Your DC Guide

03/05/2025

09/01/2024

September 1 is the anniversary of WWII. It was supposed to be the last Kindertransport of Jewish Czeck children organized by British salesman Nicholas Winton. After the war, he kept silent until his wife discovered a trunk. . .There is a movie called Nicky's Children, a bit longer than the 60-minutes introduction. Winton saved hundreds of children as a solo volunteer. who got the children both out and settled. Amazing story . .

In 2014, 60 Minutes met Nicholas Winton, a British stockbroker who in 1939 traveled to Czechoslovakia and saved 669 children from the Holocaust."60 Minutes" ...

09/01/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/a2eYc1MpFVyc67A6/

12/14/2022

On five days in 2023, all National Park Service sites that charge an entrance fee will offer FREE admission to everyone.

On these significant days of commemoration or celebration, and throughout the year, the National Park Service is committed to increasing access to national parks and promoting the advantages of outdoor recreation for public benefit and enjoyment.

Mark your calendar for these entrance fee–free dates:

✔️ January 16 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

✔️ April 22 – First Day of National Park Week

✔️ August 4 – Great American Outdoors Day

✔️ September 23 – National Public Lands Day

✔️ November 11 – Veterans Day

Learn more at https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/fee-free-parks.htm

Image: A visitor enjoys the view Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Photo by by Karla Rivera (sharetheexperience.org)

06/06/2022

Today in History: In Operation Overlord, Allied forces invade Nazi-held France during WWII, 1944 https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/june-06/?loclr=fbloc

06/05/2022

From trials involving celebrities like Oprah (pictured) and Martha Stewart, to the likes of Charles Manson and the Son of Sam, the Library holds an extensive collection of original sketches by talented courtroom artists.
Explore the digital "Drawing Justice" exhibition: https://go.usa.gov/xJg8u?loclr=fbloc

05/24/2022

in 1844, Samuel F. B. Morse dispatched the first telegraph message from the building. Answering a U.S. House of Representatives request for a telegraph system, Treasury Secretary Levi Woodbury advertised the call to inventors nationwide. Morse’s proposal stood out from others received by in that only Morse proposed an electromagnetic system which utilized electrical signals and wires to transmit messages over long distances.

In need of funding and support for his invention, Morse appealed to the House Commerce Committee in 1842. He stretched a wire to the Senate Committee on Naval Affairs to demonstrate his invention and sent a message while Representatives, Senators, and John Tyler watched closely. After a successful demonstration, the House and Senate granted Morse $30,000 to run a test line to .

After years of planning and preparation, on May 24, 1844, Morse gathered Members of Congress in a committee room to send the first telegraph message to a railroad station. Morse tapped out the prophetic Biblical verse: “What Hath God Wrought”, suggested to him by a friend’s daughter. When an identical message was received from his partner in Baltimore, Morse knew his demonstration was a success. A few days later, the telegraph would gain the attention of many as Morse’s partner delivered the news of James K. Polk’s presidential nomination “with the rapidity of lightning,” as a journalist noted.

The telegraph would come to revolutionize long-distance communication. Soon after Morse’s demonstration in the Capitol, telegraph networks began to form nationwide and by 1866, the transatlantic cable connected to the American Continent. This landmark technology helped transform world communications as well as supported the expansion and economic development of the United States.

Photo 2: The telegraph key used to send “What Hath God Wrought” (Smithsonian)