Washington facts and facts about washingtons, from the Random Facts shelf.
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The Bulldog is the unofficial mascot of the US Marine Corps, connected to the legend that German soldiers called Marines "Devil Dogs" during WWI. A Bulldog named Chesty serves as the mascot at Marine Barracks Washington.
China has long loaned giant pandas to other countries as a diplomatic gesture. After President Nixon's 1972 visit to China, the pandas Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing were sent to the National Zoo in Washington, DC.
About 250,000 people attended the March on Washington on August 28, 1963, where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech.
George Washington spent about $200 on ice cream in the summer of 1790, a huge sum at the time.
The Texas State Capitol in Austin is taller than the US Capitol in Washington, DC.
New York City was the first capital of the US under the Constitution, and George Washington was inaugurated at Federal Hall in 1789.
In 2012, Colorado and Washington became the first US states to legalize recreational marijuana.
Washington is the only US state named after a president.
Mount St. Helens erupted on May 18, 1980.
Washington grows more apples than any other state.
The first Starbucks opened at Pike Place Market in Seattle in 1971.
Boeing, Microsoft, and Amazon were all founded in Washington.
Grand Coulee Dam in Washington is the largest power producer in the US.
The Hoh Rain Forest in Washington is a temperate rainforest.
Washington has the largest ferry system in the US.
Seattle's Space Needle was built for the 1962 World's Fair.
Mount Rainier is the most glaciated peak in the contiguous US.
Washington, DC isn't a state, and its residents couldn't vote for president until the 23rd Amendment was ratified in 1961.
French-born engineer Pierre L'Enfant designed the original street plan for Washington, DC.
Washington, DC has no skyscrapers because of the Height of Buildings Act of 1910, which limits building heights based on the width of the street.
Washington, DC's famous cherry trees were a gift from the mayor of Tokyo in 1912.
The Library of Congress in Washington, DC is the largest library in the world.
The Washington Monument changes color about 150 feet up because construction stopped for over 20 years, and builders later used stone from a different quarry.
The Smithsonian museums in Washington, DC are free to visit.
Washington, DC license plates say "End Taxation Without Representation" to protest the city's lack of a voting member in Congress.
Benjamin Banneker, a free Black astronomer and mathematician, helped survey the boundaries of Washington, DC.
The White House has 132 rooms.
The Cosmic Crisp apple took Washington State University about 20 years to develop and was released in 2019.
The story of George Washington chopping down a cherry tree is a myth invented by biographer Parson Weems.
George Washington's dentures weren't made of wood. They included ivory and human teeth, some likely from enslaved people.
The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is held in Washington state.
Sequim, Washington, calls itself the Lavender Capital of North America.