lived for a long stretch of time in the capital, I believe, who has not experienced that awful moment of realization that a friend or acquaintance with some public responsibility is losing the gift of normal discourse. He will have begun to address us over a casual drink or at the supermarket as if he were orating at the United Nations. (Meg Greenfield)
• Washington is a city of Southern efficiency and Northern charm. (John F. Kennedy)

Items of Interest

• Washington, D.C. has more people than Wyoming.
• The District of Columbia is is divided into four quadrants - Northwest, Southwest, Northeast, and Southeast. The U.S. Capitol building is at the spot where all four meet.
• The White House, at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, has been the home of every U.S. president except George Washington.
• Washington D.C. was the first carefully planned capital in the world.
• The capital of the U.S. was transferred from Philadelphia to Washington on Dec. 1, 1800.

Notable Natives

Some of these people were born here, others just lived a part of their life in the state.

• Pearl Bailey - singer
• Pat Buchanan (1938- ) - political commentator, presidential candidate
• Billie Burke - comedienne, actress, played Glenda the good witch in The Wizard of Oz
• Maureen Dowd (1952- ) - Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist
• Charles Drew (1904-1950) - physician, made a discovery that allowed the creation of blood banks
• Duke Ellington - jazz musician, composer
• Billy Eckstine - singer
• Duke Ellington (1899-1974) - composer, musician
• Richard Stoddert Ewell - soldier
• Al Gore (1948- ) - congressman, senator, vice president, presidential candidate
• Goldie Hawn (1945-) - actress
• Alyson Hannigan (1974- ) - actress
• J. Edgar Hoover - F.B.I. director
• Samuel Leroy Jackson (1948- ) - actor
• John Kennedy, Jr. (1960-1999) - attorney, magazine editor
• Robert H. McNeil - photographer
• Jelly Roll Morton - musician
• John Philip Sousa (1854-1932) - composer, wrote Stars and Stripes Forever

• The Official Flag Code

The District of Columbia has had its own flag since 1938. It is red and white with a design based on George Washington's family coat of arms.

You know you are from Washington DC if...

• You say you're from DC, but you actually live in VA or MD but are too tired to explain where.
• You don't consider exploding man hole covers to be an unusual occurrence.
• You know where the Pentagon really is but never bother to correct anyone about its location.
• When it takes you 45 minutes to drive 3 miles on I-66, 95, 395, 495, 50, 123, 29, or 270, it's a pretty good day.
• There are at least fifteen ways to get everywhere and you know which way to go based on the weather, time of day, current political climate, terrorism road closures, and whether you are coming or going.
• You pay more money in parking tickets in a year than you do in medical bills, college costs and rent combined.
• You know that driving through Georgetown, you will hear the music of the car next to you louder than you can hear your own.
• "I got stuck behind a motorcade" is a common and real excuse for being late.
• "Finding a parking space" actually becomes an appointment on your calendar. (E.g.. 7:00-8:00 Gym, 8:30-9:00PM - find a parking space, 9:00-10:30PM - Dinner reservations.)
• You've never once been to Wal-Mart and don't even know if there is one.
• When you say you're going to the mall and you don't mean shopping.
• You never refer to the 'Metro' as the 'subway'.
• You elbow tourists out of the way on the Metro escalators to "gently" remind them to WALK LEFT, STAND RIGHT.
• Going to work early means being there by 9:00AM.
• You don't bat an eye at 500 politicians and businessmen in suits running like their lives depended on it just to catch a Metro that will be followed by another in 90 seconds.
• You call it Targét, not Target, and are well aware that the one in Alexandria is just a "tad different".
• When Washington National Airport is and will always be "WASHINGTON NATIONAL", not "Reagan National".
• You can tell by people's cars where they live and maybe even what neighborhood.
• You've claimed that there's nothing to do on a weekend night even when you have the entire nation's capitol to explore.
• You have the Metro map memorized, yet act like you don't know when someone asks you how to get to Metro Center.
• You meet someone else who says they're from the DC area and you realize they live two hours away from you.
• You notice that there's been construction on the same stretch of highway for the past 5 years and you've never see anyone working on it.
• You know you've crossed into Northern Virginia, without ever seeing a sign, only because your speedometer goes from 60 to 0.
• You know that Vietnam is no longer in the South Pacific, it's now been re-located to Seven Corners.
• The few times you have gotten lost in DC you have somehow ALWAYS ended up in Anacostia and every road out somehow leads back to Anacostia.
• You realize that I-395 is Northern Virginia's version of NASCAR.
• There is no such thing as North, South, East, or West on the beltway, it's just go "that" way!
• You go anywhere on the Eastern Shore, Rehoboth, Dewey, Ocean City, Skyline Drive, or the Outer Banks for vacation and everyone you meet is from DC
• Snow means rain to you
• Ice on the roads just means that you pay more attention to other cars, but still go 75 mph on the highways
• You can see the national cathedral from almost anywhere
• You know at least 2 rowers
• You know that Georgetown is NOT only a school
• You consider Northern VA to be in no way similar to southern VA
• You know which bridges to cross to get to Maryland or VA
• You actually know goes on in Dupont circle
• You can't go to Tysons Mall without seeing someone you know!!
• You have a few friends who don't know what their parents do...It's Top Secret government work.
• People don't ask you if Chevy Chase is named after the actor.
• You can harmonize perfectly with the alert for "Doors Closing" on the Metro
• 50% of your senior class went to Mason, JMU, Tech, VCU or UVA
• You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from DC.