In the late 1990s, beavers threatened the cherry trees at the Tidal Basin, gnawing on the trunks and killing at least five trees. The National Park Service had to find a way to preserve the trees without harming the beavers. They placed protective…

Among the items Captain Zebulon Pike sent to President Thomas Jefferson from the western United States was a pair of grizzly bear cubs. Jefferson kept them in a garden on the south side of the White House for a short time before sending the animals…

During World War I, President Woodrow Wilson had flocks of sheep on the White House lawn. Although previous presidents had kept farm animals as pets, these sheep were part of a Presidential initiative to support the war effort. The sheep grazed on…

These American bison, also known as buffalo, were part of the Smithsonian's Department of Living Animals. The Department was started by chief taxidermist William T. Hornaday, who was a spokesman for the conservation movement and very concerned about…

This photograph was taken around 1890, when the Mall was landscaped according to a design by Andrew Jackson Downing. Rather than the wide open lawn edged with trees we see today, this section of the Mall was covered in small evergreens with a winding…

The same storm system which contributed to the Johnstown Flood in June 1889 also caused flooding in Washington, DC. This map detail shows the extent to which the flooding affected the National Mall. The dark blue lines show the edges of the flooding;…

Hundreds of tractors paraded into Washington in February 5, 1979 to protest existing agriculture policies. The American Agriculture Movement organized this protest in 1979 after the 1st Tractorcade in 1978 did not bring changes they demanded. After…

In September 1888 a tornado, called a cyclone by the press, touched down on Maryland Avenue SW. It damaged the roofs of the National Museum and the Fish Commission buildings. Just north of the Fish Commission buildings, a group of houses and…

On Presidents' Day 1979 a 22-inch blizzard shut down Washington, DC. Forecasters had predicted that the storm would bypass the city, so residents and city planners were taken by surprise. For the first time in fifty years, the Smithsonian museums…

The public bathing beach at the Tidal Basin closed in 1925 after less than a decade in operation. This swimming area was segregated, open only to whites. Congress controlled the Washington DC budget and received increasing pressure from the African…