Civil War Sailors of the USS Monitor Buried in Arlington With Full Honors (photos)
• March 14, 2013

Two crewmen of the USS Monitor were laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery March 8, 150 years after the famous ironclad sank off North Carolina during the Civil War. The Monitor made history when the Union ship fought the Confederate ship Virginia in the first battle between two ironclads on March 9, 1862. The battle was declared a draw. The Monitor sank nine months later in rough seas, killing the 16 men on board. The remains of two sailors were retrieved when the rusted hulk of the ship was recovered off the ocean floor in 2002. On Friday at about 5:30 PM, the remains of the still unidentified crewmen were given a funeral at Arlington National Cemetery with full honors. Several civil war and period reenactors added color to the spectacle.

View our photos of the event at Arlington by clicking on the photo icons below. [gallery ids="101191,143510,143516,143524,143530,143537,143544,143551,143558,143565,143572,143579,143586,143592,143599,143606,143612,143619,143504,143497,143648,143408,143642,143637,143415,143632,143421,143428,143434,143441,143448,143456,143463,143470,143477,143483,143490,143626" nav="thumbs"]

Smithsonian Receives Donation of Warner Bros. Artifacts at American History Museum (photos)
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In a special donation ceremony on March 8, Warner Bros. chairman Barry Meyer presented the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History’s director John Gray with 30 Hollywood movie artifacts. Several of these were on display during the ceremony at the museum’s Warner Bros. Theater, including the Batman mask from the 1997 movie “Batman and Robin,” worn by George Clooney, a suit worn by Paul Newman in “The Helen Morgan Story” and a golden ticket from “Charley and the Chocolate Factory.” Also, a large selection of puppets was on hand from Tim Burton’s “Corpse Bride.”
After the ceremony, the museum kicked off its three-day 2013 Classic Film Festival made possible by Warner Bros., featuring several films of Bette Davis in recognition of Women’s History Month. [gallery ids="101192,143702,143695,143688,143681,143674,143666,143660,143716,143652,143721,143645,143726,143639,143733,143709" nav="thumbs"]

Rosa Parks Statue Dedication in U.S. Capitol (photos)
• March 4, 2013

Legendary civil rights activist Rosa Parks was honored Feb 27 with a statue inside the U.S. Capitol with a dedication ceremony attended by President Barack Obama and other notables.

On December 1, 1955, a 42-year-old African-American seamstress named Rosa Parks boarded a bus in Montgomery, Ala., on her way home from work. When a white man entered the bus, the driver insisted that Parks give up her seat so that the man could sit. She refused and was arrested and convicted for violating the rules of segregation common throughout the South at that time, known as the “Jim Crow” laws. Parks appealed her conviction, formally challenging the legality of segregation. At the same time, local civil rights activists, aided by Martin Luther King, Jr., started a boycott of the Montgomery bus system The boycott lasted 381 days until December 1956 when the Supreme Court ruled segregation illegal, and Montgomery buses were integrated. The Rosa Parks incident in a profound way marked the beginning of the non-violent protest movement in support of civil rights in the United States.

The 2,700-pound bronze statue of Parks now stands in Statuary Hall between those of suffragist Frances E. Willard and refrigeration and air conditioning pioneer John Gorrie. Rosa Parks thus becomes the first black woman to be honored in the Capitol with a full-length statue.

Parks died in 2005 at the age of 92. She herself had no children but the event was attended by numerous nieces, nephews and cousins plus various dignitaries and civil rights activists.

View our photos of the dedication ceremony by clicking on the photo icons below. [gallery ids="143141,143062,143054,143046,143039,143033,143026,143018,143010,143069,143076,143134,143127,143120,143114,143107,143100,143092,143084,143002,142995,142988,142910,143148,142904,143153,142896,143157,142890,143163,142918,142926,142982,142974,142967,142960,142953,142946,142939,142932,101183" nav="thumbs"]

President Obama Delivers His State of the Union Address (photos)
• February 28, 2013

President Barack Obama delivered the State of the Union Address before a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol., Feb. 12. The president called for Congress to vote on a variety of gun control proposals that are currently up for debate. The audience included dozens of persons whose lives had been affected by gun violence, including several families from Newtown, Conn., and the parents of Hadiya Pendleton, a young woman shot and killed by a gang member recently in Chicago, and had marched in Washington, D.C., during the president’s inauguration.

View our photos by clicking on the photo icons below. [gallery ids="101167,141824,141830,141837,141844,141851,141857,141864,141871,141878,141884,141891,141898,141904,141911,141918,141926,141933,141816,141810,141963,141956,141724,141951,141730,141946,141738,141744,141750,141757,141764,141770,141776,141783,141790,141796,141803,141939" nav="thumbs"]

Largest Climate Rally Ever Calls for Obama to Reject Keystone Pipeline (photos)
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An estimated 40,000 activists gathered on Feb. 17 in the shadow of the Washington Monument in what has been described as the largest U.S. climate rally ever. The rally preceded a march to the White House to urge President Obama to reject the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline. The event was headlined by Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, and Michael Brune, the executive dIrector of the Sierra Club. In addition to derailing the pipeline, organizers called for the president to limit greenhouse gas emissions and work for cleaner, renewable energy.

350.org takes its name from the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, in parts per million, which climate scientists and activists say is a safe upper limit for preventing significant climate change. The year 2012 was the hottest year on record. Many scientists believe that the continued burning of greenhouse gasses will raise global temperatures further and increase the likelihood of extreme weather events. In his recent State of the Union address, the president seemed to agree, but gave few specifics on how to combat climate change.

View our photos of the rally and march by clicking on the photo icons below. [gallery ids="142343,142229,142222,142217,142210,142203,142196,142190,142184,142177,142170,142162,142154,142146,142236,142242,142250,142336,142330,142323,142316,142310,142303,142296,142290,142283,142276,142269,142263,142256,142139,142132,142124,142012,142005,141998,141990,141984,141976,142350,141968,142354,141960,142360,141952,142366,142019,142026,142032,142117,142111,142104,142096,142091,142084,142078,142071,142064,142057,142051,142045,142038,101168" nav="thumbs"]

D.C. Celebrates the Chinese Year of the Snake (photos)
• February 22, 2013

In 2013, on the Western calendar, the start of the New Year falls on Feb. 10 and is the Year of the Snake. Tens of thousands turned out on Sunday, Feb. 10, in Chinatown in Washington, D.C., to celebrate the Chinese New Year which is the lunar year 4711 on the Chinese calendar. During this important celebration in East Asian culture, it is traditional to wear red, meant to ward off evil spirits. The event featured a parade through Chinatown and the traditional Chinese Lion and Dragon Dances. On hand were Mayor Vincent Gray, Council members Jack Evans, Tommy Wells and Muriel Bowser, along with Shadow Senator Paul Strauss. Leading the festivities were Rita Lee, chair of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, and Ambassador Pu-tsung King, Representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States.

View our photographs of the parade by clicking on the photo icons below. [gallery ids="101153,141081,141088,141096,141104,141112,141119,141126,141133,141140,141148,141156,141164,141172,141180,141188,141074,141066,141221,140984,141214,140991,141209,140999,141204,141008,141014,141022,141030,141038,141045,141052,141060,141196" nav="thumbs"]

Cupid’s Undie Run Participants Bare Nearly All for Charity
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Despite chilly temperatures, hundreds of runners and 4 “racing presidents” stripped down for charity in the 4th Annual Cupid’s Undie Run on Capitol Hill on Saturday, Feb. 9.

The event, which started in the District in 2010 and takes place just ahead of Valentine’s Day, has expanded to over a dozen cities across the country and around the world to benefit the Children’s Tumor Foundation. Founders and organizers of Cupid’s Undie Run, Bobby Gill, 28, and Brendan Hanrahan, 27 were on hand to lead the festivities and award prizes for the best undressed.

View our pictures of the race and all the after-race festivities inside the Pour House Bar and Restaurant by clicking on the photo icons below. [gallery ids="141498,141406,141400,141393,141386,141380,141374,141367,141360,141354,141413,141420,141428,141490,141483,141476,141469,141462,141455,141448,141441,141434,141346,141339,141332,141240,141234,141504,141226,141510,141218,141515,141211,141521,141246,141254,141260,141324,141318,141312,141304,141296,141289,141282,141276,141268,101154" nav="thumbs"]

Newtown Residents Join March on Washington for Gun Control (photos)
• February 7, 2013

Wearing the green and white colors of Sandy Hook Elementary School where 26 children and adults were killed, 100 residents from Newtown, Conn., joined thousands of other gun-control activists on Jan. 26 in Washington, D.C., in a march along Constitution Avenue to a rally with speeches, musical performances and a poetry reading near the Washington Monument. The rally was organized by Molly Smith, the artistic director of Arena Stage, along with her partner, American Indian activist Suzanne Blue Star Boy. Co-sponsors included One Million Moms for Gun Control, Washington National Cathedral, Foundry United Methodist Church in the District and Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.

Speakers at the rally included Education Secretary Arne Duncan, actress Kathleen Turner, Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., Mayor of Washington Vincent Gray, activist and Virginia Tech shooting survivor Colin Goddard, Connecticut Against Gun Violence president Marty Isaac and One Million Moms for Gun Control founder Shannon Watts.

View our photos of the event by clicking on the photo icons below.

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March for Life Draws Hundreds of Thousands to D.C. on Roe v Wade’s 40th Anniversary (photos)
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Anti-abortion activists marched during bitterly cold temperatures for the annual March for Life rally in Washington, D.C., Jan. 25. The march coincided with the Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized access to abortion. Jan. 22 marked the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision.

View our photos of the March for Life 2013 by clicking on the photo icons below. [gallery ids="101134,140363,140370,140377,140384,140390,140397,140404,140412,140418,140426,140432,140439,140446,140452,140460,140356,140350,140342,140490,140266,140484,140274,140479,140281,140474,140288,140294,140302,140308,140316,140322,140329,140336,140466" nav="thumbs"]

Hoyas Defeat St. Johns for Coach Thompson’s 200th Georgetown Win (photos)
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Head coach John Thompson III celebrated his 200th Georgetown win at the Verizon Center Feb. 4 as the Georgetown University Men’s Basketball Hoyas (16-4) defeated the St. John’s University Red Storm (14-8) by the score 68-56 in a key Big East match. It was the Hoyas’ fourth straight win. The Red Storm had won five in a row, coming into the game. The Hoyas were led by junior forward Nate Lubick who scored a career-high 16 points on eight for ten shooting, along with ten rebounds to achieve his first double-double.

View our photos of the game by clicking on the photo icons below. [gallery ids="101147,140791,140798,140805,140812,140819,140825,140832,140839,140785,140778,140772,140868,140742,140862,140857,140750,140853,140757,140764,140846" nav="thumbs"]