How Smokey Bear Became an Icon and a Real Life Neighbor in Washington DC
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.
Episodes
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Washington, D.C.'s Official Song and Why You've Never Heard It
2m 29s
In 1951, a contest to compose an official song for Washington, D.C. attracted thousands of entries and the winning tune was widely celebrated. So why haven't most Washingtonians ever heard it?
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The Disastrous Move to Make the National Mall a Fish Farm
2m 38s
When American fisheries were declining in the 1870s, the U.S. Fish Commission decided to build a giant fish farm on the National Mall and raise imported carp to restock waterways. What could go wrong?
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How a D.C. Civil Rights Activist Fought Racism with Rodents
2m 8s
Rats in Washington, D.C. have always been bad – in the 1960s, the city had as many rats as people — but one local civil rights activist Julius Hobson decided to do something about it: to protest the lack of rat patrols in Black neighborhoods, he would capture rats in Shaw and near Northeast and release them in swanky, upscale Georgetown. Alive.
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