Boundary Stones

Thomas Jefferson’s 1235-Pound Religious Freedom Cheese

If you lived in Washington, DC on New Years Day of 1802, you may have noticed a giant wheel of cheese arriving at the White House — a gift to President Thomas Jefferson from a Massachusetts church. But this enormous cheese hadn't traveled hundreds of miles for purely celebratory reasons; no, this cheese had a message about religious freedom in the United States.

Thomas Jefferson’s 1235-Pound Religious Freedom Cheese

2m 25s

  • How Smokey Bear Became an Icon and a Real Life Neighbor in Washington DC: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    How Smokey Bear Became an Icon and a Real Life Neighbor in Washington DC

    4m 9s

    In 1950, an orphaned bear cub was rescued from a wildfire in New Mexico and brought to Washington to live at the National Zoo. Named "Smokey" after the popular Forest Service character, the cub became a real life advocate for fire prevention and got so much fan mail that the U.S. Postal Service gave him his own private D.C. zipcode.

  • Washington, D.C.’s First Election Riot: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Washington, D.C.’s First Election Riot

    2m 46s

    Even in Washington, D.C.'s long and complex history of suffrage, the deadly election riot of June 1, 1857, stands out. That was the day anti-immigrant rioters — armed with sledgehammers, pistols, and even a cannon — attempted to win an election through brutal violence at the polls, clashing with police and forcing President James Buchanan to order out the United States Marines.

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